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AUSTINWEEKLY news ■
West Side police districts launch new youth baseball conference,
Vol. 33 No. 19
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May 8, 2019
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austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
@AustinWeeklyNews
PAGE 10
AWN wins big at IPA awards, page 3
$10M grant up for grabs on West, South Sides The Pritzker, Traubert Foundation to award the prize to ‘a highly collaborative initiative’ in historically neglected areas By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
On April 16, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation announced a new grant competition designed to pour money into areas on the city’s neglected West and/or South Sides. The competition, called the Chicago Prize, will award one $10 million grant “to a highly collaborative initiative that uses physical development to spur economic activity, strengthen civic infrastructure, and improve the safety, well-being, and economic mobility of residents,” foundation officials said. They added that the grant “emphasizes the relationship between a community’s physical environment and civic infrastructure—the environment that shapes and sustains a community.” The Chicago Prize will be awarded next spring. Any organization “whose experience aligns with these guidelines are encouraged to visit ChicagoPrize.org to complete an assessment,” foundation officials stated. The assessment, they said, is the first step in the See CHICAGO PRIZE on page 4
IGOR STUDENKOV/Contributor
STILL HAPPENING?: Members of Black Workers Matter outside of the Hostess Bakery in Galewood, where they allege that black employees are still being mistreated a year after a new owner took over.
No change at bakery, workers say
Discrimination, retaliatory firing still happening since Hostess bought plant from Cloverhill By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter
On May 1, the day celebrated throughout the world as a day of workers’ rights activism, activists from Black Workers Matter and their allies gathered in front of Galewood’s Hostess Bakery, 2035 N. Narragansett Ave., to allege that the pattern of racial discrimination and retaliatory firing that happened under the plant’s previous own-
ers have continued since the current owners took over a year ago. As previously reported by Austin Weekly News, activists had complained that what was then known as Cloverhill Bakery went out of its way to avoid hiring African-Americans. When an Immigration and Customs Enforcement audit forced them to fire undocumented Hispanic workers, the black workers that were hired in their place received little training, low pay and were
more readily punished. When Aryzta LLC sold the plant to Hostess in 2018, the activists decided to give the new owners a few months to do better. During the course of the May 1 press conference, activists alleged that the plant still employs “racist and abusive” managers, including some that were fired by Aryzta. They also said that two workers were fired
State Farm Mutual Automobile • Insurance Company State Farm Indemnity Company • Bloomington, IL • statefarm.com® Larry and his staff are licensed and together have over 75 years of State Farm experience.
See HOSTESS PROTEST on page 6
Larry Williams,Agent 5932 W. Lake Street Chicago, 60644 (773) 379-9010 larry.williams.b0bk@statefarm.com