FREE
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Vol. 35 No. 19
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Oak Park restaurant initiative expands to Austin
May 12, 2021
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austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
PAGE 8
An LED murall planned pl d for West Side, page 3
@AustinWeeklyNews
Austin cleanup designed to bridge invisible divide Renew 312 hosted May 8 cleanup By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Around 30 people, most of whom were from Oak Park, got together on May 8 to pick up garbage and wash storefront windows in Austin’s Madison Street and Lake Street corridors. The clean-up was organized by Renew 312, a nonprofit founded by Shawn Netisingha and Dani Kowack-Dengel, both of Oak Park, to address the long standing disparities between Austin and Oak Park by bridging the divides between the two communities. The clean-up was meant to do something good for Austin while supporting Austin businesses and getting the residents of two communities to talk to each other and make connections. Netisingha said that Renew 312 is planning to do another clean-up during the summer, but they haven’t settled on the exact date. “There hasn’t been a lot of trust between Austin and Oak Park, and there hasn’t been a lot of listening to what Austin residents want,” said Kowack-Dengel, adding that the Saturday cleanup hopefully helps remedy that problem. Dearra Williams, of Austin, said the cleanup was particularly important to her. “I was born here in Austin, I was raised here, I live here now, and it’s very important to me to give back to my community,” Williams said. “Austin is often neglected. You can see it in the amount of trash.” Janelle Martin, who lives on the North Side but works for Austin Coming Together, a coalition of Austin stakeholders that collectively work on various quality of life initiatives, said she participated because she wants to See RENEW 312 on page 6
A Mother’s Day Extravaganza
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Volunteers hand out gifts to community members on Saturday, May 8, 2021, during a Mother’s Day Extravaganza on Chicago Avenue in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.
Could planned West Side roller rink help cut crime?
Ald. Ervin, community leaders say planned roller rink and plaza at Madison and Pulaski could reclaim area from crime, critics say otherwise By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
A city plan to bring an outdoor roller rink and community plaza to a vacant
West Side lot this summer has the lofty goal of reclaiming the area from violent crime. The proposed Community Plaza on Madison is part of the mayor’s Neighbor-
hood Activation pilot program to invest in neighborhoods experiencing high levels of violence as a way of improving safety. See RINK on page 5