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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
ABC Bank relocates as longtime workers retire,
Vol. 31 No. 23 ■ June 7, 2017
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Also serving Garfield Park
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Meett M M Marian i LL. Thomas, page 3
N. Lawndale plan coming into form Plan coordinators say it could be done by 2018, hopeful city will approve By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
In 2015, the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council announced the launch of a comprehensive plan for North Lawndale. Two years later, the plan is about halfway finished, with NLCCC executive members hoping to complete the plan by 2018. Once it’s completed, the plan will go before the City of Chicago for possible adoption. Dennis Deer, a member of NLCCC’s executive committee, said he’s optimistic that the City Council will adopt the plan, which he said has the full support of Ald. Michael Scot (24th) — whose ward covers most of North Lawndale. NLCCC was organized in May 2015 and first publicly announced the comprehensive plan process in September 2015. The group said that this plan, unlike conventional comprehensive plans, is unique because it is being developed by actual residents and stakeholders from the ground-up — not by policy experts and politicians from the top-down. Since its founding, the NLCCC has hosted a planning conference for residents, business owners and other community stakeholders to review the plan’s progress and to provide input. On June 3, NLCCC hosted its second annual conference at DRW College Prep, 931 S. Homan Ave. in North Lawndale. At Last Saturday’s event, NLCCC members touted a range of community projSee N. LAWNDALE PLAN on page 5
Elijah walks in spirit
WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer
The parents of Elijah Sims hug Oak Park and River Forest administrators during a graduation ceremony last Sunday. Sims, a native of Austin, was murdered last August while visiting his old neighborhood. He was supposed to graduate this year.
West Side students lead a peace march DRW College Prep seniors coordinated the event, designed to spotlight positivity By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Every year, seniors at DRW College Prep, a charter high school located at 931 S. Homan Ave. in North Lawndale, organize an event for to commemorate graduation. This year, they chose to do a peace march. The students who organized the event said they wanted to do something positive and that would counter the violence that virtually all of them have been affected by. The march was supported by the Community
Christian Alternative Academy in North Lawndale, Ald. Michael Scott (24th) and officers from the Chicago Police Department’s 11th District. The route for the May 26 march went from the school itself to Leo Roscoe Boler Park, 3601 W. Arthington St. After the march, students stayed in the park for about an hour, with some coming up to the stage to dance, sing and recite poetry. In the end, the organizers said that they were glad the march happened without incident and that they hoped that even more
people will be involved next year. The idea for the march came from two seniors – Lynnitanne Riley and Jocelyn Rodriguez. Both took part in the school’s Peer Mediators program. Since the start of 2017, the school lost three students to violence. Rodriguez said her uncle was killed when he was 10. “We just want students to feel safe again,” Riley said. Faiza Jackson, the faculty sponsor of the
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See PEACE MARCH on page 6