FREE
■
See City Bureau’s guide to dealing with evictions in the age of COVID-19,
Vol. 34 No. 28
■
July 8, 2020
■
austinweeklynews.com
■
Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
PAGES 6-7 7
Austin valedictorian sets sights high, PAGE 5
@AustinWeeklyNews
Local officials debate police presence in schools
School board voted 4-3 not to cancel contract with police while proposed ordinance to eliminate police on pause in City Council By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Debate about the presence of officers in Chicago Public Schools has ramped up in the Chicago City Council and the Chicago Board of Education within the last several weeks, with an attempt late last month by one Board of Education member to cancel the presence of school resource officers in CPS buildings having narrowly failed and the City Council having shelved a proposed ordinance introduced last month that would take police out of Chicago schools. During a 24 meeting, the Board of Education voted 4-3 against eliminating the city’s $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department that funds the school resource officers. Dwayne Truss, the Austin resident and only West Sider on the board, voted with the majority in opposition of the canceling the contract. School board member Elizabeth ToddBreland, who introduced the motion to cancel the contract, argued that the presence of officers in schools disproportionately hurt Black and Brown students. “It is not enough to reform, to retrain, to make a kinder school-to-prison pipeline,” Todd-Breland said. “We must dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Today, we can say enough is enough.” Other board members like Amy Rome and Luisiana Meléndez echoed Todd-Breland’s point, arguing that reforms to a deeply flawed school See SRO on page 9
Image from Artsy via thevirtueblog.com.
WHAT TO BLACK FOLK WAS THIS FOURTH OF JULY?: “Bang,” a painting by Kerry James Marshall, 1994. Read more on pages 8-9.
Black man with deep Austin ties heads Jewish bar
Patrick Dwanka John, first Black Christian president of Decalogue Society of Lawyers, brings unique West Side perspective to post By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Patrick Dwanka John, an attorney with deep ties to Austin, made history last month, when he was sworn in by Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans as the first Black
Christian president of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers. Founded in 1934, the “Decalogue has supported Jewish lawyers and the legal community in Chicago and throughout Illinois,” according to its website. The organization is one of the city’s ethnic bar associations, similar to groups like the Chinese American Bar Association of Greater Chicago, the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. But unlike those associations and in what may likely be a first in Chicago’s legal history, the Decalogue has at its helm an attorney who is not from the ethnic group that the organization See PATRICK JOHN on page 3
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.
Larry Williams,Agent 5932 W. Lake Street Chicago, 60644 (773) 379-9010 larry.williams.b0bk@statefarm.com
2
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
Third cop given desk duty for Brickyard Mall arrest
Officers smashed the victim’s car windows, sending glass into her face and causing her to lose vision in one eye. By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
A third Chicago Police officer has been relieved of police powers as the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates allegations of excessive force in the violent arrest of a Black woman outside Brickyard Mall in May. According to COPA officials, Police Supt. David Brown concurred with the decision to relieve the officer of duty while the investigation into Mia Wright’s arrest continues. Two other officers were previously taken off the street due to their involvement in the arrest, which bystanders caught on video. Wright, Tnika Tate and three others were headed to the Brickyard Mall, 2600 N. Narragansett Ave., the afternoon of May 31 to pick up supplies for a small birthday
lot and beating on the windows with batons until they shattered. Officers then can be seen dragging Wright out of the car by her hair, then slamming her to the ground. One officer is shown holding Wright to the ground by kneeling into the back of her neck — the same maneuver that resulted in George Floyd’s death. “It was horrible,” Mina Bloom/Block Club Chicago/Facebook Wright said. “It was a CONSEQUENCES: Mia Wright, who was attacked by police in moment I was scared for the parking lot of the Brickyard Mall Sunday, gets emotional my life.” while speaking to reporters at a press conference on June 25. Glass from the shattered car windows celebration, Tate said, only to discover the became embedded in her eye during her mall was closed due to looting the night arrest, but Wright said she was denied before. medical attention for at least an hour after Tate turned around to leave the mall when she was taken to the Grand Central police she saw a group of Chicago police officers station and charged with disorderly conduct. and pulled over to get out of their way, she Wright’s right eye may now be said. permanently damaged from the glass. Her Clips show a large group of officers vision is severely impaired, and she is swarming their car in the mall’s parking nearly blind in the eye, she said. She now
requires physical therapy and counseling to recover from the emotional and physical trauma from the incident. Wright’s attorney, Nenye Uche, said Wright is glad that some officers are being disciplined and COPA is working towards some level of accountability. But the suspended officers were not the only ones who abused their power, as several others stood by and watched as their colleagues assaulted an unarmed Black woman, Uche said. “There were more than three officers who attacked her vehicle and she hopes that more disciplinary action will follow against all involved in the senseless attack,” Uche said. In the meantime, Uche has appealed to city leaders to drop the disorderly conduct charges still pending against Wright so that she can put the ordeal behind her. “It’s outrageous,” Uche said. “You’re asking her to pay for being the victim of police brutality.” Pascal Sabino is a Report for America corps member covering Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago. CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com
West Side hospital builds kid-friendly outdoor clinic
Saint Anthony Hospital’s clinic created after the coronavirus pandemic caused many patients to fear going to the hospital for regular checkups By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
Saint Anthony Hospital’s doctors hope they can show patients they can safely start seeing their doctors while social distancing with a new outdoor pediatric care clinic. Young patients now can visit Little Tony’s Outdoor Wellness Clinic, decorated with plants to make it a cheerful and kid-friendly environment. Kids enter the outdoor clinic one to two at a time while parents stay in their cars to keep exposure to a minimum. The precautions at Saint Anthony and most other health centers have ensured there is no added risk of exposure to coronavirus, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Romeen Lavani. The risk of spreading COVID-19 is also much lower outside, where there is better airflow and more space for social distancing, Lavani said. “We are the first one to do it. It’s very innovative. It seems like so far, [it] is going
FUN AT THE CLINIC: Saint Anthony’s mascot Little Tony at the outdoor pediatric care clinic. Provided
well. Seems to be a hit. So we can always expand to adults,” Lavani said. The fear of being exposed to COVID-19 has led many to rely mostly on telemedicine, Lavani said. Though telemedicine is extremely useful, there are still many instances where doctors need to be physically present to diagnose and offer medical advice, Lavani said. Some patients have avoided visiting the doctor during the pandemic until their health has significantly deteriorated, Lavani said. He said it is critical to help patients feel safe so they come in for a checkup now that
new coronavirus cases are falling. “The last week or two, we’re seeing patients that are extremely sick. They just could not wait any longer. Ideally, one should not wait that long. But it’s understandable the fear that they have,” Lavani said. In particular, “children’s’ health got put on the back burner,” Lavani said. And though young people are generally healthier and less at risk for COVID-19, many kids have now fallen behind on their immunizations. “We protected them from COVID. But now they are susceptible to other viruses and other infections for which we have vaccines readily available,” Lavani said.
Claire Sorenson, Saint Anthony’s clinical coordinator of pediatrics, got the idea for the outdoor clinic when brainstorming creative ways to get kids back into the doctor’s office and help maintain herd immunity. Herd immunity is when a large enough portion of the population is vaccinated that even those who are not vaccinated are extremely unlikely to be exposed to or infected by a disease. Herd immunity already has started to slip among kids, Sorensen said. Sorensen said the clinic will help make sure children aren’t skipping their immunizations over the summer before going back to school. “That really creates a higher risk for kids who can’t get those vaccines for medical reasons,” Sorensen said. “So if you think about kids with immunosuppression, or allergies to components of the vaccines, they’re now at a higher risk because there are more of their classmates who don’t have those vaccines.” Sorensen said their innovative outdoor clinic is a model that can be replicated by other medical centers. “We hope we can inspire some other medical centers to think creatively about ways to target their populations that maybe being missed right now,” Sorensen said. Pascal Sabino is a Report for America corps member covering Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago.
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
PATRICK JOHN Making history from page 1 was founded to represent, John said during a Zoom press conference on July 2. John’s swearing-in comes as racial tensions between various ethnic groups across the country have heightened, particularly in the wake of the death of George Floyd in May. During Thursday’s press conference, John offered a glimpse into how his time as an attorney in Austin will inform his 1-year tenure as Decalogue president. “I lived in Austin for about five or six years and when I moved there, I started volunteering for community organizations,” John said last week. “One of the things I volunteered for was a program where attorneys would volunteer their time to represent people in police stations and only in police stations. You don’t represent beyond that, because most false confessions that people make are done in police stations within the first 72 hours of a suspect being taken into custody. “I’ll never forget one night, it was about 10 p.m., and I and another Black lawyer show up and we say, ‘We’re here to see Mr. X, because his family told us you have him in custody and we do not want you to continue to question him and we’d like to see him,’” John recalled. “Two detectives come out— one older and one younger—and the younger detective starts doing most of the talking. He says, ‘Yes, we have your client back here and if you want to go see him, that’s fine, but first he needs to answer some more of our questions.’ “Me and the lawyer look at each other in shock and disbelieve that a police officer would tell us, when being instructed to stop questioning our client, that we could only see our client when he’s done questioning him some more,” John said, adding that after a heated confrontation, the older detective apologized and eventually let the attorneys see their client. The moment, however, stuck with John. “I couldn’t help but think to myself, if
3
two attorneys in suits with IDs in the lobby of a police station are treated so dismissively, and in a public space, then oh my God what is happening in the back to those suspects? What is happening in the back to those suspects?” John got choked up as he described his conversations with Black police officers in Chicago, who recounted to him the racism that follows them once they remove their uniforms. “The same racist cop that puts a knee on George Floyd would also Decalogue Society of Lawyers engage in racism against his fellow officers,” John BLACK FIRST: Attorney Patrick Dwanka John (pictured fourth from left in the top row), was installed as the said, before sharing first Black Christian president of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, which is essentially the city’s Jewish what those officers told Bar Association. him may be the most connections, which she credited with her rise is that the number of Christians who are effective way to confront simply surprised to learn that Jesus is police abuses, such as false confessions and in Chicago’s legal industry. “If it weren’t for the relationships that I Jewish is quite astounding. the planting of evidence. “Joining the Decalogue Society for me has “They said if you could find a way to met through Decalogue, I would not be in the change the residency requirement, so that position that I am in today,” Bloch said on been such an eye-opener in terms of how cops don’t just have to live in the city but June 25 at the society’s Zoom meeting that much anti-Semitism there is,” John said. “I had no idea how much anti-Semitism there live in the police district in which they included John’s installation as president. John said his first attempt to join the is, how deep it is, how interwoven it is, how work, they told me unanimously that we would see police brutality end practically society was rejected, because he wasn’t institutional it is in the church. I feel like overnight, because those officers would Jewish. When membership opened to non- one of those white people on TV who says, know that everybody knows where they and Jews five years ago, however, he jumped ‘I thought all my friends and family were at the chance and quickly rose through the open-minded until I started dating a Black their families live,” John said. guy and now all of a sudden I found out all John, 51, emigrated to the United States organization’s ranks. John, who writes regularly on racism and the racists … After I joined Decalogue, I from Guyana, South America when he was four years old, still attends the Rock of Our anti-Semitism for the Times of Israel, said really understood the depths of the antiSemitism.” Salvation Church, 5628 W. Washington Blvd. that he “When I first started coming to Decalogue John said he hopes to broker more honest in Austin. He said that he got involved with the events, I was easy to spot,” he said, conversations between Jews and Christians Decalogue not long after he graduated explaining that people would sometimes ask in the coming months, starting with his from law school. John said he’d attend what made a Black Christian want to join a West Side church. “In all my years of going to church, I have the organization’s free Continuing Legal Jewish organization. “I would say, ‘Well, you know, Jesus was never heard a sermon that said, ‘This is what Education courses. “These were the best CLEs ever,” John Jewish, so I’m in pretty good company Jesus said about intolerance, because there recalled last week. “I said, ‘These guys are here,” he said. “One of the things that shocks are some instances in the Gospel where he me in terms of bringing Blacks and Jews, in deals with that,” John said, adding that after so smart, I’ve got to join them.” Helen Bloch, John’s immediate predecessor particular, Christians and Jews, in general, speaking with his pastor, that could change as president, also lauded the Decalogue’s together and in fighting anti-Semitism, at soon. legal training, mentoring and professional least as far as Christianity is concerned, CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com
“The” Friendship BAPTIST CHURCH Rev. Dr. Reginald E. Bachus, Pastor
"645*/ 8&&,-: NEWS
5200 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60644 773-378-6600
fbcchicago.org • facebook.com/friendshipbcchicago SUNDAY SCHEDULE 8:30AM 1st Sunday Communion 8:30AM Morning Worship Service 9:30AM Sunday Church School 11:00AM Mid-Morning Worship Service MIDWEEK SERVICES (Wednesday) 12:00PM Noon Bible Study 6:00PM Bible Study 7:00PM Prayer Meeting
See what all the buzz is about. Find all the breaking news in your neighborhood.
AustinWeeklyNews.com
4
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
West Side oppose eviction moratorium
Ald. Scott, Ervin, Mitts voted against ordinance banning eviction of tenants, arguing it will hurt mom and pop landlords in their wards By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Twelve alderpeople — including Ald. Michael Scott (24th), Jason Ervin (28th) and Emma Mitts (37th) — voted against an ordinance banning evictions for any tenants who can show that they can’t pay rent because they lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ordinance, which was passed 37-12 at a Chicago City Council meeting on June 17, was meant to kick in once the state moratorium on evictions expires, giving tenants protection for another 60 days. The aldermen who voted against the ordinance said that they were concerned about how it would affect small mom and pop landlords who own smaller properties, such as two-flats, and who often live in one unit while renting the others out. Ald. Ervin and Ald. Mitts said that
giving tenants five landlords like that days to pay any pastare common in their due rent before they wards and so wanted begin the eviction the ordinance to proceedings. But have a carve-out for under the city them, since landlords moratorium, tenants who fail to pay their will be able to file mortgages might also a Tenant Notice of hurt communities COVID-19 Impact that have already been showing that, due to disproportionately COVID-19, they can affected by COVID-19. no longer pay rent. During the That will give pandemic, Gov. J.B. tenants and landlords Pritzker issued Ald. Emma Mitts/Facebook seven additional days a moratorium to negotiate some designed to ensure Ald. Emma Mitts, along with Ald. that landlords don’t Michael Scott and Ald. Jason Ervin, said other way to pay rent by, for example, file to evict tenants that an ordinance banning evictions for agreeing to some unless they pose a kind of a payment direct threat to the any tenants who can show that they can’t plan or agreeing health and safety of pay rent due to COVID-19 may end up to use the tenant’s other tenants and/ hurting mom and pop landlords. security deposit to or to the safety of help pay off rent. But the building. That moratorium expired on June 27, but Pritzker if they fail to come up with anything, the recently extended it through the end of July. landlord would have to show the court that Separately, Cook County Circuit Court they negotiated in good faith. During the June 17 meeting, several Chief Justice Timothy Evans issued an order suspending the enforcement of evictions. aldermen argued that this would be That order is in effect at least until July 31. particularly damaging to small landlords Landlords will still be able to file notice who don’t have a lot of cash to fall back on.
Proud to partner with Austin Talks
Mitts said that she was sensitive to concerns of tenants struggling to pay their rent and she supported assistance for tenants. But she was worried that if the small landlords wind up defaulting on their mortgages or failing to pay property taxes, it would disproportionately impact her ward. “In the community where I live, it’s mostly two and three flat homes,” Mitts said. “And to have the neighborhood that’s been already disinvested in, to [have the landlords] forgo, not being able to get [their rent], and not being able to get their mortgage [paid], I’m very concerned.” Ald. Harry Ostermann (48th), who chairs the city council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate, defended the ordinance, arguing that it encouraged landlords and tenants to negotiate an alternative plan. And he said that, with Pritzker’s moratorium on evictions expiring and the fate of the county court order uncertain, time was of the essence. “When lifted, [it] could lead to the rush of evictions, mostly on the South and West sides, where there has been a significant impact on health and economic [stability],” Ostermann said. He said that he was willing to work on an ordinance at a later time that will help mom and pop landlords. CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com
austintalks.org INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING? Contact Dawn Ferencak 708.613.3329
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
5
Austin valedictorian has sights set on future in math
James Nnabuihe graduated top of class at Austin College & Career Academy, aims to become mathematician By MATEUSZ JANIK AustinTalks
It’s been quite a year for Austin resident, Austin College & Career Academy valedictorian and future mathematician James Nnabuihe. One of 40 students who graduated last month, Nnabuihe will be headed this fall to the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, where his two older brothers also have attended college. “I have to say, I exhausted all of my excitement the day I became a senior because I knew I was getting close,” Nnabuihe said. “It’s honestly been just a roller coaster of emotions, especially this year.” Nnabuihe, 18, was accepted into the university’s psychology program but plans to major in mathematics. “I just want to get into the nitty-gritty of mathematics because I remember on several occasions where my teacher told me that this is the kind of math that fills up the entire board, and I didn’t feel like that was all of it,” Nnabuihe said. “I want to explore it and find out what that ‘more’ is really about.” Nnabuihe’s AP Calculus teacher Steve
McIlrath has taught in Austin the last 26 years and had both of Nnabuihe’s brothers, Christian and Shallom, in class. McIlrath first met the Nnabuihe family back in 2012 at Rock of Our Salvation Church, 5628 W. Washington Blvd., where he taught a Sunday school class. The family had just moved to Austin. “All three of them are brilliant in their own way,” McIlrath said. “It’s not uncommon for James to sometimes be over here playing video games and hanging out with my sons, but in the classroom, James is an outlier on the curve.” He said where Nnabuihe excels the most is his curiosity and never-ending ability to problem solve. Whether he’s learning the violin or teaching himself physics, McIlrath said there hasn’t been a time when Nnabuihe “wasn’t investigating some new area.” CPS spokesman James Malnati said Nnabuihe has been “a star student in the school’s pre-engineering and manufacturing CTE pathway.” The final months of Nnabuihe’s senior year have been unusual, to say the least: Graduation had to be held virtually because of the statewide shelter-in-place order, and there have been weeks of peaceful protests and some civil unrest after the killing of George Floyd. Nnabuihe said he worries the coronavirus pandemic will mean his first year of college will have to happen entirely online. “I’ve been especially excited for college, and COVID-19 alone stands completely in the way of that,” he said. “Frankly, it makes me a little
The cookout is cancelled By JOHN FOUNTAIN III AustinTalks
The cookout is cancelled. Allies to black life must be willing to die for the Black Lives Matter movement No cookout for 2020. I mean the proverbial gathering with cousins and extended family. That shit is over. Too many of y’all inviting Karen and Chad based off one of their sexy Black Lives Matter posts. Historically, we as the African diaspora in America have been so forgiving. Black life after black life gets murdered in the street and home. Fuck a barbecue. There’s nothing to celebrate. June 19, 1865, never solidified our freedom. In recent weeks, black men were found hanging from trees. Karen and Chad were nowhere to be found. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized for against to protests but never
called Colin Kaepernick by name. People do not protest for arrests. The systemic racism in law enforcement, education, housing and healthcare simmers to a tipping point. The NRA stands behind shooters as long as they are white. The Black Panther Party understood Second Amendment Rights, and J. Edgar Hoover decided that they would be classified as terrorists. Let the streets burn. Tea Party. Revolutionary War. Confederate traitors lynching black people and murdering Union soldiers. Voter suppression. Freedom Rides. These are the allies. Leaving trails of white carcasses to the struggle of black equality. No cookout. No barbecue. No stepping in the name of love. America has never shown love to its native son. CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com
uncomfortable because I’ve actually grown up in Chicago, and now I’m about to leave Chicago at a time where people are probably the most outraged,” Nnabuihe said. “I could be out there and I could be protesting, but I really am one of the advocates of staying home and trying not to spread COVID-19 to anyone I might come across or my family.” Nnabuihe said no matter what the coming months hold, he’s looking forward to studying mathematics. Money is not his objective; he just wants to find a livelihood that suits him best. As for his classmates and other 2020 graduates, Nnabuihe said, “They should look back at their time in high school whenever they’re feeling like there’s something that they can’t do and recognize that they’re not a stranger to adversity.” CONTACT: austintalks.org
Here’s what Nnabuihe told Chalkbeat, which featured 18 top CPS graduates in a recent story: “If you are ever feeling like you’re not good enough to overcome a challenge, you should look back at the achievements that you have already made and recognize that you are no pushover when it comes to adversity. We all know that high school is a cesspool of social awkwardness, high expectations, and improvement by failure — just how hard it is to live in that cesspool. If you have endured four years of that, then you have the resilience to do far more than you can imagine. Even those who have not graduated should feel some semblance of confidence that they have made it through one year of these troubles.”
Applications open for artist-in-residence program Deadline for INVEST South/West Initiative program July 26 By AUSTIN TALKS Partner
Applications are now open for the city of Chicago’s first artist-in-residence program for its INVEST South/West Initiative. The new program, which will focus on Austin and three other Chicago neighborhoods, will leverage art and creativity as part of a broad and integrated community and economic development plan to re-activate neighborhood cores that have historically served as focal points for pedestrian activity, shopping, services, transportation, public spaces and qualityof life amenities for local residents. The pilot program is open to professional artists/artist teams who live or work in Chicago who have a demonstrated commitment to working with and for the benefit of the public. Artists who live and work within INVEST South/West neighborhoods are encouraged to apply. Each artist-inresidence project scope should include public engagement, capstone plan development and documentation at a cost of $30,000. The budget for each capstone project, including additional artist fees for oversight and implementation, will be $150,000 and is dependent on community
and city approval of the project. “We are incredibly excited to see the artworks and creative strategies our city’s talented artists will bring to this project – working in close collaboration with community members,” Mark Kelly, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, said in a statement. “This program addresses the need for urgent cultural investment in neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West sides – and furthers our ongoing commitments to equity and access to the arts through financial grants, artist commissions and cultural events.” Artists will lead a community engagement program to create and build upon neighborhood-specific cultural plans then deliver a plan for a capstone public art project. In addition, the artist will provide a series of recommendations that will guide the future development of creative projects in neighborhoods. Depending on the nature of the capstone project, each artist-in-residence will be engaged for one to two years; the program represents an over $700,000 investment in arts programs and cultural infrastructure in these neighborhoods. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. on July 26. Each artist or artist team must submit an entirely digital application. For more information and to apply visit www.callforentry.org.
6
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
How to avoid an avalanche
Eviction prevention in the time of COVID-19 By JUSTIN AGRELO City Bureau
This story was originally published by City Bureau on June 9, 2020. Chicago tenants were caught in a vortex of housing issues long before COVID-19 upended the housing market. The majority of the city’s Black and Latinx renters are already “cost-burdened,” paying more than 30% of their monthly income on rent. For some of the city’s lowest-earning tenants, as much as 87% of their monthly income goes to rent. The gap between the number of people in need of affordable housing and the city’s supply of it is more than 116,000 units wide. Not to mention the decades of hyper-segregation, economic disinvestment, and gentrification that Black and brown communities have always had to endure here. So while it may take years to fully measure COVID-19’s impact on housing in the U.S., it is clear that the pandemic is now compounding long-standing, unaddressed housing inequities, including eviction. “Even before the pandemic hit, we had already characterized the state of eviction in America as a housing crisis,” says Alieza Durana from Princeton University’s Eviction
Lab, a research group that studies the impacts of eviction. “We were seeing one eviction order every seven minutes. On average per month, we would see 300,000 eviction filings, which is roughly the size of Pittsburgh.” Chicago’s five eviction courts were long overwhelmed before the pandemic struck, seeing around 23,000 cases each year with the majority ending in people, disproportionately Black Chicagoans, being removed from their homes and forced into a cycle of housing instability. As the pandemic presses forward and rent relief stalls behind, housing advocates warn that if comprehensive interventions aren’t implemented soon, cities across the country will face an “avalanche” of evictions when courts reopen. While Illinois lawmakers battle over what rent relief could look like (or if it’ll come at all), I spoke with several housing experts in Chicago to get a better sense of what tenants can do now to side-step this avalanche and stay in their homes.
Negotiate a Deal Your options to avoid eviction depend on where you are in the process. Philip DeVon is a lawyer and eviction prevention specialist with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization (MTO), a tenants rights group that offers free legal advice to Chicago renters. DeVon says it’s important for tenants to first identify
if they’ve been hit with an eviction notice or a filing. Eviction notices are supposed to precede a court filing. Think of them as an official warning that if a problem, like failing to pay rent, isn’t resolved in a specific amount of time then your landlord will file an eviction lawsuit against you. Your landlord shouldn’t file an eviction case without first serving you a notice. If they do, you should be able to contest the lawsuit in court. Unlike an eviction filing, notices do not yet involve the courts, and therefore can be reconciled outside of them. “If the tenant only got a five or ten-day notice and there’s not a filing, we would strongly advise them to try and open up the line of communication with the landlord to discuss some sort of agreement,” DeVon says. “A pay-and-stay, a partial payment agreement, or even a moveout compliance, which says ‘hey, I’ll move out by this date.’” Eviction filings are much more severe than notices and can be devastating for people, especially low-income tenants. Once an eviction lawsuit is filed against you, it gets attached to your credit report, damages your credit score, and can prevent you from securing housing in the future. Even if you win your case, the eviction filing will still appear in your credit history unless the case is sealed. Because landlords and management companies are far less likely to rent to someone with an eviction on their
Courtesy Autonomous Tenants Union
SPEAKING OUT: Tenant-rights advocates hold up Tenants United Hyde Park Woodlawn banner. record, a filing alone can impede your ability to find stable, quality housing. If you do win your case and file the necessary paperwork to seal the records, DeVon says you should still run a credit report on yourself to make sure that the records have actually been sealed. If your landlord has already filed the eviction lawsuit, you still have the option to negotiate a deal. MTO can help tenants navigate these tricky conversations with their landlords, and will sometimes step in to mediate. The key to working out an agreement with your landlord, according to DeVon, is to be prepared to negotiate, willing to compromise, and never agree to a plan that puts you in a worse position. “If you’re negotiating around coronavirus, don’t sign something you can’t fulfill,” DeVon says. “It’s better not to have an agreement than to have one you can’t live up to.” Whether you negotiate a deal using outside help or not, it’s fundamental to get everything in writing. “The overarching advice with any tenant issue is documentation,” DeVon says. “You have to put things in writing because if you do end up having to defend yourself in court you want proof of your defenses.”
Get Organized For some situations, there may be power in numbers. Jordan Sarti is a community
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020 organizer with the Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU), a volunteer-run organization advocating for housing justice. Sarti says if individual asks of landlords fall short, tenants should consider putting together a collective ask with their neighbors. This can be a group letter that explains your collective hardship, and asks for specific remedies like reduced rent, waived late-fees, or payment plans. “It’s kind of unprecedented,” Sarti says. “There’s not really a legal remedy that we’re aware of.” Efforts to set such a precedent have either stalled or fallen short. In early May, Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduced the “Chicago Housing Solidarity Pledge,” a nonbinding program where participating landlords would agree to provide struggling tenants “grace” during the pandemic. Housing advocates quickly denounced the move, calling the pledge a “slap in the face” for what they believed to be a lack of substantive relief and landlord accountability. Soon after, a bill to cancel rent and mortgage payments was making its way through the state legislature. The bill, which was spearheaded by State Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago), failed to gain enough support and died in Springfield late last month. What lies on the table now are a record-high unemployment rate, a third month of missed rent for many families, and a cue of forthcoming eviction cases that’s only getting larger as the pandemic rages forward. The horizon is not entirely doom and gloom. While progressive Democrats failed to secure a comprehensive rent and mortgage relief package in the form of cancellations, they were able to negotiate an increase in the amount of federal funds the state will allocate for rent and mortgage assistance to $396 million. “I think the reality is that people just don’t have the money for rent,” Sarti says. “We’re advising people to talk to their neighbors and be as organized as possible.” Given that the communities most vulnerable to eviction are also those hardest hit by COVID-19, organizing with neighbors isn’t entirely safe. To mitigate health risks, ATU created a toolkit with specific guidelines on how to write a letter with your fellow tenants while also keeping everyone safe. Some best practices are wearing a mask when knocking on your neighbors’ doors and standing six feet back while you speak. If you’re not comfortable with door-knocking, you can leave a letter with your contact information in the building’s foyer or at a neighbor’s doors and then use platforms like Zoom to meet virtually. “The first step is always to contact as many
neighbors as possible and see what their needs are,” Sarti says. “More likely than not right now, at least a few of your neighbors are going to be in a similar situation as you.”
Talk to a Lawyer Charlie Isaacs is a tenant rights trainer with Uptown People’s Law Center (UPLC), a legal aid clinic that provides free advice to low-income and incarcerated people. Isaacs says its critical for anyone worried they’ll face eviction when the courts reopen to speak with a lawyer now. And while that advice may seem counterintuitive — how exactly do folks who can’t afford rent afford a lawyer? — Isaacs says they should contact a legal aid office like UPLC or a nonprofit doing anti-eviction work that can connect tenants with free legal counsel. These groups help renters better understand their legal options and, in some cases, will connect folks with a lawyer who’ll represent them in eviction court at no cost to the renter. “Tenants are at a structural disadvantage against landlords,” Isaacs says. “If a tenant doesn’t have a lawyer, they could be facing really difficult odds against them.” The Lawyers Committee for Better Housing (LCBH) highlighted this in a report looking at Chicago eviction cases between 2010 and 2017. Overall, landlords won cases 60% of the time. LCBH found a “vast imbalance” in the rates of legal representation between landlords and tenants; landlords had legal representation in 79% of cases, while tenants only had legal representation in 11% of cases. In that same report, LCBH found that tenants with attorneys tend to fare better than tenants without legal help. If you do happen to find yourself in eviction court without a lawyer the first thing you should do is ask the judge for a continuance to find legal representation. Requesting a continuance can buy you more time to find a lawyer or at least receive legal advice, so that you’re better prepared to defend yourself in court and hopefully stay in your home. Ultimately, the best way for anyone to protect themselves from eviction, according to Isaacs, DeVon, and several other lawyers I spoke with for this story, is to ask for help from a legal aid office and ask for it as early as possible. “One thing that’s really important for tenants to know is that if they can’t pay rent, they still have options,” Isaacs says. “There’s all sorts of things they can do to stay in their homes.” Read more from City Bureau at citybureau. org/.
Courtesy Lawyers Committee for Better Housing report
THE LAWYER EFFECT: Results of Eviction Cases from 2010 to 2017 based on tenants’ legal representation.
Thank You Moms of Chicago and surrounding areas!
We have missed you! GRAND REOPENING! Mickey’s Rib Special 1/2 Slab Dinner $11.99 • Full Slab Dinner $17.99 includes fries or baked potato, coleslaw and garlic bread
Wednesday
Gyros Plate Dinner 1 lb meat, 2 pita breads, fries & 3 cups sauce $10.99
Every day Special!
Come try our Big Mickey! $2.99
Gyros with fries $7.99
525 N Harlem Ave, Oak Park (708) 848-3333 10:30am - 9pm Daily
7
8
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
NEED TO REACH US?
Call Editor Michael Romain at 773-626-6332 michael@austinweeklynews.com
I
Fireworks and gunshots, the new July Fourth tradition
always try to make sure I’m home on July 4th in the evening. Irresponsible individuals with fireworks are always a cause for concern. The amount of fireworks set off in the past was dwarfed by this year’s exhibition. The fireworks started heavy on July 3rd and went until about midnight. But on the Fourth, the fireworks went non-stop from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.! Yes I did say “a.m.” The amount of fireworks that were set off had to have easily cost thousands of dollars. With many local, professional fireworks shows cancelled because of COVID-19, those who sell fireworks had to find ways to make their money. And they found
it in the average person. I watched as one young lady shot off a roman candle as if it were a toy. She had no concern for how poorly and low she was aiming it. As she laughed and giggled, she constantly lowered her arm so that the blast instead of going into the air went straight ahead. The embers barely missed hitting the garage. She could have set the structure on fire, but when you’re a renter, who gives a damn! Fireworks set off from the alley look like anything a professional would have done. There were even little parachutes that came down after being released by the explosion. The following
ARLENE JONES
morning, several roofs were covered with debris from the explosions. Backyards too. As I swept up my deck, a moron stood on a porch across the alley and shot off even more at 6 in the morning. His attitude was he could do whatever he wanted, the rest of the neighborhood be damned. Lamenting fireworks is one thing, but the truth is there were a lot of gunshots fired over this Fourth of July holiday, including gunshots that killed the 7-year-old little girl in the 100 block of North Latrobe. What kind of community are we when young children cannot be out on the sidewalk without some individual coming along and deciding they want to shoot up the place? Where is the moral compass in these individuals who have such bad aim and are more concerned about trying to shoot somebody than they are about the innocent children who get
caught in the crossfire? I admit it. I’m an advocate for a return of the death penalty for those who impose a death penalty on innocent children, while their own lives are safe should they be caught. How can that be? Do I really believe that spending the rest of their years in jail for having killed an innocent 7-year-old is going to haunt them? I don’t think so. It’s only when their own life is on the line that people can truthfully reflect about the havoc they are causing. As a society, we are going down some roads from which recovery will be difficult. It is time for us to make some difficult decisions. We may not like them, but we need them. The possible return of the death penalty is one of those decisions!
What to Black folk was this Fourth of July? COVID-19 made this year’s commemoration an opportunity for reflection By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor | Opinion
This being 2020, Fourth of July just didn’t feel like the Fourth of July. For one, a Juneteenth like no other (except, perhaps, the first one in 1865) had come and gone, with many Blacks calling that celebration last month our very own Freedom Day (thus blunting the impact of this year’s Fourth of July celebration) and, surprisingly, many whites, some perhaps with a shrug and sideeye, saying, ‘Well, we’re OK with that.’” This Fourth of July had announced itself for months in the form of booms and blasts and shrieks that we’ve been hearing in neighborhood blocks across the nation. For many of us, I suspect, whatever anticipation of Fourth of July fireworks we had were completely zapped from our being. We’d have preferred a complete cessation of outdoor sound over a glorious pyrotechnic display. Besides, these last six months have been one overlong, exasperating, painful, glitch-filled pyrotechnics display of Trumpian proportions. Not even our sacrosanct Black family cookouts felt the same as they did just a year ago — caught as they were between coronavirus and Karens. During her opening monologue for this year’s BET Awards, comedian Amanda Seales captured just how totally racism has
overtaken and exhausted our everyday minutiae. “Now, folks always say, ‘All Amanda ever does is talk about race.’ Well listen, I would love to talk about regular, everyday things, but racism always beats me to it. For instance, candy. Who don’t like candy? But whenever I talk about Skittles, I remember Trayvon Martin. I would love to talk about ice cream. Its a delicious treat. But each time I do, I am reminded of Botham Jean. “Who doesn’t appreciate some shuteye? I had a nap in 2015 that was so good it felt like Black Jesus tucked me in. I still talk about it ’til this day. But that’s a wrap, because now I can’t even dream of speaking about sleeping knowing Breonna Taylor’s killers have not been arrested. When I said, ‘I don’t got the time, I’m on my trampoline,’ I meant it, but give it a minute and racism gonna take the bounce out of that, too.” So given the present reality, what to Black folk was this year’s Fourth of July? What to do without a proper cookout and fireworks and old-fashioned, American fun (you know, the kind we had in the olden days of the Fourth, which, like virtually all of our holidays, is more celebrated for what it is not — a day spent at work or dreading going into work — than for what it symbolizes)? And speaking of those symbols. They, too, were not what they were. The very meaning of this momentous day was up for debate. In the spirit of the moment, in the spirit of both George Floyd and George Washington,
here are five suggestions I offered last week for making the most of this year’s quarantined commemoration. Yes, the Fourth of July is now over, but you may still find these recommendations edifying.
5. Read the excerpt of poet Claudia Rankine’s 2014 volume of poems “Citizen: An American Lyric” that is available at poetryfoundation.org (the excerpted poem is entitled: (“You are in the dark, in the car”). In our meat, ice cream and potato salad binge, we often forget to reflect on the spirit of the Fourth of July. If Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season, then the everevolving concept of citizenship is the reason for the Fourth. This year, we’re witnessing the elastic concept of citizenship evolve and morph as Blacks make new demands for recognition and basic rights, but this very public debate about who is and is not a citizen of this country cannot be divorced from the minute injustices of everyday racism, Rankine’s poems so powerfully demonstrate. In a review written of Rankine’s work the year the book was published, the New Yorker’s Dan Chiasson explains: “From the start, her work has troubled the distinction between what, in ‘Citizen,’ she calls the ‘self self’ and the ‘historical self,’ challenging our sense of the lyric’s natural territory as the exclusively personal, outside the scope of politics.”
MICHAEL ROMAIN
4. Now, perhaps more than ever before, whites en masse are re-examining their assumptions about Black people and our place in American history — which is squarely at the center. There can be no understating racism’s centrality to the founding of this country and if you need very carefully deconstructed proof of this point, you can’t do much better than watch Jeffery Robinson, the “ACLU’s top racial justice expert,” talk about the “dark history of Confederate symbols across the country and outlines what we can do to learn from our past and combat systemic racism.” Search: “The Truth About the Confederacy in America” on YouTube.
3. You may have heard about Frederick Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” one of his most famous speeches. It is one thing to read the words, as powerful as they are. It is another to hear them recited by James Earl Jones. I recommend doing both. Search: “James Earl Jones and What to the Slave” (or some variation of the phrase) on YouTube.
2. Since it hit the newsstands last year, the special issue of the New York Times Magazine, called the 1619 Project, has prompted continued debate about the centrality of race in American life and how it came to be so central to this country’s founding myths. But the 1619 Project is more than a Continued on next page
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
SRO
Vigorous debate from page 1 resource program, to say nothing of a police department where racism is entrenched, were not sufficient and that the best way forward would be to eliminate school resource officers from schools altogether. But Truss argued that removing police officers from schools is a one-size-fits-all approach that wouldn’t work for most schools. He mentioned the shooting deaths of 3-yearold Mekhi James and 13-year-old Amaria Jones, who were killed in Austin last month. Truss said that those murders “are a microcosm of the kind of violence our kids see,” adding that while he is “definitely prorestorative practices” and supports bringing additional social and emotional resources into schools,” he nonetheless believes that local school councils should make the decision of keeping or axing school resource officers on their respective campuses — not the school board, which is the same position that Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson hold. Truss added that the local school councils at three West Side Schools – Michele Clark High School, 5101 W. Harrison St., Austin College & Career Academy High School, 231 N. Pine Ave., and Marshall High School. 3250 W. Adams St. — all want to keep their school resource officers. Board Vice President Sendhil Revuluri, who also voted against canceling the $33 million contract — which pays for 200 school resource officers at 72 high schools in the city — said he wasn’t pleased with the militaristic language in the contract and wanted to see the language changed when the agreement comes up for renewal in August. The board is expected to vote on the contract renewal later this month.
City Council discussion Last month, Ald. Roderick Sawyer introduced a proposal that would have eliminated the the officers in CPS schools. Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), who chairs the Committee on Public Safety, sent the proposed ordinance was sent to the City Council’s Rules Committee, where it currently languishes.
Continued from previous page print issue. It is an expansive, immersive interactive project that you can explore immediately at: nytimes.com/ interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619america-slavery.html. . The great thing about this web project is that you can explore it at your own pace, returning to it when you can. And please do, frequently. Argue with it, debate the ideas within it, but whatever you do, engage it.
1. Finally,
read
the
Declaration
of
pus has school resource officers. But there still is no SRO coordinator and it is still difficult for the public to track which police officers serve as school resource officers, Ferguson said. In addition, statistics suggest that Black students may be getting arrested in disproportionately high numbers. Austin Talks Since 2015, AT THE TABLE: Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), far left, and Chicago Board out of all inciof Education member Dwayne Truss, far right, with West Side activist dents where SROs used Zerlina Smith. Taliaferro and Truss are among the local officials who force, 81 percent will make the final decision on whether police should be in Chicago involved Blacks public schools. and 14 percent involved Latinx On July 2, Taliaferro and Ald. Michael people. And out of all arrests made on school Scott (24th), who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Education, teamed up to hold grounds since January 2017, nearly 73 pera July 2 hearing on several reports on school cent involved Blacks, Ferguson said. He added that those numbers include all resource officers drafted by the city’s Office incidents that happened on school property, of Inspector General. Inspector General Joe Ferguson said that whether or not the school is actually open at Chicago Public Schools has made some the time, so it’s not clear how many of those strides since his office released a report in September 2018, which outlined the fact that there was no formal agreement governing school resource officers in Chicago schools. The report recommended the establishment of an SRO coordinator and the creation of an agreement between the police department and the schools that would outline officers’ roles and responsibilities, require training in deescalation, set up performance reviews and ban officers from any involvement in discipline students, among other things. Since that report, Ferguson told aldermen during the July 2 hearing, the police and the school district have developed an agreement that includes training requirements and prohibits officers from enforcing discipline at schools. In addition, each local school council decides whether or not a school cam-
Independence and U.S. Constitution (if only snippets of each). We Black folk are, along with our white and Brown sisters and brothers, stitched into a fabric of mutuality that is defined, in large part, by those documents, which every one of us has a right to interpret and define for ourselves. For a long time, only the interpretations and definitions of a select few citizens have mattered. I think that’s changing now. And because of that, this Fourth of July, despite its epic challenges, may have been among the most important that we’ve had in a long time. And that’s a good thing for all of us. CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com
9
incidents involved students “Those numbers are not themselves [proof] of anything, but they are demonstrative, and they do feed the perception, and maybe the reality, that there’s racial disparity of outcomes of how we police schools,” Ferguson said. Jadine Chou, the chief of safety and security for CPS, said during the July 2 hearing that her employer has made several improvements, including the fact that principals now have “the ability to participate in the [SRO] selection process.” She pointed to the fact that, since the last school year, all complaints against SROs have been handled the same way as complaints against any other police officer — through the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. And she argued that local school councils serve as a good representation of the community, since they include teachers, parents, students and elected community residents. Chou added that CPS will encourage local school councils to conduct more community outreach as they decide whether or not to keep officers in their schools. Barbara West, CPD’s deputy superintendent for Constitutional Policing and Reform, said at the July 2 hearing that every Chicago officer who applies to be a school resource officer must have at least three years of experience and must submit a resume showing that they have experiences and skills that make them a good fit for the job. CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com
S W NE
! H S A FL You can get local news delivered right to your email in-box.
Sign up for FREE at AustinWeeklyNews.com
10
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
REAL ESTATE FORÂ SALE
deadline: 9:30 am Monday office hours: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday – Friday
CLASSIFIEDS TO PLACE AN AD HELP WANTED
CALL: 773-626-6332 | FAX: 708-467-9066 | E-MAIL: classifieds@AustinWeeklyNews.com Place your ad online anytime at AUSTINWEEKLYNEWS.COM/CLASSIFIED HELP WANTED
River Forest Public Schools District 90 Student Support Services - Vacancies for the 2020-2021 School Year For detailed qualifications requirements and job duties, please visit our website at https:// www.district90.org/about/ employment for our complete list of employment opportunities. District 90 is seeking qualified and experienced student support educators for the following positions: • Special Education Support Teacher (Willard Elementary School) • Special Education Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Coordinator (All D90 Schools) • Speech and Language Pathologist (Roosevelt Middle School)
General Qualifications: Valid Illinois Professional Education License with endorsement in field of study, a Master’s Degree is preferred and successful teaching experience with students in a classroom setting is preferred. General Duties: Provide excellence in education by developing and implementing activities that encourage students to be life-long learners. Possesses knowledge of District policies and regulations relating to areas of responsibilities. Create an environment that is conducive to learning and appropriate to the developmental maturity and interests of each student. Application: Apply online at www.district90. org. Application Procedure: Interested candidates should complete the online application available at district90.org. Please do not send hard copies of supporting documentation, i.e. cover letters, resumes, licensure, etc. to River Forest Schools District 90; instead, upload these materials onto the online job application system for proper processing.
River Forest D90 has an opening for a 2nd Grade Teacher for Willard Elementary School. Qualifications: Valid Illinois Professional Educator License with Elementary Grade School Endorsement. Successful Teaching Experience is preferred. A Master’s Degree is preferred. Job Duties: The teacher will be responsible for teaching the curriculum and working cooperatively with colleagues including: grade level teammates, the Student Services Team, other faculty and support staff. The teacher will be responsible for building relationships with students, supervising and managing the class, effectively teaching the curriculum to meet the individual needs of students, evaluating individual student’s progress, and communicating progress with children and parents. Application Procedure: Interested candidates should complete the online application available at district90.org. Please do not send hard copies of supporting documentation, i.e., cover letters, resumes, licensure, etc. to River Forest Schools District 90; instead, upload these materials onto the online job application system for proper processing. HAPPY KIDD’S WEST INC. 6928 W 16th St Berwyn, IL 60513 We are seeking a Director and 2 teachers. Director must be qualified and have Associate’s degree or equivalent. Teachers must be director or teacher qualified. Mon. thru Fri. working with Infants to 6 yrs old. Compensable salary negotiable based on experience. Call 773-619-5545 or fax resume to 773-728-5437.
BILINGUAL (SPANISH/ENGLISH) CASE MANAGER The Proviso Public Partnership,nfp is looking for a Bilingual (SpanishEnglish) Case Manager. Duties and qualifications include: • Ability to complete screenings via phone and telehealth • Part-time position - 20 hours/ week- $15-$20 per hour based on experience • Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services, Social Work, Psychology or other related field • Computer Literacy For more details about the job, please email admin@pppnfp.org
Starting a New Business?
Publish your Assumed Name legal notice in Austin Weekly News. Call the Experts! (773) 626-6332
CITY RENTALS Augusta & Kildare: PERFECT FOR SENIORS A gorgeous 2nd flr.studio apt. kitchen, dining room and large walk-in closet, hardwood floors, in a beautifully landscaped & well maintained building, quite, safe & secure, rent 625.00 incl. heat, appliances, and laundry room, for more information call 773-838-8471 UNFURNISHED APT 4BR 2BA 4 BR, 2 BA w/ front room, living room, den and encl. porch. Storage closet. Close to transportation. Tenant pays util. 1 mo. security required. Near school. Call 773-2970109 and leave message.
ROOMS FORÂ RENT AUSTIN CLEAN ROOM With fridge, micro. Nr Oak Park, Super Walmart, Food 4 Less, bus, & Metra. $116/wk and up. 773-637-5957
SUBURBAN RENTALS OAK PARK 1 BR APT 1 BR, LR, DR, KITCHEN, encl. back entry/porch. Laundry, heat incl. Storage avail. Owner occupied 2 flat. Quiet residential neighborhood. $1050/mo. Garage pkg $65/mo. 708-383-1512 OAK PARK: ROOSEVELT/ OAK PARK AVE. CORRIDOR 2BR 4RMS close to blue line. On site laundry, parking, heat & water incl. $1200/ month 708-383-9223
Selling your home by owner?
Advertise here! Call 708-6133342 to place your ad.
OFFICE SPACE FORÂ RENT THERAPY OFFICES FOR RENT Therapy offices for rent in north Oak Park. Rehabbed building. Nicely furnished. Flexible leasing. Free parking. Free wifi; Secure building; Friendly colleagues providing referrals. Shared waiting room; optional Conference. Call or email with questions. Shown on Sundays. Lee 708.383.0729 drlmadden@ameritech.net
GARAGE SALES Brookfield
GARAGE SALE 4624 DUBOIS FRI 7/10 9AM TO 4PM SAT 7/11 9AM TO 3PM
Men’s clothes, sizes XL to XXL. Women’s clothes, size M. Miscellaneous. Rain or Shine. Oak Park
MOVING FROM HOUSE TO APT 1185 S. HUMPHREY FRI 7/10 & SAT 7/11 9AM TO 1PM ONLY
WANTED TO BUY WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, flags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers – lead or plastic – other misc. toys. Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400
AIR CONDITIONING/ HEATING AIR CONDITIONING AND APPLIANCE EXPERT Air Conditioning Automotive A/C Refrigerators Ranges • Ovens Washer • Dryers Rodding Sewers Lic/Bonded 25 yrs experience
Lawn furniture, Yard equipment, Ladders, odds and ends left over from home repair... wearing a mask is required....social distancing is encouraged.....hand sanitizer will be available for your use.
FREE SERVICE CALL WITH REPAIR AND SENIOR/VETERAN DISCOUNT.
ITEMS FOR SALE
708-785-2619 or 773-585-5000
BUMPER POOL TABLE $29.00 708-488-8755 LENOX CHINA 5 piece place settings Lenox china, Tuxedo pattern WATERFORD GLASSES Colleen pattern, 2 water goblets, 2 wine glasses, 5 double old fashioned glasses IRISH CARDIGAN Men’s size large. 708-386-6160 LYON & HEALY MUSIC CABINET Doors slide vertically. LP and music storage. Black. 708-488-8755
SUBURBAN RENTALS Apartment listings updated daily at:
ELECTRICAL Ceiling Fans Installed
A&A ELECTRIC
Let an American Veteran do your work
We install plugs for battery-operated vehicles We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs We install Surge Protectors • Home Re-wiring • New Plugs & Switches Added • New circuit breaker boxes • Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp • Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential • Commercial • Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. • Bonded • Ins. • Low Rates • Free Est.
708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848 Sr. Discounts • 30 Yrs. Exp. Servicing Oak Park • All surrounding suburbs • Chicago area
HANDYMAN
PLASTERING
HANDYMAN
McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.
Roofing Repairs Concrete Repairs • Drywall All types of handiwork Call For Free Estimates
773-637-0692 Ask for John
PAINTING & DECORATING CLASSIC PAINTING
Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost
708.749.0011
CEMENT
708/386-2951 • ANYTIME Work Guaranteed
Licensed, Bonded, Insured, & EPA Certified Expert craftsmanship for over 50 years
ROOFING
MIDWEST ROOFING All types of roofing repairs Commercial - Residential Call for free estimate
CEMENT Residential Commercial Industrial Licensed Bonded Insured Free Estimates ¡ Veteran Owned
Drives Walks Patios Stamped Concrete Curbs/Gutters Garage Floors Foundations Water Control / Management
devegaconcrete.com ¡ 708-945-9001
MAGANA
C O N C R E T E C O N S T RU C T I O N
COMMERCIAL ˜ INDUSTRIAL ˜ RESIDENTIAL
email us: classifieds @ AustinWeeklyNews.com
Small & big work. Free estimates. Complete Plaster, Stucco & Re-Coating Services
773-637-0692
“QUALITY IS OUR FOUNDATION� ESTABLISHED IN 1987
Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am – 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue. Or call us toll free at 1-833-440-0665 for an appointment.
ELECTRICAL
708.442.7720 '5,9(:$<6 ‡ )281'$7,216 ‡ 3$7,26 67(36 ‡ &85% *877(56 ‡ 6,'(:$/.6 612: 3/2:,1* ‡ 67$03(' &2/25(' $**5(*$7( &21&5(7( FREE ESTIMATES LICENSED, BONDED & INSURED
Attention HomeImprovement Pros! Reach the people making the decisions – your target demographic. Place an ad in Austin Classified! Call 773/626-6332
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
(773) 626-6332 | FAX: (708) 467-9066 | E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@AUSTINWEEKLYNEWS.COM Let the sun shine in... Public Notice: Your right to know In print • Online • Available 24 /7 365 AustinWeeklyNews.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING INC.; Plaintiff, vs. CECILIA FRANCISCO AKA CECILIA N. FRANCISCO; OIS HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND OFELIA FRANCISCO; Defendants, 19 CH 8679 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-04-215-013-0000. Commonly known as 4821 West Hirsch Street, Chicago, IL 60651. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the
Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Mr. Anthony Porto at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Kluever & Platt, L.L.C., 150 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (312) 236-0077. SPS000215-19FC1 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3151790
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the above entitled cause on February 18, 2020, Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Monday, July 27, 2020, at the hour of 11 a.m. in its office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell to the highest bidder for cash, the following described property: P.I.N. 16-09-315-043-0000, 16-09315-044-0000, and 16-09-315-0450000. Commonly known as 125 North Pine Avenue, Units A, B, and C, Chicago, Illinois 60644. The property consists of vacant land. Sale terms: 10% of the purchase price will be required to bid at the sale. The balance of the purchase price required by 12:00 p.m. the following day. The property will NOT be open for inspection. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale which will entitle the purchaser to a Deed to the premises after confirmation of the sale. For information call City of Chicago Department of Law/COAL, City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street, Suite 400, Chicago, Illinois 60602 (312) 7420007. INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 Dated: June 10, 2020 I3151759
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION CITY OF CHICAGO, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, Plaintiff, vs. TBI URBAN HOLDINGS LLC; METLIFE HOME LOANS; THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; LATISHA VEAL; WANKEE VEAL; CHASE HOME FINANCE, LLC; CURTIS GARRETT; DEMETRIOUS KELLY; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, Defendants, 11 M1 402682 NOTICE OF SALE
CLASSIFIEDS
local employees happy employees REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
Illinois Classified Advertising Network WANTED TO BUY FREON WANTED: We pay CA$H for cylinders and cans. R12 R500 R11 R113 R114. Convenient. Certified Professionals. Call 312-598-1758 or visit RefrigerantFinders.com
AUSTINWEEKLY news Mary Ellen Nelligan Editor Michael Romain Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Senior Editor Bob Uphues ≈ Contributing Reporters Bonni McKeown, AustinTalks, Igor Studenkov Publisher Dan Haley Columnist Arlene Jones Business Manager Joyce Minich Staff Photographer Alex Rogals ≈ Design/Production Manager Andrew HOW TO REACH US Mead 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 PHONE 773-626-6332 Designer Debbie Becker FAX 708-467-9066 Sales & Marketing Representavies ONLINE www.AustinWeeklyNews.com Lourdes Nicholls, Marc Stopeck TWITTER @AustinWeeklyChi Sales & Development Austin Weekly News is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. It is distributed free of charge at locations across Austin and Garfield Park. Our hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Advertising rates are available by calling our office. Printed entirely on recycled paper. © 2020 Growing Community Media NFP.
11
Hire Local.
Place an ad on Austin Weekly News’s Local Online Job Board. Go to AustinWeeklyNews.com/classified today! Contact Mary Ellen Nelligan for more information. (708) 613-3342 maryellen@oakpark.com
Austin Weekly News, July 8, 2020
NOW ACCEPTING TRANSFER APPLICATIONS FOR GRADES 6-12 821 E. 103rd St
2710 E. 89th St
GRADES 9, 10, 11, 12
GRADES 9, 10, 11, 12
1010 E 72nd St GRADES 6, 7
8748 S. Aberdeen St GRADES 9, 10, 11, 12
931 S Homan Ave
2040 W Adams St GRADE 9
7131 S South Chicago Ave GRADE 10
6350 S. Stewart St GRADES 9, 1O, 11
GRADES 9, 10, 11, 12
1454 W. Superior St
1337 W. Ohio St GRADES 9, 10, 11
GRADE 9
3645 W. Chicago Ave GRADES 9, 11, 12
CONTACT US TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION
833-BE-NOBLE
NOBLESCHOOLS.ORG/SIGNUP BENOBLE@NOBLESCHOOLS.ORG @BeNobleSchools
PAID FOR WITHPUBLIC FUNDS
12