FREE
AUSTINWEEKLY news ■
Vol. 33 No. 36
■
Viral hip-hop celebrity opens eatery in Austin,
July 10, 2019
■
austinweeklynews.com
■
Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
PAGE 4
@AustinWeeklyNews
Black Panthers Panthers, page 10
Defunct ‘Rowdy funeral’ task force leaves behind to do list Group’s work led to some changes, but more recommendations for officials to act on and debate By NONA TEPPER Staff Reporter
After a year’s worth of meetings, the Cook County Funeral and Cemetery Violence Taskforce may have ended its formal in-person meetings, but those involved in the group continue to talk remotely about how to keep Forest Park, Oak Park and other western suburbs safe during chaotic funeral processions, particularly as murders rise in Chicago. The group also left behind a series of recommendations, some of which have put into action by area law enforcement. “The more murders there are, the higher likelihood more violent, or disruptive, or breaches of the peace with funerals and funeral processions and burials there are,” said Detective Sergeant Jason Moran, who works for the Cook County Sheriff ’s Department. See TASK FORCE on page 5
Submitted photo
BASIC TRAINING: Celebrity Chef Rick Bayless, right, with participants in the inaugural cohort of his Impact Culinary Training, an eight-week professional instruction program for young adults on the West Side. The program takes place at the Hatchery in East Garfield Park.
Rick Bayless does culinary training on West Side Chef’s program, held in Hatchery, confronts labor shortage, jobless rate
By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
“I’ve been figuring out how to help neighborhoods on the West Side for a long time,” Rick Bayless, the celebrity chef and restauranteur — well-known for pioneering Mexican cuisine in Chicago by founding culinary lodestars Topolobampo and Fron-
tera Grill, and by producing a slew of cookbooks and PBS shows — said in a recent phone interview. Bayless, 65, saw his opportunity with the opening last December of the Hatchery — the $34 million, 67,000-square-foot food and beverage incubator at 135 N. Kedzie Ave., in East Garfield Park. The result is Impact Culinary Training,
an eight-week professional instruction program that provides young adults, between 16 and 24, with the rudimentary skills to gain a foothold in the restaurant industry, which is currently dealing with a severe labor shortage. Rob Gifford, the executive vice president
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 IMPACT on page 4
Larry Williams,Agent 5932 W. Lake Street Chicago, 60644 (773) 379-9010 larry.williams.b0bk@statefarm.com