Austin Weekly News 091620

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Vol. 34 No. 38

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Douglas Park signs come down to make way for new name,

September 16, 2020

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austinweeklynews.com

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Also serving Garfield Park

@AustinWeeklyChi

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Westt Sid W Side charter h t school to offer in-person learning, PAGE 3

@AustinWeeklyNews

West Sub seeks cash infusion from state

Pipeline has already benefitted from state, federal funds

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

After receiving an additional $44 million in state and federal funds this year over last, Pipeline Health, the owner of West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and Chicago’s Weiss Hospital, is seeking further special funding from Springfield.

And according to multiple officials, Pipeline is linking receipt of more state funds to its ability to continue operating those hospitals.

It is uncertain if added state funding is possible, according to an August letter from the state to Pipeline obtained by Wednesday Journal. In a statement issued Sept. 4, a Pipeline spokesperson wrote, additional funding is “critical to our ability to continue to serve as a lifeline for the community.”

Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb said Saturday that he has been talking with Jim Edwards, the California-based Pipeline CEO, and that while Edwards is appreciative of the added funding already received, more state funding is being directly linked to the company’s ability to remain viable.

“Yes, that is the way they talk about it with me,” said Abu-Taleb.

Don Harmon, Illinois State Senate president and an Oak Parker, said he remains “an advocate” for West Sub and that discussions are ongoing between the governor’s office and Pipeline.

But he said the state is asking Pipeline to verify the total additional amount of funding it has already received during the pandemic before any further funding could be considered.

See WEST SUB on page 5

PAUL GOYETTE

TRACKING COMPLAINTS: Eunice Carson shows how the COVID-19 Report/ing Card cellphone app works after a press conference outside of Pete’s in Oak Park on the Thursday before Labor Day.

Workers take campaign against bakery to Oak Park

Workers unveiled new COVID-19 reporting tool to hold accountable makers of Little Bites muffins and other products sold at Pete’s

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Eunice Carson stood outside of Pete’s Fresh Market, 259 Lake St., Oak Park, the afternoon of Sept. 3 to demonstrate how the COVID-19 Report/ing Card, a cellphone app works.

“They go in and say who they work for and can give the companies a grade,” Carson said.

The reporting tool is the latest weapon in a pitched battle between Black workers and the owners of Bimbo Bakeries USA’s Cicero factory, where the workers manufacture Little Bites muffins and

other products sold at Pete’s and other stores.

The tool allows employees at the Bimbo plant in Cicero to anonymously report on workplace conditions, including whether or not there’s adequate PPE, social distancing on production lines and

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See BLACK WORKERS on page 9

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Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

OLD SIGNAGE: The signage at Douglas Park has been removed to make way for new signage bearing the park’s new namesakes: Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass.

PASCAL SABINO/ Block Club Chicago

AUSTIN WEEKLY

news Editor Michael Romain

Senior Editor Bob Uphues Contributing Reporters Bonni McKeown, Igor Studenkov Reporting Partners Block Club, Austin Talks Columnist Arlene Jones Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designer Debbie Becker Sales & Marketing Representavies

Douglas Park signs come down, making way for new name

North Lawndale’s biggest park to be renamed after famous abolitionist and his wife

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

Nearly all signs bearing the Douglas Park name have been removed, a day after the Chicago Park District Board voted unanimously to strip Stephen A. Douglas’ name from the largest park in North Lawndale.

The removals are the culmination of a years-long youth-led campaign to have the park renamed in honor of abolitionists Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass.

The park, temporarily named Park 218, is expected to be renamed for the Douglasses after a 45-day public comment period.

Residents like Ronnie McNair, who lives across from the park, were glad to see the signs being taken down.

“We are pretty much predominantly Black over here. And this park here, I really think they’re doing the right thing to rename it,” McNair said.

Every park and public memorial should reflect the values of the community living around it, McNair said.

“It needs to be changed for each neighborhood,” McNair said.

The students at Village Leadership

Academy began organizing in 2017. They proposed the name change to the board, and gathered the support of local officials and over 10,000 petitioners because they felt it was wrong for a park in a historically Black neighborhood to enshrine a notorious advocate for slavery.

Douglas, a Civil War-era U.S. senator, famously debated Abraham Lincoln in 1858 in support of allowing expanded slavery across U.S. territories. His wife is known to have owned at least 100 slaves, and by supporting a state’s right to decide to uphold slavery, he is considered to have de facto endorsed it.

The students behind the campaign initially wanted to rename the park after Rekia Boyd, an unarmed Black woman killed by an offduty police officer at the park in 2012. The officer was acquitted in Boyd’s death.

The idea evolved into renaming the park for Douglass since it seemed like an easier ask for the Park District.

Douglass was born a slave, but eventually became an esteemed orator and statesman.

He escaped bondage with the help of Murray Douglass, an abolitionist in her own right who became his wife. The pair operated a station on the Underground Railroad from their home in Rochester, N.Y. The signs removed by park district staffers already bore the Douglass name unofficially.

An anonymous painter who grew tired of waiting on the city’s bureaucratic process took things into their own hands by painting an extra “s” at the end of nearly every sign in the park.

The students behind the campaign to

rename the park are also fighting to rename other memorials to Stephen Douglas, like the street Douglas Boulevard which has been unchanged.

One sign at the park’s mini-golf course still reads Douglas Park. But a different group of students are working to redesign the mini-golf course and rename it in honor of Frederick Douglass, as well.

The putt-putt project is called Douglass 18, and is a collaboration between the educators at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago at Homan Square, the Lincoln Park Zoo, local artist Haman Cross, and other organizations.

Related: Douglas Park Is Getting Its MiniGolf Course Back After Students, Artists Step Up To Save It Nearby resident Cordell Crawford said the name of the park was just one injustice among many in Lawndale that needs to be fixed. But he believes by giving young people a sense of pride in their cultural heritage, the park will help the community move in the right direction toward addressing other issues.

“That’s a real good start because when any events happen, it’s happening right here.

Now they got something that they really can look forward to now,” Crawford said.

“These go hand in hand. They doing this. So eventually it’ll trickle down to the violence out here.”

Pascal Sabino is a Report for America corps member covering Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago.

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org

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Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

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West Side charter school to offer in-person classes

Measure meant to help children of essential workers, school officials say

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

A West Side school will combine inperson and virtual classes even as nearly all traditional public schools in Chicago gear up for online classes.

Many West Side families are not equipped for fully online school, and online-only classes would not suit the specific needs of the school’s learning community, said officials at North Lawndale College Prep.

School started last Tuesday.

Parents will be able to choose whether to send students to the campus twice weekly if their child needs an in-person connection to stay on track.

“A lot of our students’ parents are essential workers, which wouldn’t allow them to be home during remote learning. That puts the kids at a significant disadvantage when we’re trying to do the remote learning,” said Kieran Palmer Klein, the school’s director of academics.

The limits of fully online learning were

evident in the spring, when schools across Illinois were closed.

North Lawndale College Prep sent out digital devices and tried to provide internet hot spots for students since many families in Lawndale lack computers and wifi, Palmer Klein said. Still, student attendance and engagement metrics did not meet the administration’s goals.

“We got a pretty sobering reminder, a glimpse at how virtual learning was not working particularly well for our kids,” Palmer Klein said.

Following the lackluster results, North Lawndale College Prep’s administration gathered feedback on what families need for their students to be successful and safe, eventually getting input from 97 percent of families.

About half of the families felt their children needed in-school classes to achieve a quality education, while the other half wanted only virtual learning because of the pandemic, Palmer Klein said.

From that feedback, the school worked with families to design a plan to reopen with a hybrid model so students who need inperson support will get it.

Students attending in-person classes will be split into two groups, each of which will attend school twice per week on alternating

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Class sizes are capped at 15 students, masks are mandatory and the school has increased its cleaning schedule and added hand sanitizer stations throughout the buildings. Start times, passing periods and dismissal times will be staggered to avoid crowding, and all students will have their temperatures checked before entering the building.

When the school reached out to Lorenzia Anderson, she was hesitant about the hybrid schedule because of COVID. But her son was eager to get back to school: He struggled to stay focused in his spring online classes enough that his perfect 4.0 grade point average began to slip.

“He keeps more focus in school than doing it at home … in school, you actually have hands-on and one-on-one,” Anderson said.

Many students cannot succeed academically without the social and emotional support they get from peers, teachers and mentors at the school, Anderson said. Those supports are especially important in communities struggling with trauma where the school is one of the only places in the area where young people can feel safe and supported, she said.

“Peer support is very big right now.

Especially with everything going on around us, having your peers there to communicate with is very big,” Anderson said.

Anderson, like many residents in predominantly Black communities, is an essential worker. That means she can’t work from home, so she can’t check on her kids to make sure they are focused and sticking to their schedules, or to keep them from nodding off midway through a long day at a computer.

The challenge of not being home while her kids were doing online classes was tough enough she had to take time off work in the spring.

“Being an essential worker and your kid has to be online and at school, that makes a very big difference,” she said. “For me to be at work trying to make two kids across the city get up and get online at the same time,

that was very, very hard.”

Wilonda Cannon, a North Lawndale College Prep mom, decided not to send her son to in-person classes because she is able to work from home, and online classes worked well for her son’s learning style.

But Cannon’s family struggled in the spring with remote learning because there weren’t enough rooms in the house for six members of her family to have a workspace at the same time.

“I had converted a coat closet into my office, where I put a little bench and brought a chair into a cramped space,” said Cannon, who also serves on the school’s board. “There’s no space for students to be students. At school, they have a desk, they have a locker.”

Cannon’s internet connection was spotty and overloaded from having six family members working and learning remotely at once.

But the family has moved to a home with more space.

Chicago Public Schools initially planned to begin the school year using a hybrid learning schedule, but in August the district opted to pursue fully online classes for the fall.

Since North Lawndale College Prep is a charter school, its administration does not have to follow CPS’ plan. The school is split between one campus at 1615 S. Christiana Ave. and the Collins campus at Douglas Park, 1313 S Sacramento Drive, and both will allow families to opt into the hybrid academic schedule.

“They know and understand the plight of Black and Brown children, particularly in North Lawndale and what they need,” Cannon said. “They knew they had to do it because some kids, they just would not make it If school was not open and was not an option.”

Pascal Sabino is a Report for America corps member covering Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago.

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org

“The” Friendship BAPTIST CHURCH Rev. Dr. Reginald E. Bachus, Pastor

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

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Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

NEED TO REACH US?

Call Editor Michael Romain at 773-626-6332 michael@austinweeklynews.com

L

ike most people, COVID-19 has been a game-changer for me. I drive part-time for a living, and as the pandemic began to take hold, I stopped working. But instead of doing all the things I professed I would like to do if I had two months stuck in the house, all I did was sleep. But that was good. My old body needed that rest. I returned to work just as the summer started. That is the benefit of working a gig job. I work when I want.

September is here and fall is just a couple of days away.

Strangely, the summer didn’t go as fast as I would have thought.

I did miss the sound of baseball playing on the television. Not that I really

Where did the time go?

watched it, but that is always one of my permanent fixtures of summer.

The one benefit of not having baseball was that driving by Wrigley Field was no longer a nightmare.

I did get my garden to grow.

I had so many things to do that harvesting has been more the squirrel eating stuff off the plant than me actually taking it inside. The cucumbers are still growing on the vine and they have turned white and fat.

Every year I profess that I want to try to turn them into pickles, and every year I just don’t seem to have the time. My son gave me a great suggestion. Next year, just put a box out front that says free

vegetables and people can take what they want. I like that idea and will definitely do it.

I did get two watermelons to grow. Unfortunately, the bigger of the two split open and it wasn’t fully ripe. The second one is still growing and I’ll see by the end of this month if it becomes edible. Next year, I’ll start the seeds early so that they can get that full 120 days of growing time.

I’m on a time-frame countdown to finish my outdoor projects. Last year my leaking water spigot froze a big block of ice against the house. Fortunately, it warmed up and I was able to put an old hose onto the spigot and lead it toward the drain. I only have a couple more weeks to get the plumber out to try to change that fixture. Seeing how almost the entire summer has passed without me getting it fixed, that becomes another lament of “Where did the time go?”

The violence that has permeated the city has been depressing. I am still an advocate of bringing in the National Guard. Someone made a great suggestion. Let the National Guard control the downtown area, and let the police deal with the neighborhoods.

We need to have a day, followed by a week, followed by a month with no more senseless shootings. Because other than a major blizzard that shuts down this whole city, we seem to have individuals intent on creating havoc and chaos.

The days leading up to the presidential election are going to be very interesting.

We already have early voting in place, and because of COVID-19, it would make sense to allow that to go on 24 hours a day up until Election Day. My hopes and prayers are that whatever the results, it doesn’t tear this country apart.

years ago, we have invested in this facility and worked to overcome the checkered history of race relations that existed prior to our acquisition. We have and will continue to work diligently to create an environment that is safe and equitable for all associates.”

A representative with Bimbo was not available to comment on the most recent allegations.

“We didn’t start in the street, we started by sitting down with the company at the national level,” said Dan Giloth, an Oak Park organizer affiliated with Black Workers Matter.

“We tried to work this out. We sat down in February and laid out the issues. They didn’t take us seriously. Then COVID hit. Bimbo had a plant in Wuhan. They had a plant in Italy. They knew what to do. They dragged

their feet. And then sanitation people started telling us the plant wasn’t clean.

Workers started complaining. They spoke to their manager. They spoke to the press.

They spoke to the Cicero Independiente. In April, two workers died. We believe these deaths could have been avoided.”

Giloth read a statement written by Dennean Paul, who works in the sanitation department at the Bimbo plan. Paul stated that the “racism at Bimbo is unbelievable” and said that she “trained people for positions I couldn’t get.”

The Black workers said that they can count on one hand the number of Black supervisors employed at both plants and complained about the racial stratification of the workforce.

“We got four lines in the plant,” said

Dion Paige, who works at Bimbo. “They’re always segregated. The Black people and the Mexicans work separately on the lines. We should be working together.”

Shay Mitchell, a Bimbo employee who has recently filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the working conditions at the plant, said that “we are being discriminated against, we are being retaliated against.”

Mitchell said she was suspended two days after complaining to a production manager at Bimbo about widespread racism at the plant.

Anthony Stewart, the founder of Black Workers Matter, said that Bimbo has sped up the production lines and forced people who feel sick to report to work by threatening them with retaliatory measures.

Steve Robinson, a Black Workers Matter member and director of the Northwest Austin Community Council, repeated a list of demands the organization has been making since February, but that members say have still gone unmet.

They include anti-racism training run by the EEOC; a monthly report outlining “the numbers on race for all management and workers by shift and job;” monthly offsite meetings with Bimbo representatives on race relations; and an end to the alleged retaliation, among other demands.

The workers also want the company to fix the unsafe line speeds and issue “a written, public policy that no workers on leave for underlying conditions will be fired.”

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson said he “stands in solidarity” with the workers and called on corporations to take responsibility for their employees.

“Maybe all of us need to make call for a general strike,” he said.

ARLENE JONES

BLACK WORKERS Speaking out from page 1 common areas, and hazard pay, among other things.

The app is also for workers at a Hostess Bakery in Galewood — another site the workers consider problematic, albeit not quite as problematic as Bimbo.

During a press conference held earlier in the day, members of the labor organization Black Workers Matter, which worked with volunteers like Carson (who doesn’t work at the plants) to develop the app, detailed a range of longstanding complaints against Bimbo.

The workers have complained for months about unsafe working conditions at the plant, that include a lack of personal protective equipment and no social distancing that has exposed them to COVID-19.

Since April, the workers said, two employees at the plant have died and at least four workers who publicly complained about Bimbo to local media have been terminated as part of what Black Workers Matter members believe is a pattern of retaliation against them by plant management.

The workers also complained about a pattern of discriminatory behavior by plant management toward Black workers, racial segregation in the plant’s workforce and a pattern of favoritism toward the plant’s Hispanic workers.

Bimbo representatives have consistently denied the workers’ claims. In a statement emailed to Wednesday Journal in June, a spokesperson for Bimbo said that the “safety and inclusive treatment of our associates is our highest priority.

“Since purchasing the Cicero bakery two

PAUL GOYETTE

CALLING OUT OWNERS: Members of Black Workers Matter gather outside of Pete’s Fresh Market in Oak Park on the Thursday before Labor Day to complain about poor and unsafe working conditions at Bimbo Bakery in Cicero. The workers recently unveiled a COVID-19 evaluation tool that lets workers anonymously report on their work environment at the plant.

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

Westlake closing caused West Sub worries The closure of Westlake Hospital immediately prompted worries that West Suburban would follow suit.

NEW CONCERNS: West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, which serves many Austin residents, could be in trouble. The company that owns it is telling lawmakers that without an infusion of funds from the state, they may not be able to continue operating the facility.

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File photo

On Sept. 11, 2019, former Westlake employees filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Pipeline, claiming the company violated the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act by not providing notice of termination to more than 500 Westlake employees at least 60 days in advance.

“Pipeline Health’s flagrant manipulation of the system endangers not only the former patients and employees of Westlake Hospital, but also everyone in the Chicago and Oak Park communities, especially those that currently rely on Weiss and West Suburban for health care and employment,” the lawsuit claimed.

The lawsuit also accused Pipeline of creating a shell company “for the sole purpose of acquiring -- and then immediately closing -- Westlake Hospital” as part of a strategy developed to benefit Pipeline’s investors, despite Pipeline officials telling the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board that the Westlake would stay open for at least two years after the purchase.

A complaint filed Nov. 11, 2019, stated that Pipeline hospital had no interest in operating Westlake and decided to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy instead of spending the money to run the hospital.

The class-action lawsuit is still pending, according to attorney Ari Scharg of Edelsen PC, who is representing the former Westlake employees.

The class-action lawsuit is just one in a string of lawsuits filed against Pipeline. After Pipeline reneged on the promise to keep Westlake open, the village of Melrose Park filed a state lawsuit on March 7, 2019 accusing the company of “fraud” and “conspiracy.”

The village of Melrose Park filed a second lawsuit against Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board and Pipeline, challenging the board’s decision to approve the closure of Westlake. Scharg represented Melrose Park in both cases. Pipeline agreed to pay the village of Melrose Park $1.5 million to settle the two lawsuits.

Scharg has represented parties with grievances against Pipeline in four different lawsuits, including the filing of two whistleblower cases, wherein Pipeline terminated the employment of people providing information about Westlake’s closure to Melrose Park.

The whistleblower cases were dismissed by agreement of the parties. Scharg has also represented five former Westlake employees in front of the National Labor Relations Board.

A closure of West Suburban Medical Center, Scharg said, would be “terrible.”

“Their whole thing with closing Westlake was that West Sub is so close and that there’s not going to be any absence of healthcare options in the area because of the proximity of West Sub,” Scharg told Wednesday Journal.

WEST SUB In trouble? from page 1 Harmon said Pipeline has told him that they are “committed to both hospitals and I take them at their word. Though the closing of Westlake is still fresh in people’s mind.”

Pipeline purchased three Chicago area hospitals from Tenet Healthcare in 2018 – West Sub, Weiss on the city’s north side and Westlake in Proviso Township. It promised to continue operating all three but reneged on that pledge and quickly closed Westlake.

State Rep. LaShawn K. Ford (D-8th) said he has been told the state has effectively ended discussions with Pipeline over additional funds.

“My understanding is that the hospital is reporting that they are so far in the hole and the governor has refused to help them with the money they need to stay open,” said Ford, who added he received that information from a lobbyist in Springfield.

Ford served on the board of West Suburban Medical Center, but he resigned after its acquisition by Pipeline Health.

In a Sept. 4 statement to Wednesday Journal, a spokesperson for Pipeline said the company is still in talks with Governor J.B. Pritzker and other elected officials seeking additional financial support.

Pipeline’s statement reads: “We have been in discussions and continue to be with the Governor’s office and other elected officials about obtaining supplemental funding for services at West Suburban. As a safety net hospital serving an 85 percent African American and Hispanic patient population and with approximately 40 percent of our patients on Medicaid, this support is critical to our ability to continue to serve as a lifeline for the community.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to discriminately infect these historically underserved communities, supplemental funding could not come at a more critical time.”

The Pipeline statement for the first time identifies West Sub as a “safety net hospital,” an official designation allowing added state and federal funding. The mix of patients, largely what percentage are covered

by Medicaid, distinguishes a safety net facility from a more typical community hospital.

When contacted, Pipeline Health co-owner Eric E. Whitaker refused to comment on the status of West Suburban. Pipeline Chief Strategy Officer BJ Krech said he is “not aware of any pending closure of West Sub.” “The only thing closing that I’m aware of with Oak Park hospitals is the closure of the skilled nursing unit at Rush Oak Park,” Krech said.

Krech said he’d been in discussions with Rush Oak Park on a potential collaboration between the two hospitals regarding care coordination as Rush, pending state approval, will transition that unit out of

service.

Bruce Elegant, longtime head of Rush Oak Park, confirmed those discussions but called them exploratory and said “no formal arrangement” would follow. Rather, he said, West Sub might be added to the mix of discharge options its staff considers for Rush patients.

Ford raised questions about Pipeline’s plans.

“The question is, where is the commitment [from Pipeline]?” he asked. “Are they committed to being all about profit or are they about making sure they provide highquality health care for the patients that they serve?”

Ford worries the impact the hospital’s possible closure will have on Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.

“This is devastating for the Austin community, because many gunshot victims go there,” Ford said.

“This big corporate organization has come in and bought hospitals in high-poverty areas or areas that serve high-needs patients with Medicaid and patients without insurance,” said Ford. “And they’ve closed them down.”

Ford compared Pipeline officials to venture capitalists, believing Pipeline acquired the three hospitals for the purpose of asset stripping.

“They’re those people that buy businesses and then they bankrupt them,” Ford said.

Dan Haley contributed to this report.

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Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

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Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

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Chicago’s Faith Community Steps up Effort to Increase Census Participation

t’s the one place where people are sure to gather willfully on a consistent basis – the church. History has proven time and time again that when God’s people are on one accord, change happens. With a pandemic in our midst coupled with civil unrest across the nation, now is not the best time to count the U.S. population, but what choice do we have? It’s 2020, and it’s time for the Census. Everyone in Chicago, particularly in under-served areas, must get counted, and the faith community plays a major role in helping get this done.

Even as you read this column, there is less than one month left for us to complete the Census. COVID-19 has drastically reduced our opportunities to gather in person to rally our congregants to participate. Fear and misinformation also fuel the hesitation of being counted. However, we cannot let a health crisis or untruths about what is being done with the data stop us from doing what is in the

best interest of our people, and quite frankly, our lawful duty.

With the help of my ministerial colleagues, we have launched a massive “pulpit campaign” designed to reach thousands of worshippers.

Armed with the theme taken from Joshua 24:15 “As For Me and My House…,” we will share a collective message to our memberships on Census Sunday, September 13th. We are calling on members and nonmembers to pack the church house whether in-person, drive-up or virtually to receive and act on the message that completing the 2020 Census is something that we ALL must do!

As a member of the Counting on Chicago Coalition, I take this duty very seriously as millions of dollars are at stake that will determine funding for everything from housing and education to Medicaid, transportation and student loans. Chicago’s West and South side faith leaders from the

Baptist, C.O.G.I.C., A.M.E., C.M.E., Apostolic, Full Gospel, Catholic and Non-Denominational factions have aligned to deliver the united message that our voices will not be left out of the history that will be written over the next ten years.

It is time to the break cycle where communities of color are undercounted. The church is doing its civic duty to ensure that the people we were called to lead take 10 minutes to do something that will impact their lives for 10 years.

As for me and my house, WE WILL COMPLETE THE CENSUS! Dr. Michael Eaddy is the Pastor of People’s Church of the Harvest Church of God in Christ in Chicago.

Pastor MIchael Eaddy People’s Church of the Harvest COGIC

For more information about Census Sunday, contact Carol Washington at 773-426-1570 or via email at peopleschurchadm3@gmail.com.

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Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

Lawmakers want Pritzker to pause licensing process

Rep. Ford, stakeholders say pot licensing process not transparent, flawed

By RAYMON TRONCOSO Capitol News Illinois

Some lawmakers and stakeholders are asking Gov. JB Pritzker to hold off awarding 75 marijuana dispensary licenses amid concerns that just 21 applicants qualified for the first round of licenses.

Applicants for licenses were graded on a 250-point scale established by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to determine which firm receives a license. The applications were scored by an unaffiliated third-party, KPMG, a private auditing firm. KPMG was paid $4.2 million

by IDFPR to grade the applications, a process that was delayed by five month amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Because each of those 21 applicants achieved a perfect score, the 75 licenses are to be distributed via lottery. In an email sent Tuesday, a spokesman for IDFPR, which

oversees the marijuana dispensary licensing process, said the lottery would take place in late September.

Lawmakers, social equity activists and rejected applicants raised concerns almost immediately after IDFPR released its list of approved firms two weeks ago.

“The worst thing you can do is to keep digging a deeper hole. I would like to suggest to (Gov. Pritzker) to step up and put the social equity licenses on hold. KPMG and others screwed up. Stop this mess!!!” state Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch wrote on Twitter two days after the winning firms were announced.

Welch sent a letter to Pritzker in July, asking that he delay the licensing process to add additional safeguards and make sure it was equitable.

Earlier this month, the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus and the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus both sent letters to the governor asking that he suspend the lottery from taking place and provide legislators more information about the process. Requests include a more detailed explanation of the scoring methodology, an explanation for why KPMG received a nobid contract to conduct application reviews,

and for the applications of the top scorers to be made publicly available on the IDFPR website.

State Reps. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, and Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, distributed a joint news release calling into question the equitable nature of the process.

“My constituents have been contacting me and expressing their concern that the African American community got left behind again by a system that benefits rich insiders,” Ford said. “There must be transparency and all questions need to be answered.”

The pair held a virtual town hall on Feb. 9 with rejected social equity applicants.

“We were anticipating some really great results that we could hold up to the rest of the nation,” Willis said during that town hall. “We did not see that, we did not see this social equity piece come into play that so many of us that voted for this because of that aspect wanted… And we’re questioning that.”

Pritzker and his senior marijuana advisor Toi Hutchinson addressed concerns about the process Tuesday but rejected calls to halt distribution of the 75 licenses.

“There will be changes and fixes along the

way,” Pritzker said. “The social equity focus of the cannabis industry, and how it was created, this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint.”

The governor noted that there are over 300 more licenses to be given out by the state, and he was open to changes to the process in how those would be distributed.

According to Pritzker, about two-thirds of the successful applicants were firms owned primarily by people of color.

“When we’re done with this process, we will have the largest percentage ownership by people of color anywhere in the nation.”

Hutchinson said disappointment in the first round is due to the fact that 4,500 applications were submitted between 700 applicants, with only 343 applications from the 21 selected applicants making the cut.

All 21 applicants achieved social equity status under the guidelines established by the IPFPR, and over 60 percent of all applications had that designation.

Two applicants who were not approved to receive dispensary licenses are currently suing the state to stop the lottery from taking place, according to the Chicago Tribune.

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

Rejected social equity applicants speak out

Minorities vying for dispensary licenses lodge complaints during Zoom town hall

By SHELBY E. HAWKINS AustinTalks

Saran Howell – one of hundreds of applicants vying for 75 weed dispensary licenses being doled out by the state – didn’t make it to the next round, and she’s not happy about that.

Howell, her husband, her sister and her sister’s wife had hoped to be named a finalist for the lottery, the next step in awarding the so-called “social equity” licenses. Howell was one of several unsuccessful applicants who voiced concerns last week about the way Illinois officials are awarding the coveted licenses.

“Let me first congratulate the 21 finalists because I’m sure they had great applications,” Howell said on Feb. 9 during a Zoom press conference. “But we are a social equity, minority, women-owned organization that also put in a comprehensive application.

Like all of the social equity applicants here, we put in countless hours all while working full-time jobs.”

One of Howell’s business partners, Robiere Hill, also questioned why their application

contract with KPMG, which rated more than 4,000 applications; whether the firm has any financial conflicts; and if the state has considered halting the licensing process.

“We cannot let our very Screenshot people who SHUT OUT: Reps. La Shawn K. Ford, bottom far left, and Kathleen Willis, spent their bottom far right, co-hosted a Zoom town hall last week that gave fruslife savings trated social equity applicants a platform to vent their concerns with the or investment money that state’s marijuana licensing process. they could’ve invested in didn’t make the cut.

“Our team is majority from something more possible to achieve than disproportionately impacted areas, and a lottery that was probably not attainable we’ve spent the majority of our lives in the first place,” Ford said. “We ask the investing in those communities and living governor to please have a real due process in those communities and giving back to for people so that they don’t have to go to those communities,” Hill said. “It’s time that court to spend money.”

Willis said she wants Illinois to be at the we see the reward for that.”

Also at the press conference were Reps. La forefront of social equity in the recreational Shawn Ford and Kathleen Willis, who sent weed world. That means prioritizing Black a letter last week to Gov. J.B. Pritzker after and brown communities who have been the 21 “social equity” finalists were named. most hurt by drugs, she said.

Illinois dispensary owners – some of The letter questions why there was a no-bid

whom have made it to the final round for the 75 licenses – are largely white and male, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Another losing applicant, Forty Acres and Mule’s Gregory Owens, said he hopes the legislature revisits the law. “I’m hoping that there is an opportunity to make a change in legislation for the lottery. I would love to see the winning applications for comparison.”

Reps. Ford and Willis said they’re working on a “trailer bill” to introduce during the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session that will reflect the many concerns would-be pot shop operators have raised.

The governor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.

Sunday morning, the lawmakers held a press conference via Facebook Live to talk about developments in a pending federal lawsuit filed over the state’s cannabis program.

The federal lawsuit was filed against the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which regulates cannabis dispensaries, and Bret Bender, deputy director of the department’s cannabis control division.

The suit alleges the agency’s decision to move forward on a lottery to award licenses without giving the “unsuccessful applicants any opportunity to challenge their ineligibility is unconstitutional and cannot be permitted.”

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

9

Chicago Avenue corridor’s revitalization continues

Recent investments could be key to driving new development along historic West Side strip

By ZACH CUNNING AustinTalks

From the 1920s until the 1960s, Austin was a bustling hub full of workers. Train service to the city ran frequently, and parks, mansions and a town hall were built.

Then in the 1960s and 1970s, the African American population began increasing, and white residents fled.

A campaign of blockbusting and redlining by banks and government officials quickly turned Austin “from a thriving social and industrial hub to a depressed economic area,” according to Austin Coming Together.

In recent years, Austin Coming Together and other West Side groups have been working to restore business – and all the opportunity that goes with it — to Austin.

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development announced earlier this year the Chicago City Council had approved an additional $7.3 million for contracts with Local Initiatives Support Corp. and Main Street America for the implementation of INVEST South/West.

INVEST South/West, launched last fall, is a $750 million initiative to revitalize 10 economic corridors on the South and West sides. One of those corridors is in Austin, the section of Chicago Avenue between Austin Boulevard and Cicero Avenue.

Other West Side corridors include further east on Chicago Avenue from Pulaski Road to Kedzie Avenue; and North Avenue, from Cicero Avenue to Central Park Avenue.

LISC has been given a four-year contract valued at $1.2 million annually, while Main Street America has received a five-year contract valued at $500,000 per year.

Deputy Commissioner Jim Harbin said the money will be used by LISC and Main Street America to hire a manager for each corridor, as well as provide training and support, and to facilitate engagement with

community members.

One of those stakeholders is Malcolm Crawford, executive director of the Austin African American Business Networking Association. He also runs Sankofa Cultural Arts & Business Center at 5820 W. Chicago Ave. – in the midst of the Austin corridor.

Crawford has been working for several years to turn Chicago Avenue into the Soul City Corridor – a celebration of black music, food, art and culture.

“Chicago is known for its diversity of communities,” he said.

While there is Chinatown, Greektown, Boystown and Ukrainian Village, “there is no economic driver for African Americans,” he said.

Crawford said when he started talking about creating a Soul City Corridor in Austin several years ago, no one understood what he was trying to do.

Now, he said, people know the importance of having a place that allows everyone to come and experience the richness of African American culture.

One of the new business owners on the Soul City Corridor is Devin Sims.

Sims opened Roasted Leaf, a cigar shop and café at 5925 W. Chicago Ave. in February. He decided to start his business in Austin, where he lives, because there aren’t any cigar or coffee shops in the area.

“You gotta go outside of our neighborhood to even enjoy a good cup of coffee or to get a good cigar,” he said.

Roasted Leaf closed for several months after a fire in March but reopened Aug. 1.

Austin is missing more than good coffee and cigars.

Sims, Crawford and 29th Ward Ald. Chris Taliaferro all said there is a need for diverse businesses, especially sit-down restaurants, so residents can spend their money in Austin.

Crawford said multiple research studies found that people want venues where they can actually sit down and have food and a drink while interacting with each other.

“People really want to be able to access their community … the only thing you can do in Austin is go to church and go home,” he said.

Ald. Taliaferro agrees that Austin – the second most-populated of Chicago’s 77 community areas – deserves more.

SHANEL ROMAIN

REVITALIZATION COMING?: The Chicago Avenue corridor in Austin could be in the middle of a revitalization as new businesses like the Roasted Leaf cigar shop move in and the city invests millions in the development.

“We need to have a corridor that’s going to keep residents working and shopping along the corridor, rather than taking our dollars outside of the corridor and into neighboring suburbs.”

He said a key component of that is infrastructure development.

At the ward level, Taliaferro said he’s working to get street lamps repaired and trash receptacles installed to keep the streets clean.

He said plants and art projects will be installed, streets repaved and sidewalks extended to make the Chicago Avenue corridor visually attractive and more walkable.

Taliaferro said this will attract both businesses and customers, which will increase employment opportunities and lower crime.

Deputy Commissioner Harbin said Austin’s Chicago Avenue corridor was chosen to be part of the initiative because of the presence of well-organized community-based organizations and AAABNA’s Soul City Corridor

=branding.

“You have that energy. You have the support, you have the troops on the ground,” Harbin said.

Corridor managers hired by LISC will are the first point of contact for current and prospective business owners – and the driving force behind business returning to the Austin corridor.

Jake Ament, director of neighborhood network at LISC, said they need people who can “lead the technical aspects of moving projects forward along those priority corridors.

“The entities best suited to do this are actually located in those neighborhoods and have experience working in those neighborhoods,” he said.

The plan is to announce corridor managers by the end of August, said Caroline Rendon, a program officer.

Dionne Baux, director of Main Street America’s Urban Main Program, said their group will provide training, coaching and consulting services, and focus on design, promotion, economic vitality and organization.

Baux said this ensures “that community residents as well as community leaders [have] a grassroots approach that they could use to revitalize their commercial corridor.”

Harbin said: “The outcome is … helping empower small businesses locally, which should help support jobs, which should help support economic development within the community area.”

“I’m not just talking about investing in edifices or buildings. We’re talking about investing in people.”

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

10

Austin Weekly News, September 16, 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

CALL: 773-626-6332 | FAX: 708-467-9066 | E-MAIL: classifieds@AustinWeeklyNews.com Place your ad online anytime at AUSTINWEEKLYNEWS.COM/CLASSIFIED

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FLOATER YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST Hephzibah Children’s Association is a social service agency in Oak Park, IL providing a variety of programs including Residential Group Homes, Foster Care programs and other Family Based services and Day Care.

We are accepting applications for part time Floater Youth Development Specialists in our Day Care program for the 20-21 school year. You will assist with e-learning and provide supervision and care to 5-11-year-old (Kindergarten-5th grade) children in the Oak Park community.

The position is part time, as needed, between the hours of 7:20 am and 3:20 pm weekdays – approximately 16-24 hours per week.

Requirements include: • Minimum of 6 semester hours in education, recreation, social work, or related college courses • Experience working with children You will supervise and assist children with e-learning programs; plan and supervise arts and crafts, indoor & outdoor play, games, sports, homework help, lunchtime, snack time and more.

The program follows the safety guidelines of the IDPH including daily health screening of all staff and participations (temperature check and health questionnaire) required face masks, social distancing and cleaning & disinfecting.

Contact: MJ Joyce at mjjoyce@ hephzibahhome.org Equal Opportunity Employer To Be Given Away, Items for Sale and Lost & Found classified ads run free in Austin Weekly News!

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PARTTIME VISION THERAPIST Late afternoon and pm hours weekdays and possible Saturdays Work one on one with patients to improve vision skills.Training provided. Fax resume to 708-771-0513 or email to eyegirls@att.net

CITY RENTALS DELUXE 3BR APT 5955 W HURON First Floor. Large kitchen, all electric appliances. Near West SuburbanHospital. Near all public trans. $1150/mo.

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SUBURBAN RENTALS Apartment listings updated daily at:

Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am – 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue.

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GARAGE/YARD SALES North Riverside

AUTISM SPEAKS FUNDRAISER GARAGE SALE 2413 S 3RD FRI 9/18 & SAT 19/19 9AM TO 3PM

Holiday dĂŠcor, clothes, shoes, too much to list! All proceeds go to Autism Speaks.

ITEMS FOR SALE 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 VINTAGE HOWELL RED CHAIRS 6 beautiful vintage red chrome steel dining chairs by furniture maker Howell (St. Charles, IL) from the 1950s. All chairs in great condition.

Small tears in two of the seats and extremely minor tear in third.

Other three are in excellent condition. Wear is consistent with age/ vintage condition and all chairs have been temporarily repaired to prevent further tearing.

Price is $100/chair or $500/set of 6.

Delivery available.

773-780-6315

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C O N C R E T E C O N S T RU C T I O N “QUALITY IS OUR FOUNDATION� ESTABLISHED IN 1987

COMMERCIAL ˜ INDUSTRIAL ˜ RESIDENTIAL

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,� as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20004259 on August 27, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of CLASS C ENTERPRISES with the business located at: 5464 W POTOMAC, CHICAGO, IL 60651.

The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: CAROL HARRIS, 5464 W POTOMAC, CHICAGO, IL 60651, USA Published in Austin Weekly News 9/9, 9/16, 9/23/2020

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION CILICI, LLC Plaintiff, -v.TORAMY CAMPBELL, CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA), N.A., URBAN PARTNERSHIP BANK Defendants 18 CH 09239 1342 NORTH MASSASOIT CHICAGO, IL 60651 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on March 27, 2019, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on October 7, 2020, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1342 NORTH MASSASOIT, CHICAGO, IL 60651 Property Index No. 16-05-220-0180000 The real estate is improved with a brown brick, two story multi unit home with a detached two car garage.

Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/ or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS� condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court.

Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale.

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'5,9(:$<6 Â&#x2021; )281'$7,216 Â&#x2021; 3$7,26 67(36 Â&#x2021; &85% *877(56 Â&#x2021; 6,'(:$/.6 612: 3/2:,1* Â&#x2021; 67$03(' &2/25(' $**5(*$7( &21&5(7( FREE ESTIMATES LICENSED, BONDED & INSURED

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Call the experts before you place your legal ad! Publish your assumed name legal notice in Austin Weekly News Call Mary Ellen for details: 708/613-3342

Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

(773) 626-6332 | FAX: (708) 467-9066 | E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@AUSTINWEEKLYNEWS.COM

11

CLASSIFIEDS

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice: Your right to know In print • Online • Available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year

AustinWeeklyNews.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.

If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required

by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4).

If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1).

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60602. Tel No. (312) 346-9088.

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200 Chicago IL, 60602 312-346-9088 E-Mail: pleadings@mccalla.com Attorney File No. 264856 Attorney ARDC No. 61256 Attorney Code. 61256 Case Number: 18 CH 09239 TJSC#: 39-2183 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Case # 18 CH 09239 I3153652

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION DITECH FINANCIAL LLC; Plaintiff, vs.

HAROLD T. ROBINSON; LIBERTY BANK AND TRUST COMPANY FKA COVENANT BANK; COOK COUNTY; THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, OFFICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON RECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 17 CH 14629 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 Monday, October 19, 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. 16-14-108-028-0000.

Commonly known as 3906 West Gladys Street, Chicago, IL 60624.

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 Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 19-042344 F2 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3155847

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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12

Austin Weekly News, September 16, 2020

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