FREE
AUSTINWEEKLY news ■
Vol. 33 No. 46
■
Loretto leapfrogs to top grade in safety ratings,
November 13, 2019
■
austinweeklynews.com
■
Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
PAGE 6
@AustinWeeklyNews
Galewood G l d mourns Rose Farina, page 13
Police brass with Austin ties in running to replace Johnson
Al Wysinger, Barbara West among possible successors to retiring police superintendent By WENDELL HUTSON Contributing Reporter
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson’s decision to retire by the end of the year has prompted a frenzied search for his replacement. So far, two of the possible candidates on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s shortlist to succeed Johnson in the office are high-ranking police with Austin connections. So far, Lightfoot has declined to say if she has contacted any potential candidate, but at a City Hall news conference on Nov. 8, she said local and national candidates are being considered, including “those within the Chicago Police Department.” A national search, which Lightfoot said could take between three and six months, has already begun. And until a new superintendent is chosen, former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck will serve as inSee JOHNSON RETIRES on page 2
Romeo and Juliet
SHANEL ROMAIN/Contributor
PLAYING PROKOFIEV: Riccardo Muti, the director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducts the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest during a rehearsal held at the Kehrein Center for the Arts in Austin on Nov. 10. See more photos on page 5.
Westsiders grapple with marijuana legalization Forum prompts questions about legal nuances related to legalization
By LA RISA LYNCH Contributing Reporter
West Side residents came loaded with questions during a Nov. 5 forum on how the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana would impact them. Austin resident Tyrone Gill was was among the nearly 100 residents who attended the forum sponsored by the 15th District Police Station and the Westside Health Au-
thority, which held the event at its 5437 W. Division St. facility. Gill asked the panelists, comprising representatives from the district, the Cook County State’s Attorney Office, MedMen, an Oak Park cannabis dispensary, and 29th Ward Ald. Chris Taliaferro, how the legalization of cannabis will change law enforcement policies. Gill wondered if police can still stop and search a person under “reasonable suspicion” if the police smell can-
nabis on a person. That, he said, gets a lot of people caught up with the law. “It’s potent,” he said. “If you do have marijuana on you now and you tell [the police] or they see some crumbs, they can search automatically. Come Jan. 1, will that old habit get reinforced with new guidelines, with new teaching techniques in the way they carry out traffic stops or will the same
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 MARIJUANA on page 13
Larry Williams,Agent 5932 W. Lake Street Chicago, 60644 (773) 379-9010 larry.williams.b0bk@statefarm.com