■ Lawsuits reveal West Sub’s financial frailty PAGE 3
FREE Vol. 40 No. 3
January 21, 2026 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
@AustinWeeklyNews
@austinweeklynews
Funkytown Brewery is coming to the West Side, page 4
@AustinWeeklyChi
Chicago’s low 2025 homicide rate reflected on West Side FILE
Chicago artist Dwight White with middle-school participants from BUILD’s art program at the mural unveiling in 2023.
BUILD weathers federal funding whiplash Staff Reporter
The afternoon of Jan. 14, officials at BUILD received an email from one of the organization’s funders at the Illinois Department of Human Services. The email said that a five-year, $2.5 million
state grant for mental health care and substance use prevention had been terminated, following the Trump administration’s decision to cut the funding. Every year, $500,000 of that state grant funds BUILD’s violence prevention, gang intervention and youth development resources in Austin and Humboldt Park.
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
BUILD CEO Bradly Johnson told Austin Weekly News that, according to the email, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) told the IDHS on Jan. 13 that substance use prevention discretionary
In 2025, the City of Chicago saw a 29% decrease in homicides, Block Club Chicago reported this month — the lowest number of people killing each other in Chicago in 60 years. Of last year’s 416 homicides, 98 were in the Chicago Police Department’s 10th, 11th and 15th districts that cover Chicago’s West Side and beyond, according to data from the Chicago Police Department’s ClearMap. As with homicide rates across Chicago, those on the city’s greater West Side are also decreasing. In 2024, the 10th, 11th and 15th police districts saw 144 homicides, according to the Chicago
See BUILD on page 8
See HOMICIDES on page 6
Last week, the West Side organization learned that a 5-year, $2.5 million state grant was terminated, then reinstated By JESSICA MORDACQ
City recorded its fewest homicides in 60 years; killings in Austin, Lawndale and Garfield Park neighborhoods also down
Follow us on Instagram! @austinweeklynews Top stories, local government, features, events, dining, art, and schools right at your fingertips!