■ Almost time for farmers markets PAGE 3
FREE Vol. 40 No. 20
May 20, 2026 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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West Side fights for overdose prevention center House Bill 2929 could create pilot site for wraparound services, supervised drug use on West Side
Page B1
A coffee culture grows on the West Side How nonprofits and entrepreneurs are building an independent coffee scene that is more than just coffee and food
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Residents living on Chicago’s West Side are advocating for a pilot overdose prevention center, where people can go to access wraparound resources that have successfully reduced overdose deaths in other states and use drugs under supervision of trained professionals who can intervene to prevent fatalities. State Rep. La Shawn Ford — who’s the Democratic candidate to succeed Cong. Danny Davis come November’s election — is sponsoring House Bill 2929, which would authorize a state-sanctioned overdose prevention center in Illinois. He held a May 11 press conference at Rush University Medical Center on the Near West Side with local public health organizations and Brown University researchers to discuss the effectiveness of such centers. “Most people would say, ‘There’s no way I would support people going on the street, buying drugs, coming in and using.’ But when you go to [a] site, it’s a
Mental Health Month
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By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
“We often say that, if we could find a cure for something, we would do it. But here’s a cure right here to help our communities.”
The West Side coffee shop scene has been growing over the past 10 years. Some shops were founded by entrepreneurs – some local, some from further out in Chicago – who wanted to create places where the community could gather over a beverage. Some were part of small, Chicago-based chains and tied into larger development efforts. Some came from nonprofit organizations as part of their larger mission to better the community. This growth came at the time when corporate coffee chains largely avoided the West Side. Starbucks opened two stores in Galewood before it opened a North Austin location at 4925 W. North Ave. in June 2023. West Siders have told Austin Weekly News
See OVERDOSE PREVENTION on page 9
See COFFEE CULTURE on page 4
JESSICA MORDACQ
Left to Right: Fanya Buford-Berry, director of the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force; Abdullah Shihipar and Alexandria Macmadu from Brown University; Dr. Tanya Sorrell; Rep. La Shawn Ford; and Synque Adams, member of the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force. place that is respectable. People are there talking to people that they trust, and people talk about the transition that they made from using street drugs to using medication to live a normal life,” Ford said during the press conference.
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