■ Why 40 Acres market is so slow to open PAGE 3
FREE Vol. 37 No. 28
July 12, 2023 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Arlene l Jones, page 5
Flooded and frustrated Austinites want Johnson to do more as hundreds turn out for July 6 meeting By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter
So many Austinites showed up to a July 6 community meeting on the consequences of the previous weekend’s flooding that the meeting room at the Northwest Austin Council building, 5730 W. Division St., quickly exceeded capacity, leaving half of the attendees standing outside. The council invited U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D7th) and Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), as well as representatives from Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to answer residents’ questions and concerns, as well as to explain what the city and other governing bodies are doing to help the address the flooding. Word about the meeting quickly spread via word of mouth and Austin-related social media accounts. Many residents in attendance had little patience for presentations, complaining that their insurance companies denied their claims. Many of them also argued that Mayor Brandon Johnson should be doing more for his home community in a time of need and complained that the financial aid to the asylum-seekers from Central and South American countries should be used for flood relief instead. Officials in attendance urged the residents See FLOOD MEETING on page 4
FRANCIA GARCIA HERNANDEZ
Venezuelan asylum-seekers chat while toddler plays with toys donated by the Police Station Response Team outside the 15th Chicago Police District station on July 6.
Employment, housing top needs of asylum-seekers in Austin
Central and South American asylum-seekers continue to arrive at Austin police stations
By FRANCIA GARCIA HERNANDEZ Staff Reporter
In the early afternoon of July 6, two kids, ages 6 and 12, and a teenager, 19, laid on comforters and blankets layered in a corner of the lobby at the 25th Chicago Police District, 5555 W. Grand Ave.
WS ! NEF H S A L
Catalina, whose real name is not being used to protect her identity, arrived with her partner, her two kids and her teenage nephew to the West Side police station on July 4. The family was flown to Chicago after they arrived at the Mexico-U.S. border See ASYLUM-SEEKERS on page 9
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