■ Don Harmon and Camille Lilly meet with constituents PAGE 3
FREE Vol. 39 No. 29
July 23, 2025 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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La Shawn Ford won’t run for state representative again
He announced the news July 15 after filing to run for U.S. Congress in May, but will retire from politics if Danny Davis runs for reelection By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
After 17 years as a state representative for Illinois’ 8th district, La Shawn Ford said on July 15 that he won’t be running for reelection come November 2026. The announcement comes nearly two months after Ford filed with the Federal Elections Commission on May 21 to run for United States Congress in Illinois’ 7th district, a position held by Danny Davis since 1997. Ford said that, if Davis runs next November, he won’t run against him and instead plans to retire from politics. “Once I filed those papers that I was considering running for Congress, I knew at that time I
MICHAEL LIPTROT/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at an event commemorating the 1995 Chicago Heat Wave at the Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W. Jackson Blvd. on July 15.
Remembering when the heat wave hit the West Side 30 years ago and more than 700 died Efforts to avert heat crises included planting more trees in neighborhoods lacking tree canopy By MICHAEL LIPTROT
See FORD on page 4
Block Club Chicago
City officials recently commemorated the more than 700 Chicagoans who died in the 1995 heat wave while discussing efforts the city and its partners have taken to avoid similar disasters in the future. Officials and neighbors met Tuesday at Columbus Park, 500 S. Central Ave. in Austin, to mark the 30th anniversary of the See HEAT WAVE on page 8
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