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MatchMaker details inside on page 4
■ Thomas challenges Welch for committeeman post PAGE 10
FREE Vol. 39 No. 45
November 12, 2025 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Will Forty Acres Fresh Market be affected by SNAP freeze?
Pollution worse on West Side, but ordinance stalls in city council
That’s a misconception, owner says, but grocery store margins are narrow By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
A line formed down the street from Forty Acres Fresh Market at 5713 W. Chicago Ave. the morning of Nov. 5, the fifth day that the federal government froze Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits during its shutdown. Last Wednesday, about 100 people got $50 vouchers for Forty Acres through a giveaway organized by Ald. Chris Taliaferro and Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin, to help those who are food insecure during the SNAP freeze. Liz Abunaw, the owner of Forty Acres Fresh Market, described the giveaway as “chaotic” but “a day that brought in a lot of revenue and helped a lot of people.” With Forty Acres Fresh Market opening in September, the independent, fullservice grocery store has only been open See 40 ACRES on page 12
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Four Blues’ free show at Austin Town Hall, page 3
Hazel Johnson ordinance, backed by Mayor Johnson is stuck in zoning committee By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
TODD BANNOR
Westside Health Authority CEO Jacqueline Reed and Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford browse the produce section at Forty Acres Fresh Market’s grand opening on Sept. 27.
While campaigning in 2023, Mayor Brandon Johnson said he’d create laws to curb pollution in South and West Side neighborhoods. Keeping to his promise, this April, Johnson introduced the Hazel Johnson Cumulative Impact Ordinance to curb the disproportionately high levels of pollution those communities face. But the measure stalled in the City Council Zoning Committee. At a Nov. 3 committee meeting, Ald. Bennett Lawson of the 44th Ward said he wouldn’t call a vote on the measure, typically a sign that it doesn’t have enough support to be put to a vote at City Council, according to WTTW. See POLLUTION on page 8
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