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The Chicago Reader

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Arts & Culture, Architecture Mar 22, 2019
Survival of the starter home

Could a design contest help replenish Chicago’s affordable housing stock?
- By Lauren Styx
- Tags: Architecture, News, Architecture, affordable housing, bungalow, Chicago, segregation, Bronzeville, West Humboldt Park

News & Politics, Politics Feb 1, 2019
Can #AnybodyButMitts win in the 37th Ward?

Incumbent alderman faces two challengers and a new hashtag.
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: Politics, 37th Ward, Emma Mitts, aldermanic election, Austin, West Garfield Park, West Humboldt Park, #NoCopAcademy, #AnybodyButMitts, Tara Stamps, Deondre’ Rutues, big-box ordinance, Walmart, Richard M. Daley, Mayor Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel, school closures, mental health clinics, Page May, Debbie Southorn, Assata’s Daughters, People’s Response Team, police abolition, Brianna Hampton, Destiny Bell, Marion Stamps

Blogs, Bleader Feb 12, 2016
Chicago finally scores an NHL Draft, teenage girl shot while walking to school in West Humboldt Park, and other Chicago news

Also, runners rank the most dangerous spots in the city, and now you can stay in Vincent Van Gogh's Arles bedroom—in River North.
- By Kate Shepherd
- Tags: News, Did You Read __________?, winter weather, NHL, NFL, NFL Draft, gun violence, West Humboldt Park, Art Institute of Chicago, Vincent Van Gogh, River North, “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms, Fleet Feet Sports, running, Lincoln Park, University Village, Ed Burke, Leslie Hairston, Chicago City Council, tampon tax

Blogs, Bleader Jun 1, 2015
Who lied in drug and double murder case: Police or their key witness?

Convicted drug dealer Jason Austin, held accountable for killing a cop and social worker, appeals his sentence.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, Terrence Scott, Joan Lefkow, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Jason Austin, crime, violence, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, Zachary Fardon, Richard Kling, drug dealers, neighborhoods, FBI

City Life, Space May 24, 2015
Video
Silent Funny hosts Luftwerk's latest display of water and light

New West Humboldt Park art space Silent Funny showcases Luftwerk's water-and-light installations.
- By Andrea Bauer
- Tags: Space, You Are Here, Space, Arts, Silent Funny, Luftwerk, Refractions, Flow, Matthew Baron, Daniel Schor, installation, Dave Rempis, Josh Abrams, Avreeayl Ra, West Humboldt Park, Video

Blogs, Bleader Feb 12, 2015
Former dealer gets light sentence after testifying in double-murder case despite death threats

A key witness in the prosecution of west-side drug dealer Jason Austin is sentenced to five and a half years in prison.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, The Reefer, News, Terrence Scott, Jeffrey Scott, Joan Lefkow, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Jason Austin, crime, violence, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, drug dealers, neighborhoods

Blogs, Bleader Sep 18, 2014
Drug dealer gets 35 years in prison after judge says he 'very likely' committed a double murder

Jason Austin is held accountable for the 2008 murders of Robert Soto and Kathryn Romberg.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, Terrence Scott, Joan Lefkow, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Jason Austin, crime, violence, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, Zachary Fardon, Richard Kling, drug dealers, neighborhoods, Nicholas Roti

Blogs, Bleader Aug 29, 2014
Mechanic says police, not drug dealers, threatened him during murder investigation

Day four in the sentencing hearing of convicted west-side drug dealer Jason Austin
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Jason Austin, crime, violence, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, Joan Lefkow, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, David Garcia, Gustavo Granados, drug dealers, neighborhoods

Blogs, Bleader Aug 23, 2014
Witness to double murder: 'Why? Why would you shoot?'

Day three in the sentencing hearing of convicted west-side drug dealer Jason Austin
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, Terrence Scott, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Jason Austin, crime, violence, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, Joan Lefkow, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, Richard Kling, drug dealers, neighborhoods, Greg Swiderek

Blogs, Bleader Aug 22, 2014
Is a key government witness telling the truth this time about a double murder?

Day two in the sentencing hearing of convicted west-side drug dealer Jason Austin
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, Terrence Scott, Jeffrey Scott, Joan Lefkow, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Jason Austin, crime, violence, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, Richard Kling, drug dealers, neighborhoods

Blogs, Bleader Aug 21, 2014
Drug dealer wasn't convicted of murder but may serve time for it anyway

Federal prosecutors seek a long sentence for Jason Austin, who they say killed a cop and a social worker.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, Terrence Scott, Troy Davis, Joan Lefkow, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Jason Austin, crime, violence, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, Maribel Fernandez-Harvath, Richard Kling, drug dealers, neighborhoods

News & Politics, Feature Jul 30, 2014
A low-level drug dealer gets caught between the money and the violence of the heroin trade

Authorities say Terrance Scott witnessed a double murder—and was intimidated into changing his story.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Feature, Terrence Scott, Joan Lefkow, Anthony Sassan, West Humboldt Park, west side, murder, drugs, drug trade, Gangster Disciples, gangs, arrests, drug-related arrests, heroin, Conservative Vice Lords, Traveling Vice Lords, TVLs, CVLs, Jeffrey Scott, Jason Austin, crime, violence, Jody Weis, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Robert Soto, Kathryn Romberg, Cook County Jail, U.S. attorney's office, prosecutions, witnesses, prison, federal prosecutors, Maribel Fernandez-Harvath, drug dealers, neighborhoods

Blogs, Bleader May 1, 2014
Murders, and the political responses to them, have become all too familiar

How city leaders reacted to some of the most notorious outbreaks of violence over the last two decades
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, Politics, News, guns, gun violence, shootings, violence, roots of violence, poverty, gangs, murder, Rahm Emanuel, CPD, Chicago Police Department, Garry McCarthy, Englewood, Back of the Yards, Woodlawn, Hadiya Pendleton, West Humboldt Park, gun laws, Richard M. Daley, Dantrell Davis, Cabrini-Green, Delvon Harris, Robert Owens, George Ryan, Ashley Poole, Rene Guillen, Ana Mateo, Starkesia Reed, Siretha White, Rod Blagojevich, Ruben Ivy, Jody Weis, Crane High School, John Fritchey, La Shawn Ford, Thomas Wortham, Tanaja Stokes, Aliyah Shell, Jonylah Watkins, Endia Martin

Blogs, Bleader Dec 24, 2013
Poverty and addiction created a heroin entrepreneur

Parris Fultz was a self-described independent operator in a business—drug dealing—dominated by larger-scale players.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, drugs, heroin, narcotics, west side, drug trafficking, drug cartels, Mexican drug cartels, gang violence, drug dealers, New Breeds, gangs, crime, drug use, West Garfield Park, crack, West Humboldt Park, murders, homicides, poverty, jobs, unemployment, Eddie Valentino, Parris Fultz, Heroin LLC, Back of the Yards

Blogs, Bleader Dec 18, 2013
A look at how Chicago's heroin trade has adapted and thrived for more than a century

Drug dealing hasn't always been done in the open—but it has been going on for generations.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, drugs, heroin, narcotics, west side, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the Outfit, organized crime, cocaine, cartels, John Hagedorn, drug trafficking, drug cartels, Mexican drug cartels, gang violence, drug dealers, Black Souls, gangs, crime, drug use, West Garfield Park, crack, West Humboldt Park, East Garfield Park, murders, homicides, poverty, jobs, unemployment, Parris Fultz

News & Politics, Feature Dec 4, 2013
Audio
Heroin, LLC

The open-air drug market on the west side thrives in the same way that legal businesses do—by meeting demand, capitalizing on a cheap and plentiful workforce, and offering excellent customer service.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Feature, Four Corner Hustlers, gangs, West Humboldt Park, New Breeds, heroin, cocaine, drugs, federal prisons, Antonio Johnson, Ray Longstreet, CPD, Chicago Police Department, federal investigations, drug arrests, drug dealing, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Roosevelt University, heroin overdoses, Derek Thomas, business, Cornel Dawson, Black Souls, management, marketing, drug trade, Mike Jones, Michael Jones, unemployment, K-Town, Lawndale, CTA Blue Line, I-290, heroin buyers, heroin users, violence, undercover officers, prison, neighborhoods, Aaron Clayton, West Side, Audio

Blogs, Bleader Aug 26, 2013
How stop and frisk works in Chicago

Police practices in Chicago may be less flawed than New York's, but they cause the same tensions between public safety and personal liberty.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, News, arrests, cannabis, Chelsey Robinson, Chicago Justice Project, Chicago Police Department, civil liberties, contact cards, crime, drugs, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, marijuana, New York City, pat down, police, search, stop and frisk, Tracy Siska, U.S. Supreme Court, violence, West Humboldt Park, west side

News & Politics, Feature May 8, 2013
Audio
Addicted to guns

Is there a cure for Chicago's crippling dependence on firearms?
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Feature, 24th Ward, 911, addiction, Anita Alvarez, Antonio Villaraigosa, ATF, Barack Obama's house, basketball, cannabis, CeaseFire, Charlie Beck, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Tribune, Christopher Koper, City Colleges, City Council, conflict resolution, conflicts, Connie Rice, Cook County state's attorney, CPD, crime, drinking, drug dealing, drug territory, Englewood, Evans Mob, ex-offenders, Frederick Seaton, gang members, gang territory, gangs, Gangster Disciples, Gary McCarthy, George Mason University, Greater Grand Crossing, gun laws, gun violence, guns, Hadiya Pendleton, Hales Franciscan High School, high school basketball, interruption, Jack Tweedle, Kennedy-King College, liquor stores, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Develop, marijuana, Marilyn Pitchford, Michael Chandler, Michael Davis, murder, Napoleon English, neighborhoods, Phil Cline, police overtime, policing, poverty, prison, Project Safe Neighborhoods, punishment, race, Rahm Emanuel, restaurants, Richard M. Daley, roots of violence, Safer Foundation, Sheldon Smith, shootings, social services, South Side, The Crime Report, Tony Wade, Turkey Chop, U.S. attorney, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, U.S. Department of Justice, Vice Lords, violence, violence interrupters, Violence Reduction Strategy, West Humboldt Park, Audio

News & Politics, Feature Mar 20, 2013
Can a restaurant transform a neighborhood?

West Humboldt’s new war on drugs: Open a business
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Feature, restaurants, West Humboldt Park, community investment, businesses, Chet Jackson, TIFs, drugs, drug dealing, tax increment financing, Salvation Army, West Humboldt Park Community Development Council, Chicago Avenue, Jimmy Simmons, Walter Burnett Jr., community development, community policing, neighborhoods, Quentin Love, Chicago Community Loan Fund, Goldie Fleming, Turkey Chop

Blogs, Bleader Mar 1, 2013
School closings: The latest blow to neighborhoods already reeling from disinvestment

What's the cost of pulling the plug on public services in neighborhoods desperately in need of them?
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, Education, Neighborhoods, News, school closings, Chicago Public Schools, CPS, Rahm Emanuel, mayor, Chicago, foreclosures, crime, vacant buildings, Auburn-Gresham, Englewood, Near West Side, West Humboldt Park, Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, west side, Walter Burnett Jr., Ryerson school

Blogs, Bleader Feb 22, 2013
Drug arrests drop in Chicago but still snare thousands in black neighborhoods

While Mexican cartel leader "Chapo" Guzman is public enemy number one, most drug busts still snag street-level players.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, Politics, News, Chapo Guzman, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, El Chapo, Sinaloa cartel, Rahm Emanuel, Garry McCarthy, Drug Enforcement Agency, Jack Riley, Chicago Police Department, drugs, narcotics, drug busts, war on drugs, West Humboldt Park, gang violence, drug dealing, drug dealers, Chicago violence, shootings, murder, heroin, crack, crime data, arrest data, President Obama, Barack Obama

News & Politics, Feature Feb 14, 2013
Anatomy of a heroin ring

Dana Bostic's gang-affiliated west-side drug organization employed dozens of residents, served thousands of customers, established ties with Mexican drug cartels, and relied on violence to stay in business.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Feature, 11th police district, antihistamines, Aurora, Austin, Berwyn, Black Gangsters, Brandon Richards, Bucktown, cannabis, Charles Cowart, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Sun-Times, Cicero, Cornelius Thomas, CPD, crack, crime, Curtis Ellis, cutting heroin, Dana Bostic, Davon Taylor, DEA, Dirty Unknown Vice Lords, Dormin, druck trafficking, drug cartels, drug dealers, drug dealing, Drug Enforcement Agency, drug runners, drug use, East Garfield Park, ecstasy, Eddie Valentino, Eleazar Alves, Erik Guevara, Excalibur, gang violence, gangs, guns, heroin, homicides, Jerry Bischoff, jobs, Joe Gorman, K-Town, Ladonta Gill, Lee Floyd, Mahogany Barbee, marijuana, Matthew F. Kennelly, Maurice Davis, Mexican drug cartels, murders, New Breeds, Operation Bird Cage, poverty, River North, Rock 'n' Roll McDonalds, schools, Sinaloa cartel, Stroger Hospital, Takers, Taste of Chicago, Tony Allen, U.S. Attorney, Undertaker Vice Lords, unemployment, Vice Lords, West Garfield Park, West Humboldt Park, west side, White Palace Grill, Woodridge

Blogs, Bleader Jan 10, 2013
City officials say they're committed to community policing, just not to funding it

A closer look at Mayor Emanuel's plan to "revitalize" the CAPS program
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, Politics, News, drugs, gangs, violence, war on drugs, Chicago Police Department, Rahm Emanuel, Garry McCarthy, community policing, CAPS, west side, west Humboldt Park, murder, homicide, shootings, budget, policing, Chicago city budget, Roger Bay, Walter Burnett Jr.

Blogs, Bleader Oct 15, 2012
The shot that brought the projects down, part four of five

How the 1992 killing of Dantrell Davis forever altered not just the landscape of Chicago but urban policy nationwide, part four of five
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, Politics, News, Dantrell Davis, Chicago Housing Authority, CHA, public housing, murder, crime, homicide, Chicago, Cabrini-Green, violence, urban policy, gangs, drugs, Vincent Lane, Rahm Emanuel, Chatham, West Humboldt Park, Ashburn, Auburn-Gresham, Residents' Journal, Chicago Reporter, Micah Maidenberg, Urban Institute

Blogs, Bleader May 2, 2012
Then and now: one west-side addict's account

Tasha's tale: another west-side story
- By Kate Schmidt
- Tags: Crime, Drugs Week, Drugs Week, open-air drug markets, West Humboldt Park, heroin, addiction, opiates, prescription drugs, detox, rehab, Variations on a Theme

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