CANA had our better natures on display on April 21st as we welcomed 58 volunteers to help cleanup our community. We had volunteers from our neighborhood joined by Third Unitarian Church members, the Duke University Alumni Engage team, Christ the King High School and The Safer Foundation.   We are truly touched with the outpouring...
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Late March 17th the usual criminal behavior at the corner of Madison and Mason was heating up around 10:00 PM. I made what has become an evening ritual of dialing 911. The drug sales, drinking and drug use had picked up like  clock work .. some sick version of the dooms day clock.  I...
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2nd Annual Community Holiday Celebration Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:30pm-6:30pm Third Unitarian Church 301 N. Mayfield Chicago, IL 60644 Presented to you FREE By Third Unitarian Church AND Central Austin Neighborhood Association(CANA) You Are Invited Come out with your family to experience the Celebration of Life program of song and dance. Feel free to...
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  Please join us for our next monthly meeting Tuesday November 15 th at 6:30 pm at Third Church located at 301 N. Mayfield. This monthly meeting will be a Two-For. Not only do you get to attend a CANA meeting to find out what we’ve been up to but you also get to learn about...
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Austin has a Turkey problem. Every year around the holidays and political elections, our local elected officials deliver free turkeys to potential voters.  One cannot underestimate the power of the turkey. Elections have been won and lost over the size, quality and quantity of turkey.  The magic of the turkey to rule over neighborhoods is...
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As we all know Austin is in deep need of investment. One way this is accomplished in a small way is through help from the city through the Alderman’s Menu Fund, a $1.32 Million dollar budget to be spent on improvements here.  Unfortunately here in the 29th ward, according to an AustinTalks article, $162,584...
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Chicago Police Deployment Scheme Results in Inequitable, Unfair Service For Minority Neighborhoods, Suit Says CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Chicago officials have failed to deploy police equitably across the City’s many diverse neighborhoods, resulting in disproportionate numbers of delayed police responses to those neighborhoods with higher minority populations, according to the American Civil...
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On Saturday October 8th The CANA bike club rode 24 miles from Austin to Wheaton on the Illinois Prairie Path. This scenic ride used the wonderful Prairie Path which starts in Maywood and goes through several communities between here and Wheaton with additional spurs to points west like Fermi Lab and Fox River. The path...
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On Tuesday Oct 4th and Thursday Oct 6th Former Aldermanic Candidate and CANA member Roman Morrow led Safer Foundation volunteers in two days of corner prep, vacant lot and alley cleanings. Local residents and volunteers prepared our beautiful corner flower plantings for winter by removing Canna Lily bulbs for winter storage as well as weed removal.  ...
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Greetings Cyclist! In addition to our Wednesday Evening ride, we invite you to ride with us Saturday August 27 for a short ride from Third Church (301 N. Mayfield) to Columbus Park and take part in the Historical Tour and Clean Up. The Tour and Clean Up starts at 10:00 AM on the steps of the Refectory....
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Title: Columbus Park Historical Tour and Clean UP Location: Columbus Park Refectory Link out: Click here Description: JOIN CHICAGO CONSERVATION CORPS VOLUNTEERS SATURDAY AUGUST 27 2011 AT 10:00AM ON THE FRONT STEPS OF THE REFECTORY ENJOY A LIVELY DISCUSSION OF THE HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE PARK. WE WILL BE CLEANING UP THE PARK...
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  Greetings Neighbors  We want to POLISH THE JEWEL IN OUR BACKYARD-COLUMBUS PARK. We also invited the Chicago Park District Historian to lead us on an informational tour. Please join us AT 10:00am, Saturday, at 5701 W. Jackson, on the steps in front of the refectory, to begin this adventure. Please share this information...
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Title: Monthly MeetingLocation: 301 N. MayfieldDescription: August Monthly MeetingStart Time: 18:30Date: 2011-08-16End Time: 20:00
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The problems at the corner of Madison and Mason, less than two blocks from the 15th District Police Station in Austin,  resulted in a running gun battle in the streets of our 16 blocks in the early hours of June 25th. According to neighbors, the nightly fighting, drug and alcohol use and drug sales at this corner resulted...
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Residents seek answers, accountability in aldermen’s first 100 days by Sarah Ostman on June 22, 2011 Before Rahm Emanuel became mayor last month, his team rolled out a transition plan. The 71-page document outlines a to-do list for his first 100 days in office, his first year and beyond, and includes a number of...
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CANA members have identified a list of goals and projects for the Austin community. We hope this agenda will spur community leaders, organizations and elected officials to adopt strategic projects and plans for collaboration for the benefit of Austin.  Some ideas are borrowed and some are new but all are needed. CANA is ready and willing...
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CANA members were joined by new volunteers from the Safer Foundation thanks to coordination by CANA member and former Aldermanic candidate Roman Morrow. The five volunteers helped us complete the month long planting process for 14 corners in our 16 block area.  The Safer guys were great; they were hard working and genuinely happy to...
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Please join the neighborhood each Saturday from 9:00 – 10:00 AM for a Community Prayer Walk. The walk will start at the corner of Mason Ave and Fulton Ave  and go to Central and Fulton and back.   Prayer can change us and our community For Further Information Call Intercessory Prayer Warriors: Evangelist Doretha Stafford...
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Robert Woods was a Curie High School Honor student and football player. He was a victim of gun violence in 2002 when he was gunned down in our neighborhood at the corner of Mason and Fulton.  His life and promise is honored every year by his mother JoEthel Brown who with the help of...
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Here are more pictures from our May 21st Corner Planting Event thanks to Third Church and CANA Member Allen Matthews!  Neighbors, residents and Duke University Alumni Engage volunteers work to improve our community. 
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Our May monthly meeting was well attended and tackled diverse issues like our upcoming neighborhood beautification projects and strategy to improve police response times in minority communities. We invited the Chicago Office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to educate our members and speak to residents about strategies to get the city to...
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The May 21st  Planting of Intersection Corners was a wonderful success! We had volunteers from the community, the city and as far away as Durham NC! We had volunteers from almost every block from Madison to Corcoran and from Austin to Menard streets.  Thanks so much to so many people. A special thanks to all...
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CANA volunteers have been out almost daily since May 14 to prepare the ground for our May 21st Corner planting. The community has benefitted from the the efforts of six men so far performing the heavy lifting of tilling the ground. We discovered the ground was very hard and required manual digging before we...
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Austin’s Jesuit College Preparatory High School – Christ the King, joined CANA on May 7 for a second neighborhood cleanup this year!  This event was unique in that it was comprised of students, teachers and parents. This dynamic group was wonderful to work with. The energy, service learning and relationship building should be a model for...
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