News Journal from Chicago, Illinois • Page 1

news journal world newspapers .11 AUSTIN -NORTH PULASKI PARK PAi PARK MONTCLARE VOL. 39 NO. 27 THURSDAY, JANUARY 13,1977 Single Copy 20r Second senior center opens The Mayor's Office for Senior Citizens Handicapped will open a second Northwest Information and Referral Center in the former Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium (MTS) administration building, 5601 N. Pulaski Monday, Jan. 17.

The Northwest Information and Referral Center at 3622 W. Fullerton Ave. will remain open, serving as a full-service outpost of the MTS center "For a while, we'll have both offices open," a spokesman for the Mayor's Office for Senior Citizens Handicapped, said. The MTS center is intended to be a "multi-purpose center," eventually providing recreation and medical facilities, as well as information and referral services. "We'll be providing the full menu of services in both places," Judi Ricca, director of Northwest Information and Referral, commented.

Neither Ms. Ricca nor the Mayor's Office spokesman could say that the center on Fullerton Avenue would remain open indefinitely. According to the Mayor's Office, no decision has been made on whether or not to close the Fullerton center. When asked about the possibility that the Fullerton Avenue center might close, Ms, Ricca said, "I can't answer that at this time. Our contract ends next September," but she expressed the hope that the contract would be renewed.

Hie center has shown there is a need for its services at its present location and "I hope that we can stay here," Ms. Ricca said. The Northwest Information and Referral Center is operated by the VMCA through a grant of federal funds from the Mayor's Office for Senior Citizens Handicapped. Services include finding senior citizens In need through outreach programs, providing information of importance to the elderly and referring those who require services to the agencies best Austin residents march on Realtor By TERRY LEVIN and CHARLES G1AMETTA North Austin residents Saturday marched in Oak Park to demand answers from a real estate firm in that suburb which handled the sale of a house in a white neighborhood to a black family. For close to an hour, members, of the Northeast Austin Organization (KAO) picketed Landmark Heritage, 224 Lake while spokespersons for the marchers conferred with Landmark officials inside the office.

Landmark handled the sate of the house, located at 1650 N. Latrobe to Kenneth Williams, his wife Ethel and their two small children. Since their arrival, the Williams family has been living in a state of siege. Nine windows have been broken. All unsuccessful arson attempt was made in the rear of the home near the garage.

Mrs. Williams is afraid to leave the bouse for any exit'idee) period of time and keeps tiie children in the same room with her "to get them out in case something happens." Crank telephone calls have become commonplace despite Williams' unlisted number provided by 15th district police, who are also maintaining a 24-hour guard around the house. a i periodically arrives at the house, including less-than-subtle funeral wreaths. Someone using Williams' name arranged for a moving van to come to the house. A classified ad offering the home for sale was placed In a daily newspaper and charged to Williams.

A week after Williams moved in, NAO sponsored a community meeting in the basement of St. Peter Canisius Church, 5057 North Ave. About 100 residents attended, many of the speakers voicing suspicion of the move as an attempt to institute "panic peddling" by the real estate agency, thus generating new business. Near the close of that meeting, a petition was passed asking for volunteers to confront Landmark officials. The group of 30 residents gathered in front of the firm's office at 11 a.m.

last Saturday. Most stayed outside in bitter cold temperatures carrying signs and marching peacefully while six spokespersons met inside with Landmark Officials Lynn Thum and Jacques dePina. Both sides, produced cassette recorders with which to tape the meeting, during which Thum, dePina and attornpy Jim Doyle presented evidence indicating the entire sale was handled openly and within legal requirements. "We have never solicited in that neighborhood. Never," Ms.

Thum told the group. As shown in the company's records, the house on Latrobe was officially listed for sale on Aug. 8, referred to Landmark by a Franklin' Park agency. Advertisements for the house appeared in various newspapers and publications between that time and Oct. 3, when an open house was scheduled.

The open house was a dismal failure, with only one person showing up. From that time until Oct. 20, when Williams first saw the house, it had been shown "a minimum of 10 times," dePina said, adding that his impression was that the majority of showings were to whites. In addition, Landmark honored an agreement with another neighborhood organization, Northwest Austin Council (NAC), by informing them of the availability of the house. An NAC spokesman confirmed the call.

As for Williams himself, he was an unsolicited customer who walked into the agency on Oct. 1C to request help in finding a home. The following day, Williams attended an open house in Maywood. On Oct. 18, be viewed four bouses in Oak Park and had access to all of the properties in his price range listed by the Oak Park Board of Realtors.

On Oct. he was shown another Maywood residence and the house on Latrohe Avenue. Williams secured a conventional mortgage, made the down payment and bought the bouse. Landmark officials insisted there was no attempt to steer the couple into a segregated pocket in Austin and thai nothing was said to the Williams family about the racial make-up of the neighborhood. "We do not discuss color.

All customers are the same. The onlv difference is fiscal capabilities," Ms. Thum said. When NAO spokesperson Mary-Lou Manny explained that the group's appearance was an attempt to keep the neighborhood calm, Ms. Thum replied, "I'm sincerely glad yoa're trying to do that but when' a hardworking couple works hard and saves, they should have the United States right to purchase any home they desire." Rather than maneuvering the Williams family into buying the home over other potential customers, Ms.

Thum said there were no other interested buyers, "not even a nibble." "We are working hard to prevent an explosive situation," one resident told Landmark officials. He explained that many residents were ol the transaction as- -a- "biock busting" tactic and feared plummeting property values. "They are all homeowners, honest and decent people trying to persuade those emotional people to protect their livelihoods. Don't look on them as criminals doing something dishonest," the spokesperson said. DePina told the residents that for Landmark to attempt panic peddling would be "absolute suicide," but a statement released to the press following the meeting indicated NAO plans to pursue the investigation.

''We plan to visit many more Realtors to inhibit any attempt to take advantage of this situation. Because of the dubious circumstances surrounding this situation, we are having the entire transaction investigated through legal channels," the statement read in its entirety. Real estate firms in Oak Park deal with the suburb's Community Relations Department (CBD), which a i i i i a desegregation program currently underway in the village. "I really think the north Austin group is off-base on this one," said CRD Director H. Kris Ronnow.

"If we had any indication that Landmark was steering, we'd jump right on it," he said, adding that similar NAO charges on two previous occasions proved to be unfounded. The CRD has "good access" to Landmark's files and the agency's personnel have participated in CRD training sessions, Ronnow said. equipped to meet their needs. The center serves persons GO years of age and older who live in the area bounded on the east by the Chicago River, on the south by the Chicago Milwaukee Railroad and on the west and north by the Chicago city limits. Services provided under the YMCA-Mayor's Office for Senior Citizens Handicapped contract include transportation for medical visits, home help and home-making (personal care), home delivered meals and case work-counseling.

Beginning Monday, Jan. IT, these services will also be available at the MTS center. Over and above the services required by the YMCA's contract, the center on Fullerton Avenue also provides part-time employment for seniors, blood pressure testing and assistancewith filling out income tax, tax rebate and homestead exemption forms. Regional Transit Authority reduced fare passes and Chicago vehicle stickers are available at the Fullerton Avenue center. A food pantry for needy persons and a clothing coop will be shared by the Fullerton and the MTS centers, Ms.

Ricca noted. The new facility- being opened is needed to expand their outreach services in the northern part of the Northwest Side, she explained. "We'll try awful hard to get people to recognize that office up there." the Fullerton center director said. But she expressed the hope that a shuttle bus might eventually be provided to reduce the distance from the new center to the gates of the old Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, Ms. Ricca noted the fact that many of their clients use buses to reach the Fullerton Avenue center.

The telephone number of the new center will be 478-0855. The center at 3622 W. Fullerton Ave, can be reached by calling 384-4343. A Chicago Police pepwctBMMt vyxaA troa, the AosimClSth) District stands vigil outside the home of Mr, and Mrs. Kenneth Williams, ItM -N.

Latrahe wttch has the- object of recurrent" vandalism in recent weeks. (Photo by Andrew Johnston). With charges such as the Williams one, NAO's credibility "keeps going down," Ronnow said, "Put yourself in our position," dePina told the residents. "If we get involved in a problem like we have here, from a straight business view it involves a large number of hours on both our parts. If you put too many hours in on any particular thing, it becomes non-paying." The meeting ended quietly, with Landmark agreeing to consider an anti-solicitation agreement that NAO requested it sign and both sides agreeing to meet again this evening to discuss the matter further.

Williams and his wife were reluctant to speak to reporters but each agreed to answer a few questions about their role in the situation. They both expressed the feeling that ft was not their role to try and calm fte neighborhood down. They did not anticipate the animosity of their neighbors and, placing the welfare of their children uppermost, "probably would not have moved in" had they known the results. The Williams family has no intention of letting the "psychological warfare," as Mrs. Williams characterized it, drive them away and their main reason is ironically identical to that expressed by neighbors who were upset to see them move in: after living in a basement dpartment on Jackson Boulevard in south Austin and saving their money, for quite some time," to buy their first real house, the Willjamses do not wish to jeopardize their investment by selling quickly and moving somewhere else Both said they thought the protection given them by Austin police was "great, just great." Williams said he regarded Austin as an integrated neighborhood and was not aware he was buying a home in a segregated while area.

A tall, soft-spoken man, Williams hopes the excitement over his arrival in the neighborhood will die down with time. Other than the police protection, he lias not yet taken any other additional action agains tthose unidentified neighbors who have been harassing his family. Solon extraordinaire Who is Boris Antonovych? Members of Northeast Austin Organization (NAO) picket outside Landmark Heritage Realtors, of Cttk Park, to protest a house in their neighborhood to a Mack family. (Photo by Andrew Johnston) By TERRY LEVIN Boris Antonovych, R-19th, sworn in yesterday as a freshman legislator in the Illinois House of Representatives, may just be too good to be true. During the transition period between last November when the official vote canvass gave him an upset victory over incumbent Louis Capuzi and this week, Antonovych has done the following: Turned down offers of money and women from fellow Republicans interested in buying his vote for House Minority Leader.

Went to Mexico, in part to take intensive Spanish lessons--up to four hours each order to increase his ability to communicate with the Puerto Ricans in the district. Spent hours remodeling his office at 2232 W. Chicago Ave. into a community center to be open six days per week for residents of the district Requested--but does not expect to a i to the Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful in the legislature. Bought a farmhouse in Ashland, Illinois (a 30 minute drive from Springfield) where constituents visiting from his home district will be invited to crash for the weekend.

Found a replacement to handle his law practice, Valentin Kashuba, a handicapped young lawyer who shares Antoaovych's views on being responsive to (he community, Capuzi from falling and hit- ting his head on a metal bicycle rack as the two met to discuss the transition. a to a a a embroidered Ukranian shirt and denim suit to his inauguration. A latter-day Mr. Smith, though going to Springfield rather than Washington, Antonovych thinks he won't have much trouble gaining the respect of his colleagues. The victory over Capuzi and early demonstration of his incorrupt ability were two marks in his favor, he explained.

While in Springfield, Antonovych plans to develop a close working relationship with Mike Holewinski, D- 17th, as Antonovych supports several of the indepedent Democrat's proposals, such as prohibiting secret land trusts. But most of his energy is pointed back to the 19th district. The scholarships available to legislators will be distributed among the ethnic groups in the district. He also plans to develop special services 'or senior citizens through his lial office, which may be powered by solar energy one of these days. One of Antonovych's most dramatic ideas is what he described as a "self- help program to start rebuilding the neighborhood." Similar to a revival of old- fashioned barn-raisings, residents would get together on week-ends to refurbish buildings and enjoy Urge feasts prepared at the end of the day reward for the labor.

He also plans to encourage schools to send students to Springfield on field trips, with a promise to personally escort the children around the state capitol. Antonovych's first job. though, is to find a competent secretary for his Springfield office. Because he expects to share the secretary with at least one other colleague, he hopes to find one willing and able to work as hard as he himself plans to. "I will try to be as influential as I can by working hard to get bills across that are important to me." Ecology is one area high in Antonovych's interest and he requested a seal on the Agriculture Committee because it would enable him to improve the local parks in his district.

By all appearances, the residents of the 19th district could not have elected a representative more willing to deal openly with them than Antonovych, Hell cither set Springfield on its ear or be eaten alive. Bringing people together is what we do best. We have helped to bring many landlords and tenants together. Let us help you fill your vacancy, by calling us to place your want ad today. FOR WANT ADS CALL 524-0600 IN FW SPA PER I.