By Bob Seidenberg Yolande Wilburn, the Evanston Public Library’s new executive director, told library trustees that one question came up repeatedly in conversations with patrons and in surveys. Members of the Library’s Racial Equity Task Force, in a lot of…
$22 million cost estimate spurs discussion By Bob Seidenberg Some Evanston Preservation Commission members raised concerns at a recent meeting that a feasibility study recommending a $22 million renovation of the more than 130-year-old Noyes Cultural Arts Center is a…
By Bob Seidenberg At a meeting this week, some members of the city’s Finance and Budget Committee raised concerns about the high costs of administering the federal COVID-19 recovery program and pushed for a fuller accounting. Council Member Clare Kelly…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members have delayed until May consideration of a plan to aid the city’s unhoused population, including addressing an encampment at the Howard Street viaduct on the city’s far south side. After concerns from colleagues,…
Reserve truck facing major repairs has ‘put us in a bad place,’ says fire chief By Bob Seidenberg Evanston Fire Department officials received City Council support Monday to move ahead with plans to purchase a $2.3 million new ladder truck,…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council on Monday approved a plan to make a bulk purchase of electric leaf blowers, batteries, chargers and other equipment to help local landscapers who have had difficulty making the transition away from gas leaf…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members reapproved a contract Monday for a real estate firm to broker a move out of the Morton Civic Center, complying with a blistering opinion from the state Attorney General’s office that ruled the…
By Bob Seidenberg One by one, the fire companies at Evanston’s five stations took turns notifying radio dispatch they were signing out of service. Locked in a monthslong impasse with the city, 89 Evanston firefighters walked off the job for…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members voted against suspending enforcement of a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers Monday, a pause some landscapers had sought to allow more time for the transition to electric devices. Council members were sympathetic to…
By Bob Seidenberg rseiden914@gmail.com A city committee began filling in the blank spaces in an ordinance that would permit video gambling in Evanston for the first time, opening the way for officials to tap into the fast-growing revenue source. A…