By Bob Seidenberg rseiden914@gmail.com With little discussion Monday, Evanston City Council members voted to override Mayor Daniel Biss’s earlier veto of a local grocery tax, narrowly meeting the state’s Oct. 1 deadline for communities to make such a move to replace a recently repealed 1% state grocery tax. Councilmember Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th Ward) made the…
By Bob Seidenberg Of all the local Starbucks stores in the area, the Starbucks located just east of Chicago Avenue at 519 Main St., was among the most union-active. Shift supervisor and barista Connor Brennan said Friday he thinks that may have been its undoing and reason for landing on a company list of impending…
By Bob Seidenberg City officials are still researching the questions, but found some basis to support Evanston Public Library officials’ claim that the library may be due some of the Personal Property Tax revenue generated since the late 1970s. The issue came up in a discussion during the city’s Finance & Budget Committee meeting Tuesday…
Evanston City Council members have called a temporary halt to what one member dubbed “As the Vacation Rental Turns” (referring humorously to the old TV soap opera “As the World Turns”), weighing requests from individual property owners to turn their buildings into longterm vacation license rentals. Council members on Monday approved a 90-day moratorium accepting new…
Council sets final vote for Sept. 15, preparing to override presumed mayoral veto By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members on Monday moved to back a local grocery tax to replace the state grocery tax, which expires Jan. 1, leaving time for them to override Mayor Daniel Biss’ intended veto. Rather than wait until their…
By Bob Seidenberg From sidewalks to a new or renovated police and fire headquarters, the city has a daunting list of capital improvement challenges stacking up for 2026. At a recent Finance & Budget Committee meeting, staff members presented the possibility of increasing the General Obligation debt the city takes on annually from $10 million…
By Bob Seidenberg The city’s budget will be bolstered for at least another year by one-time building permit fees from Northwestern University projects. These fees should allow the city to work with a lower-than-expected deficit. But even with that help, there are “a number of challenges that we foresee as part of the 2026 budget,”…
By Bob Seidenberg The Glenview franchisee bidding to bring Popeyes to the corner of Dempster Street and Dodge Avenue submitted a new application — returning to a fast food request — assuring the issue will face a public hearing. Karim Poonja, a resident of Glenview, had initially proposed operating Popeyes as a Type 2 —…
Mayor opposes split; Library Board president says going independent ‘not a foregone conclusion’ By Bob Seidenberg Evanston Public Library employees, members of AFSCME Local 1891, the city’s biggest union outside of fire and police, hit back hard Wednesday afternoon against the Library Board’s consideration of a plan to separate from the city. Mostly silent publicly…
Union argues ‘against any proposal that could result in cuts By Bob Seidenberg Evanston Public Library employees plan to rally in Fountain Square on Wednesday against a plan trustees are considering to separate from the city and make the library its own district. The employees, represented by AFSCME Council 31, and their supporters plan to…
