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 video “gaming cafe” located inside a gas station in Cicero. Under the proposed ordinance discussed…
City’s economic development manager challenges Skokie assertion that it wasn’t trying to recruit the business By Bob Seidenberg rseiden914@gmail.com Members of the city’s Economic Development Committee Wednesday night backed a modified sales-tax sharing deal with the owner of a local car business – this one substantially lower and shorter in duration than the one he originally placed on the…
By Bob Seidenberg The state attorney general’s office has ruled that the Evanston City Council violated the Open Meetings Act last year when it authorized an exclusive agreement with a real estate firm to be the city’s broker in its exit from the Civic Center. The office issued a binding opinion Friday in favor of…
By Bob Seidenberg City Council committee voted Monday to direct staff to draw up a resolution that would temporarily lift the city’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers this spring, allowing officials time to find funding sources for smaller landscaping companies experiencing difficulty making the switch to electric. Members of the city’s Human Services Committee voted…
By Bob Seidenberg The grounds around the city-owned Harley Clarke mansion at 2603 Sheridan Road, given scant attention in the original statement of significance for the historic landmark property, have received a significant boost in status. Members of the Evanston Preservation Commission unanimously approved an amended statement of significance for the mansion at their Feb….
By Bob Seidenberg Members of the city’s Finance & Budget Committee are discussing the need for a new policy, requiring projects with large capital expenditures to come before them for review before going to the City Council for action. Committee members spoke about such a potential policy at their meeting Tuesday, voicing concern they weren’t…
By Bob Seidenberg An Evanston City Council member testified Feb. 8 that she attempted to bring in the city’s Preservation Committee to review changes made “on the fly” to an affordable housing project planned on a parcel next to a landmark structure. First Ward Council Member Clare Kelly was testifying at a hearing on a…
By Bob Seidenberg The book titled The God of Good Looks, a romance novel set in Trinidad and featuring a makeup artist, would seem to have all the attributes to move fast off the shelves of the Evanston Public Library. EPL Collection Development and Materials Manager Betsy Bird listed some of its credentials on a…
By Bob Seidenberg Maximizing public access to Lighthouse Beach and the surrounding areas, adherence to the lakefront master plan, some commercialization in the area – but with limits. These were some of the issues council members took away from the responses to a Request for Expressions of Interest (REI) proposal the city received from groups interested…
Local memorial service set for May 4 at Evanston Golf Course Funeral services will be held March 2 in Naples, Florida, for Donald Joseph Wirth, 86, a former Evanston parks/forestry and recreation director who guided the department for nearly a quarter of a century. Donald WIrth, 1937-2023. Credit:Beachwood Society Cremation Services During his tenure from 1971…
