By Bob Seidenberg Evanston’s Tannenbaum Chabad Rabbi Dov Hillel KIein recalled saying two weeks ago if any of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas militants Oct. 7 were going to survive, it would be Judith Raanan, a frequent visitor to Chabad. “Why?” he said. “Because she has unbelievable hope, a tremendous amount of hope.” He quoted…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston Public Library trustees approved a budget amendment on June 21 to change five part-time safety monitor positions to full-time positions, creating greater coverage to respond to safety-related issues. At the meeting, library trustees voted unanimously to approve Interim Executive Library Director Heather Norborg’s recommendation to increase the library’s safety monitor budget…
City Council grants special use to businesses planning to locate in new mixed-use building at Howard Street and Chicago Avenue By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members gave the green light Monday to the city’s second cannabis dispensary – as well as a bakery-restaurant – within the five-story, mixed-use Evanston Gateway project close to opening…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston elected officials could be subject to official misconduct charges for inappropriate behavior under a recommendation from the City Council’s Rules Committee Aug. 1 that will be moved to the full Council for action. Former Second Ward Alderperson Peter Braithwaite made the referral in March, proposing amendments to the City’s Code of…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members are next up, deciding where they stand on city of Urbana administrator Carol Mitten as the city’s next City Manager, in a process that has already resulted in two failed searches. Council members had shown the requisite amount of support for Mitten as their lone finalist in order…
By Bob Seidenberg A lot had been said about City of Urbana administrator Carol Mitten since the City Council announced earlier this month she was their lone finalist to become Evanston’s next city manager. In her first meeting with the Evanston public July 28, Mitten had the chance to talk about her record herself. ‘Consider…
I’m shaken by two terrible events that happened in Evanston in the last few weeks. On the evening of July 14, a young man who was walking with his daughter near McCormick Boulevard was shot and killed. Then, this past Monday evening, a teenage girl was shot while attending a backyard party. She is currently in the…
By Bob Seidenberg Citizens would once again be given a role deciding ethics violations brought against public officials, based on a revised staff proposal that was backed by the City Council’s Rules Committee at their Sept. 7 meeting. Staff had previously recommended that the citizens Ethics Board be eliminated, and decision-making placed in the hands…
By Bob Seidenberg rseiden914@gmail.com The City of Evanston’s past handling of charges of sexual harassment and abuse brought by female lifeguards and beach employees in a petition to the City last July represents “a serious institutional failure that we must get to and rectify,” Mayor Daniel Biss said in a statement on July 22, in…
By Bob Seidenberg/ Evanston City Council members backed Mayor Stephen Hagerty’s resolution on Tuesday to bring in more Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officers to join City Clerk Devon Reid in that role — a move that activists charged would weaken the clerk’s authority. By a 5-3 vote, Evanston City Council members gave approval to…