Alderman played a leading role in adoption of city’s first Indoor Clean Air ordinance in 1988 By Bob Seidenberg John “Jake” Allen Bleveans, familiar for his natty bow tie, measured words and flippant humor, would depart at times from the mainstream majority bloc position on issues during his service on the Evanston City Council from…
By Bob Seidenberg Members of the city’s finance and budget committee closed an open wound when they voted to completely fund public safety pensions by 2040, the president of the city’s firefighters pension board said last week. But they are risking “ripping it open” by moving money from a tax intended to boost pensions into…
By Bob Seidenberg With $43.1 million in federal COVID recovery funds at the start of their terms, Evanston City Council members weren’t pressed to find revenue to meet budget goals in their first three years in office. That may not be the case later this year as council members begin fashioning the 2025 fiscal year…
By Bob Seidenberg Everything feels lush and green. A warm blanket of foliage surrounds you on entering Louise Rosenberg’s plant shop, the Cultivate Urban Rainforest & Gallery, at 704 Main St., snug in the Main Street business area. The business’ mission is to share the vibrant love the store has for plants “with every person…
By Bob Seidenberg Tenants were relocated from 2018 Wesley Ave., one of the Wesley buildings the city has determined needs major renovation work, four days earlier than the original May 13 deadline, with police and a board-up crew making a Thursday night visit to the property to start sealing up the units. Residents occupying the…
By Bob Seidenberg A proposal that would allow local businesses to obtain video gambling terminals is heading to the full City Council with some members of the city’s Human Services committee arguing in support of the ordinance’s benefit to local businesses. Committee members on Monday voted 4-1 in favor of moving the ordinance forward to…
By Bob Seidenberg Members of the union that represents Evanston’s public works employees are expected to meet with city officials next week to discuss their concerns about potential violations of contract rights, and that low staffing levels have led to a sharp increase in worker injuries. The employees, members of AFSCME Local 1891, went public…
By Bob Seidenberg and Mary Gavin Evanston Economic Development Committee members backed allocating some of the city’s remaining federal pandemic recovery funds to a number of key business initiatives at their April 24 meeting, including $500,000 for the Maple/Church/Davis plaza area where the city is scheduled to move Civic Center offices this summer. Officials face…
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 their brainstorming, grappled with the issue too, she said. “People kept saying, ‘What our are…
$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 repeat of a pattern that has placed other city buildings of historical significance – namely,…
