Category: City News

Judging by reactions at the Jan. 12 budget meeting, the proposed 15-percent increase in the City’s portion of the property tax apparently did not sit well with some members of City Council. Junad Rizki held up the pink stuffed pig he has brought to Council budget meetings for several years and said, “The pig is […]

Public testimony on the strategic update of the 1989 comprehensive plan for downtown Evanston is now closed, and members of the Plan Commission will begin their work in earnest next month, modifying and fine-tuning the plan. Preservation and height were the main topics during the final public comment session, held on Jan. 16. Several members, […]

Evanston native Diana Howard was skeptical when a family friend referred her to the Youth Job Center of Evanston, 1114 Church St., several years ago. Only 20, Ms. Howard was stuck in dead-end, minimum-wage jobs but thought she was “too old” to get help at YJC. “I was proven wrong,” she says. YJC, says executive […]

A controversy over a zoning change in one section of the Central Street Master Plan has delayed the vote until at least the Jan. 28 City Council meeting. Although the Council adopted the Master Plan last July, aldermen must also approve zoning amendments that would allow the plan to be implemented, said zoning administrator Bill […]

A resolution calling for humane and just treatment of immigrants and their families was proposed at the Human Services Committee meeting on Jan. 7. The resolution aims to clarify the community’s support for the local immigrant population and offers specific guidelines to ensure that immigration status is not a barrier to receiving social services or […]

The Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) will receive a $2 million endowment grant this month from the Grand Victoria Foundation to support “Every Child Ready for Kindergarten, Every Youth Ready for Work,” ECF’s 2006 impact plan to build a stronger community, beginning with young families and the organizations that support them. The partnership of the two […]

A complaint filed in federal court on Jan. 4 challenges the constitutionality of the City’s tear-down tax that was adopted by the City on June 4, 2007. Under the City’s ordinance, there is a tax of $10,000 to demolish a residential structure in the City, and either $10,000 or $3,000 per unit (whichever is more) […]

A referendum question on the Feb. 5 ballot asks for an increase of $1 – from $5 to $6 – for every $1,000 of value of real estate being transferred. The transfer tax is only paid when real estate is sold, and, in Evanston, is usually paid by the sellers. At present, the revenue from […]

Marguerite Firman has no food issues, but she is elated at the prospect of bringing her gluten- and casein-intolerant children to Rose’s Wheatfree Bakery and Café, 2901 Central St., for pancakes they can eat safely. “My kids will go crazy,” says Ms. Firman. An Evanstonian, she is seated at a table with a Milwaukee friend […]

The Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee (SPAARC) recently approved final plans for a six-unit condominium at 2536 McDaniel Ave. Dan Pontarelli, developer and president of Farmview Builders, Inc., presented material samples and made a few small adjustments to the plans for construction of the multi-family dwelling at an October meeting of SPAARC. This approval […]