Good Wednesday morning, Evanston.
The rain from Sunday and Monday finally moved off and made room for blue skies on Tuesday, and RoundTable photographer Richard Cahan found Tom Anderson, who just celebrated 40 years washing the windows of Evanston stores and restaurants, taking advantage of the weather to get work done. Now, let’s dive into this morning’s top stories.
Even as the City Council agreed this week to disburse $3.45 million in reparations funds, the leader of the reparation efforts, former Fifth Ward Council Member Robin Rue Simmons, said the city needs to look outside the current funding mechanism for the $10 million program. The original initiative was expected to use tax money from three proposed cannabis dispensaries in Evanston, but the state has licensed only one.
District 65 board member Marquise Weatherspoon resigned from her position effective Aug. 8, the district announced in a Tuesday news release. The District also announced plans to appoint a new member in September. Interested and eligible residents can apply online here.
COVID-19 by the numbers: 13 cases and no new deaths were reported on Monday, Aug. 8, the last day the city updated case totals. The seven-day average is 19 cases per day.
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Council passes resolution in support of reproductive health care. Thanks to a resolution approved unanimously by the City Council, Evanston will wage its own response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade, with city departments directed to explore ways to support and protect individuals seeking reproductive health care, including abortions.
City pursuing traffic solutions as Poplar Avenue to get narrower. Senior Project Manager Chris Venatta came to a special Seventh Ward meeting Tuesday to talk about the Poplar Avenue Improvement Project. The city will repave the street from Livingston Street to the north to the dead end past Colfax Street to the south, skipping the intersection with Central Street in the middle.
REVIEW: Lucinda Williams at Out of Space. A stellar line up of top bill artists headlined the weekend for the Out of Space concert series at Canal Shores. On the heels of Elvis Costello’s sold-out show on Friday, Saturday night saw Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and Americana legend Lucinda Williams take the stage and deliver a highly satisfying set of crowd favorites.
Evanston Salvation Army hosts community Inside-Out event. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, The Salvation Army of Evanston will host a celebration to bring the community together for fun and reflection on Sunday, Aug. 21. The event will feature food and distribution of school supplies, toiletries and household supplies as well as bike and scooter giveaways.
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Around the web
After the Highland Park shooting, officials are ‘really focused’ on rooftops along Bud Billiken Parade route, top cop says. When Chicago’s annual Bud Billiken Parade, the largest African American parade in the nation, marches down Martin Luther King Drive from 39th to 55th streets this Saturday, Chicago Police will be watching from above. Officials told reporters in the wake of last month’s Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park, securing rooftops is a top priority.
Police will add CTA patrols after violent attacks, including fatal Red Line shooting, supt. says. CTA trains and stations, both in Evanston and across Chicago, have seen a spike in the number of violent crimes in recent months, including stabbings and a shooting last weekend that killed a 29-year-old man on the Chatham Red Line train. CPD Supt. David Brown said the police will add a “contingent” of officers to patrol trains in an attempt to stymie the violence.
Northwestern releases monkeypox preparation and prevention guidance. With Northwestern set to open its doors to thousands of students next month at the beginning of fall quarter, the university put out information on monkeypox. The virus could transmit quickly through social and sexual networks at colleges. NU students who contract monkeypox will have to isolate off-campus.
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