Good Thursday morning, Evanston.
Evanston resident Nura Aly, seen at Lee Street Beach in the photo above, loves to swim but hasn’t been in Lake Michigan in decades – all the paths for her wheelchair stopped far short of the water.
“Imagine you’ve been invited to a party, but you can’t get to the bar,” said Karen Tamley, president and CEO of Access Living of Metro Chicago. Evanston’s beaches offer limited access to wheelchair users. In words and photos, the RoundTable’s Richard Cahan looks at how Evanston provides people who use wheelchairs access to its six city beaches, but only one beach offers an actual connection to the lake itself.
Now, here are more of today’s top news stories:
Local housing authorities condemned a four-unit apartment building at 819-821 Howard St. last month. The roof had been leaking for more than five months and the landlord’s inaction on repairing it caused “structural concerns,” according to city inspectors. Council Member Devon Reid, 8th Ward, toured the structure and shared pictures with the RoundTable. He described the building as “uninhabitable.”
Forty years of love, laughter, counseling and supporting tiny ones, toddlers, teens, parents and grandparents were packed into a party for “Ms. JoAnn” Saturday. Program Manager JoAnn Avery marked 40 years at Family Focus with a street naming. And Evanston turned out. She kindly flipped through photos and chatted with the RoundTable about being honored for her work with kids who are, in her words, “at-promise” – not “at-risk.” She says, “All these kids have promise.”
COVID-19 by the numbers: Six new cases and no new deaths were reported on Tuesday, Aug. 30, the last day the city updated case totals. The seven-day average is 6.1 cases per day.
Placemaking: Coming this afternoon at the RoundTable
Later today, the RoundTable kicks off a fascinating four-part series: A Portrait of Wong Aloy: A Chinese Immigrant’s American Journey. Written by Jenny Thompson from the Evanston History Center, it tells us about a young man’s journey from China to the United States and how he came to Evanston. Part of the Placemaking project, which is uncovering Evanston’s Asian American history, we will publish first an introductory piece by Hannah Zhihan Jiang that explains the work and timing. Look for it this afternoon!
Elsewhere on the RoundTable website
At This Time. Kids and adults alike are out soaking up the sun during these last few precious days of summer before Labor Day. Pictured above are 7-year-old Addie Resnick (right) and her 4-year-old sister Annaliese playing at the historic Fountain Square Centennial Fountain in the Merrick Rose Garden.
Take a detour into vintage fun on Central Street. In June, vintage shop Frolic & Detour opened at 1909 Central St., replacing the former tenant, Healing Touch Massage, and giving the north side of the block some pizzazz, and possibly more foot traffic.
Nancy Anderson: I’m past my prime and that’s OK. “I’m not as good as I used to be at recalling things, like the names of actors, authors, restaurants and the person I met two minutes ago. But I’ve improved my day-to-day living skills, at least it feels that way,” writes columnist Nancy Anderson.
Picturing Evanston. Even though this clock stopped working a while ago, it’s always time to save at Ken’s Cleaners on the corner of Dempster Street and Elmwood Avenue. (Photo by Joerg Metzner.)
Join our team: The Evanston RoundTable is growing! Check out our jobs page for reporting opportunities in editorial.
The RoundTable needs your support. Become a member now!
From day one, it’s been the RoundTable’s mission to bring you unbiased, in-depth reporting about the Evanston community. But we need your help to continue investing in high-quality and in-depth journalism, reporting news that strengthens and enlightens our community, encourages civic engagement and bolsters our democracy. Please join our community of readers and become a member today.
Around the web
Person held in Rogers Park shooting of 5-year-old, as neighbors pray for critically wounded boy. Local Ald. Maria Hadden said a person of interest was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with the Rogers Park shooting that left Evanston 5-year-old Devin McGregor critically injured. Devin was wounded Sunday afternoon in an attack targeting his father, according to Block Club Chicago.
Updated COVID-19 shots could be available in Chicago after Labor Day. On Wednesday, the FDA authorized the newest COVID-19 booster vaccinations, which are specifically tailored to combat the particularly contagious omicron variant and its subvariants. The shots are expected to be available starting next week.
The first bus carrying migrants from the US-Mexico border in Texas arrives in Chicago, officials say. The state of Texas, which for several months has bused thousands of newly arrived migrants to New York City and Washington, has set a new metropolitan area as a destination: Chicago.
How to help people affected by the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi. The main water treatment plant in Jackson, the state’s capital and largest city, has failed, leaving well over 100,000 people without clean, reliable running water. Those who want to help can donate money, water and supplies.
Like what you’re reading? Share it!
If you appreciate the RoundTable newsletter, please forward it to friends and suggest that they sign up!