Good Sunday morning, Evanston.
Evanston’s four Catholic parishes will merge into two this summer, but the structure of the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University will remain unchanged, according to an announcement made Saturday morning by Bishop Mark Bartosic, representative for Cardinal Blase Cupich.
Bartosic indicated that on July 1 St. Athanasius and St. Joan of Arc will unite as one parish with two worship sites and one pastor.
After eight years of organizing, Wild Onion Market has finally declared its new location, at 7007 N Clark St. in Chicago.
The co-op signed a 10-year lease in the Rogers Park neighborhood. After vetting 40 potential sites for the last two years, the co-op picked a location less than one mile from Evanston, where 40% of the co-op’s owners reside.
Picturing Evanston. Picture perfect snowfall on Dewey Avenue, south of Oakton Street.
In case you missed any of the most important news last week, here’s a roundup of recent top stories from the RoundTable.
City News
Land Use Commission approves Orrington lab building proposal. The Evanston Land Use Commission on Jan. 26 approved a proposal that could ultimately bring a 10-story laboratory sciences building to the corner of Orrington Avenue, Clark Street and Elgin Road downtown.
Hazard pay for grocery workers still on table. Eighth Ward Council member Devon Reid’s proposal that employees at larger grocery stores should receive hazard pay moved forward at the Jan. 24 City Council meeting.
Evanston to restart search for City Manager after top candidate accepts job elsewhere. “As the City Council does not see a path forward with the current search, it intends to restart the search process with a new executive recruitment firm as quickly as possible,” the city’s statement said.
COVID-19 update as of Jan. 27: 47 new cases in Evanston on Jan. 26; 14,222 in the state on Jan. 27. In the last week, there was a significant drop in new COVID-19 cases in Chicago and the state.
Mandatory vaccine policy for council members could go into effect as soon as Feb. 14 meeting. By an 8-0 vote, City Council members Jan. 24 approved a recommendation from the city’s Health and Human Services Department that requires vaccination or a recent negative test for elected officials.
Inside omicron’s impact on Evanston health care workers: ‘You don’t get a rest day’. More sick patients and fewer staff add a heavy burden on the dedicated and passionate health care workers who remain on the job
Fleming’s final meeting hints at process for filling Ninth Ward vacancy. At a virtual send-off for Council Member Cicely Fleming, six candidates interested in her position introduced themselves.
‘I never thought that I would be picked’: Meet one of the first 16 recipients of Evanston reparations. Ramona Burton, 72, first learned about the local reparations effort when Danny Glover visited her home church, First Church of God, back in December 2019.
Schools
Evanston parents petition for research into a weapons detection system at ETHS. Last month, Evanston Township High School went into an hours-long lockdown after school security discovered two loaded handguns in students’ backpacks. Now, after getting little information or transparency from the administration, a group of local parents are petitioning for the school board to conduct research into the possibility of installing a weapons detection system at the high school.
‘We’re still scratching the surface on work-based learning’: City-School Liaison Committee focuses on workforce development. Workforce development for students was in the spotlight at a recent City-School Liaison Committee meeting.
Q&A with District 65 Superintendent Devon Horton: ‘We underestimated … the impact on our educators.’ The RoundTable sat down with Horton last week to discuss his early experiences in Evanston, the challenges he has faced and his goals for the future.
District 65 pledges to take on financial burden caused by postponing Nichols School trip. Superintendent Horton and Nichols Middle School parents cleared up a miscommunication regarding a planned civil rights trip to Alabama that the district canceled.
Art & Life
‘I seemed to speak out early’: Evanston resident Elizabeth Werrenrath reflects on her first 107 years. On the occasion of her 108th birthday, our reporter learns about Betty’s life, family and the constancy of love.
Adventures in birding: If you’re looking for a reason to leave your dwelling for some fresh – albeit cold – air, follow Adina Keeling as she accompanies birder Jake Cvetas on a quest to find feathered friends.
West End Area Block Club celebrates 60-plus years, calls for more clubs. Through shifts in the neighborhood, many challenges and even the pandemic, members have joined forces to support one another and improve the community.
Levy Lecture: Exploring the International Space Station. Michelle Nichols refers to herself as an “astroeducator,” and the label could not be more apt.
Northwestern students beef up the snack industry, After two-and-a-half years of brainstorming and experimentation, Minimal Snacks launched its first product: air-dried beef.
My boss swiped right on me Dear Gabby, I’m on a premium dating app and my boss came up on it and swiped right on me, which makes me want to retch. What should I do?
The Art of Making Art | Learning to Paint at Studio 215. I recently hit a neophyte’s wall using acrylic paints, so I signed up for studio time with Evanston art instructor Sarah Kaiser-Amaral.
The week in photos: Jan. 17 – Jan. 24. It’s skating season at the lakefront lagoon.
Every day, our photographer Richard Cahan takes a picture. Check out our Photos page to see some of his images.
Public Square
Les Jacobson: Hang on. The Earth spins on its axis 1,000 miles per hour and speeds around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. The sun whips through the galaxy at 448,000 miles per hour and the galaxy itself moves through the universe at 1.3 million miles per hour. With all that speed, is it any wonder our lives seems so unhinged?
Sports
ETHS boys basketball: Wildkits whip Lake View for fourth straight win. Evanston eased to its fourth straight basketball win Tuesday night at Beardsley Gym.
ETHS boys bowling: Team advances to state finals for 1st time in school history. Coach Harold Bailey’s squad leapfrogged two other challengers in game six and punched a ticket for the Illinois High School Association state finals for the first time in school history.
ETHS boys wrestling: Wrestlers fade in final round of CSL tourney. Evanston’s wrestlers couldn’t find a finishing touch Saturday at the Central Suburban League tournament held at Vernon Hills.
ETHS boys basketball: Tully leads Wildkits to third straight victory. The Wildkits shot a sizzling 60% (26-of-43) from the field, led by Tully’s career-high 15 points.
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