Good morning, Evanston.
In case you missed any of the most important news last week, here’s a roundup of the top stories from the RoundTable this past week.
City News
Home Precincts Help Stoke Some Candidates’ Winning Margins in April 6 Aldermanic Election. Want a winning formula for the next Evanston aldermanic election in four years? Do well in your home precinct, and that can provide an important margin for victory.
Proposed Change Would Give Staff Authority in New Business Applications. Evanston officials are proposing a change in the way the City handles requests from businesses applying to fill spaces in Evanston’s business districts, looking to speed up the process in the recovery from COVID-19.
New Howard Street Building Named ‘Ann Rainey Apartments’ in Honor of Alderman’s Efforts. Eighth Ward Alderman Ann Rainey has spent much of her career building up Howard Street, the main east-west street in the Ward that had fallen on hard times when she was first elected to the Evanston City Council in 1983. She is now stepping off the Council, but a building on the street will bear her name for generations to come.
COVID-19 Update on May 7: Two New Cases in Evanston, 3,321 in the State. The City of Evanston said late on May 6 that the FDA is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 within the next few weeks.
Schools
Golden Apple Award Winner Meghan Rice Is in Tune With Her Students. Willard School kindergarten teacher Meghan Rice thought she was walking into a 10 a.m. meeting with her teaching teammates on May 3. Instead, she was surprised with the prestigious Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.
School District 65 Initiates Discussion of $10.6 Million in Federal Funding. Kathy Zalewski, business manager, confirmed that District 65 is expecting to receive a total of $10.6 million in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding. The funds will be received in three phases.
District 65 School Board Swears in Four Board Members, Elects Officers. The new Board unanimously elected Anya Tanyavutti to serve another one-year term as President and Ms. Lindsay-Ryan to serve another one-year term as Vice President.
District 202 Board Elects Officers, Recognizes Retirees. The District 202 Board on May 3 elected its previous year’s officers to another term: Pat Savage-Williams, President; Monique Parsons, Vice President; Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Pete Bavis, Secretary; and Chief Financial Officer Mary Rodino, Treasurer.
New Committee Structure at District 65 Intended to Provide Format to Be More Transparent. At the reorganizational meeting of the District 65 School Board on May 3, Board President Anya Tanyavutti said, “Starting in August, we’ll have a new committee structure.” For many years the District 65 Board has had a Finance Committee and a Policy Committee, with three members of the Board serving on each committee. Following up on a proposal made by Superintendent Devon Horton on April 12, the School Board has expanded the role of these two committees and made some additional changes.
Arts & Life
Gus Giordano Show Features Five Evanston Dancers. On May 8, students of the Gus Giordano Dance School will appear in the 2021 production of their annual “That’s Entertainment,” live-streamed from Chicago’s Edge Theater. Five Evanston girls will be performing onstage in person after a year of workarounds necessitated by COVID -19.
Local Artists Sell Handmade Goods at Evanston Made’s Maker’s Market. Evanston Made, an organization working to unite and support local artists, hosted a Maker’s Market on May 1 on the fifth floor of the Maple Avenue parking garage. The market, which began at noon and ended around 5 p.m., featured some 30 local artists who sold handmade goods including jewelry, paintings, clothing, bags, and pottery.
A Little Less Grass, a Little More Shade. Leslie Shad keeps her eye out for trees. The founder and co-leader of Natural Habitat Evanston, not only does she help watch over Evanston’s trees, she looks for ways to bring more trees to the community. A grant of $1,000 from Iowa-based Treesforever.org required a match in labor, not in funds. On May 3, about 15 volunteers brought their gloves and shovels to the north side of Evanston Township High School to plant 11 trees.
Who Has No Regrets? Dear Gabby, What do you make of people who look back at their life and say they have no regrets? Is that even possible? Signed, Disbeliever
SURF’s Up as Levy Audience Hears About Underground Science in the Heart of South Dakota. On April 27, Deb Wolf, education and public relations director at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, S.D., participated via Zoom as this week’s speaker for the Levy Lecture Series. SURF is the premier underground science laboratory in the United States, and one of very few in the world.
The Traffic Guy hears … that the comfortably cool weather and comparative lack of rainfall have brought construction back to Evanston.
Rank and File | Kemeny, Godinho Win at Evanston Scholastic Chess Championships. Younger Evanston chess players have been able to continue playing organized chess during the pandemic through the efforts of Evanston Scholastic Chess.
Public Square
Peggy Tarr: The Deacon’s World Prayer. A friend invited me to go with her to her church. We arrived at church about 15 minutes before the Sunday morning service began. My friend explained that during this pre-service time, those in attendance could speak, that people often spoke about their blessings or the blessings of others or said a prayer or asked for prayers. Deacons and trustees sometimes spoke, too. We had only been seated about five minutes when a deacon stood up before the congregation and asked if anyone else wanted to speak.
Charles Wilkinson: The Blahs. (Running on empty. Know the feeling? It is as if life has gone flat – so slowly, without you even noticing that it has. Nothing heavy or dark going on, just…nothing. More a case of the blahs. Nothing is happening and you do not care. It feels like there is no energy to do anything except pass time (I almost wrote “gas!”).
Sports
Russell, ETHS Boys Track Team Rule at Thornton Invitational. Long-time followers of high school track are aware of the fact that the Illinois High School Association is now applying metric standards to field events to qualify for the State finals. If there are any Evanston fans confused by the math needed to convert feet and inches into meters, there is a table that exists online at the IHSA website just for that purpose. Or now they have an athlete they could consult, too.
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