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Good Sunday morning, Evanston.
Above, a beachgoer heads to the lake at Clark Street Beach on a perfect, cloudless Saturday. Evanston’s beaches opened for the season Saturday, and will close 101 days later at the end of Labor Day, Sept. 2. Hit the sand while you can! (View more beach photos by Joerg Metzner.)
NU professor weighs in on American journalism
Deborah Cohen is a professor of history at Northwestern University and author of Last Call at the Hotel Imperial, which documents the intertwined careers of four correspondents who covered the rise of authoritarianism and the Nazi movement in the years leading up to World War II. For our spring fundraising campaign, the RoundTable is featuring conversations with experts on one of the topics we’re most passionate about: journalism and democracy. Mark Miller interviewed Cohen on how American journalists are covering the threat of authoritarianism in this country, the fragmented media landscape, election forecasting and more.
In case you missed any of last week’s news, here’s a roundup of the RoundTable’s most-read stories, with a few new ones thrown in for good measure.
CTA representatives attended the city’s Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Committee on Thursday to share updates on a program to make L stations accessible, but left attendees disappointed by the lack of concrete details for Evanston’s seven Purple Line stations. Accessibility work currently has little to no funding and no set timeline. “As soon as you hear it, of course you lose confidence in the likelihood of that work being done, since it’s earmarked for an unnamed date and paid for in an unknown way,” said committee chair Murphy Monroe.
Six plaintiffs represented by an activist group filed a class action lawsuit Thursday against the City of Evanston, alleging the city’s reparations program is unconstitutional (above, a 2022 lottery-style drawing determines the order for awarding grants). The lawsuit argues that by limiting grants to eligible Black residents and their descendants, the city is discriminating against non-Black residents and descendants. The suit says “tens of thousands” of people would qualify for $25,000 payments “but for the program’s race-based eligibility requirement.”
Northwestern’s Mini Chefz club is bringing undergraduates together with District 65 students to cook up healthy meals with a side of community. Club President Alianna Taitano said the group has between 30 and 40 active members, and meets at locations around the city. “The idea is that we want to teach them the basics of cooking and the basics of nutrition,” Taitano said.
Northwestern President Michael Schill testified on Capitol Hill Thursday at a hearing where he was grilled on his response to a pro-Palestinian encampment last month. Some Republicans accused Schill of yielding to antisemitism, while Democrats noted the “successful negotiation and de-escalation” of the situation.
Also: In Evanston, students and faculty involved in the encampment held a news conference outside Deering Meadow. “While we are here on Northwestern’s campus, no university stands in Gaza,” said one organizer. “They have all been destroyed by Israel.”
ETHS baseball: The Wildkits claimed their fourth straight regional championship on Saturday with a 5-1 win over Loyola Academy. Pitcher Eron Vega allowed only two hits and three walks while striking out 10. Now ETHS will face rival New Trier in the sectional semifinal on Wednesday.
Interfaith Action of Evanston’s emergency shelter program (above, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church) ended for the season, leaving many people experiencing homelessness in Evanston with nowhere to go at night for the next five months. “They’ll ask me point-blank, they’ll be like, ‘Why did the shelter close? Why isn’t it there? What am I supposed to do now?’” said shelter Director Shawn Iles. “And I don’t have a good answer.”
Evanston Township High School’s class of 2024 graduated last Sunday at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. In honor of the newest Wildkit alumni, the RoundTable has published:
• A gallery of graduation photos from Richard Cahan.
• Columnist Mary Helt Gavin’s parting advice for the newest Wildkit alumni.
• A transcript of the commencement address, delivered by basketball agent Daniel Poneman of the class of 2009.
• A transcript of the senior class remarks, delivered by senior Mia Muñoz.
• A complete list of all the graduates. Congratulations to all!
The District 65 school board held its third and final hearing on the plan to close the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies on Monday, as families and supporters of the dual-language magnet school once again marched in to plead with the board to keep it open. Nevertheless, six of the seven board members backed putting a closure resolution on the June 10 agenda.
There’s been talk of an Arrington Lagoon restaurant for years. The city was expected to award a contract adding food options at the lagoon and other sites May 28, but neither of the two bids addressed the lagoon, according to Parks and Rec Director Audrey Thompson. Council Member Clare Kelly (1st Ward) said city employees will staff an Arrington restaurant this summer instead.
The Brood XIII cicadas have finally started to emerge from their 17-year slumber to mate, lay eggs and start a new cycle. The RoundTable’s Joerg Metzner captured the insects in north Evanston on Wednesday, which you can see for yourself in this photo gallery.
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