Good morning, Evanston.
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) joined a gathering of community leaders and educators at Evanston Township High School Friday morning, Oct. 29, to advocate for expanded career readiness options in high school to help prepare interested students to work in technical trades or manufacturing.
Sen. Duckworth suggested a need to educate young people about career opportunities that don’t necessarily involve going to a four-year college for a bachelor’s degree.
“I’m telling you, our country is suffering for it, our national security is suffering for it,” she said. “Our economy, our GDP growth depends on us getting more people into the workforce, into these jobs.”
The RoundTable staff wishes you all a very Happy Halloween! Stay safe tonight and keep an eye out for these creepy ghosts, ghouls and vampires that haunt Evanston neighborhoods. Check out some of our favorite spooky Halloween decorations.
Send us a photo of the creepy creatures that haunt your neighborhood at news@evanstonroundtable.com.
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
After Thin Blue Line experience, Evanston Public Library officials will require more staff OK for exhibit signage. A display of materials on police reform went up on the second floor Oct. 1 with a sign using an image of a “Thin Blue Line” flag as the background to the words “Policing in America,” said Library Director Karen Danczak Lyons.
Join the Evanston RoundTable on Wednesday, Nov. 17th at 7 p.m. for a free online webinar discussion on the threats facing local journalism and democracy. We have an all-star panel lined up, including Charles Whitaker, dean and professor at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communication; Tracy Baim, president and co-publisher of the Chicago Reader; Laura Washington, Sun-Times columnist and political analyst for ABC-7 Chicago, and Tim Franklin, who leads Medill’s Local News Initiative. The event will be a fundraiser in support of the RoundTable’s fall NewsMatch campaign. We hope you will decide to support our work.
Schools
Confronting high cost, low wages of child care. Even before the pandemic, early childhood education centers in Evanston and across the country were struggling to find enough teachers to stay afloat.
Art & Life
Evanston RoundTable wins 36 NINA awards. The Evanston RoundTable won 36 awards in 23 different categories at the annual Northern Illinois Newspaper Association (NINA) award ceremony on Oct. 28.
Prairie Joe’s says goodbye to Evanston: ‘Every day was special’ After 30 years, Prairie Joe’s is closing its doors on Central Street. Aydin Dincer, the owner, decided to close due to family obligations – it was too hard to run the restaurant and spend time with his family. “I had to make a decision, a big one,” he said.
Rob Bady: ‘Never give up, and keep striving to make the community better’ A huge loss that Bady experienced was his 2017 run for alderman of Evanston’s Eighth Ward. By a mere 15 votes, he lost an opportunity to help govern his hometown, but he has found other ways to help the Evanston community, serving on multiple boards and as a volunteer at local events.
Public Square
We are Water | Evanston residents want more info on local water issues. In our previous article, we shared that one-fifth of Evanston residents surveyed last year through the We are Water Evanston community research project did not trust Evanston’s tap water. One likely reason is lack of awareness of the city’s water treatment services and tap water quality.
Sports
Quad Indoor Sports back on track. After a rough pandemic year in 2020, Quad Indoor Sports, the 65,000 square-foot facility at 2454 Oakton St., is back on track for further growth, said co-owner Bill Kindra.
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