News across Cook County
Community members react as District 65 prepares to close more schools
Following the news Monday that Evanston/Skokie District 65 administrators will formally present plans next month to slash $20 million from the budget and close at least two more school buildings, community members expressed shock — but not necessarily surprise — at the news.…
Gichigamiin Museum to reopen after summer renovations
After closing on July 20 for renovations, the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum at 3001 Central St. is preparing to reopen next month, with four completely new exhibits. The new exhibits will be open Oct. 1. The museum will host Indigenous Chicago, created by Newberry Library…
Class of 2030 is on the march
Led by the Northwestern Marching Band, the Class of 2030 took its symbolic first steps onto campus Wednesday in the annual March Through the Arch tradition. Students walked through the Weber Arch and on to Deering Meadow, where they heard speeches from Northwestern officials.…
Why Base Power is betting on local backyards
On a block in central Evanston, a steel-gray box the size of an air conditioner now sits in Jordan McClure’s backyard. It may not look like much, but it represents a growing trend in how local households store and use electricity. The unit on McClure’s property is a battery from…
Resident leads fight to prevent Chase Bank from demolishing Central Street building
An Evanston resident made a passionate pitch Tuesday for the city’s Preservation Commission to designate a Chase Bank building on the southwest corner of Central Street and Green Bay Road as a historic landmark, a move that would prevent Chase from demolishing the building to put…
Evanston Community Foundation founder Segall to be honored with inaugural award on Sept. 29
The Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) will celebrate Ralph Segall with the new annual Ralph Segall Evanston Forever Award for his 40 years of service to the foundation as founder, board member and investment council chair. The award will be presented to him at the upcoming 40th…
Midnight Circus returns to Evanston with performances Sept. 19-20 at Tallmadge Park
Twenty years ago, Midnight Circus had a simple idea: Bring an extraordinary circusdirectly into Chicago neighborhoods, and use it to strengthen the communities it visited. The idea had roots years earlier, when founders Jeff and Julie Jenkins opened their show in a tiny…
‘We had known pretty quickly that we had found our person’
When Maddy Giella was living in Washington, D.C., she had gone on multiple dates through dating apps. But after moving back to Chicago, her date with Joe Tocha would be her one and only. The two met on Bumble in the summer of 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Giella to…
Why some local trees have been sporting ‘smiles’ lately
As a botanist, ecologist and conservationist at the Field Museum, Nigel Pitman mainly studied Amazonian trees. The native trees in Evanston, where he lives, were a mystery to him. In an effort to learn a bit more about the trees that are his neighbors, Pitman bought a tree…
Keeping kids busy when they’re off from school this fall
District 65’s calendar has nearly 10 days off and half days scattered between now and winter break. These days in District 65, up to winter break, include: Check your own school’s calendar to be sure: Catholic schools have some Archdiocese days off, for instance. Looking to keep…
Chicago man gets 18-year prison term for fentanyl, shoving cop
PAXTON — A Chicago man was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty in Ford County Circuit Court on Monday, Sept. 14, to possession of 400-900 grams of fentanyl with intent to deliver and aggravated battery to a peace officer. Judge Matt Fitton imposed the sentence…
Letter: District 65 school board needs to get superintendent search right this time
The District 65 school board is in the midst of making one of the most consequential decisions any board can make: selecting a new superintendent. This leader will have a powerful effect on the future of our very challenged district, ideally shepherding in a new era of…