City of Evanston Blog
Articles Posted in: February 2010
Google Fiber for Evanston Update
The City's initiative to bring Google's high speed fiber network to town is well underway. To be part of the effort, sign up to be part of our Google Group "Google Fiber for Evanston." You can also follow the efforts on Facebook.…
1,000,000th Item Checked Out at EPL in FY 09/10
The Evanston Public Library celebrated a milestone this week when a patron checked out the 1,000,000th item this year (year ends February 28). This is the first time EPL has surpassed circulation of 1,000,000 items. The lucky patron was a mother, accompanied by her two young sons. The family has just relocated to Evanston from California (a lot of that going on), and have fallen in love with the children’s room. Mayor Tisdahl was on hand to mark the occasion…
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Library Hours As of March 1
With the beginning of the 2010/11 fiscal year starting Monday, there are changes in the operating hours of the Evanston Public Library. The main library returns to its previous hours prior to December 1, 2009 and the branch library hours are reduced one day a week. Here is the schedule: Main Library (resume regular hours) Monday – Thursday 9:00 – 9:00 Friday & Saturday 9:00 – 6:00 Sunday Noon – 6:00 North Branch Monday 10:00 – 8:00 Tuesday …
Crime Drops 13% in 2009
The Evanston Police Department released its 2009 crime stats yesterday. From the Police Department's Press Release: "While other communities throughout the nation may have seen a rise in crime between 2008 and 2009, the City of Evanston has achieved a significant decline as it pertains to major part-one crime categories. Statistics indicate that murder is down 50%, criminal sexual assault rose from 5 incidents to 7 translating to a 40% increase, robbery was down a significant 29.6%, aggravated battery &…
Smoking Cessation Clinic
Need help quitting? The City of Evanston Health Department is holding a FREE smoking cessation clinic. The clinic will be conducted be Jerry Zabin, L.C.S.W here at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center in room 1700. The clinic dates are March 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 23 and you must registrar and attend the first class. For more information and to register call the Evanston Health Department at 847-866-2949 and ask for Mayda Figueroa or Whitney Jones. Don’t miss…
AT&T Phone Outage in Dempster/Florence Area
The City of Evanston has been notified of a telephone outage in the Dempster St./Florence Ave. area. The City is working with AT&T to resolve this issue as soon as possible.…
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Happy 105th Birthday Rotary International
Happy Birthday to our neighbors at Rotary International. See this great website on where Rotary was founded in Chicago.…
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Council Actions February 22, 2010
1. The City Council completed its work on the budget tonight. The Council eliminated one unpaid holiday for staff, reducing the total number from five to four unpaid holidays during FY 2010/11. This was the only substantial change from its decisions on Saturday. 2. The City Council also adopted the Capital budget for FY 2010/11 agreeing to $7.8 million of new general obligation debt for capital spending in addition to projects funded from other sources. The Council will hold a special…
Newsy Items on Monday City Council Agenda
1. Final action on FY 2010/11 operating budget. 2. Consideration of FY 2010/11 capital budget. There has been little discussion of this aspect of the budget so far. Assistant City Manager Marty Lyons has an excellent staff report (PDF) that outlines issues of project need, but difficulty in funding. 3. Final action to adjustments in refuse, recycling and yard waste services (staff report - PDF). Full Agenda (PDF) Agenda Packet (PDF)…
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Council Actions February 20, 2010
The City Council completed its work on the proposed FY 2010/11 budget Saturday and is scheduled to formally adopt the budget on Monday night. Changes from Saturday: The Council rejected the proposed 5% salary reduction for all managers, restored the final two staff positions “below the line” (both from Parks, Recreation and Community Services) and added an additional unpaid holiday for all staff. This brings total of unpaid holidays for FY 2010/11 to five. These changes balance the budget and…
Information regarding the Children Dental Clinic
Monday through Thursday, 8:30am to 12pm; 1:30 to 5pm, BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Established in 1967 for children pre-school through 12th grade (high school senior). Services include: dental examinations, cleanings, fluoride treatments, dental sealant, restorations, minor surgical procedures, dental x-rays, root canal therapy, dental health education and emergency care. Income within eligibility guidelines are required. Call for details. Cost: Sliding scale fees apply. All Kids / Medicaid is accepted. For appointment or more information, call (847) 866-2953 or (847) 866-2948.…
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Women Out Walking Starts March 27
The City of Evanston’s Department of Health and Human Services, through a grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Office of Women’s Health, will again be offering the Women Out Walking (W.O.W.), program. W.O.W. is a 12-week walking campaign beginning on Saturday, March 27, 2010. Save the date! This program is designed to not only encourage women to become more physically active, but to live healthier lifestyles through a better understanding of nutrition and women’s health issues. Throughout this…
Shani Davis Wins Gold Medal
Congratulations to Evanston's own Shani Davis for his gold medal performance in the 1000 meter speedskating event at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Davis got his start skating at the Robert Crown Center.…
Evanston Takes Google Challenge
Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl announced today that the City of Evanston will respond to Google's Request for Information (RFI) to build ultra-high speed broadband networks in communities across America. Google announced last week its intention to launch ultra-high speed broadband internet networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Google's vision of a fiber-to-the-home network with open access fits well with Evanston's focus on making the community "the Most Livable City in America." Mayor Tisdahl has asked City Manager…
Sewer Collapse
The 12-inch diameter combined sewer in the 1500 block of Asbury collapsed creating a complete blockage of the sewer main causing sewage to backup in the City’s sewer main serving Asbury Avenue from Lake Street to Davis Street. The actual collapse is approximately 10 feet south of manhole # 3820, or in front of 1564 Asbury. The sewer crew used the sewer cleaning machine to remove the blockage and relieve the sewage backup. The sewer is currently flowing properly. The sewer…
Nicor Community Meeting on Gas Main Replacement
Video coverage of a Town Hall meeting held by Nicor at the Civic Center last week on large gas main replacement project planned for Evanston this Spring and Summer.…
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NBC 5 Brings Winter Olympic Spirit to Evanston
WMAQ-TV Channel 5 is bringing their 5 AM to 7 AM early news show to Evanston Friday morning. They will be broadcasting their 6 AM to 7 AM hour "on ice" from the outdoor ice rink at Dawes Park as NBC prepares to begin its coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.…
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Snow Route Parking Ban in Effect Tonight, Feb. 10th
The City of Evanston has declared a Snow Route Parking Ban for tonight, Wednesday, February 10th focusing on snow removal in the retail and metered parking areas. Community members are requested to park according to the red, white and blue signs on their streets to allow the City to effectively clear the snow. Emergency sirens will sound to alert community members to move their cars at 8:15 p.m. on nights snow route parking bans are in effect after an accumulation…
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Oral Health Consortium
We are creating an Oral Health Consortium (OHC) to address clinical oral health services for pediatric patients in Evanston. We are seeking input from Evanston's dental providers, foundations, non-for profit organizations and residents on how to sustain dental services in this community.…
Snow Plows in the News
Great report on WGN News tonight about our plowing operation.…
Get Emergency Notifications on Twitter
The City has created a sub-list off our main Twitter feed for emregncy notifications. Follow it @CityofEvanston/urgent…
Facebook Fans
We have met our challenge of 2,010 Facebook Fans by 2010. We put out the challenge on December 23, 2009 when we had 1,032 Fans. Today, 47 days later, we have 2,011 Fans.…
Snow Route Parking Ban Feb 9 and Snow Emergency Feb 10 & 11
Snow Route Parking Ban in Effect Tonight, Feb. 9th The City of Evanston has declared a Snow Route Parking Ban for tonight, Tuesday, February, 9. Community members are requested to park according to the red, white and blue signs on their streets to allow the City to effectively clear the snow. Emergency sirens will sound to alert community members to move their cars at 8:15 p.m. on nights snow route parking bans are in effect after an accumulation of two inches…
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Snow Watch
The City is watching developments carefully this evening for a large snowfall expected in the next 24 hours. See our website for information on snow emergencies and follow us on this blog, our website, Twitter , Facebook and Comcast Channel 16 in Evanston for more information as the storm progresses. Feel free to comment here as well on any issues that may arise during the storm that the City needs to address. UPDATE 02/09: I did not add phone numbers: Snow…
City Council Actions on February 8, 2010
1. The City Council took no final action on the budget. This was largely at the request of Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste who is in Haiti surveying conditions with other Haitian American elected officials. The Council set a special meeting to continue discussions on the budget for Saturday February 20 at 9 AM. 2. The Council introduced the proposed ordinance on changes to the City's refuse, recycling and yard waste program and charges. The ordinance will be considered for action on February…
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Newsy Items on Monday City Council Agenda
1. Consideration final action on the proposed FY 2010/11 budget. 2. Consideration of changes to Sanitation Service Charges to include a new sanitation service charge fee structure of $6.95 for a 65-gal cart and $10.95 for a 95-gal cart, a $1.75 for yard waste stickers to be affixed to yard waste paper bags and/or tree trimming bundles or alternately an unlimited collection of yard waste from a wheeled cart purchased from the City at a rate of $25 per year, and…
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New City Council Meeting Times
The Evanston City Council's Rules Committee unanimously voted this week to change the meeting times for the Administration and Public Works (A&PW) Committee, Planning and Development (P&D) Committee and City Council meetings. The change in times would eliminate potentially long waiting periods between committee and Council meetings giving citizens a greater opportunity to participate in the process. Previously, on nights of City Council meetings, the A&PW meeting would start at 5:30 p.m., the P&D meeting would start at 7:00 p.m.…
Feral Cat Update
The following is a press release from the Evanston Police Department: "Back on 1-24-10 Evanston police responded to a death investigation in the 1900 Blk. of Grant St. Evanston, Illinois. It was determined that the deceased died of natural causes. As an outgrowth of this investigation police discovered that a feral cat colony, estimated at approximately 100 cats, resided on or about the deceased’s property. Relatives of the deceased were contacted and were not equipped to adequately care for this…
Senator Dick Durbin Visit on Home Foreclosures
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin visited Evanston this morning to tour the area of west Evanston that will be helped by the City's $18 million Federal grant to rid the community of many of its abandoned foreclosed homes. Accompanying Senator Durbin on this tour was U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and members of the Evanston City Council.…
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Latest Budget Balancing Detail
A revised spreadsheet (PDF) detailing the work of the City Council last night to balance the budget is now posted on the City's Budget website. UPDATE 02/06/10: Bottom line of spreadsheet not as clear as could be: As the Council's current deliberations stand, the Council has balanced the budget and has surplus of $364,934 to put into reserves or the Police and Fire Pension Funds.…
City Council Actions on February 3, 2010
The City Council met again this evening to continue work on the budget. While the Council took no final actions, the Council decided the following through preliminary votes: 1. Amended its previous decision on the fate of the branch libraries by allowing them to remain open through August 31, 2010 to allow time for community supporters to develop alternate funding plans for their operation. 2. Restored proposed reduction in Fire Department overtime. 3. Restored $50,000 in funding to the Evanston Community…
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New Laws Coming Soon
The City Council recently passed an increase in the fine for speeding in a school zone. This new fine will go into effect on February 26. The City will be doing a campaign over the next few weeks to raise awareness of this and overall school traffic safety. The City Council is also set Monday to give final approval to a citywide ban on cell phone use while driving without using a hands-free device. This law would go into effect…
City Council Actions on February 1, 2010
The City Council met this evening to continue work on the budget. While the Council took no final actions, the Council decided the following through preliminary votes: 1. To close the North and South Branch Libraries. Staff was directed not to rent out the North Branch Library space on Central Street for one year to allow library supporters an opportunity to develop a plan to reopen the library. 2. Directed staff to come up with a plan to restore $275,000 to…
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