Evanston, IL
55°F · Isolated Rain ShowersSunset 5:45 pm
Dawes, Dewey, Orrington, Walker, Washington and Willard elementary schools received "exemplary" designations on the 2025-26 Illinois Report Card, but changes to the state's rating system and lowered proficiency cutoffs complicate what the labels mean.
Local Government
Robin Rue Simmons is working to export Evanston's $25,000 housing-grant reparations program to more than 100 communities nationwide, even as the Trump administration's Justice Department has joined a federal lawsuit seeking to shut the program down.
Local Government
Evanston's City Council voted Oct. 26 to introduce an ordinance for a 26-story, 360-unit tower at 900 Clark St., with Ald. Clare Kelly casting the sole dissent over tax-break concerns, setting up a final vote Nov. 9.
Sports
The No. 5-seeded Wildkits take a 16-6 record and an eight-game winning streak into a 5 p.m. semifinal against defending state champion New Trier, which shut out ETHS twice during the regular season.
Sports
The Evanston Township High School Wildkits shut out Naperville North 5-0 on Wednesday, Oct. 21, extending their winning streak to seven games and advancing to the state field hockey quarterfinals against Glenbrook North on Saturday in Antioch.
Community
Red Clay Dance Company's "Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar," a dance-theater work honoring missing and murdered Black women and girls, opens its world premiere run Oct. 1–3 at Northwestern's Wirtz Center, with artistic director Vershawn Sanders-Ward citing Evanston's reparations program as one reason she chose the city.
Community
Evanston's fifth annual Recycling Truck Design Competition will award two winners instead of one, thanks to a new partnership with SWANCC and an EPA-funded regional recycling campaign. Student designs are due Oct. 16.
Community
Evanston Community Fridges opened its fifth and first downtown location on Sept. 22 at the Woman's Club of Evanston, bringing a free food pantry to the alleyway near the Evanston Public Library off Church Street.
Community
Evanston's Crisis Responder Team started operations Sept. 14, building on the CARE program that has handled more than 3,500 calls since 2024, with full deployment expected by Nov. 2.
Editor
Ellie Nevel is an Editor overseeing local news outlets. She holds a marketing degree from Illinois State University and brings that background to her work shaping how communities receive their news. Ellie is committed to delivering accurate, community-focused reporting on the issues that matter most to local readers.
