‘Circuit breaker’: City Council on Monday narrowly decided to put off a vote on a pilot “circuit breaker” program that would use affordable housing funds for property tax relief for longtime homeowners. Several councilmembers said the program should wait for the forthcoming strategic housing plan.
Council Bytes: Also Monday, councilmembers delayed a draft list of goals, accepted a “zero-based budgeting” study of the Public Works Agency and added two topics to the next agenda: discussion of the city-library relationship and a proposal to give another year of assistance to displaced Wesley Avenue tenants.
More RoundTable reads
Additional interview: The RoundTable has posted a new video featuring congressional candidate Jeff Cohen (middle row, right), and our roundup story now has links to our interviews with the seven Democratic candidates shown above. Two more videos, with state Senate candidates, are coming soon.
More: Our 2026 Elections page features all our voter resources.
High achievers: This year 14 students at Evanston Township High School were named National Merit Scholarship finalists, based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT. (Above, nine finalists attended Monday’s District 202 board meeting.)
‘Super excited’: The Evanston Chamber of Commerce named interim director Brianna Gray (above) as its permanent executive director on Monday. Gray, an Evanston native who previously was the chamber’s marketing and events manager, said she was “super excited about the next phase.”
Making a splash: Despite the loss of eight graduating seniors from last year’s ETHS varsity girls water polo team, coach Maggie Hatcher is upbeat about this year’s prospects as the Kits face Libertyville in their home opener tonight. Meanwhile, coach Alex Negronida has four returning juniors who’ve played together since middle school, bringing welcome experience to the boys water polo team.
In memoriam: Former Ninth Ward alderman Don Borah, 85, died Dec. 21 after a 10-year battle with prostate cancer. Borah, a longtime Wilbur Wright College professor, served on the Evanston City Council from 1977 to 1985, and was nearly elected mayor in 1985, losing by just 759 votes out of 15,346 votes cast. A celebration of life is set for March 29.
Celebration of women: To mark International Women’s Day on Sunday, the Evanston History Center and YWCA Evanston/North Shore presented Balancing the Scales, an afternoon dedicated to two Evanston women, playwright Gloria Bond Clunie and activist/philanthropist Marjorie Craig Benton. (Above: program attendees.)
