Evanston Review News

• Updated 12/24:Evanston man crashes into studio
  A 25-year-old Evanston man has been charged for allegedly crashing a van into a television studio during a live broadcast Sunday night Downtown.
  
• Updated 12/21: Quarter-thief sought by police
  Police in Evanston are looking for a man allegedly responsible for robbing coin-operated washers and dryers in the area. The robberies have taken place in various locations throughout the city, according to a release from Evanston police.
• Updated 12/21: City tells holiday trash pickup schedule
  

  Evanston city officials have announced the next week's holiday refuse schedule.

• Updated 12/20: Holiday Giving
  Scholarship fund seeks cash to help students
• Online purchase of city stickers proves popular
  

  Those who venture into the Civic Center to buy their 2008 vehicle stickers at this time of year more than likely will spend some time standing in line outside the city collector's office.

• Police beef up burglary patrols
  

  Arrests of two burglary suspects last week was a positive step but not an end for Police Department efforts to respond to an uptick in burglaries citywide, Police Chief Richard Eddington said Tuesday.

• Recalls complicate toy drive
  

  As Marine Corps Humvees and seven-ton trucks pick up boxes of donated toys from businesses in Wilmette and surrounding suburbs this week, Toys for Tots volunteers hope for record hauls.

• Panel proposes 50% meter hike
  

  Commuters and others who park may soon pay more in meter fees downtown and for garage permits, but they're likely to see a break on ticket fines, based on a city committee's reaction last week.

• Firefighters make special run
  Evanston firefighters perform plenty of good deeds throughout the year. Small things, you know, like putting out fires and rescuing people. But if you're only as good as what you've done lately, then members of the local firefighters union, members of Evanston Firefighters Association Local 742 endeared themselves to a group of youngsters Monday.
• Dewey expansion plan would add 2 classrooms
  

  A building expansion to correct safety flaws at Dewey Elementary School is providing District 65 with an opportunity to add two classrooms at a time when the school is facing bulging enrollment.

• Pet photographer captures canines for worthy cause
  Looking for a last minute, Evanston-centered gift that happens to focus on an important cause? Then check out photographer David Sutton's 2008 "Dog Days" calendar, now available at animal welfare organizations and elsewhere. Sutton, whose studio is located at 3417 Church St., has been honored as one of the country's top pet photographers.
• District 65 foundation to receive $190,000
  

  Two sizable gifts to Foundation 65 from Northwestern University and the Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation will allow the nonprofit organization to fund a full-time executive director for three years at a critical juncture in its history.

• Board revises magnet school policy
  

  District 65 officials hope to gain greater control over classroom head counts as a result of a magnet school policy change approved Monday by the Board of Education.

• POLICE REPORTS
  

  The following incidents were listed among the official reports of the Evanston Police Department. Readers are reminded that an arrest by police does not constitute a finding of guilt; only a court of law can make that determination. All court dates are for the Cook County 2nd District Circuit Court building in Skokie unless stated otherwise.

• Updated 12/19: Plan panel minority presses for greater public benefits
  

  A minority group of Plan Commission members are expected to press their concern tonight (Dec. 19) that developers' plans to build a 49-story downtown high-rise fail to provide sufficient public benefits to justify the huge zoning allowances they are seeking.

• Updated 12/18: District 65 to use grant for subsidized day care
  

  School District 65 soon will serve a younger -- much younger -- clientele.

• Updated 12/17: Police charge two men in separate burglaries
  

  Evanston police announced the arrests of two suspects on burglary charges Monday as they continued to step up efforts in response to a recent rash of residential burglaries and car break-ins that has plagued parts of south Evanston and other neighborhoods.

• Updated 12/14: Voter sign-up deadline less than a month away
  

  The Evanston City Clerk's Office is reminding residents that Jan. 8 is the deadline to register to vote in the Feb. 5, 2008, presidential primary election.

• Plan Commission backs 49-story tower
  Updated 12/13: A divided Evanston Plan Commission recommended in favor Wednesday night of a developers proposal to build the city's tallest building, a 49-story high-rise at Church Street along Orrington Avenue. Dissenters on the panel vowed to issue a report outlining their dissatisfaction with the project. Commission members voted 4-3 in favor of sending the controversial issue to the City Council.
• Updated 12/13: Council approves emergency phones for areas near NU
  

  Evanston City Council members have approved a revised agreement with Northwestern University to install "blue light" emergency call boxes in areas around campus, rejecting some residents' call for more time to study the issue.

• The Rev. John F. Norwood, 81, dies
  

  The Rev. Dr. John Fredrick Norwood, a friend to the downtrodden and a force in Evanston religious and community circles for more than three decades, died Friday. He was 81.

• Two charged in burglaries
  The Wilmette father of two had worked late at home that night, and was winding down with a drink when he looked out the window and saw three men, all dressed in black, peering into car windows. "I was a little surprised to see people wandering around in Wilmette at that time of night," about 1:45 a.m., the 38-year-old mortgage executive said. "When I saw them spread out and start pulling on car doors, I knew what was going on."
• Tips on tipping
  

  Make that holiday gift list and check it twice.

• Crime surge fuels call to ramp up cop patrols
  

  An Evanston alderman is calling for stepped-up police action to counteract a rash of car break-ins and other burglaries over the last month in her south Evanston ward that she says have approached "epidemic" status.

• Building moratorium expires
  

  Developers will have at least a month's window in which to move forward on new construction projects after aldermen failed to extend a moratorium on downtown building permits for another 95 days.