The Dali Floy sent out an email a couple of weeks ago thanking the city for funding her new mural.
You can see on the city's bills list that $12k was funneled through the West End Business Association last month for the "first half" of the mural (page 10). Are we on the hook for another $12k?
All Hail the Dali Floy!
Parents: Why are you letting your young teens and tweens on TikTok and Instagram and Snapchat?
Should we cave and let our responsible, kind first-year high schooler on these platforms? 14 year old is feeling left out, day two of high school.
We know all the risks. Short form content, to me, is not only harming the ability to focus, but also killing the possibility of passing down culture in a coherent long form. It’s fragments or confetti without context instead of presenting a meaningful and nuanced journey.
That’s not to mention the potential for toxic content, the vapidity, the commercialism, the Andrew Tates a swipe away, the Epstein aesthetic intensified, the bullying, the the the.
Why has every other parent seemingly already caved? If the majority did not, then we would not have to deal with the constant begging for social media. I’d like to rant at fellow parents because no kid would have a device without their parent signing and paying for it. I feel that we elders are eating our young. Couldn’t you all have held out a few more years?
Already since getting an iPhone in 8th grade, teen has mostly ceased reading books. I’m already in despair over the stunted development inflicted by D65’s one child per take-home device policy.
Or am I taking it too seriously?
How do you regulate the access?
Hey neighbors,
As many of us remember, Evanston officially cut ties with Flock Safety after state audits busted them for illegally feeding local license plate data to federal agencies like U.S. Customs and Border Protection, violating our local ordinances and state privacy laws. The city told them to pack up and get out, and even had to issue cease-and-desists and slap plastic sheeting over rogue cameras when the company sneakily reinstalled units without permission.
Yet, some of these dead pieces of infrastructure are still physically bolted to poles across our neighborhoods (like the ghost hardware lingering near Church and McCormick).
A quick heads-up on the hardware itself: With the solar panel still attached, those casings can very well still house active internal batteries and cellular modems pinging away, even if the city cut ties with the network. These units are completely self-contained. They run entirely off that solar panel and beam data over cellular LTE, meaning they don't actually need to be hardwired into any local municipal infrastructure to stay powered on. Given how chaotic the removal process has been, leaving that solar rig up means it's either active zombie tech or just lazy cleanup.
If you've got one of these eyesores staring down your street, we shouldn't have to just look at abandoned corporate surveillance gear. Public works and our elected officials need to finish the job and haul them down before they become permanent neighborhood fixtures.
I’ve put together a master list of the key local contacts below. If you have a Flock system lingering in your neighborhood and want it gone, drop a comment with the exact location. Don't just use https://deflock.org/ make sure it's physically there. If we could all collaborate as a collective, we could push harder on the city to do something about it. Let's clean up our streets.
Who to email:
As of 5:23 am 8/18, City Manager Luke Stowe has already responded to my email I sent him last night and is asking his staff to review my reported location.
If it's at all helpful this is the message I sent to each email.
Abandoned Flock ALPR Hardware at Church and Bennett Avenue – Needs Immediate Removal
I'm writing regarding an unauthorized and abandoned Flock Safety automated license plate reader camera still mounted on the pole near Church Street and Bennett Avenue. (approximate coordinates: 42.04826, -87.71110).
Given that Evanston officially terminated its contract with Flock and previously had to crack down on unauthorized rogue hardware reinstallations, it is unacceptable that this dead equipment is still hanging up in the public right-of-way.
Please have the appropriate department, whether Public Works or Legal, force the vendor to physically remove this abandoned surveillance hardware immediately, or have city crews take it down. Evanston cut ties with this invasive tech for a reason; residents shouldn't have to look at lingering ghost infrastructure from a terminated vendor.
I'd appreciate an update on when this pole will be cleared.
Hello,
Does anyone know of any places hiring for part time work in the Evanston area? I work a 9-5 in the city but want something for the after hours to bring in some extra cash on weekends or weekdays. I work in finance but have bartending/serving/retail experience and retail from when I was young.
Open to any suggestions!
This is my first post literally ever on Reddit, so I'm not sure if I'm doing it right.
I just sent 118 emails to every member of the Illinois General Assembly about data privacy, and I have no idea if it will change anything
I'm not going to pretend this is some grand political moment. It's 118 emails. They'll get filed. Some staffer will probably log them as "constituent contact: data privacy." They'll move on.
But here's what pissed me off enough to actually do it:
Illinois data brokers sell my home address and personal phone number for profit. Legal. No regulation. I get a Google notification when my info shows up on these sites, and it's just... there. Money making commodity.
If I posted a politician's home address on my website through my LLC, I'd get federal charges. FBI at my door. But these companies do it every single day and file quarterly earnings reports.
Illinois has privacy protections for judges. For political figures. For basically anyone with power. But not for me. Not for regular people. It's literally built into the law that some privacy matters more than others.
So I got angry. And instead of just venting about how the system is broken, which it is. I spent three hours finding 118 email addresses and writing one email to every single one of them. I told them to strengthen SB3890 and SB340 instead of letting them become toothless registration schemes.
Will it change anything? Probably not. One person sending one email doesn't flip legislation. I'm under no illusions about that.
But here's what it did do: It stopped me from being defeated by the certainty that it won't matter. Because doing nothing definitely doesn't matter. And I'd rather be the person who tried, even when trying feels pointless, than the person who convinced themselves they shouldn't bother.
That's it. That's the post. No grand victory. Just the refusal to accept that silence is the only honest option.
If you're in Illinois and this pisses you off too, the bills are SB3890 (Ventura) and SB340 (Murphy). You can contact your reps. Or don't. But at least you'll know you had the option.
Here's the link to find everyone in one place.
Hoping to spread the word about some of the struggling enrollment counts for D65/Evanston Park District for fall flag football. I signed my son up to help with the integration into his new school after he was a victim of Kingsley's closure.
Unfortunately, there may not be enough kids signed up for his new school to have a team. So I wanted to share it here in case others were interested in registering their kids and didn't know it was an option.
Some more details from D65/Evanston Park District:
Each school needs a minimum of 9 enrolled participants to have a team. Schools with fewer than 9 participants or without a coach in place risk not being able to field a team.
If a school does not meet the minimum enrollment by August 20, we will do our best to keep all registered participants in the program by transferring them together to another school team that meets the requirements.
We understand that transferring to another school may not work for every family. If this is the case for your child, please let me know, and we will cancel the registration and provide a full refund.
Current Enrollment
Baker: 1 enrolled — Coach secured
Chiaravalle: 1 enrolled — coach needed
Dawes: 4 enrolled — Coach secured
Dewey: 5 enrolled — coach needed
Foster: 1 enrolled — Coach secured
King Arts: 11 enrolled — Coaches secured
Lincoln: 4 enrolled — coach needed
Lincolnwood: 11 enrolled — Coach secured
Oakton: 11 enrolled — Coach secured
Orrington: 12 enrolled — Coaches secured
Walker: 6 enrolled — Coach secured
Washington: 6 enrolled — Coach secured
Willard: 2 enrolled — coach needed
This program is beginner friendly. So, if your child has even a passing interest in playing, I hope you'll consider signing them up.
Not the train but a bus.
This morning, I was waiting for the usual 201 in Ridge and for some reason it was packed with people. The driver opened the door and told me there is another bus right behind and did not take any passengers.
Well, that was the first. Where I come from, they just let you squeeze in (there was definitely room for that). But okay I am not going to argue with a driver.
But the bus right behind was not the same 201. It said “Purple line shuttle.” Obviously I was not going to get on a bus that was not 201 because people don’t ride buses because they like the fxxxing bus but to get to a destination.
So my question is: wtf, why lie about the bus behind? I could have just went back home and read a book for like 20 minutes and come back.
Second, what is this purple line bus anyway? I couldn’t find any information on Google.
Do you think the Board is discussing public input enough?
Have you lost a cat? I’ve seen one couple days in a row roaming and meowing loudly near Hinman and Grove
After putting in your info, click 'More Tax Bill Information' I knew it'd be rough but oof. Ouch. Remember, everyone : always appeal, every time, either on your own or via a lawyer.
That being said, the most effective property tax lawyers (Madigan, Burke) are doing hard time!
Curious if anyone is aware of any security/safety issues around the Robert Crown Center area lately? Over the summer I've noticed a private security company taking laps around the perimeter of the turf fields in a golf cart later at night after 10pm or so, looks like they are patrolling the area. I walk this area frequently at night with my dog and didn't notice the security firm prior to the summer. Was wondering if there was an uptick in crime in that area or maybe a specific event that called for extra surveillance?
Hi all. Just looking for advice on where I might find some sort of after school dungeons and dragons club or gathering anywhere in the area, the area being obviously Evanston, and even the entire northern half of Chicago or extending into the northern suburbs. With the rise and popularity, I thought there would be more opportunities available, but at least with my crude googling skills, I can't seem to find much. Anyone know of anything? Thank you so much in advance!
Hi all! I’m looking at an apartment at 828-830 Reba Place. Does anyone have experience renting in this building or renting from ASAP Management? Thank you
It’s not shown in this Google Maps picture but it is on this exact post. Saw a police officer yesterday looking at it on my run.
Can someone explain why I need a Wheel Tax paid for my car? Am I just blindly giving $90 to the city or does the fee cover me when parking downtown at metered locations/the beaches?
Thanks!
Am I crazy or is this not a great location for a daycare for 171 children? I'm really happy to see the area so revitalized recently, but this is a busy street with terrible parking. (I don't drive and parking doesn't impact me, but it doesn't seem like an ideal school drop off area.) Or would it help bring more businesses to the area? I've always wanted something cool in this spot, and am a little bummed about the possibility of it being a daycare. No shade to the little ones, I just thought the area had potential to be more of a nightlife/restaurant/retail/ strip.
Hi, I’m Kelly. I wanted to share a site I built for our community, given the current state of our schools. Over the past couple of years, I’ve chatted with parents and caregivers at the playground, kids’ sports, birthday parties, and our usual parent social activities. Quite a few of us shared similar priorities which have become the pillars of Thrive65, a group we formed to provide resources to help everyone in our community be advocates for what they want to see in D65:
· Financial Responsibility
· Equitable Educational Excellence
· Valued Educators
There’s a guide to board advocacy, a quick look by the numbers, an explainer of 5 relevant parts of our District’s history around structural deficits, facilities, staffing, equity and more. We also lay out our own thoughts, but try to keep opinion separate from the facts. We don’t need to agree on everything; each of us brings our own unique lived experiences to our advocacy and our priorities may be slightly different based on our own circumstances. Even still, if we’re all moving in the same direction towards these pillars, we believe we can Thrive in D65.
Board conversations and decisions move faster than most families can track. Sign up to receive a heads-up on what's coming before board meetings, short summaries after meetings, and analysis when something warrants a closer look. As always, we’ll try to keep the facts and our own opinions stay clearly separated.
Hi Everyone!
I’m currently looking to sign a housing agreement and the landlord is asking to send first month’s rent upon signing (which is also outlined in the agreement) before receiving the landlords signature. Is this normal? I’m just a bit paranoid that they won’t sign on their end if I do send the money. Not sure if it’ll be disrespectful to ask for them to sign first even though it’s already outlined. Wondering if anyone has encountered this.
Thanks in advance for the help!