Construction on Lakefront Path To Begin This Fall

By Mary Helt Gavin

Mike Gold shows how light is "pushed out" from a single source in dark-sky lighting.

A $550,000 grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program will allow the City to implement phase one of the lakefront path plan by building separate pedestrian and bicycle paths in the parks between Clark and Lee streets.

The plan, presented at a public meeting on June 4, differs little from the master plan adopted by the City earlier this year, said Greg Weykamp of EDAW, the City's consultant on the project. The main changes are additional curves that circumnavigate rather than eliminate trees and accommodate grade differences not discernible from the aerial photographs used in the early stages of planning. Also because of trees and grade, the two paths will abut each other at a few points along the way, he said.

Discussion ran high on almost every aspect of the
plan, as many of the nearly two dozen people at the meeting had attended some of the planning workshops held last year.

The new asphalt bike path will be 12 feet wide, with a center dividing strip, said Drew Millard of EDAW. The pedestrian path, 6 feet wide, will be composed of crushed, compact gravel, he said, and will accommodate wheelchairs. In response to a question from Mary Friedl, who uses a wheelchair, he said the gravel is "ADA-compliant." Paul D'Agostino, superintendent of the City's Parks/
Forestry Division, said the material would be the same
as that used for paths in the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Ms. Friedl said a label of ADA-compliance "means nothing to me," but said she would check out the Botanic Garden trails.

"Dark-sky lighting" will be used along the path, said Stan Wang, also of EDAW. "Viewed from space, Chicago is one of the brightest cities in the world," he said. Dark-sky lighting, in which light is beamed downward from a central source, reduces glare and increases the field of vision, thus improving safety, he said. Dark-sky lighting is used already in Eggleston, Lawson and Lovelace parks, among others, said Stephanie Levine of the City's Parks/Forestry Division.

David Reynolds, who lives on Sheridan Road across from one of the parks the paths would traverse, said he thought the light fixtures proposed for the path were "not suitable for Evanston. ...They are very out-of-character for the lakefront path." He said he did not like the "slender post, and the fixture looks like [something from] a European railroad. ... It is not suitable for the lakefront and an historic district."

Mr. Wang said EDAW would consult with members of the Evanston History Center and others to try to find another type of street lamp.

The final project of the evening entailed discussion of the furniture along the paths - benches, water fountains, and refuse and recycling bins. In addition to selecting from several styles for certain areas of the path, audience members were asked to indicate their preference of materials - wood, metal or recycled plastic. Examples of styles and materials will be posted on the City's website, www.cityofevanston.org, within a few weeks, Mr. D'Agostino said.

In addition to constructing the paths, phase one of the project includes relocating the boat ramp and the sailboat lots further north to Clark Street. Work is scheduled to begin in late summer or early fall, Ms. Levine said.

West Nile Virus Alert

Early samples of mosquitoes gathered by the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District revealed the presence of West Nile virus, City officials said on Monday. Residents are urged to project themselves against mosquito bites by using insect repellant, wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts if they go outside during the dusk and dawn hours and to remove standing water from their property.

Report sick or dead perching birds, such as crows, robins and blue jays, to the Health Department, 847-866-2947.

NPR Correspondent Anne Garrels Speaks To Medill Students About Iraq Experience

By Martha Rosenberg

Medill School of Journalism students were mostly in high school when National Public Radio (NPR) correspondent Anne Garrels endured the "shock and awe" bombing of Iraq and wrote the memoir "Naked in Baghdad."

But that did not curtail their questions about Abu Ghraib, Blackwater, government censorship, embedding with the military and war-reporting as a female when Ms. Garrels spoke at Northwestern University last month.

Ms. Garrels discussed the progression of the war, the effect of escalating violence and kidnappings on reporting and everyday life in Iraq, and her personal experiences as a reporter and a woman.

Casually dressed in a leotard, flowered skirt, ballet flats and bare legs, Ms. Garrels discussed the progression of the war, the effect of escalating violence and kidnappings on reporting and everyday life in Iraq, and her personal experiences as a reporter and a woman.

The surge has allowed "young American captains" to help bridge the gaps between Sunni and Shiite communities, said Ms. Garrels, but the Iraqi government has not used the opportunity to work on reconciliation or security for Sunnis in places where Shiite police and militia still dominate. And, "the government still relies on the U.S. to deliver services and security," she said.

Because of "Shiite political dynamics," most of the southern part of Iraq was unreportable, said Ms. Garrels, and embedding with a military unit such as Special Forces was not always the answer.

While embedded reporting in Iraq has been valuable, said Ms. Garrels - the military maintains openness and treats women embeds no differently than men - it is no substitute for individual journalism. "What kind of reporting can you do standing next to armed guards?" she asked.

Moreover, there is the issue of censorship. Reporters in Iraq respect the military's rules about not photographing identifiable soldiers who are dead or wounded said Ms. Garrels - "we do not want their relatives first hearing about it on the news either"- but sometimes the censorship can appear capricious.

She recalled a New York Times story in which an embedded reporter detailed how his unit was pinned down by gunfire as soldiers tried to evacuate the body of a sergeant who had been shot in the head.

"The military found the article 'distasteful' and the Times was 'disembedded,'" said Ms. Garrels, adding that Times reporter John Burns even went to see General David Petraeus over the incident.

While Ms. Garrels said she was amazed at how unprepared the United States was for the Iraq war, relying on information from "30-year exiles" and "power grabbers," she also worried about the implications of removing troops "precipitously. ... It will be a mess. A lot of Iraqis I know are probably going to be killed."

Ms. Garrels' own house manager, an Armenian Christian in his 50s, was a victim of sectarian violence a year ago, she said, when he was kidnapped by assailants - some in police cars, beaten, raped and also suffered a heart attack. While the kidnappers released him, presumably for money, U.S. policies initially prevented the man and his family from emigrating to the United States, as the U.S. refuses to do for many Iraqis who help the U.S. war effort at their own peril, she says.

Ms. Garrels had her own experience with sexual assault in Iraq, which she shared at the end of her prepared remarks. She woke up, she said, to find a man from her own Iraqi house staff "on top of" her in her bed, though she was able to prevent an assault. Trying to spare the assailant reprisals, she told his family members who were also staff, that he was fired for "sleeping on the job" - a fabrication that failed because they begged for another chance.

When Ms. Garrels told the truth to the assailant's brother-in-law, she was exposed, first-hand, to the attitude behind honor killings and treated as a disgraced victim.

"Not once have you asked me if I am okay," Ms. Garrels castigated the brother-in-law. "You can't even look me in the eye anymore."

The brother-in-law believed she was attacked, said Ms. Garrels, but thought she was just trying to protect herself. "In Iraq my husband would divorce me and I'd be locked in the house for the rest of my life," she said.

Ms. Garrels was also outspoken during the question-and-answer period.

When asked about the Abu Ghraib scandal she said, "It will take us years to recover as a country. You're forced to explain things that are hard to answer." And asked about "resentment against mercenaries," Ms. Garrels described witnessing Blackwater guards killing civilians at a roadblock long before the shooting of 17 civilians in September. "There was no investigation," she said.

Ms. Garrels lauded the contractor accountability and ethics legislation that Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is spearheading in Congress, because, she said, private security contractors like Blackwater and KBM cannot self-regulate.

Ninth Annual 'Race Against Hate' June 22

The ninth annual Ricky Byrdsong Memorial 5K Race Against Hate will take place at 8 a.m. on June 22 at Northwestern University's Long Field, Lincoln Street at Sheridan Road. The Race Against Hate memorializes the former Northwestern University men's basketball coach and vice president of community affairs at Aon who was murdered in 1999 in an act of racism and violence. His lifelong love of sports and his compelling work with young people in the community inspired the Race Against Hate, which last year brought together more than 2,200 participants from throughout Chicagoland in a celebration of unity, tolerance and peace.

Although the Byrdsong Foundation was dissolved in 2006, its work is now carried on through the YWCA Evanston/North Shore. Proceeds from the race benefit the YWCA's racial justice and violence prevention programs. "I am so pleased that this race has become an annual tradition," saids Karen Singer, executive director of the YWCA Evanston/North Shore. "Each year the race offers us the opportunity to take a stand on the value of diversity, and work together to address hatred and violence in our communities. Given the recent rash of violence in Chicago, we feel that it's more important than ever to unite people of different racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds to race against hate," she added.

"The mission of the Byrdsong Foundation, which we founded after Ricky's death, was to arrest the growing epidemic of hate and violence by and against youth, to build character in their lives and to help them find a sense of purpose," said Sherialyn Byrdsong. "Diversity in youth sports helps negate stereotypes and fears that cause division," she added. For more information on the race, including how to register, visit www.ywca.org/evanston or call the YWCA, 847-864-8445.

Impact Fees To Be Considered For New Developments

By Mary Helt Gavin

A few years into the recent development boom, City Council members and other Evanstonians began muttering about the toll that development takes on the City's infrastructure and services. While some aldermen floated the idea of imposing fees upon developers to offset the wear and tear on the infrastructure, others said they feared the added fees would make Evanston less attractive.

Some aldermen feared that added fees would make Evanston less attractive.

Now, with smaller developments and rehabs underway throughout the City and the possibility of another high-rise in downtown Evanston, Council members may consider asking developers to pay a little more for the privilege of doing business in Evanston.

For the past several months the consulting firm TischlerBise has studied several of the City's infrastructure costs, with an eye to helping the City consider what additional fees and taxes it should charge developers of property in Evanston.

Looking at the stress that additional development would put on the water and street systems and on the parks and libraries, TischlerBise concluded the City could implement three additional charges: water capacity fees, impact fees for the libraries and parks, and street excise taxes. Each of these charges would represent the new development's "fair share" of the capital outlay for the structures. TischlerBise representatives said they calculated the maximum allowable rate; the City could charge a lower amount.

Water Capacity Fees
The proposed water capacity fees would be based on the City's water costs and would designate either the developer's share of the present capital facilities (cost-recovery method) or its share of facilities that are already planned but not yet built (plan-base method). The fee charged would depend on the size of a water meter installed at a new development. For a three-quarter-inch meter, which is standard for a new single-family detached unit, the proposed fee is $1,331, according to TischlerBise's Water Capacity Fee Study for the City of Evanston. The fees increase according to the meter size, also termed "displacement." A 1-inch displacement would generate $2,261, while an 8-inch turbine would demand a charge of $80,081, according to the study.

Impact Fees
Impact fees are "one-time payments used to construct system improvements needed to accommodate new development," according to TischlerBise's Impact Fee Study for Parks and Libraries for the City of Evanston. The firm calculated fees that would help raise "funds to meet the demands for [parks and libraries] generated by new development in Evanston."

The firm's estimate of the maximum allowable parks and library impact fees are $4,364 for a single-family detached home ($3,516 for parks and recreation and $848 for libraries); $3,680 for each unit in a townhome development of 2-9 units ($2,965 for parks and recreation and $715 for libraries). The per-unit fee for developments of 10 or more units would be $2,384 ($1,921 for parks and recreation and $463 for libraries).

Street Excise Tax
Unlike the impact and water capacity charges, a street impact tax is a "revenue-raising measure," according to TischlerBise. "A development excise tax can be defined as a tax levied against a developer to generate revenue to fund capital improvements," according to the TischlerBise's Street Excise Tax Study prepared for the City. TischlerBise said it based its tax schedule on "two main components of the City's capital improvement program: the five-year streets improvement program and the five-year streets preventive maintenance program. The excise tax proposed by the consultants is $2.65 per square foot, ranging from a minimum $2,650 for a 1,000-square-foot house to $10,600 for a house with 4,000 or more square feet.

The Administration and Public Works Committee may discuss the reports and the fee proposals this summer. Any fees recommended by the committee would have to be approved by City Council.

DPOE Annual Meeting June 22

The Democratic Party of Evanston (DPOE) will hold its annual meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. on June 22 at the Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave. Anita Alvarez, the Democratic candidate for Cook County State's Attorney, is scheduled to attend, as are Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, State Representative Julie Hamos, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin and MWRD Commissioner Debra Shore and political consultant Bob Creamer.

There will also be an election of new DPOE board members. For more information, visit www.dpoe.org or call Bonnie Wilson at the DPOE office, 847-491-0865.

Retail Tobacco Compliance Checks

Last month the Evanston Police Department, in conjunction with the 2008 summer operational strategic plan, conducted
a Citywide tobacco compliance sting.

Under police guidance and monitoring, five local youths, all under the legal age (18 years), approached 44 Evanston businesses to purchase cigarettes. If the business establishment neglected to verify the youth's age and allowed the sale of the cigarettes, officers then issued a local ordinance citation.

Only two retail establishments, one located at 1560 Sherman Ave. and one at 927 Davis St., made illegal tobacco sales to a minor.

Council Bytes

At the June 9 City Council meeting, aldermen approved a concept for a citizens police review board, awarded funds to a not-for-profit housing agency and agreed to the formation of a task force for an affordable-housing policy.

No one spoke at the public hearing on the Township budget, which took place before the Council meeting began. The $1.3 budget, which must be approved by July 1, covers general assistance ($986,553 in the General Assistance Fund) and township offices ($308,703 in the Town Fund, which includes the Township Supervisor's and Township Assessor's offices).

At the beginning of the Council meeting, Mayor Lorraine Morton introduced Rodney Green, who will serve as the City Clerk until the term expires next year. Mr. Green told the RoundTable he plans to have "an open-door policy."

Citizens Police Advisory Committee
Actively in the works for several months, a civilian committee to "provide the chief of police with the community's perspective on disciplinary matters" won approval in concept from the Council members. Other goals of the committee include aiding in "assuring that citizens are provided redress when they have complaints regarding police department employees" and conveying reciprocally to the police department and the community "more positive perspectives." The committee will be composed of nine civilians, one from each ward. Residents are urged to contact their aldermen should they wish to be considered for this volunteer position. Bennett Johnson, a member of the committee that worked on the formation of the advisory committee, was the sole speaker at the Council meeting. In urging the Council to approve the formation of the committee, he said, "We all believe in law and order, and in a tranquil community. Police have a critical role. ... In the United States, there is a persistent problem of police over-reaction, over-engaging and sometimes engaging in misconduct."

Affordable Housing
Aldermen awarded $15,000 to the Citizens' Lighthouse Community Land Trust to help lower the sale price on the trust's house at 2212 Washington St.

Aldermen also heard a presentation of a report on affordable housing in Evanston, prepared by the Evanston Housing Coalition and Business and Professionals in the Public Interest. Afterward they decided to develop a "task force for affordable housing in Evanston."

Other Matters
Council members also approved two grants from the Economic Development Fund: $65,563 for Chicago's North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau and $2,500 to the Chicago/Dempster Merchants Association.

At the May 27 City Council meeting, aldermen approved measures to continue the Dutch elm disease control program, to offer free lunches at three places for the summer and to establish a new Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP).

Elms
The three-part elm-protection program for public trees involves severing limbs from trees infected with Dutch elm disease and removing entire trees in which the infection has spread too far for them to be saved. The third part involves injecting healthy trees with fungicide to prevent the spread of the disease.

The City injects about 500 designated public elm trees - about one-third of the City's trees - each year. The trees selected for injection have been designated "signature" trees - 30 inches in diameter or greater - or "significant" - located on major streets.

The cost of this year's program, roughly $600,000, will be paid from the General Fund and from reserves allocated for the elm-tree program. Paul D'Agostino, superintendent of Parks/Forestry and Recreation, said the fungicide injections will be available to owners of elm trees on private property at a cost on par with the City's.

Free Lunch
Again this year, the City will offer free lunches on weekdays from June 16 to Aug. 22 to youth aged 2-18 at Robert Crown Center, Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center and Mason Park. The City is reimbursed for the program by the federal government through the Illinois State Board of Education.

The community of Evanston is coming to terms with worldwide threats of terrorism and natural disasters. The new office of emergency preparedness is a change in name from the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency and brings the City of Evanston in line with state statutes and incorporates use of the national incident management system. The office will coordinate responses to emergencies in Evanston and cooperate with other response teams when needed.
Other Matters
Aldermen also

• Awarded $17,000 to Housing Opportunity Development Corporation (HODC) to provide workshops on home-buying as well as individual counseling to potential homebuyers with incomes between 80 percent and 120 percent of the area median income. Erica Page of HODC said the workshops include assessment of incomes and money management "so when people go to the bank [for a loan] they know what they can afford."

• Approved a zoning change that would allow single-family detached houses as special uses in B-1 (business) districts. Although the Plan Commission recommended approval of the zoning change, City staff did not recommend approval, saying the change could negatively affect the small, neighborhood businesses that comprise the B-1 districts. The Council vote was 7-2, with Aldermen Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, and Anjana Hansen, 9th Ward, voting "no."

Aldermen also bade farewell and gave standing ovations to Max Rubin and James Wolinski, both of whom are retiring after decades of City services (See May 14 RoundTable).

Mr. Rubin, former director of Public Works and former facilities manager for the City, is retiring as emergency preparedness manager. Mr. Wolinski, who has served as community development director for the past 14 years, worked previously in the zoning and building divisions.

Dennis Marino has been appointed interim director of community development.

Care and Treatment of 'Dangerous Dogs'

By Jordan Graham

On May 27, City Council amended an ordinance addressing the ownership of "dangerous dogs" by an 8-1 vote. Though "dangerous dog" sounds like a mere turn of phrase, in both Evanston and the State of Illinois as a whole, it exists as a legal term with several qualifications. The ordinance, as amended, defines what constitutes a "dangerous dog" by examining several aspects of a dog's background.

The definition of a "dangerous dog"; includes "any dog with a known propensity, tendency or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury or to otherwise endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals." The definition also encompasses any dog "trained as an attack dog" (except by the Evanston Police Department), any dog "harbored ... for the purpose of dog fighting," or any dog which, "in a vicious or terrorizing manner approaches any person in an apparent attitude of attack, whether or not the attack is consummated or capable of being consummated."

Under the amendments, owners of a "dangerous dog" are obligated to "spay or neuter" the dog, "have an identifying microchip implanted" in the dog, and obtain an insurance policy in an amount for not less than $100,000 that is "separate and distinct from any homeowner's insurance policy," to cover any injury or damage "resulting from the acts" of the dog. In addition, if the owner wishes to build a pen or dog run, the enclosure must be constructed with a top, as well as 6-foot sides firmly secured to a concrete floor.

According to several local veterinary clinics and hospitals, the medical procedures cited in the ordinance could cost somewhere in the range of $400 to $500, depending on the circumstances.

Alderman Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, says he disagrees with the ordinance. As the sole dissenting vote on the City Council, Ald. Moran says, "My objection is not a resistance to the notion that there is such a thing as a dangerous dog. It is that they might not be describing a dangerous dog." His chief concern is that he feels the definition provided in the ordinance is far too encompassing, noting "a dog somebody perceives as maybe preparing to bite someone, doesn't describe, in my mind, a dangerous dog."

During the mandatory process of applying for an animal license, a dog owner must disclose whether they have "been advised [the dog is dangerous] in writing by the chief of police" or if "the dog has been adjudicated as dangerous by a court of competent jurisdiction." Additionally, however, the owner must disclose whether he or she has any "reason to believe that the dog is dangerous." Failure to divulge any pertinent information would be a crime.

Under the ordinance, it appears that the City's animal warden and the police may designate a dog as being dangerous within the meaning of the ordinance. If an owner wishes to contest such a description, there are means to appeal the decision. A "dangerous dog" owner may file a written request "for review of said categorization," which must include "facts to support the owner's belief that the dog is not dangerous."

Evanston Health Department Services: One Year Later

By Joe Linstroth

After offering clinical health services to residents and non-residents for decades, the City's Department of Health and Human Services is undergoing a significant restructuring. The shift follows the decision by the City Council in February 2007 to cut most of the clinical services provided by the Health Department. The cuts, said then-City Manager Julia Carroll, were projected to save the City approximately $1 million annually.

As the department transitions from what was once a vital community health-care provider into more of a planning and coordinating agency, local health-care and social service providers, as well as City staff, have struggled to fill many of the gaps in services left behind by the budget cuts.

Refocusing
"The vision is an alliance-building model," said Evonda Thomas, who has been with the City's Health Department since 2005 and was appointed director last January when Jay Terry retired after 18 years at the department's helm.

Ms. Thomas said the department will take a three-pronged approach toward providing public health in Evanston: assessments, assurance and policy development. Through citizen surveys, data analysis and qualitative needs-assessments, the department staff will identify "what the community's needs are ... and arrive at program development," she said.

The department will implement a "feedback system to assure that [services are provided]," she said, as well as use the system to monitor the quality of care.

The staff, which lost 12 full-time positions last year, Ms. Thomas said, will also address the community's health-care needs by working with local, county and state officials to develop policies that will improve access to health-care for Evanston residents.

"It's an opportunity to envision what we could be, based on the needs that exist," Ms. Thomas said. "As a leader, it's exciting to be a visionary."

Poor Timing
In February 2007, when the City Council approved the budget cuts to the clinical health services, many aldermen and City officials said that either not-for-profit health-care providers in the community were duplicating the City's services or that the Health Department would develop partnerships with the City's two hospitals, St. Francis and Evanston; the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH); and other local agencies to provide them.

"We made it clear that we had no intention of a reduction in services," said Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward.

Finding alternatives, however, for what Ms. Thomas referred to as "specialty services," which include testing for sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV and tuberculosis (TB), as well as family planning - has proven more difficult.

Perhaps the most glaring loss to the community is the City's STD clinic, which had offered testing to residents and non-residents for more than 60 years.

In the past 12 months, City Health Department officials and local health-care providers said they have seen a significant rise in STDs, especially among the adolescent and senior populations.

Kathy Swartwout, a family nurse practitioner and the site manager of the student clinic at Evanston Township High School, said her clinic has seen a 25-percent rise in STDs at the high school, particularly in cases of chlamydia.

The explanation for the spike in STDs is far more complex than just the termination of the City's STD clinic, but the loss of an easily accessible resource, at a time of increased need, is a cause for concern among the Health Department officials and local health care providers who spoke with the RoundTable.

Crucial to the effectiveness of any STD testing and prevention program, they said, are accessibility and anonymity.

The ETHS clinic, which provides STD testing, is convenient for students; however, it requires them to register with a signed consent from a parent or guardian in order to receive medical services, potentially compromising their privacy. In addition, a third of the students from the last school year were not registered, said Ms. Swartwout.

"[The City's STD clinic] was convenient, easily accessible and inexpensive, with no wait and no line," said Ms. Thomas. "Other community partners have a wait-period longer than a constituent would like."

The loss of Evanston's STD services has most likely impacted neighboring communities, in addition to Evanston residents. It is a widespread belief among public health professionals that people often tend to leave their own communities for STD testing in order to maintain
a sense of anonymity.

Robin Stein, director of Response Center, a Skokie-based non-profit that offers counseling and sexual health services for adolescents, said her clinic has seen a significant increase in teens needing STD tests, particularly in young men.

"We have been busier here than ever in our 37-year history," Ms. Stein told the RoundTable.

Ginny Anderson, executive director of Links-North Shore Youth Health Service in Northfield, said her agency has seen an increase in STD testing as well, "especially in the male clinic."

Rising STD infection rates are a nationwide trend, and contributing to the local burden is the fact that Cook County routinely ranks near the top nationally in rates of STD infection. According to the 2006 STD Surveillance report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - the most recent report on its website - Cook County ranked first in gonorrhea infections, second in chlamydia and third in syphilis.

"Evanston is not exempt from the county," said Ms. Thomas.

The Health Department projected it would receive approximately 1,100 total STD visits during the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Mirroring the rise in STDs among Evanston adolescents is an increase in teen pregnancies, said Ms. Thomas. And like STD testing, the Health Department no longer offers family planning services, which the City projected to total approximately 2,300 visits last year.

Martha Arnston, executive director of the Child Care Network of Evanston, said many low-income parents with children under the age of three lost home visits from Health Department nurses who provided immunizations and developmental screenings.

Kate Mahoney, executive director of PEER Services, a locally based non-profit that provides comprehensive substance abuse treatment, said the City's family case managers would often identify substance abuse issues in the home and refer parents to PEER for treatment. It is another gap in services, she said, that has yet to be filled.

Mending Broken Promises
Eleven months after the clinic treated its last patient in the basement of the Civic Center, some aldermen and City staff said certain assurances that were made to them during the 2007-08 budget deliberations have not been fulfilled.

"Whatever happened to the promises that were made?" Ald. Rainey asked.

"Unfortunately some of the things that we were told, did not happen," said Alderman Delores Holmes, 5th Ward.

Ald. Holmes and others specifically pointed to an assurance from CCDPH that it would open an STD clinic at the Skokie Courthouse located near the Old Orchard shopping center. In February 2007, however, when aldermen were considering the cuts to Evanston's Health Department, the county had proposed a 17 percent cut to its own health services. The county's budget cuts, which totaled over $130 million, were proposed at the same time the City said it would rely on CCDPH to fill the gap in Evanston's health services. More than a year later, CCDPH is still suffering from a budget crisis and has yet to follow through with the plan.

"With the cuts the county has endured, I just don't think it's a priority," said Ms. Thomas.

Mike Gwinn, director of intergovernmental relations for the office of Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, 13th District, said the county is in the process of putting out a bid to construct a clinic within the Skokie Courthouse.

"Construction should be complete by the end of the year," Mr. Gwinn told the RoundTable.

Even if, or when, the county finishes the clinic, some question how much it will help.

"It's not a convenient and not a comfortable place for some people," said Ms. Mahoney. "It is rare at a health center that you would have to go through a metal detector for health care."

The lack of family planning services is another concern. In an e-mail to the RoundTable, Alderman Elizabeth Tisdahl, 7th Ward, said, "I am concerned about the family planning services. [Then-director] Jay Terry thought that Planned Parenthood would open a clinic in Evanston on Dempster Street. That did not happen. The back-up plan was a clinic on Howard Street, but that fell through." She said she planned to talk with City Manager Rolanda Russell about "bringing the services back to Evanston."

When asked if she would consider reinstituting some of the clinical services at the Health Department, Ald. Rainey said, "I think certain services, yes. But we would need a lot more information."

Ald. Holmes said she still supports the Health Department cuts.

"I still think that it was the right decision," she told the RoundTable. "There are resources, you have to go to them." Later she added, "With the kind of taxes we pay, we should be able to get some of these services from the county."

Meanwhile, with state-health care dollars diminishing and the budgetary crisis looming over Cook County's public health-care system, Ms. Thomas acknowledged it has been a difficult transition out of the clinical services.

"[But] demands and needs are going to resonate," Ms. Thomas said, adding she is optimistic the right plan is in place so that the Department of Health and Human Services will be prepared to hear them and respond.

Falcon Fledglings Banded

By Jordan Graham

Heads up! Cute and cuddly now, these peregrine falcons will soon be able to dive toward their prey at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour.Photo by Jordan Graham

A crowd of 50 nestled around a small table on the third floor of Evanston's Main Library to witness the banding of the wild birds. May 30 marked the fifth occurrence of this annual event, which provides a means to monitor the peregrine falcon chicks that hatch each year beneath an overhang on the south side of the building. For the past five years, Mary Hennen, the director of the Peregrine Project at the Field Museum, has made the trip to Evanston to head the banding procedure.

The falcon parents, Squawker (father) and Nona (mother), have been tracked from their places of birth using similar processes, migrating from Wisconsin and Iowa, respectively. This year's group of four healthy chicks is the third clutch conceived by the couple. The fledglings, three females and one male, hatched in early May after a month of incubation. The banding usually takes place at least three weeks after the chicks have hatched. "If you do it too soon, they're too fleshy," says Ms. Hennen. "If you wait too long, they're too big."

The chicks are fitted with colored bands, engraved with a series of numbers that group the birds by region. This system, utilizing specific colors to denote different parts of the country (purple for the Midwest), allows scientists to track the movements of the falcons. "We are able to look at the longevity and dispersal of the birds," says Ms. Hennen.

The sex of the chicks is determined, and blood samples are drawn. Though Ms. Hennen says the samples are used primarily to "look at the health of the bird," she added that, only recently, they have begun to explore the genetics and lineage of the peregrines.

Keeping with tradition, the three female chicks were named to reflect references to falcons in culture and literature. They were named Brigid, after Brigid O'Shaughnessy of "The Maltese Falcon"; Margaret, after Mistress Margaret Hussey, who was once compared to a falcon by poet John Skelton; and Rebecca, after Rebecca West, author of "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia." The single male was dubbed Neal, in honor of Neal Ney, the avid bird enthusiast and former library director, who retired earlier this year.

Ms. Hennen has dedicated herself to the study of peregrine falcons since 1989, when the bird was still marked as an endangered species on both the state and national levels. The detrimental effects of the widespread use of the synthetic pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) caused the bird nearly to disappear from the Midwest, she said. Since the ban of DDT in 1972, however, the peregrine falcon population has been afforded a chance to rebound, a feat for which urban areas provide a prime setting.
Habitually cliff-dwelling birds, the falcons have resorted to nesting in the ledges, overhangs and nooks of tall buildings and bridges. Ms. Hennen says she hopes her efforts will aid the creation of a self-sustaining peregrine falcon population in the Chicagoland area, but also noted the collaborative effort necessary for such an endeavor to succeed. The Peregrine Project faces the difficult task of minimizing contact with the birds, while still keeping tabs on them.

In the past decade, the work has begun to pay off. In 1999 the peregrine falcon was removed from the national endangered species list, and the bird has been reclassified in Illinois as being only "threatened." With each new generation, the falcons become more numerous.

At some point in the next few weeks, the falcon fledglings will begin to fly, and, hopefully, within the year, will migrate elsewhere to find mates and build nests of their own.

To monitor the progress of Evanston's peregrine falcons, go to http://www.epl.org/falconcam/, where the "FalconCam" updates every few minutes.