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The Daily Northwestern Wednesday, November 3, 2021
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City Council discusses issues in 2022 budget Council dove into Robert Crown, understaffing By LUCIA BARNUM and JORJA SIEMONS
the daily northwestern @jorjasiemons, @luciabarnum_
Maia Pandey/Daily Senior Staffer
Indigenous community members paint a banner that they will carry in a procession later this month. Tuesday’s event was the eighth annual commemoration of the Sand Creek Massacre.
Sand Creek Massacre remembered
Eighth annual commemoration part of MSA programming series By MAIA PANDEY
daily senior staffer @maiapandey
Community members gathered Tuesday to participate in traditional Indigenous making activities in remembrance of the Sand Creek Massacre. The event in Deering Library marked the eighth annual
commemoration of the massacre. It is one of three pieces of programming Northwestern is hosting this month to honor the victims of the massacre. On Nov. 29, 1864, U.S. Army members killed more than 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho people in Kiowa County, Colorado — one of the most violent attacks against Indigenous people in the country’s history. NU founder
Student Alliance member Isabella Twocrow, a SESP junior, said she appreciated. In the past, the anniversary events have been geared toward educating the NU community about the massacre. However, Twocrow, a member of the HoChunk Nation, said this left little space for the Indigenous
John Evans was governor of Colorado at the time. In 2014, the University released a report stating that Evans had no direct involvement in the massacre, but a separate University of Denver report deemed him “deeply culpable” for the tragedy. The making activities were a departure from previous years’ programming — which Native American and Indigenous
» See SAND CREEK, page 6
City Council discussed the 2022 proposed budget Monday night, diving into hot-button issues like Robert Crown Community Center maintenance costs, citywide understaffing and beach payments for Evanston residents. Here’s how the conversation shook out.
Filing vacant city positions The city grapples with a staffing shortage — last year, 29 positions were held vacant. But many councilmembers pressed against using money from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund new city employees. The additional $43 million from ARPA is a one-time add — it will not be available for next year’s budget. As a result, councilmembers expressed caution about hiring for new jobs without looking at a multi-year budget projection.
“We don’t want to put ourselves in the position of having to lay off staff in a few years because there’s not enough revenue,” Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) said. “If that’s the case, we’re talking about probably a tax increase unless we can find savings elsewhere ... and that requires a deeper discussion than I think we’re willing to have tonight.” W hen Ald. Devon Reid (8th) asked for a list of prioritized positions to fill in 2022, interim City Manager Kelley Gandurski said it was like asking her which of her children she likes the least. All of the jobs in question are important to the upkeep of the city, she said, and need to be filled as soon as fiscally possible. “I just need the council to understand that we are stretched at the maximum capacity at this point,” Gandurski said. “And that’s not something I would readily say.”
Maintaining R ob ert Crown Community Center City Council members debated whether the cost of
» See COUNCIL, page 6
NU Dissenters Prairie Joe’s closes after 30 years fights militarism Beloved Evanston restaurant also featured art gallery with local work Group of students demand trustees divest from war By ISABEL FUNK
daily senior staffer @isabeldfunk
Six Northwestern students gathered early the morning of Oct. 27 to post flyers around the Technological Institute and the Donald P. Jacobs Center. They also hung a banner across The Arch. The flyers condemned two Board of Trustees members
— Dennis Muilenburg, the former CEO of Boeing, and Phebe Novakovic, the current CEO of General Dynamics. The banner read: “DIVEST or DEATH: WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?” The students are part of NU Dissenters, a group of students that formed in winter 2020 and revived in September by a SESP sophomore and a Medill junior, who chose to remain anonymous because of safety concerns. Their mission is to “stigmatize” war and persuade the University to divest from warmaking institutions and invest in life-giving institutions.
» See DISSENTERS, page 6
By ALEXIS SCHWARTZ
the daily northwestern
After 30 years of business, beloved Evanston restaurant Prairie Joe’s closed on Oct. 28. The iconic locale opened in 1991, when owner Aydin Dincer bought an old snack shop and diner called Jordan’s and renamed it Prairie Joe’s. Most of the old clientele stayed through the transition, and gradually Dincer decided to modernize the restaurant for the next stage of its life. “I saw the whole space as my easel to do what I wanted,” Dincer said. “It was like a script that I was writing for 30 years.”
Located on the corner of Prairie Avenue and Central Street, Prairie Joe’s was not only an eclectic breakfast and lunch eatery known for its casseroles and soups, but also a gallery for its owner and other local artists’ art. During the Farewell Open House, a final event hosted by the restaurant as a goodbye to the community last week, fans of Prairie Joe’s poured in to see the wall-to-wall artwork for sale. At the event, Dincer also sold artifacts from around the diner, including menus, salt and pepper shakers and even a booth. “Prairie Joe’s just has a very different atmosphere, a very different vibe, and there isn’t anywhere else in Evanston that is like that,” said Nina
Jack Austin/Daily Senior Staffer
Prairie Joe’s storefront. After 30 years of business, the restaurant closed in October.
Kavin, a regular patron of the restaurant. “This is just the way Aydin and Aydin’s family made it. It was just a very special place.”
Prairie Joe’s became a fixture of the community, providing a constant
» See PRARIE JOE’S, page 6
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