Evanston Police will start issuing verbal warnings Monday as enforcement of the city's new ordinance banning drivers from using hand-held cell phones.

Only hands-free cell phone use is legal under the ordinance, which also bans text messaging, sending, reading or listening to an electronic message or browsing the internet.

Members of Evanston's Plan Commission and its Preservation Commission spoke out Wednesday night against the city manager's plan to merge the two groups.

They were joined, at a meeting of the Plan Commission, by Alderman Coleen Burrus, 9th Ward, who said the merger "doesn't make a lot of sense."

Sherman Plaza residents are being told they shouldn't drink the water in their condo units -- at least until test results are available Thursday morning.

In an e-mail message to building residents, the condo tower's management company says that a plumbing contractor discovered blue-colored water draining from a cut water supply pipe inside one of the condo units.

Worried about the potential cost, Evanston aldermen postponed action this week on a plan that would let city workers from out-of-state boost their pension benefits.

Under state law, if the city agrees, workers covered by the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund could qualify for up to ten years worth of extra pension credits for work at municipalities in other states.

What turned out to be a false alarm at the Church Street Station condo high-rise at 1640 Maple Ave. tied up downtown traffic about 9:30 this morning.

The Evanston Community Foundation is sponsoring a workshop this month to brief board members of non-profit groups on how to provide financial oversight for the organizations they serve.

Whether of not they have financial backgrounds, board members and the board as a whole have an important role in providing financial oversight and protecting the assets of the organization.

Evanston police say somebody made off with metal clothing donation boxes in two different parts of the city recently.

A box at 2209 Howard St. disappeared Monday and one at 1466 Simpson St. was discovered missing on Saturday.

Evanston aldermen Monday decided they wanted to devote more effort to managing proposed changes in the city's street sweeping program, so they voted to schedule a special workshop session to dig into the dirty details.

The Evanston City Council voted Monday to seek a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct a feasibility study  of converting a portion of the old Varsity Theater downtown into a performing arts center.

The grant would require a $50,000 local match, which the city plans to take from funds in the Washington National tax increment financing district.

Evanston aldermen Monday voted to invite potential developers apply for the job of building and operating a new recreation center in Crown Park.

The aldermen also chose Alderman Don Wilson, whose 4th Ward includes the park, and Aldermen Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 2nd Ward, and Coleen Burrus, 9th Ward, whose wards adjoin the park, as members of a committee to oversee the project.

More than 1,000 Northwestern University students danced for 30 straight hours at Norris University Center in the 36th annual Dance Marathon over the weekend, netting $854,396 in total gifts and in-kind donations.

Here's a recap of our live coverage of the Evanston City Council meeting.

Here's a recap of our live coverage of tonight's Evanston City Council Planning and Development Committee meeting.