Content warning: This story contains mentions of violence and death. Evanston resident Felicea Williams, who spent six months in a coma following her January arrest by Evanston Police Department officers, died Wednesday, according to a statement from her family’s attorney. On Jan. 5, Williams...
The Evanston Reparations Committee met Thursday, responding to the federal government’s move to join a lawsuit challenging the city’s reparations program. Approved in 2019, the city’s Restorative Housing Program is the nation’s first municipal reparations initiative, aiming to redress historical housing discrimination by providing up to $25,000 to Black individuals who lived in Evanston from 1919 to 1969 and their direct descendants. The program has faced challenges, including a lawsuit filed in May 2024, claiming that its race-based eligibility criteria violates the Fair Housing Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The Department of Justice filed a motion...
