Good morning, Evanston.

Northwestern’s new Ryan Field will host a free Family Halloween Festival from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct.

31 at 1501 Central St., with parking in stadium lots and Gate 2 entry, trick-or-treating, seasonal activities, a family movie (title TBA), and booths from local partners — RSVPs encouraged.

Filmmaker Stirling McLaughlin will open Movies The Store at 1043 Chicago Ave. next month, selling DVDs + VHS, books, and t-shirts while featuring work from indie filmmakers to serve collectors and casual movie fans ahead of the holiday season.

Under the new Illinois rating system, Dawes, Dewey, Orrington, Walker, Washington and Willard elementary schools in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 were rated exemplary on the 2025-26 Illinois Report Card; Chute, Haven and Nichols middle schools were rated approaching exemplary, while several other schools earned commendable ratings (the state changed categories and lowered proficiency cutoffs).

District 65's pre-K–8 enrollment fell from 7,837 in FY2019 to 5,893 in FY2027 (a 25% drop), while FTEs rose from 1,207 to 1,336; the Oct.

13 and Oct. 26 Sustainable Path Forward proposals would cut 196 staff but only eight administrative posts, prompting calls to trim more central-office managers.

Opponents of the waste transfer station at 1711 Church St. delivered a petition asking the city to enforce oversight, set a two-year relocation timeline, and appoint a task force; they met Sept.

27 at Gibbs-Morrison Cultural Center to gather signatures (next meeting planned Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m.).

A guest essay this week urged Evanston leaders to hold one annual joint public meeting of City Council, both school boards, and the library board and adopt a shared, demographic scorecard and an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) to align goals, tie leader pay to outcomes, and push election and OMA changes.

On World Polio Day, Rotary held the Evanston edition of the World’s Largest Polio Walk at One Rotary Center, drawing at least 900 participants from 42 clubs who completed a (1.5-mile) route through downtown, Dawes Park, and Sheridan Road to raise funds for polio eradication.