The Evanston Review’s staff members extend their warmest wishes to you and your family as you celebrate the start of 2003. We hope that your holidays were filled with much joy.

At this time of year, many people make resolutions and express their hopes for the new year. To that end, we offer these wishes for 2003:

To Cook County Commissioner-elect Larry Suffredin, we wish you the best of luck as you seek to relate the needs and concerns of your 13th District constituents to fellow members of the Cook County Board.

To U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9th, we hope that you will continue to advocate for your district residents on such issues as health care, consumer protections and corporate misdeeds, among others.

To members of the Evanston City Council, we hope each of you will treat your council colleagues amicably and respectfully, without resorting to insults, criticism or bullying, and that you will work together to improve the lives of all Evanstonians.

To each Evanston resident who is out of work and actively seeking employment, we wish you the best of luck in not only finding a good job this year, but also one that proves fulfilling and rewarding.

To the District 65 and District 202 boards of education, we wish you much success as you work to help make our public school system the best it can be in the face of budgetary constraints.

To all members of the Evanston Police Department and the Fire Department, we hope that you will work diligently throughout 2003 to protect residents from criminals, arsonists and terrorist threats, and that you will continue to educate residents on ways they can make their homes and families safer.

To each Evanstonian, we hope you will resolve to play an active role in your community. You can take part by running for public office, volunteering to serve on a city board or committee, by discussing issues with neighbors or simply by staying informed.

We, too, pledge to continue to help keep you informed through these pages, each and every week.

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!