It is indeed shocking that Evernote would discontinue local notebooks. This latest version removes local notebook functionality without any warning! I only happened to find out about this loss while reading "What's new in Evernote for Windows" after installation. Good thing I didn't install the new version on my other, secure, computer.
For local notebook content, I'm going to investigate Joplin (https://joplinapp.org/), an open-source alternative to Evernote. It imports enex Evernote files and does not force use of cloud storage. It is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS. A review of Joplin from PC Magazine is to be found at https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/joplin. It is a PC Editor's choice.