Alex Nitkin is The Daily Line’s reporter covering Cook County and Chicago land use policy. He came to TDL from The Real Deal Chicago, where he covered Chicago real estate news. He previously worked at DNAinfo, first as a breaking news reporter, and then as a neighborhood reporter covering the city's Northwest Side. Nitkin graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree.
Bio
Solutions reporter, @IllinoisAnswers/@BetterGov. Formerly of @thedailylinechi, @trdchicago & @DNAinfoChi. Amateur baker. Tips: [email protected]
NOV 16, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is set to introduce ordinances on Monday formalizing her $12.8 billion budget proposal for 2021.
Negotiations are set to intensify this week as Mayor Lori Lightfoot rolls out ordinances to formalize her $12.8 billion budget proposal, even after the mayor announced a deal with labor leaders to avert more than 300 potential layoffs next year.
The agreement, announced on Saturday, was made possible because of higher-than-expected tax revenue from cannabis sales, according to city financial officials. The city will borrow an additional $15 million against the pot revenue at a rate of 3.25 percent, officials said.
Layoffs averted, but sticking points remain as budget ordinances set for Monday rollout
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is set to introduce ordinances on Monday formalizing her $12.8 billion bu...
NOV 11, 2020
Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Comm. Rosa Escareño speaks to aldermen during a budget hearing on Tuesday.
City licensing officials will keep up their efforts next year to keep businesses in line with rapidly-shifting COVID-19 restrictions despite a draw-down in funding from taxpayers and dwindling fine collections, officials said Tuesday.
Business Affairs commissioner vows to ‘do more with less’ among shrinking budget for investigators
Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Comm. Rosa Escareño speaks to aldermen d...
NOV 10, 2020
Department of Family and Support Services Comm. Lisa Morrison Butler speaks to aldermen during a budget hearing on Monday.
The city’s Department of Family and Support Services plans early next year to launch a $4.7 million anti-violence initiative as a potential alternative to the city’s widely criticized Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (JISC), officials announced Monday.
New youth intervention program to chart ‘new model’ beyond embattled juvenile center, top official says
Department of Family and Support Services Comm. Lisa Morrison Butler speaks to aldermen during ...
NOV 10, 2020
Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Comm. Rosa Escareño speaks to aldermen during a committee hearing earlier this year.
The city’s response to COVID-19 and police misconduct are set to take center stage during the last scheduled day of departmental hearings on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed 2021 budget plan.
Licensing officials, police oversight agencies to take hot seat on final day of budget hearings
Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Comm. Rosa Escareño speaks to al...
NOV 09, 2020
Department of Family and Support Services Comm. Lisa Morrison Butler prepares to participate in the department’s annual Point-In-Time Homeless Count in January 2020. [Facebook]
Aldermen are scheduled during their penultimate day of budget hearings on Monday to grill leaders of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities as well as the city’s Commission on Animal Care and Control, Department of Administrative Hearings and Department of Family and Support Services.
Aldermen to dig into city homeless services, disability programs as budget hearings near conclusion
Department of Family and Support Services Comm. Lisa Morrison Butler prepares to participate in...
NOV 09, 2020
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough addresses commissioners during a budget hearing on Friday
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough on Friday promised a smooth takeover of the county’s Recorder of Deeds office and attempted to relieve scores of recorder’s office employees who fear they’ll be out of a job next month.
Yarbrough ‘hopeful’ recorder’s office staffers will be rehired; Foxx resumes cannabis expungements
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough addresses commissioners during a budget hearing on FridayCook...
NOV 06, 2020
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart addressed commissioners during budget hearings on Thursday.
A plan to take a 4 percent bite out of Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s budget is “workable for this year only,” but the county’s largest law enforcement office will likely need to speed up hiring once the worst of the pandemic is over, Dart told county commissioners during a budget hearing on Thursday.
Sheriff’s Office budget rollbacks should be reversed next year, Dart says
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart addressed commissioners during budget hearings on Thursday.A plan ...
NOV 06, 2020
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough
Days after battling her way to a second term as Cook County’s top prosecutor, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is set to kick off the last full day of county budget hearings by answering to commissioners about why her office’s budget is set to grow next year as other court-related offices shrink.
Fresh off reelection, Foxx to defend growing budget as other offices face cuts
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Cook County Clerk Karen YarbroughDays after battling her way to a...
NOV 05, 2020
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is scheduled to answer questions during a budget hearing scheduled to review his office on Thursday.
Cook County Commissioners are scheduled Thursday to grill leaders of two county offices in line for major budget rollbacks next year, with potentially long-lasting ramifications for the county’s jail and courts systems.
Major cuts to Sheriff’s Office, Circuit Court Clerk to frame county budget hearings Thursday
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is scheduled to answer questions during a budget hearing scheduled...
NOV 05, 2020
Plunged into a pandemic and facing potential devastation if the Affordable Care Act is overturned, the multibillion-dollar Cook County Health system is in a starkly different situation than it was during last year’s budgeting process. But the most pressing long-term crisis facing the system is the same: the mounting cost of charity care.
Cook health system leaders sound fiscal alarm: ‘We are no longer cutting what we can live without’
Plunged into a pandemic and facing potential devastation if the Affordable Care Act is overturned...
NOV 04, 2020
Staffers lined up outside Provident Hospital, one of two hospitals operated by the $3.4 billion Cook County Health system.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to spend the greater part of its second full day of hearings on the 2021 budget by digging into the $3.4 billion spending plan for Cook County Health, the sprawling system that manages the county’s two public hospitals and administers its Medicaid insurance program.
Cook County Health leaders to defend layoffs, mergers as long-term hospital costs skyrocket
Staffers lined up outside Provident Hospital, one of two hospitals operated by the $3.4 billion...
NOV 04, 2020
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx declares victory in a speech Tuesday night
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx fended off a challenge from Republican challenger Pat O’Brien in a bitter and expensive race by dominating among Chicago voters as suburban Cook County favored her opponent.
Foxx defeats O’Brien, Patlak leads Wendt as candidates await outstanding mail-in ballots
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx declares victory in a speech Tuesday nightCook County State’s Attorne...
NOV 03, 2020
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is battling for a second term against Republican challenger Pat O’Brien
While most of the state’s attention Tuesday night will be wrapped in the presidential race and the fate of Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed constitutional amendment, the bitter contest between Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Republican Pat O’Brien tops a handful of critical county-level races also on tap for Election Day.
Bitter state’s attorney contest headlines pivotal Cook County races
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is battling for a second term against Republican challeng...
NOV 03, 2020
Cook County Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki presents the proposed $6.9 billion county budget for 2021.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners spent just over an hour on Monday quizzing top financial officials in board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office, mostly praising their plan to close a projected $410 million budget shortfall without tax increases or widespread layoffs.
Commissioners glide through day 1 of county budget hearings, portending no-drama approval
Cook County Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki presents the proposed $6.9 billion county budge...
NOV 02, 2020
O’Hare Airport [photo by cseeman on Flickr]
At more than $1.3 billion, the projected costs of operating O’Hare and Midway airports represent one of the largest budgets of any city department. But the Chicago Department of Aviation’s budget barely surfaced as a source of discussion on Friday, as aldermen spent most of a nearly two-hour hearing asking department Comm. Jamie Rhee about pandemic safety, upcoming capital projects and the department’s approach to diversity in hiring.
Aviation chief vows diverse hiring as $8.5B O’Hare expansion moves forward
O’Hare Airport [photo by cseeman on Flickr]At more than $1.3 billion, the projected costs of op...
NOV 02, 2020
Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi will face questions Monday about his office’s $31 million proposed budget.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is poised on Monday to kick off a full week of hearings on board president Toni Preckwinkle’s $6.9 billion proposal to keep the county funded through 2021, starting with the county’s tax collection offices and the administrative departments under Preckwinkle’s command.
County budget hearings kick off with Assessor, Board of Review Monday
Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi will face questions Monday about his office’s $31 million prop...
OCT 30, 2020
News in brief: Chicago to relax curfew for businesses, liquor sales; Cook County watchdog dings land bank
TDL Chicago Morning Briefs: Friday, October 30th
News in brief: Chicago to relax curfew for businesses, liquor sales; Cook County watchdog dings l...
OCT 30, 2020
Chicago Department of Transportation Comm. Gia Biagi speaks at a South Side Divvy bike event in July [Facebook/Chicago Department of Transportation]
The City Council will wrap its first week of budget hearings on Friday by picking through the more than $1.9 billion combined budgets of the Chicago Department of Transportation, Board of Ethics and Department of Aviation.
Transportation, Aviation departments in line for budget grilling Friday
Chicago Department of Transportation Comm. Gia Biagi speaks at a South Side Divvy bike event in...
OCT 29, 2020
News in brief: Lightfoot backs down on challenge of state mitigations; Cook County rolls out $4M job training program
TDL Chicago Morning Briefs: Thursday, October 29th
News in brief: Lightfoot backs down on challenge of state mitigations; Cook County rolls out $4M ...
OCT 29, 2020
Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Richard Ford speaks during a budget hearing on Wednesday
The Chicago Fire Department is expected to see a wave of retirements by the end of this year, and a seven-year lag between recruitment exams is making it harder for the department to replenish its ranks with diverse recruits, officials told aldermen Wednesday.
Pass an ordinance on recruitment exams to help diversify fire department, commissioner tells aldermen
Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Richard Ford speaks during a budget hearing on WednesdayTh...
Bio
Solutions reporter, @IllinoisAnswers/@BetterGov. Formerly of @thedailylinechi, @trdchicago & @DNAinfoChi. Amateur baker. Tips: [email protected]