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]
SEP 22, 2020
Chicago Department of Family and Support Services Commissioner Lisa Morrison-Butler speaks during a committee meeting on Monday.The city’s overwhelmed network of homeless shelters is ill-prepared to handle the long-term fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting economic devastation, a top city official warned aldermen on Monday.
Lagging shelter investment could lead to ‘social services crisis’ post-COVID, official says
Chicago Department of Family and Support Services Commissioner Lisa Morrison-Butler speaks duri...
SEP 22, 2020
A report commissioned by the city found last month that it would be “financially infeasible” for the city to take control of its electric utility system.Aldermen will get the chance on Tuesday to ask city officials and researchers for more details about a recent report that threw cast doubts on the idea of wresting control of the city’s electric utility away from Commonwealth Edison.
Aldermen to grill consultants on findings of ComEd takeover ‘feasibility study’
A report commissioned by the city found last month that it would be “financially infeasible” fo...
SEP 22, 2020
Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett speaks during a meeting of the City Council finance committee on Monday.Mayor Lori Lightfoot will propose raising the city’s tax on computer leases but likely won’t budge on her opposition to two progressive business taxes as potential tools to bridge the $1.2 billion budget shortfall the city faces heading into 2021, the city’s top financial official told aldermen Monday.
Raise computer lease tax but ditch ‘LaSalle Street tax’ and ‘head tax’ proposals, top financial official says
Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett speaks during a meeting of the City Counci...
SEP 21, 2020
A floor plan for NuEra’s proposed dispensary during a virtual meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday.Cannabis firm NuEra on Friday became the first company to score city approval for a new dispensary since March, beating out competitor Dispensary 33 for the right to sell pot on a coveted block in the Fulton Market district.
Fulton Market dispensary scores zoning board approval, beating out competitor
A floor plan for NuEra’s proposed dispensary during a virtual meeting of the Zoning Board of Ap...
SEP 21, 2020
Aldermen hear presentations from advocates of reparations during a June meeting of the City Council health and human relations committeeAldermen will reckon with the city’s historic revenue shortfall, chew over the state of the city’s homelessness crisis, populate three new mayoral-appointed advisory boards and push forward an exploration of potential reparations for Black Chicagoans during committee meetings scheduled for Monday.
Reparations subcommittee to launch; hearing on homelessness set for committee discussion
Aldermen hear presentations from advocates of reparations during a June meeting of the City Cou...
SEP 18, 2020
News in brief: Progressive aldermen offer housing ordinance specifics; Cook County Board of Ethics chooses new leader
TDL Chicago Morning Briefs: Friday, September 18th
News in brief: Progressive aldermen offer housing ordinance specifics; Cook County Board of Ethic...
SEP 18, 2020
Chicago Budget Director Susie Park gives a presentation on the Chicago Police Department’s $1.7 billion budget during a hearing on Thursday.A city financial analyst pinpointed about $55 million he said can be shaved from the Chicago Police Department budget as the city faces a combined $2 billion budget deficit for 2020 and 2021. But as the city works to negotiate a new contract with its rank-and-file police union, most of those savings likely can’t be realized next year, officials said Thursday.
Police unions stand in the way of $55M in recommended CPD budget cuts, officials say
Chicago Budget Director Susie Park gives a presentation on the Chicago Police Department’s $1.7...
SEP 17, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot presides over a virtual meeting of the City Council in August.
Concrete manufacturer Oremus Material never won over Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) on its plan to open a new plant at 2351 S. Loomis Ave. In the end, it didn’t need to.
The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection issued a license over the weekend allowing the operation to get underway, despite Sigcho-Lopez’s insistence that the plant would be an environmental hazard to neighbors.
Council tensions linger over Lightfoot’s ongoing battle against ‘aldermanic prerogative’
Mayor Lori Lightfoot presides over a virtual meeting of the City Council in August.
Concrete ma...
SEP 17, 2020
Dr. Allison Arwady shows a map of COVID-19 “hot spots” on the city’s Northwest and Southwest Side.Chicago public health officials are planning ahead for a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign assuming a viable dose becomes available early next year, the city’s top doctor told aldermen Wednesday.
City preparing ‘all hands on deck’ vaccination campaign as COVID-19 likely to endure through 2021, Arwady says
Dr. Allison Arwady shows a map of COVID-19 “hot spots” on the city’s Northwest and Southwest Si...
SEP 17, 2020
News in brief: Aldermen to pick apart Chicago Police in committee hearing, Cook County Board of Ethics to meet for first time since February
TDL Chicago Morning Briefs: Thursday, September 17th
News in brief: Aldermen to pick apart Chicago Police in committee hearing, Cook County Board of E...
SEP 17, 2020
A rendering of the new Chicago Park District headquarters planned for 4800 S. Western AveThe new 17-acre Park District headquarters slated for construction in Brighton Park would include turf fields, an indoor gym and multiple outdoor play areas for kids, according to a design (O2020-1899) set to be approved by the Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday.
New Southwest Side Chicago Park District headquarters set for Plan Commission approval
A rendering of the new Chicago Park District headquarters planned for 4800 S. Western AveThe ne...
SEP 16, 2020
News in brief: City Council committee to hold 2 p.m. hearing on city’s #COVID19 response; Cook County surpasses 2019 homicide total
TDL Chicago Morning Briefs: Wednesday, September 16th
News in brief: City Council committee to hold 2 p.m. hearing on city’s #COVID19 response; Cook Co...
SEP 16, 2020
The Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee held a virtual meeting Monday to vote on judge retention endorsements.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) missed its deadline to publicly release more than 25 percent of the videos of police violence it was responsible for sharing between 2016 and 2019, according to a city watchdog.
The 42-page report released Tuesday by Deborah Witzburg, the city’s deputy inspector general for public safety, detailed evidence of “internal conditions” within the police oversight agency that “inhibited” the release of videos and other materials related to police shootings with the required 60-day window.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) missed its deadline to publicly release more than 25 percent of the videos of police violence it was responsible for sharing between 2016 and 2019, according to a city watchdog.
The 42-page report released Tuesday by Deborah Witzburg, the city’s deputy inspector general for public safety, detailed evidence of “internal conditions” within the police oversight agency that “inhibited” the release of videos and other materials related to police shootings with the required 60-day window.
COPA blew past deadlines for releasing videos of police shootings, watchdog says
The Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee held a virtual meeting Monday to vote on judg...
SEP 15, 2020
: The Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee held a virtual meeting Monday to vote on judge retention endorsements.Cook County Democratic Party campaign literature will urge voters in November to send two county judges into early retirement, following a vote taken by the party’s 80 committeepeople during a meeting on Monday.
Cook County Dems vote to boot judges Toomin, Araujo from retention slate as Lightfoot decries ‘optics’
: The Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee held a virtual meeting Monday to vote on j...
SEP 15, 2020
News in brief: Department of Housing affordable housing task force releases report; Mayor Lightfoot releases “equitable TOD” plan; Chicago Board of Ethics to enforce new lobbying restrictions
TDL Chicago Morning Briefs: Tuesday, September 15th
News in brief: Department of Housing affordable housing task force releases report; Mayor Lightfo...
SEP 14, 2020
Police attempt to clear protesters onto the sidewalks in Lincoln Park as another night of chaos hit Chicago, Illinois on May 31, 2020. | Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoAldermen introduced a slew of new legislation this month aimed at getting a handle on the city’s surging crime, ranging from a blueprint for reallocating the city’s police budget to a proposal to crack down on looters and a mass surveillance system pitched to operate out of residents’ doorbells.
Aldermen propose health-focused ‘crisis response teams’ as an alternative to police
Police attempt to clear protesters onto the sidewalks in Lincoln Park as another night of chaos...
SEP 11, 2020
News in brief: Watchdog dings COPA on case dismissals; Cannabis firm to testify against competitor at zoning board
TDL Chicago Morning Briefs: Friday, September 11th
News in brief: Watchdog dings COPA on case dismissals; Cannabis firm to testify against competito...
SEP 11, 2020
The MAT Asphalt plant in McKinkley Park would have had to go through a city approval process under rules spelled out in a new ordinance introduced this week. [Block Club/Pascal Sabino]Proposed ‘clean air’ ordinance would put checks on developers but let ‘toxic soup’ multiply, activists say
The MAT Asphalt plant in McKinkley Park would have had to go through a city approval process un...
SEP 10, 2020
Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) and Mayor Lori Lightfoot during a virtual City Council meeting on WednesdayThe Chicago City Council voted overwhelmingly during a relatively drama-free meeting on Wednesday to ban the sale of flavored vape products, tighten oversight of the short-term rental industry and codify a measure to protect Woodlawn residents from potential displacement.
City Council bans flavored vape products, Lightfoot vows ‘future action’ to curb teen smoking
Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) and Mayor Lori Lightfoot during a virtual City Council meeting on Wednesd...
SEP 09, 2020
The City Council is set Wednesday to emerge from its August recess facing one of the grimmest fall budget seasons in memory, offering a test of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s grip on the council as the city faces wrenching violence and a staggering $2 billion, two-year budget deficit.
City Council eyes legislative compromises on housing, home-sharing, vaping as $2B budget hole looms
The City Council is set Wednesday to emerge from its August recess facing one of the grimmest fal...
Bio
Solutions reporter, @IllinoisAnswers/@BetterGov. Formerly of @thedailylinechi, @trdchicago & @DNAinfoChi. Amateur baker. Tips: [email protected]
