Alex Nitkin

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]

Alex Nitkin

https://twitter.com/AlexNitkin

Authored by Alex Nitkin

Co-Authored with Alex Nitkin

MAR 09, 2020
Cresco senior counsel Jim Boland reviews the company's plan for a dispensary at 436 N Clark St. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) excoriated the mayoral-appointed Zoning Board of Appeals as “a joke” on Friday after its members green-lit a proposal for a River North cannabis dispensary over his objections and those of a neighborhood group.

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Alderman rips ‘incompetent’ zoning board after it OKs dispensary despite neighborhood opposition

Cresco senior counsel Jim Boland reviews the company's plan for a dispensary at 436 N Clark St. [...

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MAR 06, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote in a Jan. 24 Facebook post that Jill Rose Quinn “has fought for fairness, equality and justice her entire life and her perspective and experience will be invaluable for our courts and our community.” [Facebook]
Jill Rose Quinn has racked up a powerful list of allies as high-ranking Democrats and LGBT organizing groups rally around her bid to become the first openly transgender judge ever to serve in Illinois.

But that doesn’t mean she’s stopped working for votes.

Quinn poised to make history as first transgender judge in Illinois

Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote in a Jan. 24 Facebook post that Jill Rose Quinn “has fought for fair...

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MAR 06, 2020
Leaders of five cannabis companies are due in City Hall on Friday to ask for permission to open what could be Chicago’s first new dispensaries since the sale of recreational weed became legal this year.

First wave of new cannabis dispensaries poised for approval in River North, Fulton Market

Leaders of five cannabis companies are due in City Hall on Friday to ask for permission to open w...

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MAR 04, 2020
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough addresses the news media. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough’s first-year staffing initiatives did nothing to improve the function of her office’s five suburban locations, but they did make supervisors miserable — and that was the point, county employees testified in federal court on Tuesday.

Yarbrough staffers were pressured to quit through ‘devastating’ transfer policy: testimony

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough addresses the news media. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line] Co...

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MAR 03, 2020
Plans call for a 100-unit, all-affordable apartment complex on city-owned land near the Logan Square CTA Blue Line station. [Bickerdike Development]
A group of Logan Square property owners including prolific Northwest Side landlord Mark Fishman want a judge to nullify the city’s support for a planned affordable housing development, writing in a lawsuit that replacing a surface parking lot with 100 subsidized apartments would cause them “irreparable injury.”

Logan Square neighbors file lawsuit to nix affordable apartments: ‘Traffic will be a nightmare’

Plans call for a 100-unit, all-affordable apartment complex on city-owned land near the Logan S...

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MAR 02, 2020
Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi. [A.D. Quig/The Daily Line]
A representative of anti-patronage attorney Michael Shakman tipped his hat to Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi on Friday for making “positive progress” on a series of court-ordered hiring reforms, even though federal oversight is likely to continue for at least another year.

Plaintiff, judge laud Kaegi for ‘progress’ on Shakman reforms as federal oversight lingers

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi. [A.D. Quig/The Daily Line] A representative of anti-patronage...

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FEB 28, 2020
Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the ultimate aim of her affordable housing policy is to “break up segregation in our city.” [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

To hear Mayor Lori Lightfoot tell it, none of her administration’s efforts to tackle the intractable problems facing Chicago stands a chance of success unless dramatically more Chicagoans have a stable place to live.

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Residents await Lightfoot’s master plan on affordable housing as citywide crisis deepens

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the ultimate aim of her affordable housing policy is to “break up segre...

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FEB 28, 2020
Cook County Board Toni Preckwinkle makes a point during news conference. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
 Cook County officials confirmed a new member on Thursday to the county’s Board of Ethics, pushing forward Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s shakeup of the watchdog group as its remaining members continue trying to advance a series changes to the county’s ethics rules.

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Preckwinkle reshuffles Board of Ethics, with rule changes in limbo

Cook County Board Toni Preckwinkle makes a point during news conference. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily...

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FEB 27, 2020
Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday advanced a controversial effort to increase their authority over the county’s $2.8 billion health and hospital system, rebuffing members of the system’s independent health board who have warned the move could make it harder to find a new CEO.

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County Board advances measure to crank up oversight of hospital system: ‘This is not a power grab’

Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday advanced a controversial effort to...

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FEB 26, 2020
Cardelle Spangler, left, and Jim Gleffe brief Cook County commissioners on efforts to reform hiring at the Recorder of Deeds office. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
It is unlikely the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office will be free of a federal hiring monitor before its scheduled merger with the Cook County Clerk’s office in December, leaving an open question about the future of the court order as the clerk’s office faces its own legal challenges, officials said Tuesday.

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End of Shakman oversight for recorder not yet a ‘realistic possibility,’ monitor says

Cardelle Spangler, left, and Jim Gleffe brief Cook County commissioners on efforts to reform hi...

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FEB 26, 2020
Cook County leaders vowed Tuesday to fight a proposed state law that would merge the independent police department for the county Forest Preserves District with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

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County commissioners blast state proposal to merge Forest Preserves police with Sheriff’s Office

Cook County leaders vowed Tuesday to fight a proposed state law that would merge the independent ...

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FEB 25, 2020
“This is about the most vulnerable people in Cook County, and the numbers are getting worse,” Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said. “Something is seriously wrong. People need an extra four months to pay.” [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
Cook County property owners would get an extra four months to pay delinquent taxes before their land is put up for sale under a state bill championed by county Treasurer Maria Pappas.

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Pappas calls on state lawmakers to extend ‘grace period’ for delinquent taxes

“This is about the most vulnerable people in Cook County, and the numbers are getting worse,” C...

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FEB 24, 2020
Renderings of the developments planned for 725 W. Randolph St. left, and 1150 W. Lake St., right. [Provided]
City officials approved two high-rise apartment developments that would build 920 apartments in Fulton Market despite criticism that few apartments would be set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans.

‘I think the developer can do better’: 920 new apartments in Fulton Market OK’d despite affordability concerns

Renderings of the developments planned for 725 W. Randolph St. left, and 1150 W. Lake St., righ...

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FEB 21, 2020
Metra trains sport messages urging Cook County residents to complete the Census. [Twitter/@Metra]
County officials unlocked another $334,600 in grants aimed at boosting participation in the 2020 Census, rounding out the county’s two-year, $4 million effort to prevent an undercount.

County awards final round of Census outreach grants on narrow vote as count approaches

Metra trains sport messages urging Cook County residents to complete the Census. [Twitter/@Metr...

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FEB 21, 2020
Renderings of the developments planned for 725 W. Randolph St. left, and 1150 W. Lake St., right. [Provided]
City planning officials are poised on Friday to throw their support behind two proposed developments that would collectively add more than 900 new apartments to the booming Fulton Market district.

Plan Commission set to approve more than 900 new apartments in Fulton Market

Renderings of the developments planned for 725 W. Randolph St. left, and 1150 W. Lake St., righ...

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FEB 20, 2020
The Illinois State Board of Elections meets. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
Former Ald. Danny Solis (25) did not violate state election law when he spent $220,000 in campaign funds on his personal legal defense amid a sprawling federal criminal investigation, state election officials ruled on Wednesday.

Elected officials can use campaign funds to pay legal fees, state election officials rule

The Illinois State Board of Elections meets. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line] Former Ald. Danny Sol...

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FEB 19, 2020
A rear coach house on Chicago’s North Side. [Coldwell Banker via Realtor.com]
Aldermen will wait at least another month before introducing an ordinance that would allow property owners to build coach houses and convert attics and basements into extra apartments, delaying a long-discussed effort to expand the city’s supply of badly needed affordable housing.

Accessory Dwelling Units ordinance delayed over home-sharing concerns

A rear coach house on Chicago’s North Side. [Coldwell Banker via Realtor.com] Aldermen will wai...

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FEB 17, 2020
The interior of the MOCA Modern Cannabis dispensary. [Provided]
As many as nine new recreational cannabis dispensaries could clear a crucial regulatory hurdle during a special meeting of the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals scheduled for March 6, potentially almost doubling the number of pot shops allowed to operate in the city, according to officials.

Zoning Board set to approve first wave of new dispensaries at special March meeting

The interior of the MOCA Modern Cannabis dispensary. [Provided]As many as nine new recreational...

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FEB 14, 2020
Ald. Tom Tunney (44) said he will delay introducing more than 200 proposed edits to the Chicago Construction Code following accusations from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s two most persistent City Council critics that the mayor intentionally tucked substantive changes into what her administration billed as “technical corrections.”

Building code amendments put on ice after Lopez, Beale cry foul on basement units rule

Ald. Tom Tunney (44) said he will delay introducing more than 200 proposed edits to the Chicago C...

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FEB 13, 2020
Ald. Michelle Harris (8) discusses plans for a cannabis cultivation facility in her ward at a community meeting. [Facebook]
Aldermen are scheduled on Thursday to advance a proposal for what could be the city’s first-ever legally sanctioned cannabis growing site, even as applications for several new pot dispensaries remain in regulatory limbo.

Cannabis cultivation center set for zoning approval as dispensary applicants remain in limbo

Ald. Michelle Harris (8) discusses plans for a cannabis cultivation facility in her ward at a c...

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Bio

Solutions reporter, @IllinoisAnswers/@BetterGov. Formerly of @thedailylinechi, @trdchicago & @DNAinfoChi. Amateur baker. Tips: [email protected]

Alex Nitkin

https://twitter.com/AlexNitkin