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Dec. 2.
Come by to learn more about our work, and how you can support it!
illinoisanswers.org/event/how-jour…
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Alex Nitkin
18.2K posts
Alex Nitkin
@AlexNitkin
Gov't Finance & Accountability reporter, @IllinoisAnswers/@BetterGov. Formerly of @thedailylinechi, @trdchicago & @DNAinfoChi. Tips: [email protected]
Chicago Katılım Haziran 2009
923 Takip Edilen5.5K Takipçiler
New: Chicago officials have for years resisted calls to mandate proactive apartment safety inspections, even as renters keep dying in preventable fires.
The City Council just passed an ordinance directing departments to study the idea in earnest:
illinoisanswers.org/2026/03/18/pro…
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@FrankCalabrese Frank unless you have a copy of the letter, please link to an article that reported this!
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Alex Nitkin retweetledi
After more than three decades in network news, I find this @bariweiss direction a massive misunderstanding of the TV audience. Paid opinion is ubiquitous. Real reporting is precious.
Anthony Hatcher@ahatcher54
If @CBSNews just hired journalists who used sources & told audiences what happened each day, that would be #journalism. If CBS hired a bunch of opinionated people to comment on a handful of issues, they would be social media clickbait, just like all other useless clickbait.
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Alex Nitkin retweetledi
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting may be gone, but the mission it fueled lives on at the @NewsHour : free, fair, independent journalism for all -- without paywalls or partisan pressure.
If that work matters to you, help us keep it going. Support our work by donating here: give.newshour.org/page/80037/don…
philip lewis@Phil_Lewis_
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been dissolved, ending its 58 years as the primary funder for PBS, NPR and local TV and radio stations huffpost.com/entry/latest-n…
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I'm sure no one wants to hear this right now, but worth keeping in mind:
Any meeting of more than 12 alders that isn't open to the public is a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act
Paris Schutz@paschutz
A three hour weekend meeting between Alders and Mayor didn't yield much... this email from Ald Samantha Nugent to other proponents of the "alternative budget" indicates they will go forward with budget votes of their own this week... as the two sides engage in a congress-like spending standoff:
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Context on this practice, before anyone thinks Council staffers are getting $200K bonuses...
illinoisanswers.org/2025/04/14/chi…
Citizen 𝑣𝑠 Machine, PhD@CitizenVMachine
It's happening again... 🎅 Christmas bonus season for aldermanic staff! 🎅
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Anecdotal evidence abounds to support these programs. No allegations of waste or fraud. But the city's impulse to hide from Qs like "what's your evidence for sustaining youth employment" is feeding its trust deficit w/ City Council as they strain to pass a budget by 12/31.
/END
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Budget officials said they conducted a "sustainability analysis" for whether each ARPA-funded program should be preserved.
So we FOIA'd for that analysis. After more than a month of delays, they finally delivered last night, and almost every page looks like this:
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New from me: budget hawks have called on @ChicagosMayor to cut ARPA-funded programs before considering any new taxes. But it's been hard to nail down the exact price tag of federal programs the mayor wants to keep.
After six weeks of reporting, we found the number: about $33M.
Illinois Answers Project@IllinoisAnswers
With a $1.2B deficit looming, Johnson defends pandemic-era programs he says helped cut crime. Much of City Council remains skeptical. From @AlexNitkin: illinoisanswers.org/2025/12/02/chi…
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Alex Nitkin retweetledi
A stat worth knowing: McKinsey the consulting firm has more employees than there are journalists of any kind in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The New Yorker@NewYorker
Newspapers are closing at an emergency-level rate—over the past 20 years, America has lost more than 3,000. For the past six years, the photographer Ann Hermes has been documenting the lives lived in these dying places across the country. See more images: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/059DXx
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Alex Nitkin retweetledi
Reporter @AlexNitkin will be on @ABC7Chicago today to discuss his recent story on property tax increases.
Watch live at 8:45 a.m. here: abc7chicago.com/watch/live/
And read the story here: illinoisanswers.org/2025/11/17/rec…
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Must-read @sidneeking on how a U-turn in federal housing policy is about to make it much harder for Chicago and other cities to fight homelessness:
Illinois Answers Project@IllinoisAnswers
The Trump administration is dramatically cutting the money available to help pay for housing for people in need, including those with mental illness or disabilities. illinoisanswers.org/2025/11/18/new…
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Alex Nitkin retweetledi
It will likely cost Chicago taxpayers approximately $52 million in interest to borrow that money and pay off during the next five years, according to estimates provided to the Chicago City Council.
WTTW - Chicago PBS@wttw
Chicago must borrow $283.3 million to cover the soaring cost of lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct — including wrongful convictions and improper pursuits — as part of the city’s 2026 budget, Mayor Johnson said. to.wttw.com/4qZOXYt
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Alex Nitkin retweetledi
This is more than the one-year allocation to DPD and DOH combined from the big housing and economic development bond
Heather Cherone@HeatherCherone
NEW: Chicago must borrow $283.3M to cover the soaring cost of lawsuits alleging CPD officers committed a wide range of misconduct as part of the city’s 2026 budget, Mayor Brandon Johnson said, calling the move "prudent." @wttw news.wttw.com/2025/11/17/chi…
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Lost in some of the headlines this morning about the record property tax increase for Chicago homeowners: South & West side neighborhoods are being hit hardest, thanks to assessment hikes.
@ad_quig and I reported this was coming:
illinoisanswers.org/2025/09/21/bra…
Chicago Tribune@chicagotribune
Good morning, Chicago. Here are some top stories to start your day: - Record property tax increases slam Chicago homeowners - Gov. JB Pritzker’s Accountability Commission still ramping up - Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the Bears' Week 11 win trib.al/rRK5l8u
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Alex Nitkin retweetledi
Pritzker: "What we need is a progressive income tax, a graduated income tax, in this state. That's what we need."
His chief of staff a month or so ago: "I unfortunately have skepticism about the ability to get that done again, just because of the hurdles we faced last time."
Alice Yin@byaliceyin
“This is my ward! Get out of my ward with this shit. This is bullshit dude,” a usually mild-mannered Ald Mike Rodriguez yells at Ald Byron Sigcho Lopez as he heckles Gov JB Pritzker for opposing Mayor Brandon Johnson’s corporate head tax. Video by @JeremyGorner
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