NEW details of an internal fight to expand Divvy at Northwestern @thedailynu.bsky.social - Divvy offered 5 docking stations on campus + 2 at Ryan Field for the price of the 2; NU said no - Declined because Ryan Field will have a free bike valet for 300-500 bikes an event (!!!), spox told me

The Daily Northwestern@thedailynu.bsky.social · 4w ago

After months of negotiations, University officials declined a proposal that would have significantly increased the number of on-campus Divvy stations, including at Ryan Field, emails obtained by The Daily show. — Reported by @ryaninevanston.bsky.social dailynorthwestern.com/2026/07/10/t...

ICIRR: Federal agents were seen at Harlem Avenue and Devon Avenue on the north side, a little south of the Niles border, around 10:00 a.m. I'm following with my livethread colleagues @thedailynu.bsky.social. Know anything more? My Signal is in the top comment.

Live: Federal agents reported at Devon and Harlem in Chicago

Since September, Evanston has experienced an influx in activity from federal immigration agencies, with several community members taken by agents in the fall.  In 2026, the first verified alert of fed...

dailynorthwestern.com

Calling a government agency for information, getting asked why you want the information, identifying as press, and getting transferred to the media line black hole within 3 nanoseconds is a top 10 experience

A little IL-09 tidbit

Amid a short public comment section, four speakers urged Evanston alders to act on bike lanes. Among them: @mrscottroberts.bsky.social: "We need bollards now, and we need protected bike lanes as soon as possible." Elliot Oats urged "preventative measures" over "reactive measures."

Ryan Ottignon@ryaninevanston.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Expecting, and already seeing, huge ripples in Evanston from the dooring-caused death of biker and CDOT planner Riley O'Neil. I'll be at council reporting on a myriad on things on Monday, and I'll report back about whether it's brought up in public comment to urge alders to act.

Expecting, and already seeing, huge ripples in Evanston from the dooring-caused death of biker and CDOT planner Riley O'Neil. I'll be at council reporting on a myriad on things on Monday, and I'll report back about whether it's brought up in public comment to urge alders to act.

After driver doored CDOT planner Riley O'Neil, 35, on bike in Bridgeport, causing his death, advocates demand City install protected lanes to prevent such killings - Streetsblog Chicago

chi.streetsblog.org

Ridiculous uptick in Chicagoland federal immigration reports today — ~10 from rapid response groups between 6 and 10am. Most are presumed to be ICE, though HSI (and others) are possible.

ICE: Feds detained one nearby Golf Middle School in Morton Grove earlier this morning, per ICIRR. Know about this? Shoot me a DM or a text on Signal at rottignon.01. @thedailynu.bsky.social

The Daily Northwestern@thedailynu.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Federal agents were seen in Morton Grove at the intersection of Emerson Street and Sayre Avenue around 8:30 a.m., according to a 10:18 a.m. ICIRR alert. One person was reported to have been pulled out of their car and taken by the agents, the alert read. dailynorthwestern.com/2026/03/09/t...

Police apparently facilitating federal immigration activity through crowd control has been quite the repeated trend in the last two days of reports alone, from Evanston to MPLS to NJ.

The Daily Northwestern@thedailynu.bsky.social · 2mo ago

1/ This line is the border between Evanston and Rogers Park, Chicago’s northernmost neighborhood. On Oct. 31, it became the site of what appears to be an attempt by Evanston police to dodge the city’s sanctuary city ordinance... 🧵

1/ This line is the border between Evanston and Rogers Park, Chicago’s northernmost neighborhood. On Oct. 31, it became the site of what appears to be an attempt by Evanston police to dodge the city’s sanctuary city ordinance... 🧵

NEW: For the last 7 months, I've been digging into how Evanston police responded to federal immigration enforcement. I found EPD's behavior — as one activist put it — to be "distressing." Read my full investigation, "Out of Bounds," in our web interactive: apps.dailynorthwestern.com/outofbounds/

BREAKING in Evanston: Resident and community member Jesús Eugenio Castro was detained by ICE last week, my colleague Marisa reports. Evanston Latinos and Sanctuary Evanston have a fundraiser for his family: secure.qgiv.com/for/supportf...

The Daily Northwestern@thedailynu.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Evanston resident Jesús Eugenio Castro was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday during an immigration check-in at the ICE Chicago Field Office, according to his family and community organizers. – Reported by Marisa Guerra Echeverria dailynorthwestern.com/2026/05/24/c...

Developers dealing with data viz, please learn that categorical data, like different candidates, necessitates a qualitative palette (red, green, blue, yellow, etc.) instead of a sequential palette (shades of blue). Because I cannottttt read this map lol

Here's that ridiculous number of amendments by Kelly (1st) visually :P One square is one proposed amendment. Kelly has 50 alone and one with Davis (7th), who has 10 alone. Suffredin (6th) has three.

Alex Harrison@alexhairysun.bsky.social · 3mo ago

there are 64 amendments on the list for tonight, 50 of which are from one member if you know anything about evanston city politics, you know who it is

Fun piece and #dataviz from me today on flights that pass over Evanston. This one airway in the north of Evanston — the approach path to Chicago Executive Airport — makes Executive the most frequent destination for over-Evanston aircraft, I found.

Solid one from the Tribune

Chicago Tribune@chicagotribune.com · 3mo ago

From the Editorial Board: Bike activists need to stop demonizing Chicago drivers.

IDENT: Ed Maxa is an agent with the CBP Office of Field Ops (OFO) Special Response Team (SRT). Identifier is "NS 808." Civilian video shows Maxa pepper-sprayed a resident point-blank in Evanston on Oct. 31. He was also seen knocking a resident's phone to the ground in December.

Ryan Ottignon@ryaninevanston.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In a new report, the name of a third Border Patrol agent who participated in the aggressive Halloween arrests in Evanston — Edward Maxa — has been released by the IL Accountability Comm. Maxa, the report alleges, pepper-sprayed a resident "from close range, without warning."

In a new report, the name of a third Border Patrol agent who participated in the aggressive Halloween arrests in Evanston — Edward Maxa — has been released by the IL Accountability Comm. Maxa, the report alleges, pepper-sprayed a resident "from close range, without warning."

Dave Byrnes@djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The Illinois Accountability Commission has released its final report on Operation Midway Blitz. The report looked at evidence suggesting a federal effort to suppress dissent, finding "DHS used paramilitary tactics to occupy and impose control in Chicagoland." Full report here:

If you see federal agents in Skokie, Evanston, or surrounding areas, text me on Signal: rottignon.01 Or send me an email: rottignon@dailynorthwestern.com Photo or video evidence appreciated!

The Daily Northwestern@thedailynu.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Federal agents were seen near 5360 West Touhy Ave. in Skokie at around 10:34 a.m., according to an 11:09 a.m. ICIRR alert. Agents are still believed to remain in the area, according to ICIRR. dailynorthwestern.com/2026/03/09/t...

Anyone know if there's CTA data available on what percentage of riders go each direction at each station, preferably at each time in the day? So, e.g., it'd say that 35% go northbound, 65% go southbound at 11am. Anything like that?

NEW (not April Fools!): IL-09 candidates Bushra Amiwala and Hoan Huynh both committed to exit the primary if they had little to no chance of winning, me and my colleague Max Turetzky found. Amiwala, who repeated the promise at an October town hall, denied ever committing.

The Daily Northwestern@thedailynu.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala and State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) did not fulfill commitments to exit the 9th District primary if they had little to no chance of victory, records show. — Reported by @ryaninevanston.bsky.social and Max Turetzky dailynorthwestern.com/2026/04/01/c...

Happy trans day of visibility! 🏳️‍⚧️ Here at Northwestern, you should know that anti-trans clauses in the university's deal with the Trump administration remain in effect, though not (publicly) acted upon. I first reported on those potential effects — and their legalities — in December.

Northwestern students worry federal deal will hurt trans community

Following Northwestern’s Nov. 28 agreement with the Trump administration to restore at least $790 million in federal funding, NU claimed that “no restrictions” had been placed on its transgender commu...

dailynorthwestern.com

Hoo, it's time to get back on everything after a brief break in New Orleans over the last few days (beautiful city).

DHS air movement over Chicagoland: N203Z, longtime CBP 'control' chopper, appeared at Waukegan Natl Arpt today and flew to the Detroit border station. N893N, with the traditional 'control' callsign "12345," traveled from Detroit to Waukegan. Appears to be a swapout.

Did you know the Cook County Sheriff FOIA portal breaks when your password has symbols in it because of URL encoding shenanigans? Neither did I until I created an account and had to reset my password 6 times in the next 10 minutes :P

I'll use this as an opportunity to talk about these ridiculous February donors to two AIPAC-backed super PACs which played a large hand in the Illinois primaries. 🧵 You can follow along with this thread in my spreadsheet:

AIPAC donors (Ryan Ottignon/The Daily Northwestern)

docs.google.com

Molly White@molly.wiki · 5mo ago

Even if spelunking through FEC filings wasn't part of my work I think I'd do it just for fun

If you look through these FEC filings, be warned that the people who donated are perhaps the goofiest people ever. Why did this random AIPAC donor and recycling/scrapyard mogul's company get charged with fraud in 2014 LOL?

Ryan Ottignon@ryaninevanston.bsky.social · 5mo ago

In case you haven't been tracking, it's FEC monthly report deadline day! That means we get to see the donors behind three AIPAC shell PACs: Elect Chicago Women, Affordable Chicago Now, and Chicago Progressive Partnership.

In case you haven't been tracking, it's FEC monthly report deadline day! That means we get to see the donors behind three AIPAC shell PACs: Elect Chicago Women, Affordable Chicago Now, and Chicago Progressive Partnership.

'Cats for Kat seems to have did something for voters but didn't engage non-voters very well, it appears. (As @alexhairysun.bsky.social told me before the election, NU has historically been low-turnout.)

🏳️‍🌈🚲Cole🚄🚟@coleurbanist.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Some pretty bad turnout around Northwestern! 4.8% for one precinct and 13.2% for the other

Have tips about misconduct, civil rights violations, or injustices in Evanston, IL, at any of Northwestern's campuses, or in surrounding communities? Email me r.ottignon@dailynorthwestern.com, or contact me on Signal (rottignon.01). I will protect your anonymity.