Year of Impact: The Record’s top 8 stories from our first year in Skokie

The Record North Shore has long pledged that when commit to covering a community, we’re going to cover that community — not here and there, not now and then, not when news breaks, but every day with courage and care.

After launching in 2020 to restore reliable local news to the “New Trier five” (Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield, Kenilworth and Glencoe), we did not expand our footprint again until the July 4, 2022 shooting in Highland Park. That day we committed to covering Highland Park, as the community took steps forward and beyond. Today, it and Highwood are a core piece of our regular news coverage. 

Skokie was next. Skokie needed local news, and we were the ones for the job — but we needed a boost. That came via an expansion grant, and in October 2025, we began regular, independent and thoughtful coverage of Skokie.

Here, one year later, I selected eight articles that I believe prove we have done just that. These stories were only possible by attending Village Board meetings in-person, filing public-records requests to local public agencies, and meeting with Skokie residents face to face to hear their stories. When you support our work, these are the stories you tell us to pursue.

Have a story tip? Contact me at samuel@therecordns.org

• ‘His Heart is as Big as His Whole Body’: Homeless-shelter client turned employee celebrated as key to program’s success

I was attending a press conference inside the Niles Township Respite Center last December when a speaker mentioned, almost as an aside, that one of the day shelter’s former clients was now an employee. I wanted to know more. Fortunately, Robert Gaiter agreed to meet with me and tell his story — how he experienced homelessness and how the Respite Center helped him find stability. This feature highlights both the impact of the Respite Center and the remarkable individuals who, shaped by their experiences there, advocate for others.

• ‘Represented in Skokie’: Assyrian flag raised at Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park

The crowd was buzzing with excitement one brisk evening in March as village staff prepared to add the Assyrian flag to a display in the North Shore Sculpture Park. The moment was the culmination of years of advocacy work from Assyrian organizers and marked what many in the audience already knew: Skokie is home to one of the largest Assyrian populations in the United States. I’d like to think reporting on the ceremony, capturing the officials’ remarks and the live reactions of Skokie residents, helped spread awareness of that moment’s significance. 

• As residents call for action, Skokie prohibits ICE from village-owned property

We published a number of articles about federal immigration enforcement in the North Shore after Operation Midway Blitz kicked off last fall. In Skokie, I reported on how local officials were looking out for residents, how volunteers were standing watch outside schools, and how village staff were rebuffing suggestions for laws governing how police should respond to federal agents. This article illustrated the sense of alarm that led more than 100 residents to rally outside Village Hall, and how village officials were grappling with how to respond to ICE. 

• Wisconsin sheriff sues over Skokie woman’s detainment ‘hoax,’ shares evidence

A Skokie woman’s claims that she was detained by federal authorities at O’Hare International Airport earlier this spring after returning from an overseas trip seized widespread attention. We covered her supporters’ press conference outside a Broadview detention center and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s statement referring to her allegations as “blatantly FALSE.” This story took me to hotels and gas stations in rural Wisconsin and back, but it was a Wisconsin sheriff’s move to refute her timeline and sue her for defamation, and our reporting on her past run-ins with the law, that made this story particularly extraordinary. 

• Why a 2023 voicemail warning couldn’t stop a local teacher arrested three years later

When federal authorities announced in June that they had charged a Niles North High School teacher with allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material, we were one of many publications that reported on his arrest and suspension. But we, and plenty of District 219 parents, still had unanswered questions. This investigatory report was us digging deeper and trying to explain how and why a previous police investigation into Thomas Neal stalled in 2023. 

• From ‘Unfair’ to ‘It’s a Start’: Residents respond to Skokie limiting short-term rentals

One policy the Skokie Village Board decided to tackle this year was an ordinance regulating how local short-term rentals, like Airbnb units, are regulated. We reported on what was changing, what reasons officials were giving for those changes, and how the law would be implemented. But I also wanted to speak with Skokie residents who, either staunchly in favor or opposed to the program, were passionate about the issue. This reporting followed up on key village legislation to explore how it was actually impacting Skokie residents. 

• Niles West teacher dismissed for inappropriate comment was suspended in 2021 for similar offense

A school board’s decision to dismiss a staff member does not always merit a story, but it appeared more was at stake last summer when numerous teachers and students in District 219 addressed the Niles Township board in support of an English teacher who was set to be let go. Sifting through internal D219 memos obtained through public records requests allowed us to reconstruct what “inappropriate and unprofessional” comments the teacher made to a student and why, after a previous suspension for similar conduct, school staff recommended ending his 25 years in the district.

• Skokie hopes clearing up litigation will convince new developer for abandoned downtown hotel

In finding subjects to report on, I find it important to identify people and programs impacting the lives of Skokie residents. But I also enjoy when my reporting can shed light on something material, like say, a humongous abandoned hotel in the center of town. We’ve since published three other stories on the status and future of the property, but this first article was significant in circulating information about why the eyesore remains untouched and what deliberations are taking place to see it developed again. 

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