Spring is always an iffy proposition in Chicago, but it officially begins Monday. 

The Illinois Department of Transportation is beginning a yearslong construction project on the Kennedy Expressway. It's expected to impact the Edens and Dan Ryan expressways and cost $150 million.

There’s one place spring has most definitely sprung: the Chicago Botanic Garden, where the annual orchid show is now underway. WTTW News also toured the garden’s orchid greenhouse, which isn’t open to the public.

The cubs were named in partnership with Maasai lion guardians in Tanzania. 

“This is providing the means for us to collaborate not only within the Chicagoland area but to really make a difference in biodiversity hot spots across the globe,” said Chuck Knapp, vice president of conservation research at Shedd Aquarium.

Coal ash, the byproduct created when plants burn coal for power, contains potentially dangerous materials like arsenic, mercury and cadmium that can endanger nearby water supplies. Since coal-fired power plants use a lot of water to keep their equipment cool, they’re often near bodies of water like Lake Michigan.

The plan would limit toxic PFAS chemicals to the lowest level that tests can detect. PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances, are a group of compounds that are widespread, dangerous and expensive to remove from water.

Opponents of a toxic sludge landfill on Lake Michigan have filed a lawsuit to stop a plan by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to expand the dump by 25 vertical feet.

Fossils unearthed from Illinois’ famed Mazon Creek site have been sitting in collections misidentified for close to 50 years.

In Chicago, you’ll lose an hour of sleep for one night but gain more daylight in the evening in the months ahead.

Bell Bowl Prairie was bulldozed Thursday morning after an 18-month fight to save the ancient prairie remnant from destruction by Rockford Airport, which is carving out a roadway for an expansion of its cargo operations.

Barring any last-minute court decisions, the Greater Rockford Airport Authority will soon resume construction on its cargo expansion project, bulldozing a portion of ancient Bell Bowl Prairie in order to carve out a new roadway.

Crime has dominated much of the local and national media coverage around Chicago’s mayoral election. But environmental justice activists contend that environmental issues also have a significant impact on quality of life for residents.

The CTA started experimenting with electric buses in 2014 and plans to move to an all-electric fleet by 2040. But as the temperature drops, lithium-ion batteries that run the buses aren't as efficient and lose range.

Over the course of 23 years, the Cook County Coyote Project has tracked the movements of nearly 1,500 coyotes. 

Chicago will dodge the worst of a storm system whose track has stymied meteorologists as it's approached the region.