Debris from houses, shops and offices had to go somewhere. The rubble was dumped off the lakefront east of Michigan Avenue, and if that sounds like the location of Grant Park, it is.

The recommended 2022 budget will keep the doors open and the lights on, but doesn’t make a dent in the district’s $64 million in unfunded maintenance, pension obligations or goal to acquire more land. For those resources, the district is pinning its hopes on an upcoming property tax referendum.

Conservationists are in a race against the clock to save a five-acre patch of rare Illinois prairie from being bulldozed as part of a 280-acre expansion of the Chicago Rockford International Airport's cargo operation.

Plans are underway to keep organic waste out of Chicago's landfills, officials said.

Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves, founded in 2020 to rally support for the state’s protected natural areas, is now launching a major recruitment effort to grow its ranks and muster a corps of volunteers to steward the sites in a race against invasive species and climate change.

The 11-year-old tiger had received her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine developed for animals. The zoo is now awaiting test results for other big cats that are exhibiting symptoms similar to the infected tiger’s.

Chicago scientist Heather Skeen studied the gut bacteria of the migratory Kirtland’s warbler and made a surprising discovery with potentially far-reaching implications.

One of North America’s most common native bumble bee species, the aptly named American bumble bee, is on the ropes. Among the threats to its survival: competition from honey bees.

Death’s come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government on Wednesday declared them extinct.

Tiny fragments from an asteroid could shed light on the early development of the solar system, thanks to the unique capabilities of Argonne National Laboratory.

There are hundreds of species of mantis shrimp — crustaceans measuring anywhere from 1-12 inches long. The peacock mantis shrimp, indigenous to the waters of Indonesia, has a specific trait that humans are trying to replicate. 

U.S. Steel is reporting that a “rusty colored” discharge that poured into Lake Michigan on Sunday from its plant in Portage, Indiana, was due to elevated iron levels.

Officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management are investigating a “rusty colored liquid” discharged from the U.S. Steel plant in Portage, spotted Sunday evening in the Burns Waterway.

It is the largest single-day volunteer effort in support of environmental stewardship. Here’s how to get involved in National Public Lands Day at Chicago area parks and preserves.

In what officials call a key step to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is sharply limiting domestic production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

Capybaras, native to Central and South America, are the largest members of the rodent family, tipping the scales at 130 pounds. Three of them have just arrived at the Brookfield Zoo.