Registration is open for the Chicago Park District’s spring session, including its aquatics programs and spring break camps for children 6 to 12 years old.

Chicago Bird Collision Monitors is recruiting volunteers to help rescue birds injured or stunned while navigating their way through downtown’s maze of confusing lights and glass buildings.

The Chicago Ornithological Society has resumed small group bird hikes. Masks are a must, as is social distancing. 

Food waste has become a growing concern because of the environmental toll of production, including the land required to raise crops and animals and the greenhouse gas emissions produced along the way. 

For months, Dan O’Conor has shocked his senses by leaping into Lake Michigan — every day. What was prompted last June by a hangover is now an opportunity for the Lincoln Square resident to help the city’s music scene. We meet up at Fullerton Beach to see him in action.

Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell in 2020 by the largest annual percentage since World War II due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the drop-off appears to be short-lived, according to a report from the International Energy Agency.

Dr. Lester Fisher has led a remarkable life, from taking care of Gen. George Patton’s bulldog Willie during his service in World War II to a more than four-decade association with Lincoln Park Zoo, where he started out as a part-time veterinarian. 

After self-imposed winter breaks, Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo are reopening to guests, with a number of safety precautions in place due to the coronavirus. Here’s what to expect.

Reports that millions of 17-year cicadas will emerge from underground in the Chicago area this spring aren’t true. They’re coming in 2024. 

Forget Duke versus North Carolina. This annual contest raises the rivalry stakes, pitting species against species in this annual winner-takes-all online tournament that’s as educational as it is weird.

The spring equinox is still a few weeks away, but meteorologists mark March 1 as the official start of spring. Someone forgot to tell March. 

The projects, proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot at Wednesday's City Council meeting, would largely be funded through Tax Increment Financing dollars.

The lakefront is arguably Chicago’s crown jewel, but that status is threatened, according to Preservation Chicago, which placed the lakefront on its annual endangered list for 2021, citing threats including development of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park and erosion from rising lake levels.

Postponing activities like laundry, running the dishwasher or even showering will provide maximum capacity in the sewers for snow melt.

Animals that wouldn’t be able to survive on their own in the wild are getting the care they need, and are helping educate the public, at five forest preserve nature centers around Cook County. But during COVID-19, people aren’t allowed to go inside these centers, so the animals and their caretakers reach out virtually.

The Chicago Park District announced Tuesday that lakefront parks and playgrounds will reopen, nearly a year after they were closed due to the coronavirus.