Stories by Alex Ruppenthal

Candy-flavored e-cigarettes and other sweetened tobacco products threaten to create a new generation of addicted users, warns a new report by five prominent public health organizations.

A state senator has proposed legislation that would partially ban the use of lead-based ammunition, but one gun rights group is calling the bill “a blatant attack” on the rights of hunters.

The tale of the Western pond turtle was one of several success stories shared with donors Monday evening at a Shedd Aquarium event focused on conservation efforts nationwide. 

Cuts to the EPA’s budget would affect a disproportionate number of minority and low-income residents in Chicago, experts say. 

Chicago’s top public health official said her department will examine an area on the city’s Southeast Side that faces exposure to manganese dust.

Shedd Aquarium researchers are studying queen conch populations in the Bahamas to understand the decline of the popular snail in the Caribbean. 

Advocates for Illinois’ agriculture industry anticipate new export opportunities if the U.S. relaxes trade barriers with Cuba. 

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have invented a new sponge that can absorb oil from water and then be wrung out and reused, a potentially game-changing tool for dealing with oil spills.

Federal limits for exposure to manganese might not be adequate to protect public health, says a Washington University neurologist. 

Several advocacy groups are calling on Chicago to ban storage of materials containing manganese in residential areas following a 2016 study that revealed potentially harmful levels of manganese dust on the city’s Southeast Side.

A company on Chicago’s Southeast Side has 30 days to submit a revised plan to control the release of manganese dust, according to the city’s Department of Public Health.

A company under pressure from the EPA over potentially harmful emissions of manganese dust has met the agency’s March 1 deadline for installing air monitors at its Chicago facility.

Chicago is offering grant funding to cover up to 30 percent of equipment and installation costs for new direct current fast-charging stations, which can charge electric vehicles in 20 to 30 minutes. 

At least 16 states have legalized industrial hemp production for commercial purposes. Could Illinois be next?

A group of Southeast Side residents and activists met Tuesday night to formulate a plan for confronting the latest threat of pollution in one of Chicago’s most industrialized areas.

For the fifth year, members of Shedd Aquarium's Animal Response Team participated in a rescue mission of endangered penguin chicks in South Africa. Learn about their work.

The carefully documented history of manganese emissions in a small Ohio city serves as a warning for those concerned about newly discovered manganese concentrations on Chicago’s Far Southeast Side.

S.H. Bell Co., a company linked to potential manganese pollution on Chicago’s Far Southeast Side, said Thursday it is not the sole emitter of manganese dust in the area. 

For decades, residents on Chicago’s Far Southeast Side lived with clouds of black dust from nearby industrial sites. Now, the community faces a more dangerous pollutant: manganese. 

Several dozen employees based in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chicago office joined a downtown rally Monday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump’s nomination to lead the agency.

A bright meteor streaked across skies in Chicago and the Midwest at about 1:30 a.m. Monday. 

With an expected audience of officials appointed by President Donald Trump, the Heartland Institute hopes to reset U.S. climate policy, which is also the theme for its upcoming International Conference on Climate Change.

Siku the polar bear wants a floating stone. Bella the baby guerilla wants carrots. The holiday season has passed, but Chicago zoo animals are still hoping for gifts.

Starting Wednesday, customers will pay a 7-cent tax on each paper and plastic bag provided by stores to carry out items in all Chicago retail stores. 

A majority of Illinois' congressional members have issued statements about President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning immigrants from seven predominately Muslim countries. Find out what they have to say.

Cook County is more than halfway through a multiyear project that aims to make solar energy more affordable for residents.