Stories by Patty Wetli

Thanks to an evening surge in voters, Chicago's unofficial turnout for the 2026 primaries inched over 25%, with the tallying of additional mail-in and provisional ballots likely to boost the numbers even more.

When polls open Tuesday at 6 a.m., voters and poll workers will be greeted with sub-zero wind chills in Chicago. Could the cold have an icy effect on voter turnout?

Grub infestations have been identified at four Chicago Park District parks, including two that were hit hard in 2021.

In a miniature version of the Chicago River dyeing celebration, Garfield Park Conservatory turned its fern pond green for St. Patrick's Day.

Residents in several North Side neighborhoods reported a foul stench on Tuesday, described by some as “skunk”-like but mostly sewage.

After a successful inaugural event in 2025, the Chicago River Swim is coming back in September, officials announced.

Tensions boiled over during Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners, where advocates for the unhoused brought proceedings to a standstill as they protested the impending closure of a tent encampment in a North Side park.

Intense thunderstorms spawned at least four tornadoes across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana on Tuesday, with at least two killed in Indiana as damage assessments continue.

“This little fish is truly one in a million,” said Jenny Richards, senior aquarist at Shedd Aquarium.

Severe thunderstorms are expected throughout northeast Illinois late Tuesday afternoon into the evening, bringing with them the threat for damaging hail and winds, flash flooding and possible tornadoes south of the I-80 corridor.

Announced in 2015, the Obama Presidential Center will open to the public June 19 at its 20-acre campus in Chicago’s historic Jackson Park.

The full story is now being told of how a tiny clump of moss helped investigators crack the macabre case of grave robbing at Burr Oak Cemetery.

Winter in Chicago recorded far less snow than normal, and temperatures for the season were close to normal despite January’s deep freeze.

Early risers will enjoy views of a total lunar eclipse in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday.

Lurie Garden will be closed to the public beginning Monday through early July while major repairs are made to the garden’s water feature and boardwalk.

It’s always summer in the Chicago Botanic Garden’s arid greenhouse, where the view is unlike anywhere else in the world.

Lincoln Park Zoo is celebrating a baby boom of nine eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, the first new arrivals of this federally threatened native species in nearly a decade.

Brookfield Zoo has announced the arrival of a new pangopup — a baby white-bellied pangolin — just in time for World Pangolin Day on Saturday.

Vehicles across the city were coated in dirt Wednesday thanks to a perfect storm of events.

The EPA repealed the key underpinning of greenhouse gas emission regulations. Now environmental and health advocates are taking the agency to court.

Birders inadvertently provided researchers at Loyola University with a key bit of documentation related to invasive species and microplastics.

Holding a snowy owl in his hands was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for bird rescuer Ken Reinert. It’s an experience he hopes he never has to repeat.

The National Weather Service is predicting highs in the 50s for the Chicago region through early next.

If landscapes could talk, the 61-acre Greene Nature Preserve in Lake Forest would have quite the tale to tell.

Illinois state legislators are proposing the Power Act, which would put guardrails around the rapid expansion of large-scale data centers.

Chicago's streak of sub-freezing days came to a merciful end Friday morning.