Stories by Patty Wetli

In what could be a preview of the 2024 Academy Awards, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Oppenheimer” received top honors from the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Google intends to bring the Thompson Center’s design into the 21st century “while maintaining its iconic form,” the company said.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is reporting an intensive 10-day “harvest” operated that netted 750,000 pounds of invasive silver carp, pulled from the Illinois River near Starved Rock.

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago set out to explore what makes ice tick. Specifically, how does ice stick to surfaces?

As reports surfaced Thursday that the Bears were exploring Soldier Field’s south parking lot as a potential site for a new stadium, opposition immediately mobilized.

Shedd is one of only 11 institutions in North America with the resources to give a rescued sea otter pup a home.

Arnold Randall has announced he will step down at the end of the year as general superintendent of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, a position he's held since 2010.

After eight years as executive director of Friends of the Parks, Juanita Irizarry is stepping down at the end of the year, telling WTTW News, “I’m looking forward to radical rest.”

Voodoo Doughnut has announced a Dec. 16, 8 a.m., opening date for its Fulton Market shop at 945 W. Randolph St.

The grant was awarded through the America the Beautiful Challenge. The program, now in its second year, is funded in part by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Imagine if Santa wore leather and had reindeer named Harley and Davidson — that’s the annual Chicagoland Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade.

Graceland Cemetery has debuted a new entryway designed to draw people in rather than keep people out, embracing its status as one of Chicago’s great green spaces.

Starting Dec. 1, Chicago’s overnight parking ban takes effect on 107 miles of streets, snow or no snow, from 3-7 a.m. daily through April 1.

Outdoor skating rinks at five Chicago parks open Nov. 24, joining rinks at Maggie Daley Park and Millennium Park where skating is already underway.

Dec. 7 is the average date for the city to record its first 1-inch snowfall, according to the National Weather Service. 

This year, don't head to your Thanksgiving gathering empty-handed. Take these wild turkey fun facts with you, and use them to fill awkward silences.

The annual Chicago Thanksgiving Parade steps off for the 89th year on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released a new plant hardiness zone map, and significant swaths of the country — Chicago included — are now in warmer zones.

The core principle of “leave the leaves” is to manage the leaves on site. It doesn’t mean to just leave them where they fell.

Forest preserve districts across the region are in the middle of fire season — not combatting them, but setting them. 

After a seven-year wait, the state of Illinois will finally begin issuing monarch butterfly specialty license plates, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced Thursday.

The wildly popular Holiday Train is back for a 32nd year, running Nov. 24 through Dec. 21. Here’s when and where to catch it.

Fewer than 100 whooping cranes migrate through the eastern U.S. A family of three paid a visit to a Kane County forest preserve Nov. 9-10 while winging their way to Florida.

A 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit north central Illinois Wednesday morning, shortly before 5 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is reporting.

During their first-ever spacewalk, astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara spent hours outside the International Space Station, successfully replacing hardware on the station’s solar array. But a tool bag became untethered and is now orbiting Earth.

North America’s eponymous birds — those named for people — will all receive new names. The decision made by the American Ornithological Society has drawn praise from some quarters and provoked vehement opposition elsewhere.