Stories by Patty Wetli

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 9:46 p.m. Tuesday night for Chicago and Cicero and the situation quickly escalated.

Only a small group of people have regular access to the enchanting rooftop sanctuary atop the Center on Halsted in Lakeview. Let's take a look.

Officials at Shedd Aquarium say they are guardedly optimistic about the outcome of a groundbreaking surgery on 12-year-old Kimalu, who is now the first beluga whale to recover from general anesthesia.

A contest is now open to submit names for Imani and Searocket’s three offspring.

Chicago’s lakefront is famously open and free. So why is a prime section of Montrose Beach roped off every summer? Because it’s for the birds. Literally. The piping plovers. WTTW News explains.

Thanks to a recent update to the arboretum’s website, gardeners will find it easier to broker a love connection between plants and pollinators.

Father's Day took on extra meaning this year for Lake County's piping plover papa Pepper — he's a dad again, at least three times over.

Two weeks after announcing a plan to build a privately funded $650 million stadium on the South Branch of the Chicago River, the Chicago Fire has released new renderings of the proposed arena.

The Chicago Park District has announced that for the first time since 2020, all of the district's 50 outdoor pools will be open seven days a week, beginning Saturday, just as temperatures are expected to soar into the 90s.

According to the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort, 2025 has been a year for the record books, with 82 breeding pairs counted.

Just days after Brookfield Zoo issued the exciting announcement of the first bottlenose dolphin born at the zoo in more than a decade, staff is mourning the sudden death of the calf on Wednesday night.

A space rock the color of coal and no larger than a pebble you’d shake from a shoe just arrived at the Field Museum, where scientists will spend the next two months probing this extraordinary specimen for clues to the origin of life on Earth.

Chicago native Natasha Olguin has been named deputy commissioner of the Chicago Film Office.

If private landowners don’t remove invasives alongside natural areas, species like buckthorn will persist in forest preserves and parks, regardless of habitat restoration efforts.

Dino Derby, a foot race featuring competitors wearing inflatable T. Rex costumes, will be the main event during Saturday's Dinopalooza festival at the Field Museum.

Graceland Cemetery's newest residents — a litter of coyote pups — are causing a stir.

Team owner Joe Mansueto will personally pay for the stadium, it was announced. Groundbreaking could take place in late 2025 with the stadium ready for play by the 2028 season.

Meteorological summer in Chicago is kicking off with a mini heatwave, following a chilly and dry end to spring.

Outbound express lanes on the Kennedy are reopening Sunday, a month ahead of schedule.

The explosives had been deployed earlier in May, and failed to activate, during a joint military exercise conducted by the Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force off the shore of Milwaukee.

Wildfires are burning out of control in central Canada, and the smoke is drifting toward Chicago.

The U.S. Coast Guard is warning the public about potential explosive devices that could wash up on Chicago-area beaches.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said it is monitoring a bear that’s been spotted hanging out all week in St. Clair County, just east of St. Louis.

Illinois is once again moving forward with a planned barrier designed to keep invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes, having secured funding guarantees from the federal government.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has announced a $4.8 million settlement with Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, resolving environmental violations related to the building’s cooling system, which uses water drawn from the Chicago River.

Blaze and Pepper — the piping plover momma and papa who raised three chicks on a Waukegan beach in 2024 — are back on the nest with a full clutch of four eggs.