Stories by Patty Wetli

Starting Saturday, thrill-seeking bike riders will get to test their skills on the newest additions to Big Marsh Park’s complex of BMX and mountain biking trails.

The eclipse will peak Thursday night at 11:12 p.m., with almost the entire moon darkened by Earth's shadow.

The American Society of Landscape Architects announced Lurie Garden as the 2026 recipient of the organization’s Landmark Award.

The 23-year-old female whale was part of a second group of four whales that arrived at Shedd in mid-August, following a pod of four who came to Shedd in late July.

Deep in Barrington's horse country, a former equestrian farm is being restored to native wetland and grassland habitat. How's it going?

Sampling crews removed hundreds of small silver carp from a stretch of the Illinois River that's just 80 miles from Lake Michigan,

Nearly 200 employees at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County went on strike Monday after failing to come to terms with management on a new contract.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center preliminarily confirmed Tuesday's widespread storms as a derecho.

The Chicago area was under a tornado warning Tuesday morning, as fast-moving storms swept into the region.

The Chicago Park District is extending the outdoor pool season at select locations across the city.

“Working with wildlife comes with such highs and lows,” said Carolyn Lueck, president of Lake County Audubon Society.

Calling for reinforcements! It’s a piping plover-palooza in Waukegan where the ratio of hatchlings to adults is suddenly 6 to 1.

“I had a better chance of photographing a unicorn,” Luke Dahlberg said of discovering the rare bird.

Barely a week after four beluga whales were transferred from Marineland, a defunct Canadian water park, to Shedd Aquarium, the newcomers have already made an impression on their caretakers.

A pair of storms on the front and back ends of July made for a wetter month than normal, according to a National Weather Service summary.

Chicago has a rat problem and it isn't likely to improve if the city doesn't come up with a new playbook, according to a just-released analysis by the city's watchdog.

Chicago was hammered by a pair of storms on Monday that dumped nearly three inches of rain at Midway Airport, where wind gusts topped 70 miles per hour.

There are four categories of project improvements on the ballot. Whichever receives the most votes from the public will receive $500,000.

A complicated, high-stakes rescue of 30 beluga whales from a defunct Canadian water park is underway, with four of them arriving Tuesday at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.

The Cook County Forest Preserves Fisheries Division is piloting a nature-based solution to treat a water quality issue.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air pollution action day for the northeastern part of the state.

Night Out in the Parks events and Movies in the Park have been cancelled as well.

The bird-friendly ordinance has now been sent to the Zoning Committee for consideration. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 21.

Brown, Green, Orange and Pink Lines will all be affected by the closures.

Money raised at the annual BrewFest supports treatment and preservation of Horner Park’s sizable, and healthy, stand of ash trees. This year’s event is set for Friday.

Welles Park, on Chicago’s North Side, has become a preferred breeding ground for the beetles, multiple years in a row.