Stories by Patty Wetli

A proposed tax increase to benefit the Forest Preserve District of Cook County met with little opposition. Will voters respond with support at the ballot box?

With just one incumbent on the ballot and four seats up for grabs, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners is guaranteed to welcome a raft of new faces once votes are tallied Tuesday night.

Voters should receive a Ballot A and Ballot B but in roughly two dozen precincts, an unknown number of people were only handed Ballot A, officials said. The problem has been corrected.

Election Day 2022 will kick off with a pre-dawn total lunar eclipse. There won't be another like it until March 2025.

The Chicago Police Department, Cook County State's Attorney's Office and Chicago Board of Elections are coordinating efforts to ensure the safety of voters and poll workers.

Marc Schlossman spent a decade photographing specimens of extinct and endangered species housed at the Field Museum. The result is a new book, “Extinction,” which Schlossman calls an exercise in hope. 

A strong system is moving into the area late Friday, bringing with it waves of showers on Saturday morning and wind gusts that could top 50 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

Of all the governmental entities a voter might encounter on a ballot, the MWRD is arguably the one people interact with the most — multiple times per day, whether they realize it or not — yet understand the least.

To keep jack-o'-lanterns from clogging landfills, dozens of pumpkin smash events will take place Saturday. Pumpkins will be collected and composted instead of trashed.

The area around Bubbly Creek was once a wetland, until the channel became choked first with sewage and then animal waste from the Union Stockyards. Now the wetlands, with a twist, are making a comeback.

A new report offers the first comprehensive update on the state of birds since a 2019 study announced the loss of 3 billion birds. The news remains nearly as sobering, though there are some wins for conservationists to celebrate. 

More than 50 fencing cages erected to protect plantings of native shrubs have been systematically destroyed, leaving the plants vulnerable to grazing by deer. Within days, tender seedlines were eaten to nubs.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 51 people were shot in 43 separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

The two people — about whom no other information was shared — both had underlying health conditions, including weakened immune systems, and were diagnosed with the virus more than six weeks ago, officials said.

Chicagoans get to experience two seasons simultaneously this weekend: summer-like temperatures hitting the upper 70s and peak fall color.

Shedd researcher Karen Murchie has been singing the praises of suckers for years in service of drawing more attention to the overlooked fish. Now the broader scientific community is taking note. 

For the eighth year in a row, Chicago reigns supreme over Orkin’s Rattiest Cities list, but not everyone is convinced the city deserves the dubious distinction.

Meltwater carries dissolved road salt into streams and rivers, which can cause salinity to spike to deadly concentrations for freshwater fish and other wildlife. 

A mountain lion that ventured into Illinois has met with a tragic end, confirmed to have been struck and killed by a vehicle on I-88 in DeKalb County on Sunday, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has announced.

It wasn't exactly a winter wonderland, but the first snowflakes of the season were recorded Monday morning at O'Hare, according to the National Weather Service.

Some 50 miles south of Champaign-Urbana, a tree stump in the middle of otherwise tilled acreage has become the stuff of legends. And now it's the subject of a short documentary, "The Magic Stump."

Whether you plan to watch the Chicago Marathon from your couch, are excited to join the cheering throng of spectators or just want to steer clear of traffic jams, here's what you need to know.

Early voting sites will open to all Chicago voters and voter registration services will be available.

"Chicago Sings Karaoke," a citywide competition, launches Oct. 9. The winner will receive $5,000.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in Sackett v. EPA, which challenges the scope of the Clean Water Act and could have far-reaching implications for the nation's wetlands.

Chicago bills itself as a world-class city, but when it comes to recycling, its performance has been less than first-rate.