Stories by Patty Wetli

Most of Brookfield Zoo’s 700 Christmas trees were shredded for mulch. But some were used by keepers’ to shake up animals’ routines. The results were entertaining. 

In honor of Monday’s Martin Luther King Day of Service, Cook County Forest Preserves is hosting volunteer activities at a number of sites across the forest preserve district, from habitat restoration to litter cleanups.

Though N95 and KN95 masks are treated as disposable, single-use gear in clinical settings, in everyday life they can be reused for extended periods when cared for properly. We’ve got tips.

The agave’s stalk — which it shoots up before the plant’s once-in-a-lifetime bloom — has already blown away predictions of its top height, and it's still growing. Where it will stop, nobody knows.

Eagles don't eat rat poison, but they do eat the critters that take the bait. The powerful toxins keep blood from clotting, and a recently rescued eagle would have bled to death from a tiny cut, said the veterinarian caring for the bird. 

Studies show temperatures of -30°F will kill 98% of ash borer beetle larvae. Guess when Chicago was last that cold.

According to a federal report released Monday, the U.S. experienced 20 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2021, including hurricanes, wildfires and out-of-season December tornadoes.

It can be hard to tell one tree from another in winter, but there's a simple trick to identifying invasive buckthorn. 

Skokie Lagoons may look like an oasis of green but a lot of that lush vegetation is actually an invasive species called European buckthorn. WTTW News tagged along as a group of volunteers charged into the thicket and tackled this enemy. 

In response to concerns about putting a see-through glass tower in the path of migrating birds, Carvana revised its plan to incorporate bird-friendly components. Critics called the proposed mitigations “woefully inadequate.” 

Chicagoans woke up Friday to sub-zero temperatures, the first time in nearly a year the mercury has dipped into the negatives. In anticipation of the cold snap, officials issued reminders and tips.

Chicago’s Christmas tree recycling event kicks off Saturday and runs through Jan. 22 at 26 parks. The program keeps hundreds of thousands of pounds of trees out of landfills.

A public health order requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19 took effect Monday in Chicago. Let’s walk through who needs to show what, and where.

Overwhelmed by an influx of patients suffering from COVID-19, hospital administrators offered guidance on when people should head to the emergency room.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a "burst of wet snow" on Tuesday and a chance of light snow on Wednesday, which could bring Chicago's snow-free streak to an end.

With cases of COVID-19 skyrocketing and hospitalizations surging in Illinois, officials are pleading with unvaccinated residents to change their minds about receiving shots.

Chicago will ring in 2022 with a 1.5-mile-long fireworks display on New Year’s Eve, the largest in the city’s history, officials announced.

Did you know wrapping paper isn’t recyclable in Chicago? Read on for more tips on how to deal with post-holiday waste.

For an animal immortalized in literature, song and film, the reindeer has done a remarkable job of, pardon the pun, flying under the radar.

Celebrate the winter solstice Tuesday at a solar gazing event on the 606 Bloomingdale Trail, which boasts a solstice “notch” to frame sunsets.

Chicago has never gone this late in the year without a measurable snowfall, and there's no sign of the white stuff in sight.

On Friday, the Greater Rockford Airport Authority filed a motion in U.S. District Court to dismiss a lawsuit blocking the airport’s planned expansion of its cargo operations, which would destroy a rare five-acre high-quality remnant prairie in the process.

CTA announced Friday an added run of the beloved Holiday Train, set to circle the Loop on Monday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visitors to the Garfield Park Conservatory have a rare and exciting opportunity to witness a plant in its spectacular death bloom as an agave prepares to flower for its first and last time.

Wednesday saw record high temperatures across the region, wind gusts above 60 miles per hour and even the smell of smoke, which rode in on winds all the way from brush fires in Kansas.

Great Lakes governors are asking the federal government to fund costs of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam project on the Des Plaines River, designed to block the incursion of invasive carp into the lakes.