Stories by Patty Wetli

Officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management are investigating a “rusty colored liquid” discharged from the U.S. Steel plant in Portage, spotted Sunday evening in the Burns Waterway.

It is the largest single-day volunteer effort in support of environmental stewardship. Here’s how to get involved in National Public Lands Day at Chicago area parks and preserves.

Capybaras, native to Central and South America, are the largest members of the rodent family, tipping the scales at 130 pounds. Three of them have just arrived at the Brookfield Zoo.

Proposals to list the properties on the National Register of Historic Places cleared a key committee hearing Wednesday and will come before the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in October. 

The National Weather Service is warning people to steer clear of parks, trails, piers and breakwaters Wednesday and Thursday, with waves as high as 18 feet and wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour in the forecast.

Two harbingers of autumn — the harvest moon and fall equinox — are occurring within days of each other this week, which will make for some interesting sunsets and moon rises. And keep an eye out for “Chicagohenge.”

Safety officials are reminding Chicagoans that even if it still feels like summer, the lakefront’s beaches are now closed for the season to swimming, with lifeguards no longer present along the shoreline. So far in 2021, 38 people have drowned in Lake Michigan.

When it returns next month, the free architecture festival will once again offer in-person, behind-the-scenes access to buildings normally off-limits to the public. Here’s an early look at some of the new sites taking part in the 2021 event.

A wetlands restoration project is underway at Powderhorn Lake Forest Preserve in the Calumet region, where construction of a human-made water control device will recreate a more natural system of drainage.

The creation of the Native and Pollinator Garden Registry means Chicago gardeners now have protection from overzealous ticket writers. And plants like milkweed can take their rightful place alongside other “flowers” instead of being mistaken for weeds.

Large numbers of monarch butterflies are making a pit stop at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie during their annual fall migration. That’s just one of the ways to enjoy and explore nature this weekend.

Under the new law, restaurants will only provide single-use plastic utensils by request. Supporters called the ordinance an important first step toward waste reduction but opponents said it will do little to stem the plastic tsunami.

Four years after the rusty patched bumble bee was placed on the endangered species list, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its final recovery plan for the insect, a plan critics say manages to go too far and yet not far enough at the same time.

“I know people are upset but you can’t tell me there’s not bad activity there after dark,” Mike Kelly, CEO of the Chicago Park District, said in defense of gates the agency installed that are now at the center of another controversy brewing at Jackson Park.

Temperatures edged out the record for the continental U.S. set back in 1936 during the “Dust Bowl” summer, according to the latest climate report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Less than a month after the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash closed down a swath of Douglass Park and surrounding streets, Riot Fest is about to do the same. Residents said they're fed up with the loss of green space and the “literal paywall.”

After recent drownings in Lake Michigan, activists have been clamoring for the Chicago Park District to install life rings along the lakefront, but the agency’s safety plan reinforces messaging surrounding “not safe to swim” locations.

Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve in suburban Darien is roughly 30 miles and a world away from downtown Chicago, but this is where a section of the city’s prized lakefront once rested. 

Animals at Brookfield Zoo have begun receiving COVID-19 vaccinations, with Lincoln Park Zoo soon to follow, as federal and state officials approved the use of the inoculations.

Dig those images of flowers, birds and trees out of the iCloud and enter them in the forest preserve district’s annual photo contest. Winning images will be featured in the district’s 2022 calendar. 

With close to 100,000 birds expected to pass over Chicago this weekend, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and its partners have issued a “lights out” alert for the city, encouraging building owners and residents to turn off as many lights as possible between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

As beach season winds down in Chicago, the Shedd Aquarium is hosting a series of weekend cleanups to clear the shoreline of a summer’s worth of litter and debris.

People who don’t study mammals for a living may be surprised to learn there’s more than one kind of skunk — and scientists affiliated with the Field Museum have uncovered members that had been hiding in plain sight.

The 1975 cult classic has just been added to Millennium Park’s outdoor film series. And while it wouldn’t be a proper “Rocky Horror” screening without audience participation, the city has some dos and don’ts when it comes to your DIY props.

According to the National Weather Service, drier air is moving into the region, bringing with it more comfortable weather.

Monty arrived in Texas a week ago, and now members of Audubon Florida have confirmed that Rose has been spotted at her winter home.