Stories by Patty Wetli

After one of the driest springs on record, the Chicago area is making up for lost precipitation in June. Waves of thunderstorms and torrential rains will roll through the Chicago region this weekend.

This year’s contest is sure to be more competitive than ever, with expanded eligibility and the doubling of winners’ cash prizes.

How much is nature worth? The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is about to find out. The district’s board of commissioners has thrown its support behind a proposal for a ballot referendum that would put a property tax increase for the preserves directly in the hands of voters.

An EF0 tornado, with maximum winds of 85 mph, touched down in Plainfield late Sunday, carving a 3.2-mile path to southwest Romeoville before dissipating near the Mistwood Golf Club, according to the National Weather Service.

After conducting a preliminary survey of Sunday’s tornado site in the western suburbs, the National Weather Service said it has determined the twister was an EF3, the strongest to touch down in the Chicago metropolitan area since 2015.

Though many Chicagoans found refuge in nature during the pandemic, the physical Nature Museum in Lincoln Park has been shuttered since spring 2020. 

More than 1 million people were under a tornado warning late Sunday as a line of storms ripped through the Chicago area. At least one tornado touched down and left in its wake a path of destruction through Naperville, Woodridge and Darien, according to the National Weather Service.

Green spaces across the Chicago area will serve as the backdrop for a number of Juneteenth celebrations this weekend, from live music and dance to discussions about the new federal holiday.

A return to pre-pandemic business as usual is not yet in the stars for the Chicago cultural institution, though some screenings and public observing events will make an in-person comeback beginning July 3.

The philanthropist announced $2.7 billion in donations Tuesday to 268 organizations, including a number of Chicago-area institutions. The University of Illinois at Chicago received $40 million, the largest gift from an individual in school history.

As part of the city’s reopening celebrations, a nine-part House City series is bringing free events to the Chicago neighborhoods where house music got its start. 

A “reimagined” series of pop-up food and music events will take place across the city in July, including a one-day reuniting of Taste of Chicago stalwarts, Eli’s Cheesecake and Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs.

Rockford’s weather station recorded a record-setting number of days reaching temperatures of 90 degrees or above in early June. Chicago’s average temperature for the month is more than 8 degrees above normal. 

Chicago gets high marks for access, with 98% of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park versus the national average of 55%.

The towering sculpture, constructed near the site of this weekend’s G-7 summit, sounds the alarm about the growing problem of electronic waste.

There are natives and then there are plants known as “nativars,” and wildlife can tell the difference.

Just a week after losing their first nest to a skunk attack, Monty and Rose have produced a second nest and laid one egg, the Chicago Park District announced. 

Chicagoans’ view of Thursday morning’s “ring of fire” solar eclipse was over before most people were awake.

To coincide with the reopening of Chicago, a number of museums will stay open late on Friday for an after-hours experience.

Where some see the return of Riot Fest as a step in the right direction for Chicago’s reopening, others say closing their neighborhood green space for a “riot for rich people” is a “slap in the face” to communities traumatized by COVID-19.

“Trees need care like streets need repairing,” said Malcolm Whiteside, deputy commissioner for Chicago’s Department of Forestry, who threw his support behind the creation of an Urban Forestry Advisory Board.

More than 450 free programs are scheduled this summer at parks as a way for Chicagoans to reconnect with the city's arts and culture offerings in their own communities.

Artist Philip Juras spent more than five years visiting prairie remnants in Illinois, capturing the beauty of the state’s signature landscape past and present. An exhibit of his paintings is now on view at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

The latest chapter in the saga of Chicago’s beloved plovers, Monty and Rose, is a sad one, with wildlife officials reporting the couple’s 2021 clutch of eggs has been lost to a skunk attack. Plover monitors are hopeful the couple will build a second nest. 

Spicy popcorn cicadas, anyone? Not so fast, the Food and Drug Administration warns, if you have a shellfish allergy. The insects are related to shrimp and lobster. 

Though it may have been one of the quirkier bills passed by the General Assembly, the designation recognizes the role Illinois played in the development of one of the world’s greatest wonder drugs: penicillin.