Stories by Patty Wetli

It’s time to be strategic, rather than reactive, when it comes to managing a vital piece of Chicago’s infrastructure — it’s trees. 

Opponents of the Lincoln Park metal shredder want General Iron closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but if the facility checks all the right boxes, it could eventually restart operations, officials said. 

The movement to rename Douglas Park after Frederick Douglass had hit a bureaucratic brick wall. Recent shifts in the political and social landscape encouraged activists to keep forging ahead with their campaign, which relaunches Saturday.

After finding arsenic and lead in the soil at the Hegewisch Little League Field, the EPA tested a second a ball diamond in the neighborhood and found manganese. “We fight for every breath we take here,” said one resident.

With temperatures set to soar in Chicago in the coming days, Dr. Allison Arwady reassured residents that it’s “safe and appropriate” to use air conditioning in their apartments and homes without risking the spread of COVID-19.

The comet has been delighting sky gazers across the globe. Catch it now, because it won’t swing back our way for another 6,800 years.

Chicago Vegan Test Kitchen has found a new home for its farmers market — Vegan Paradise — at Bubbly Dynamics’ The Plant, a former meat processing facility in Back of the Yards.  

More than 500 names were submitted for the chicks, which hatched in June, and the selected monikers reflect the history and spirit of Chicago.

Voting is open through Wednesday for the annual Chicago Bungalow Association’s garden contest.

July is National Bison Month — who knew? Here’s where you can catch buffalo roaming, close to home, in Illinois and Indiana.

Since 2014, the Chicago Tree Project has commissioned more than two dozen sculptures across the city, bringing new life to dead ash trees. The latest is a work by artist Gary Keenan.

The EPA began cleaning up the site this week, stating the hazardous substances found in the soil posed an “imminent and substantial endangerment” to “public health, welfare, and the environment.”

Following social media campaigns like #BlackBirdersWeek and #BlackHikerWeek, a group of Black plant scientists from around the world is creating a community around — and celebrating — Black people who love plants.  

Eco House is planting the seeds for a homegrown flower industry on vacant lots in Englewood, Woodlawn and West Garfield Park. We learn about the mission behind this slow flowers movement.

The Chicago Park District has turned the water on at some, but not all, of its splash pads.

July is a great month for planet watching. Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars and Mercury will all make an appearance.

It’s not quite bathwater warm — that honor goes to Lake Erie — but Lake Michigan’s average surface temperature has topped 72 degrees thanks to the recent heat wave. 

Environmental activists from the city’s Southwest Side brought their ongoing fight against MAT Asphalt to the North Side front yard of owner Michael Tadin Jr. on Thursday night.

The three chicks hatched in mid-June and now local birding organizations have created a contest to give them names. Submissions are open through Wednesday.

Openlands’ searchable guide to parks, preserves, prairies, woodlands and more is a great resource for nature lovers. 

Millennium Park’s Great Lawn is open to visitors again, with painted-on circles in place to emphasize social distancing guidelines. 

The northern saw-whet is a tiny owl with a big personality. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff caught this normally secretive owl performing a hilarious stare down.

A flood of farmers markets are getting ready to open, but visitors should expect a different experience in 2020. For starters, there will be no picking through produce and dawdling will be discouraged. 

Car owners have been getting a pass in 2020 when it comes to ignoring street sweeping signs, but that ends Wednesday.

Taking a phased approach, the conservatory is reopening its outdoor grounds to neighbors on July 1, members on July 8 and everyone else starting July 15.

Scores of Chicagoans have planted milkweed — the monarch’s host plant — in their yards and other green spaces, but how effective are those efforts? The Field Museum is recruiting citizen scientists to find out.