Stories by Patty Wetli

Brutus and Titus, 4-year-old brothers, arrived at their new home in mid-March. Learn more about the African lions during a Facebook Live chat on Thursday.

As one person succinctly summed it up on social media: “We don’t need no April fools jokes … we living in one.”

From Green City Market’s spanking new app to McKinley Park’s Google spreadsheet, farmers market organizers are working overtime to support growers and get fresh, local food in the hands of Chicagoans.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s tough love in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has spawned a million memes. Now the mayor gets in on the joke with her own video.

Grocery stores remain one of the few places in Chicago where large numbers of people are still able to mingle, and that — rightfully — has put both employees and customers on edge.

A number of grocers and big-box retailers have announced special shopping hours for senior citizens and others vulnerable to COVID-19 to ensure less crowded situations, as well as access to essential items.

Most trails remain open in Cook County’s forest preserves, offering people a respite from home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that could change if people congregate like they did along Chicago’s lakefront. 

The EPA is relaxing enforcement of “environmental legal obligations” during the coronavirus pandemic, and activists are seething.

Closed Loop Farms is leading a group of local food producers to deliver everything from Michelin-worthy greens to naturally fermented sodas directly to your door.

Masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and other vital supplies can be dropped off Sunday at the United Center and will be distributed to health care providers in Illinois.

Chicago’s mayor says too many people are flouting the governor’s order to stay home and maintain social distance, particularly along the lakefront and at playgrounds. “This situation is deadly serious,” she said Wednesday.

Tony Grammatis, owner of Snappy Printing and Graphics, is offering free banners to small businesses struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has seen a rise in disinfectant wipes stuck to filtering screens at its water reclamation plants, and it now has some advice for residents.

TipsySpace has created a toilet roll cake that’s worthy of bingeing, not hoarding, and it’s so authentic looking, customers have nearly mistaken it for the real thing on pickup.

Food continues to create a sense of community even during these days of social isolation, with strangers swapping free sourdough starter.

A couple of Brits created the website howmuchtoiletpaper.com  to help demonstrate need vs. panic buying.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the closure of the city’s public libraries and parks as of 5 p.m. Saturday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot this week called on Chicagoans to remain connected even while practicing social distance.

Live web cam feeds of nature and wildlife are a great way to bust free of quarantine without leaving home. Here are 10 to check out.

Snowdrop, crocus, hyacinth and other early spring bloomers are cheering up the gloomy landscape.

At least one St. Patrick’s Day tradition is alive and well in these topsy-turvy times. Animals at Brookfield Zoo received special shamrock-shaped treats on Tuesday.

Neighbors in Bucktown suggested hanging shamrocks in windows for a DIY scavenger hunt, and Lincoln Square grabbed onto the idea. Who else wants in?

Concerns over the spread of the coronavirus have a lot of people working from home, schools closed, restaurants shuttered and sports canceled. Can we even go outside? Yes, say the experts, but still practice social distance.

The annual dyeing of the river was canceled downtown, but the waterway flowed emerald green on its North Branch.

Here we are a nation on edge, the future uncertain, civilization as we know it seemingly on the brink of collapse. And our very first survival instinct is to hoard toilet paper. 

Think things are bleak on planet Earth? At lease it’s not raining metal. That’s the kind of bizarre climate scientists recently observed on an ultra-hot exoplanet they’ve dubbed WASP-76b, located 640 million light-years away.