Ald. Monique Scott (center) celebrates the Park District board’s approval of Riot Fest. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Riot Fest received permit approval from the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, over the objections of opponents who’ve campaigned for more than a year to keep the festival out of Douglass Park.

(WTTW News)
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Broadway Armory Park is one of Chicago Park District’s largest indoor and active recreational facilities. Residents are worried this would mean youth and senior programs getting canceled or postponed and said it would be a loss for the neighborhood ahead of summer.

(WTTW News)

Beach season will run through Sept. 4. The city’s pools are expected to open by June 23.

(Courtesy Riot Fest)

The Foo Fighters, The Cure and Death Cab for Cutie are among the headliners announced Tuesday by Riot Fest. Whether they’ll take the stage is still up in the air.

(NASCAR / Facebook)

NASCAR Cup cars will be outfitted with mufflers, just one of the actions being taken by race organizers to head off concerns about noise.

(Courtesy Riot Fest)
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Opponents want Riot Fest out of Douglass Park, but supporters of the festival say it has been an asset to the North Lawndale community.

Cherry blossoms in Jackson Park, during a previous season's bloom. (Chicago Park District)

Peak bloom is still a couple weeks away, but the buds are beginning to burst forth in Jackson Park’s Cherry Blossom Grove.

Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick,” to hit the outdoor screen in Millennium Park in summer 2023. (Courtesy of Skydance Media)

Free concerts, theater and dance performances, and workouts are also part of the slate of summer events in Millennium Park announced Thursday by city officials.

(Courtesy Riot Fest)

A new policy gives Park District commissioners final say over permits for so-called “mega festivals.” It received its first test Wednesday.

South lion at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Heather Paul / Flickr)

Leaders of both museums cited inflation and the higher cost of wages and benefits among the reasons for raising admission fees.

(WTTW News)

The Chicago Park District is offering teenagers a chance to work where they play this summer in seasonal positions like recreation leaders, lifeguards and junior laborers.

A prescribed burn at Rainbow Beach. (Courtesy Chicago Park District)

The Chicago Park District has been setting its land ablaze on purpose, these fiery scenes leading to healthier natural areas.

(WTTW News)

It will be up to the next mayor to decide how to respond to Chicagoans’ growing frustration with these mega-events.

Sea anemone. (Bernard Spragg NZ / Flickr Creative Commons)

Fossils unearthed from Illinois’ famed Mazon Creek site have been sitting in collections misidentified for close to 50 years.

The cinderblock shell of the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture's proposed archive building in Humboldt Park. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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It’s been months since the Chicago Park District discovered the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture started construction on an unauthorized building in Humboldt Park. The half-finished cement box is still there. Is there an end in sight?

(Courtesy Riot Fest)
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Re:SET Concert Series is selling tickets to a three-day summer music fest in Belmont Cragin’s Riis Park. Did promoters jump the gun or is the Park District cutting deals without community input?