Chicago Tribune

TREMONT, Ill. — On her 43 acres of woods and reclaimed native prairie in rural Tazewell County, Katie VandenBerg walked the edge of her property, inspecting a line of oaks bordered by miles of corn and soybean fields. The oak leaves are curled and stunted — damage she believes is …

Post up on the concrete steps along the lakefront just outside Theater on the Lake, a Lincoln Park venue that frequently hosts outdoor nuptials, and you'll be close enough to hear the couples say "I do." Just don't try to make a toast.

ELWOOD — For Stephanie Irvine, the latest proposal for a massive warehouse and logistics center in Will County came as a relief. The new plan, unveiled earlier this month, moves warehouses north of her property in Manhattan. But for Elwood resident Terri Papish, one of the proposed buildings now sits …

Haven’t had your fix of markets yet? Good. This Friday and Saturday, Ignite Glass Studio hosts Sauced Night Market, featuring 50 local vendors and a plethora of food and drink. Get there early and leave late. July 10-11. tixtree.com Light up your night at Humboldt Park’s Water Lantern Festival this …

When Marc Ayers attended the Sangamon County Fair in New Berlin last year, he was on a mission to stop one attraction from returning to the state: the Banana Derby. Ayers, the Illinois state director for Humane World for Animals, said the welfare group has been tracking the show for …

A light 2-mile jog Sunday morning was all that stood between Joabe Barbosa and the finish line of a journey more than 5,000 miles long. His goal: to run every street in Chicago. “I’m the first person to run every single street, every single dead-end,” Barbosa said. “I don’t know …

TOWN OF PINES, Ind. — In the herb garden beside her home on Colorado Avenue, Cathi Murray digs through the soil and pulls out two glittering black rocks. They’re not ordinary stones, she said. They’re pieces of coal ash — waste from coal burned at the nearby Michigan City Generating …

Dad told me: “They would aim the weapon at one of us, but not fire it. They seemed to have fun with it. I thought for sure I was going to die that day.” He was only 12. I heard his words again when I read about federal immigration agents …

Once, toward the end of WWII, when my father and grandmother were in an air raid shelter, a few Russian soldiers came in, sat in the middle of the room and started cleaning their rifles. Dad told me: “They would aim the weapon at one of us, but not fire …

He was the killer of big blond spiders, the fixer of household things, an occasional Santa’s helper. Among his many acts of service, my father volunteered with Chicago’s Christmas Ship, bringing Christmas trees to disadvantaged families in the area. My father was also a refugee. Dad was 6 years old …

Once, toward the end of WWII, when my father and grandmother were in an air raid shelter, a few Russian soldiers came in, sat in the middle of the room and started cleaning their rifles. Dad told me: “They would aim the weapon at one of us, but not fire …

Once, toward the end of WWII, when my father and grandmother were in an air raid shelter, a few Russian soldiers came in, sat in the middle of the room and started cleaning their rifles. Dad told me: “They would aim the weapon at one of us, but not fire …

He was the killer of big blond spiders, the fixer of household things, an occasional Santa’s helper. Among his many acts of service, my father volunteered with Chicago’s Christmas Ship, bringing Christmas trees to disadvantaged families in the area. My father was also a refugee. Dad was 6 years old …

As dawn broke over the Loop, Annette Prince patrolled the streets armed with a lime green net, racing to collect four colorful birds lying dead under glass skyscrapers before seagulls could snatch them up. It’s like an Easter egg hunt, she said — just not the fun kind. Every morning …

BRACEVILLE, Ill. — Inside Illinois’ largest nuclear power plant, massive turbines pull 100,000 gallons of water a minute from Braidwood Lake. On a recent tour of the Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station, a sprawling facility the size of two football fields and anchored by dual reactors, Constellation operators and technicians worked …

Hyde Park birding couple Pat and Steve Pearson have ventured out to Chicago’s Southeast Side once a week for over a year keeping their eyes and camera focused on two bald eagles soaring above South Deering. The couple watched the birds carry large twigs high into the treetops near Park …

Harold Wilken still remembers the moment nearly 30 years ago when he was sprayed with herbicides after a hose broke on his family farm in Danforth, Illinois. A decade later, Wilken was diagnosed with cancer. He said he believes years of herbicide exposure contributed to his health problems, including tonsil …

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Jason Bell has lived in Nunda Township for 27 years, long enough to have seen the Fox River flood multiple times. And this week, it’s flooding again. Along Beach Street in the Bayview Beach subdivision, where homes line a narrow channel off the river, docks and boats have been flooded …

Hundreds of protesters filled the streets of Pilsen on Sunday afternoon, chanting for justice and answers in a fatal hit-and-run that has remained unsolved for nine months. Dressed in black and pink, members of the crowd marched from Harrison Park to the Chicago Police Department’s 12th District precinct, calling out …

Homeowner Maha Amin moved three dozen sandbags from the trunk of her car to her driveway Thursday, bracing for more flooding in Des Plaines. After 16 years in her home without flooding incidents, she watched as a couple feet of stormwater poured into her basement during Sunday’s storm, destroying her …

Water began pouring into David Tahara’s North Park home Tuesday night around midnight, thanks to a late-breaking rainfall and a basement storm drain that smelled of sewage at certain points. By daylight, the water had receded, but Tahara couldn’t help but smell what he described as the lint-like residue as …

More than 200 Illinois residents gathered in Springfield on Wednesday for Environmental Lobby Day, joining lawmakers and advocates in the Illinois Capitol rotunda to push for a trio of environmental bills aimed at curbing pollution and protecting natural resources. “We’re facing some really, really big fights here,” said Cate Caldwell, …

After weeks of delays, four astronauts are preparing to launch Wednesday evening on a trip around the moon, the first such spaceflight to be undertaken in more than 50 years. “It’s really just a historic mission for the future Artemis missions, but also to prepare us for the human journey …

As energy bills climb across the state, lawmakers are exploring new ways to expand access to renewables. And one green option is outpacing the others: solar. Although Illinois is committed to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2050, a large group of state residents, including renters and condo owners, remain shut …

From sunrise to well past sundown, Rodney Bushmeyer has been driving his tractor over freshly turned soil on his western Illinois farm, planting soybean seeds. He has covered nearly 800 acres. But with another 2,200 acres to go, spring planting season is far from over. Bushmeyer has been cultivating fields …

A few hundred feet off the shoreline of Kenwood and Hyde Park lives an underwater marvel few Chicagoans ever see: the remnants of a 400 million-year-old coral reef scattered with ancient fossils and the wreckage of the Silver Spray, a steamship that sank after striking the shallow bedrock in 1914. …

Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller was declared the winner of the Democratic primary in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District Tuesday, ending a comeback effort by former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Miller, who ran a health care-focused campaign, weathered criticism from opponents that her campaign was overly backed by a pro-Israel lobbying …

A recent pledge by President Donald Trump to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp comes as his administration continues to withhold federal funding for a key Illinois project designed to stop the spread into Lake Michigan. Illinois officials say they welcome the president’s public support but are urging immediate …