The $262,757 project at 382 N. Center St. must wrap by June 2027, but two council members balked at the vote.

A fresh photo gallery captures fall color at Starved Rock and Matthiessen this week, with Illinois forecasters split on exactly when it crests.

New restrooms, a kayak launch and a relocated entrance are coming to the 1,388-acre preserve by 2027.

Elgin's 67-acre nature center could soon offer up to nine sensory stops designed for reflection, not hiking.

Richard Clark Park, once home to the Riverview Amusement Park, now holds a Level 1 arboretum title. A volunteer who pushed for it hopes it brings more oaks.

A record-warm October pushed back the Chicago area's leaf show, but experts say maples and oaks are now putting on their brightest display of 2026.

Robin, Brookfield Zoo's only Humboldt hatchling this year, is learning to swim and socialize with 24 older penguins.

The $545,985 deal adds land to the historic grove identified with Sugar Grove's name in 1834.

Chicago Bird Collision Monitors logged the mass casualties as a city ordinance on bird-safe glass sits stalled in committee.

Donors have poured more than $450,000 into the Kankakee riverfront project as planners eye Legion Park and a tougher West Riverwalk phase.

Claudia Galeno-Sánchez has built eight native-plant projects across Pilsen as monarchs begin their nearly 3,000-mile trip to Mexico.

Crews have hauled off 75 percent of the mud and plan up to five acres of new sod in North Lawndale's Douglass Park.

The North River Commission is skipping poison for pellets, recruiting volunteers to bait a Lawrence Avenue stretch starting in late October.