Ezra Maille

People walk in the snow near the limestone rocks at Promontory Point along Lake Michigan on Jan. 14, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Promontory Point community group releases studies that support saving limestone steps

January 14, 2025 at 3:56 p.m.

The Promontory Point Conservancy released the findings of three studies on Tuesday showing the limestone revetment at Promontory Point can be preserved and rehabilitated rather than replaced with concrete. A...

Contractor Diego Rodriguez works to uncover a lead pipe and waste line in the 3100 block of Chicago's South Ridgeway Avenue on April 10, 2023.

350 Chicago households will get free water testing kits for lead as part of Northwestern study

September 11, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.

Some Chicago-area residents will be able to test the water quality in their homes as part of a Northwestern study that will begin providing free test kits later this year....

Paul Roots, a resource technician with the Cook County Forest Preserve, clears away brush and invasive plants along the shores of Baker's Lake on July 31, 2023, in Barrington. Roots and other workers who spend time in the forest preserve keep a lookout for people foraging and poaching vegetation.

Plant poachers damage Cook County forest preserves as demand for ramps and morels makes foraging more profitable

August 1, 2023 at 12:50 p.m.

When you think about poaching, ramps are likely not the first thing that come to mind. But as foraging has grown in popularity, plants including ramps, a popular wild onion,...

Sand trap bags line the beach and the Lakefront Trail between North and Fullerton avenues, June 5, 2023. The large bags help to mitigate wave action.

Some Chicago beaches making a comeback after Lake Michigan’s high water levels ate into the shoreline

June 9, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.

Three years after near-record high lake levels decimated parts of Chicago's shoreline, some beaches are making a comeback. Robin Mattheus, a coastal geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, said...

The Hydrojets team adjust their car during the Horizon Hydrogen Grand Prix Midwest race (H2GP) on April 29, 2023 at Charles A. Prosser Career Academy in Chicago to compete in a hydrogen-powered car endurance race.

High school students compete in Midwest’s first hydrogen-powered grand prix: ‘Problem-solving is our favorite’

April 30, 2023 at 9:22 p.m.

The gymnasium at Charles A. Prosser Career Academy in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood was busy with activity as students ran around fixing, tuning and making final adjustments in preparation for...

People walk along limestone rocks at Promontory Point on June 1, 2022.

City takes action to preserve Promontory Point’s limestone steps, approves landmark status

April 20, 2023 at 1:51 p.m.

Even as advocates celebrated the Chicago City Council's vote Wednesday to make Promontory Point a historic landmark, they still called for vigilance. "You never know with the Park District. You...

A damaged car is surrounded by downed tree branches on North Hamilton Avenue, Aug. 11, 2020, after a powerful storm tore through the area Monday evening in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. A tornado was also confirmed to have touched down in Rogers Park Monday according to the National Weather Service.

Tornadoes touching down in new areas; season is starting sooner and lasting longer, experts say

April 2, 2023 at 5:55 p.m.

John Sergeant, chief of emergency medical services at the Naperville Fire Department, was 12 years old when he first saw what a tornado could do. At the time, Sergeant had...

A large forklift moves tanks alongside containers at the Canadian Pacific Bensenville intermodal terminal on Feb. 23, 2023.

Weeks after Ohio derailment, feds mull merger set to bring more freight trains to the Chicago area

February 24, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.

Federal regulators are expected to issue a decision in the coming weeks about a proposed rail merger that would bring more freight trains through parts of the Chicago area, a...

The fight to save Promontory Point’s limestone steps has lasted more than 20 years. Officials are onboard, but residents are wary.

February 13, 2023 at 1:38 p.m.

Larry Bienz has been going to Promontory Point regularly since he moved to the Hyde Park neighborhood nearly a decade ago. Like many residents, Bienz goes to the point to...

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