Susan DeGrane – Page 8

‘This is what urban agriculture looks like’: Cook County growers offer Passport to Agriculture with Farm Crawl event

September 9, 2021 at 1:50 p.m.

Amid the urban and suburban sprawl of Cook County there are pockets of agriculture, areas where people are using the land much as their predecessors have done for generations. And...

Beverly native Andrew Morkes surveys Visitation Prairie at the Cap Sauers Holding Nature Preserve in Palos Hills during a recent visit. "We're further from any road right now than you can be in Cook County," said Morkes, author of "Nature in Chicagoland."

Beverly native pens guide to ‘Nature in Chicagoland,’ listing more than 120 nature destinations within a day’s drive

August 12, 2021 at 11:22 a.m.

Presented with the chance to experience a solar eclipse in 2017, Andrew Morkes headed to what he considers "his favorite place to hike in all of Chicagoland," and "the wildest...

Mary Kate Beck hosts an All That Good Stuff standup comedy show last week at La Fiesta Restaurant in Mount Greenwood. Tickets for the outdoor show sold out in three days, organizers said.

Outdoor comedy show in Mount Greenwood area delivers relief for pandemic tension, area restaurants

August 5, 2021 at 2:50 p.m.

In a parking lot reserved for customers of La Fiesta and Wonder Burger restaurants in Chicago's Mount Greenwood neighborhood, seven Chicago-area based comedians treated residents of the 19th Ward to...

American School Bus Company staff members attempt to flag down prospective bus drivers at a job fair they held at the company's new Orland Park location, 17101 Wolf Road.

School bus companies step up driver recruitment efforts as shortage continues

July 28, 2021 at 3:13 p.m.

With the new school year just weeks away, American Bus Company recently held a job fair at its newly acquired bus yard and office at 17101 Wolf Road in Orland...

A group of friends who call themselves "the Ladies of Leavitt" have drinks while touring a garden Sunday during the Beverly Area Planning Association Garden Walk. They were among an estimated 750 people to attend the event that featured 10 properties this year.

‘The difference here is the landscaping’: Beverly garden walk puts area’s eclectic mix of art and nature on display

July 21, 2021 at 2:27 p.m.

Though he joked that his wife Cabrini McInerney "voluntold" him, John McInerney seemed more than happy to show off the yard surrounding their Beverly home as one of 10 stops...

Cook Forest Preserves preparing for ‘one of the largest events of the year’ as Kids Fest kicks off Saturday at Wampum Lake

July 9, 2021 at 11:39 a.m.

As leveling work began decades ago for the pathway of the new Interstate 80, workers excavated a large hole as they extracted soil and clay for fill material. That hole...

Sabrina Deshong dumps leftovers from her lunch into a compost collection point in 2018, operated by GrowNYC in New York. The University of Illinois Extension Cook County office is ramping up efforts to encourage home composting in the south suburbs through a series of events this summer starting with one Saturday in Park Forest.

Fighting climate change through composting will be as easy as ‘drop and swap’ at Park Forest event

June 24, 2021 at 1:58 p.m.

With summer heat and storms threatening to take more lives across the nation, the need to curb climate change is becoming more urgent. "One problem for many people is figuring...

While talking about the Field Museum's habitat restoration efforts, Lorena Lopez points out a pokeweed plant growing in Beaubien Woods Forest Preserve.

Field Museum marshaling efforts to unite people with nature at Beaubien Woods amid ‘toxic doughnut’ of Calumet region industry

June 22, 2021 at 3:04 p.m.

Lorena Lopez works as a community engagement specialist for the Field Museum, but she sees herself more as a community organizer who is "intent on uniting people with nature and...

A street sign at the intersection of 103rd Street and Maplewood Avenue bears the name of Conner T. Lowry, son of Goldstar mother Modie Lavin.

Beverly Gold Star mom leads crusade to help veterans with PTSD

June 17, 2021 at 6:48 a.m.

Gold Star mother Modie Lavin of Chicago's Beverly neighborhood is leading an effort this June, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month, to help veterans heal from their war experiences and move...

The band Cloud of Shame prepares to perform at a porch concert earlier this month in West Beverly. The Beverly Area Planning Association plans to host concerts on the first Friday of each month this summer at the homes of volunteer hosts.

Born amid last summer’s restrictions, porch concerts return for an encore in Beverly, Blue Island

June 15, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

Last year, in response to the pandemic, community organizations started staging live outdoor music concerts on the porches of area homes. The free events were enthusiastically attended by people itching...

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