Rafaela Jinich

3 weeks ago | wbez.org | Rafaela Jinich

Eden Essex and her partner, Daniel Eastman, have long dedicated Saturday evenings throughout the summer to their “date night with the plovers.”As the birds’ monitors, they regularly don bright orange shirts and settle in at Montrose Beach to watch over Chicago’s piping plovers. “We love watching the birds, but we also love sharing that joy with others,” Essex said. Essex and Eastman were among the first monitors to sign up in 2019 when piping plovers returned to Chicago’s beaches.

3 weeks ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Matt Moore |Rafaela Jinich |Genevieve Bookwalter |Cindy Hernandez

Back in 2019, piping plovers returned to Chicago’s beaches for the first time in nearly 65 years. They’ve since become objects of fascination for local bird lovers, as the small, sand-colored shorebirds return each spring. Some plover fans have taken on the role of monitor, in hopes of helping these endangered birds once they come back to the city. In today’s newsletter: How piping plover monitors are preparing for their feathered friends’ arrival.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Rafaela Jinich

Eden Essex and her partner, Daniel Eastman, have long dedicated Saturday evenings throughout the summer to their “date night with the plovers.”As the birds’ monitors, they regularly don bright orange shirts and settle in at Montrose Beach to watch over Chicago’s piping plovers. “We love watching the birds, but we also love sharing that joy with others,” Essex said. Essex and Eastman were among the first monitors to sign up in 2019 when piping plovers returned to Chicago’s beaches.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Rafaela Jinich

Chicago’s airports are buzzing with travelers as spring break kicks off, marking the start of what officials say could be a record-breaking travel season. The Chicago Department of Aviation expects more than 3.36 million people to pass through O’Hare and Midway airports between March 20 and March 31 — up 4% from last year.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Rafaela Jinich

A man in his 70s was struck and killed by a freight train at a Lake Forest railroad crossing Friday, authorities said. Lake Forest police and fire personnel responded to the scene at Waukegan and Everett roads about noon after receiving reports of a collision involving a train and a pedestrian. “Once we got there, we evaluated the subject and determined he was deceased,” Deputy Fire Chief Mike Gallow told the Chicago Sun-Times. The identity of the man has not been released.