WGLT - Site Search

For some Midwest beekeepers, trying to keep honeybees alive has proven ‘devastating’

Beekeepers say it can be especially challenging to raise honeybees in the Midwest. Parasites, pesticides and extreme weather like drought are contributing to colony loss.

Phil Hallstedt picks cherries on his orchard in Michigan. Hallstedt has transitioned his cherry orchard to a U-Pick model, where people pay for the experience of harvesting their own cherries. He said the new business model was necessary to stay afloat.

To stay on the farm, more and more farmers are working second and even third jobs

Farmers are increasingly relying on off-farm jobs to supplement their farm income. Today about 84% of farm families rely on another part-time or even full-time job to stay in business.

An American Burying Beetle walks around on a wet paper towel on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, at the St. Louis Zoo.

A Midwest beetle that needs corpses to survive is dying out. But there’s still hope

American burying beetles bring dead animals underground, turn them into preserved meatballs and feed them to their babies. The St. Louis Zoo is working to save the threatened beetle.

A farmer checks the moisture levels of his corn crop, stored in bins while they wait to be sold, on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023.

In an effort to reduce deadly grain bin accidents, OSHA expands safety emphasis program

There were at least 27 cases of grain entrapment in the U.S. last year. OSHA recently added Missouri to the list of states where it’s emphasizing grain handling safety.

A white water tower with an orange pumpkin covers the word Morton. Morton, Illinois prides itself on producing tons of pumpkins each year. Most of them are pureed and canned at the Libby's plant, which has been in the town for nearly 100 years.

Welcome to Morton — the bite-sized town that produces a whole lot of canned pumpkin

The pumpkin pie Americans enjoy each Thanksgiving often comes from pumpkins grown near Morton. The region accounts for more than 95% of canned pumpkin in the U.S.

Barges navigate through a maze of forested islands in the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River refuge celebrates 100 years of protection for fish, wildlife and habitat

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is the core of a major flyway for migrating birds and one of the most visited refuges in the U.S. Anglers and outdoor enthusiasts saved it from being drained 100 years ago, but the next century brings new challenges.

A building with an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) sign in metro-east; a small photo of a smiling young person with dark hair and a gray shirt is overlaid, referencing a foster child death.

DCFS timeline in foster child’s death reveals 10 caseworkers, but no credible findings of abuse

Two months after it was first requested, the Illinois Department of Children Family Services released a timeline of involvement with a Fairview Heights foster child who died in the agency’s care.

A woman in a ponytail and pink gloves places an apple on top of a machine to slice it into wedges.

USDA ended its local food programs. A look at how farmers, schools and food banks are coping

Thousands of schools, farmers and food pantries in the Midwest and Great Plains planned on federal dollars over the next year to support local food purchases. And then the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut the programs.

Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre's memoir will be published months after her death

Virginia Giuffre was one of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's most outspoken accusers. Six months after her death, Giuffre's book detailing her life will be published.

Raphael Wahwassuck, a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomie’s tribal council and a direct descendant of Chief Shab-eh-nay, said he looks forward to having more youth in the community connect to their land. "A lot of times all you hear is negative stories or stories of defeat," he said. "But now they have something that they can refer to in a positive aspect and show that, yes, good things can happen if you have people that are sincere and want to recognize and understand how we can correct these things."

The U.S. sold this tribe’s land illegally. It’s now the latest Native group to get its home back

The United States government promised the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation about 1,280 acres of Illinois reservation in an 1829 treaty. Instead, the U.S sold all of it illegally to white settlers. The Prairie Band is now the latest tribe in the Midwest and Great Plains to get some of their ancestral home back.

Search results for