Environment and Nature

Canadian wildfire smoke has caused unhealthy air quality in Bloomington-Normal. The Ecology Action Center in Normal is recommending people stay indoors whenever possible.

A supplemental environmental impact statement filed this spring by Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will likely advance the operating license renewal request filed by Constellation Energy, owner of the Clinton nuclear power plant.

McLean County Parks and Recreation staff has been trying to keep Canada Geese away from the beach at Comlara Park, to no avail.

The University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners program is marking 50 years of operation in McLean and surrounding counties. The program teaches volunteers research-based gardening skills to take back to their communities.

Country Financial Trail will allow access from Raab Road, Vermillion Way and Heartland Community College's The Corn Crib parking lot. The trail will wrap around Birky Pond and run alongside 13 acres of soon-to-be restored prairie land.

The Grand Prairie Bird Alliance says it needs people who are willing to help address a housing shortage — not of houses for people, though. It's a dearth of purple martin dwelling space.

The City of Bloomington is getting a $600,000 state grant to build a green infrastructure park near to the community sewage treatment plant on the west side of town. It's the Sunnyside Park Sustainability Initiative.

The Grand Prairie Bird Alliance has a new way to learn about the birds of Bloomington-Normal.

We might have an answer to the pungent question in Central Illinois of late: Just what is that awful smell? It's likely a phenomenon called petrichor, according to a state climatologist.

Decades of data show nitrate levels in rivers often drop during dry years and spike when rain returns. Experts say more conservation practices in and around farm fields could help smooth out the sharp peaks to protect drinking water and downstream impacts.