Illinois

Illinois grows more pumpkins than any other state, with Morton known as the Pumpkin Capital of the World. Why Illinois leads the nation in pumpkins.

Why a Nature Conservancy donor was happy to find two big Midwest preserves: Nachusa Grasslands in Illinois, with its bison herd, and the 20,000-acre Edge of Appalachia Preserve System in Ohio.

Illinois' Electric Vehicle Charging Act requires new homes and many apartment buildings to have EV-capable parking: panel capacity and conduit, but no outlet. What the law does, where it stops, and what adding a Level 2 charger to an existing garage looks like.

Twice a year the Shawnee National Forest closes a 2.5-mile gravel road in Union County, Illinois, so snakes and amphibians can migrate between limestone bluffs and LaRue Swamp.

Illinois became the first Midwest state to allow medical aid-in-dying for terminally ill adults. What Deb's Law requires, what decades of data from Oregon show, and why choice matters.

Why 'Will it play in Peoria?' made Peoria America's test market, how Columbus, Ohio, took over the role, and what it says about the Midwest as a snapshot of America.

Labor Day has Midwest roots in the Pullman Strike of 1894 near Chicago. How the struggles of factory and rail workers turned into a national holiday.

Tornado activity has been shifting east from the Great Plains toward the Midwest, with Illinois near the top in 2026. What it means for insurance and farms, and how to be ready.