WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

The glitzy towers of downtown Chicago are filled with offices that boast impressive financial returns, but their biggest cash flow may be one they all share: the Chicago River. A new report quantifies the economic returns of river investments.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources proposes tighter regulations for those who draw water out of the lake.

At first sniff, a place like the Calumet River seems far from being a clean water zone. But on Monday Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced a quarter billion dollars in funds for clean water and infrastructure in the Chicago area, and much of it will go towards slowing the flow of sewer water into Chicago's rivers.

Here’s a hint: It’s not the bottled-water industry. It’s something much, much bigger.

To measure stormwater dumping, Friends of the Chicago River are getting their hands dirty.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers warns low water in Lake Michigan could lead the river to flow back into the lake - its original direction, by the way.

Eastland wishes to be an elegy and not an exclamation point, an ache rather than a terrible wound, and at this it is highly successful.