On this St. Patrickâs Day, the pipes arenât all that are calling. So are frogs in local wetlands. Youâll hear them when the day is warm enough, especially the chirping of the tiny spring peepers and the washboard sound of chorus frogs.
Nolan Bielinski got to wondering if frogs and toads limit their calls when theyâre surrounded by city noises. So, for his doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he took recorded sounds into wet areas in the Indiana Dunes National Park and around the Chicago area, according to the Great Lakes Research and Education Center.
The network of trails linking Elkhart and Shipshewana will close two gaps in the coming year, thanks to the $29.6 million in Next Level Trails grants that Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced recently. Altogether, 70 miles of trail would be built across the state, including a part of the Marquette Greenway from Chicago to New Buffalo: specifically, 0.88-miles in Portage, Ind., with a boardwalk in the Indiana Dunes National Park.
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Elkhart: This city gains $642,600 to create 1.85 miles of paved trails, taking the MapleHeart Trail farther into Elkhart. The MapleHeart is an 8-mile trail along roads between Elkhart and Goshen.
The Elkhart addition will add to the cityâs current 4-mileÂ
"I look forward to continuing to work with all of my House and Senate colleagues to finalize the American Rescue Plan and provide the comprehensive resources that are desperately needed
Free art classes and supplies are now available for registration By: Matt Nagy
CHESTERTON, Ind. Local teaching artists are hosting a series of free virtual painting classes offered by Indiana Dunes National Park in partnership with the Art Barn School of Art and the Friends of Indiana Dunes, Inc.
Experienced art instructors will guide students through the process of painting a scene inspired by the Indiana dunes.
These lessons will be available to artists of all skill levels from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on April 10, June 12 and July 10.
Each class will be focusing on separate nature settings and themes of Indiana Dunes.
The annual Maple Sugar Festival at the Chellberg Farm went virtual this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See the process of how the syrup is made.
A year after the COVID-19 pandemic derailed most of the annual events and festivals along the Lake Michigan shoreline, a cautious reopening is taking place here in Northwest Indiana and in neighboring Chicago.
The Indiana Dunes National Park, which encompasses 15 miles of the local shoreline, is cautiously moving toward reintroducing its popular annual festivals, said Bruce Rowe, supervisory park ranger/public information officer.
The Maple Sugar Time festival, which has attracted crowds of up to 4,000 people over its two weekends, is being held primarily online this year due to continued concerns about the highly contagious and potentially deadly coronavirus, he said.