Jerry Adelmann, President and CEO of Openlands, talks about the accomplishments of the 50 year old organization and why its uniqeness has enabled it to be a driving force for conservation in the Chicago area.

In 2004, Kathy Cummings received a first place award from the City of Chicago for having the Most Naturalized City Garden, which means that she was growing native Midwest plants. In 2012, she was fined for violating a municipal weed ordinance. She returns to the show for the second consecutive week to talk about the process of fighting the fine. Suzanne Malec-McKenna, former Commissioner of the Chicago Department of the Environment (which was eliminated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel), joins the conversation.

Mike discusses a year of extreme weather with meteorologist Rick DiMaio. Mike then talks to Kathy Cummings, whose award-winning native plant garden was recently ticketed for violating a Chicago weed ordinance. Suzanne Malec-McKenna, former Commissioner of the Chicago Department of the Environment, who helped to craft that law, offers some insight into why the fine might have been levied.

Mike and Lisa Albrecht welcome Debbie S. Miller, author of On Arctic Ground: Tracking Time Through Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve, David B. Williams, author of Cairns: Messengers in Stone, and Danny Kennedy, author of Rooftop Revolution: How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy--and Our Planet--from Dirty Energy. Cindy Skrukrud from the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club explains why three environmental groups filed suit in Springfield against the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in an attempt to stop an open pit frac sand mine from being dug next to Starved Rock State Park.