Mike Ewing

Mike is a Digital Producer at WGN-TV.

Recent Articles

  • Jell-O molds and ‘salads’ hold a strange, special place at the holiday table

    Mike Lowe’s grandma served all the classics for Thanksgiving: turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie; but there was always this jiggly green dish called “sea foam salad” that seemed otherworldly (even if it was delicious). So this Thanksgiving, we can’t help but ask: What is that green stuff? It turns out “Sea Foam Salad” is just one of a wide range of Jell-O molds and “salads” that combine sweet and savory, using gelatin or pudding to bind together everything from pears and […]

  • Chicago’s beloved puppet bike pedals on

    For over a decade, the “puppet bike” has been a beloved fixture downtown and at festivals across Chicago. Meet the artists who are continuing the tradition, pedaling a pop-up stage across the city to spread joy. They tell their story, in their own words. Michael King, Puppeteer I met the puppet bike people at the Museum of Contemporary Art, they were outside it. I was flabbergasted. I tried it myself. I didn’t have any puppeteering experience or anything, but I […]

  • Chicago’s alleys date back to the city’s founding, keep our trash off the sidewalk today

    CHICAGO — Chicago has 1,900 miles worth of alleys, more than anywhere else in the United States. One in particular caught the attention of Don Posen in Lincoln Square, who wrote WGN to find out why some alleys have a groove down the middle of them. A quick email to the Department of Transportation and we had our answer: to help with drainage. “There are several ways to mitigate drainage problems in alleys – many alleys were constructed with drainage at […]

  • Spooky stories of lost graves in Lincoln Park, ghosts in the river are rooted in history

    Halloween is here, the time of year that we actually seek out the stuff that scares us, so it’s no surprise that many of our viewers wrote in and asked: where are Chicago’s spookiest spots? Tony Szabelski, Chicago Hauntings Well there’s many, many spooky spots in Chicago. I think this is one of the most haunted cities in the world. The first ghost stories come from the battle of Fort Dearborn. Then there are many about the Great Chicago Fire, […]

  • Urban foragers find fresh produce in city parks, your backyard

    There’s a produce section growing in your backyard, you just need to know where to look. Urban forager Nance Klehm explains in our latest #FacesOfChicago. Here’s her story – in her own words: Nance Klehm, Urban forager and ecologist This would be the basics in your food pantry in this park. You have all these healthy medicinal greens. You have chestnuts, you have hazelnuts you have black walnuts. You have big, starchy protein-rich fruit. These are hawthorn; these are called […]

  • Lake Michigan is more blue than it was 20 years ago, researchers say

    Let’s start with the basics: why does Lake Michigan appear to be blue? WGN’s Tom Skilling said the answer isn’t as simple as you’d think. While most assume the color is just the blue sky reflecting off the water, Skilling said according to Penn State Emeritus Professor Doctor Craig Bohren, that’s actually wrong. Water radiates blue, meaning it gives off a constant shade of the color. But it also has reflective properties, so if you have clouds above it, that […]

  • A night at one of Chicagoland’s last drive-ins in

    Drive-in theaters used to be a summer staple in the U.S., but few remain. Still, those left in the Chicago area say they’re seeing more support from neighbors who want to keep the tradition alive. Here’s their story – in their own words: Scott Dehn, Golden Age Cinemas My earliest memory is sitting out here with my mom and my dad, my grandma, my sister. I remember I was pulling in from the box office and I just look at […]

  • Chicago’s ‘sunken’ homes are remnants of a bold effort to raise the city out of the mud

    Sometimes in Chicago, a home’s first floor is actually below street level. So Shayle from Evanston asks: why are the streets so high in some Chicago neighborhoods? Some homes sit below street level in Chicago because nearby roads were actually raised in the late 1850s, according to Kathleen Carpenter of the Chicago Architecture Center. In the early days after its founding, much of Chicago was basically at the same level as Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. So when it […]

  • Athletes with disabilities reach new heights, prove ‘anyone can climb’

    A group of athletes with disabilities is reaching new heights in Chicago. Their motto: anyone can climb. This is the story of the members of the Adaptive Climbing Group, in their own words: Manasi Deshpande, climber  Climbing for me is very meditative. The only thing that I’m thinking about is, “what is the next move that I’m gonna make, how am I gonna get up the wall?” Because I’m not using my legs, the strategy that I’m using for climbing […]

  • How’s Chicago’s scooting? The city wants your feedback on its e-scooter experiment

    CHICAGO — City officials are asking the public to share what they think about e-scooters as a pilot program testing their potential in Chicago enters the final month. Whether or not they have ridden a scooter, people are encouraged to fill out a survey and share their opinions, the City announced in a statement Tuesday. The four-month pilot program, which is limited to a designated area encompassing parts of the northwest and west sides, is scheduled to come to an […]

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