Lake Michigan's food chain is under threat from an invasive fish and biologists are working on ways to keep it out of the lake, university scientists say. A $9 million electric fish barrier keeps Asian carp from migrating between the Mississippi River and the lake and the Army Corps of Engineers just boosted the power, the Milwaukee Journal Gazette reported Wednesday.

CHICAGO (MCT) -- Rain-swollen rivers and creeks forced hundreds of voluntary evacuations across the Chicago region on Sunday, damaged homes and at least one architectural landmark, left two Indiana men drowned in a drainage ditch, and triggered emergency declarations in half a dozen Illinois communities and all of Cook County.

By Lee Filas lfilas@@dailyherald.com Communities along the swollen Fox and Des Plaines rivers are bracing for flooding and closely watching weather reports. How much flooding will depend on the overnight rainfall.

By Carolyn Starks, Chicago Tribune Apr. 2--David Anthony was building a sandbag and plywood fortress around his brother-in-law's home near McHenry on Tuesday, praying it could hold back the Fox River that had submerged the back yard.

By Russell Lissau rlissau@@dailyherald.com Months after Lake County was drenched by heavy rains and ensuing floods, county leaders are preparing to ask federal officials for aid that could prevent such problems from re-occurring.