Illinois Beach State Park is a bit like someone took Big Marsh Park, Montrose Beach, and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and mashed them together.

The Accelerated Moving Event aims to persuade those living at the park on the 4200 block of West Foster Avenue to accept housing or shelter opportunities and provide them with support services.

Local lore includes unsubstantiated claims of a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1979, as well as magic powers bestowed by the pump’s water. Other fables claim the water has medicinal qualities, that ...