Riley O'Neil

Riley O'Neil has logged more hours behind a microphone than any other Rockford radio personality, starting out with his hiring at WROK in February of 1983. He’s also the longest-tenured morning show host in WROK's 100-year history, with 22 years as the host of the WROK Morning Show. He’s a multi award-winning commercial producer, voice-over artist, and much sought after product and service endorser for multiple local businesses. In addition to hosting the WROK Morning Show with Joe Dredge, Riley also writes for 1440WROK.com, covering everything from Illinois' best local restaurants, to some of the wildest and funniest things Illinois residents have gotten themselves into, and everything in-between.

Is This The Hottest Hobby In Illinois For 2024?

Illinois residents looking for the right hobby have no shortage of things to choose from, but one particular back-to-nature, or, back-to-basics type of hobby has been taking the state of Illinois by storm and has quite the buzz about it.

By The Numbers: How Much Alcohol Illinois And The Midwest Drinks

Remember when we got all those warnings early in the pandemic about being careful about how much wine, beer, and/or booze we were pouring down our throats while we were forced into locking down at home?

200 Illinois Skydivers Are Trying To Set A World Record This Week

As of this writing (Thursday morning, 9:30), two hundred skydivers are still trying to set the World’s Largest Vertical Formation record at Skydive Chicago that they began trying to set earlier in the week. Considering what they're attempting, I can understand why it hasn't happened yet.

You Feeling Okay? Life Expectancy In Illinois Drops By 2 Years

According to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), across the United States, life expectancy dropped to 77 years in 2020, down from 78.8 in 2019. Not one state saw an increase in life expectancy in 2020.

Illinois’ Richest Man Just Paid $43 Million For A Piece Of Paper

Okay, with a headline like that, there's obviously some stuff to unpack here. Questions need to be answered. For instance, who is Illinois' richest man, and what piece of paper could be worth $43 million?

Sears Is Closing Up, And Taking Illinois History With It

As Joe Dredge pointed out in his post yesterday, the last remaining Sears store in Illinois is closing. Their Schaumberg store, Illinois' last open Sears, is done in November.

2,700 Illinois Drivers Suspended By New Insurance Verification System

Back in June, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced that automobile insurance verification would be conducted by a new system that checks auto insurance electronically twice a year.

The Horrifying Reason Why Illinois’ Starved Rock Got Its Name

When you've lived in a state for your entire life, it's sometimes jarring to find out something about its history that you had absolutely no idea about.

Illinois Man Is Walking To Texas To Raise Money For St. Jude

As if walking to Texas from Illinois weren't impressive enough, the fact that he's 90 years old is pretty stunning.

Illinois Remains One Of The Most Restrictive States On Fireworks

Here's a little sample of an exchange between several of my coworkers when we were discussing the upcoming 4th of July festivities in a staff meeting this morning: