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.

Bees In Illinois: Ever Wondered Where They Go When It Gets Cold?

Some things migrate toward the south and warmer weather, other things dig in and hunker down for a long winter's nap, but what happens to Illinois' bees, wasps, and yellow jackets when the weather turns frigid?

Can You Identify Illinois Cities And Towns By Their Nicknames?

As you probably know, Rockford has a few nicknames. You've probably already heard of The Forest City, Screw City, The Fastener Capital Of The World, Reaper City, Illinois' 2nd City, and maybe even Furniture City, but did you know that many other Illinois cities and towns have nicknames, too? Let's take a look at some.

Ever Been To Illinois Most Charming Small Town? (It’s not Galena)

There's no shortage of small towns scattered throughout the state of Illinois. Some are vibrant, some are rundown, but of all the small towns in the Land of Lincoln, one particular place gets the title of Illinois' most charming small town.

Drinking In Illinois: Here’s The Most-Ordered Item At The Bar

It doesn't really matter what time of year it is, Illinois drinkers have really developed an affinity for a certain type of alcoholic beverage, and they're ordering it more than anything else. Any guesses?

Illinois’ Best Grocery Store? A New Study Names A Clear Winner

Given how much prices have exploded at the supermarket over the last 4 years, I find it somewhat surprising that a study would name the best grocery store in Illinois. When you're paying out an agonizing sum of money for a couple of bags of life's essentials, do you still feel good about the place you're paying it to? In Illinois' case, the answer would be yes.

You’ll Be Seeing More Skunks In Illinois Very Soon: Here’s Why

Why not? This year we've already had to deal with periodical cicadas, annual cicadas, cicada killers, wasps, and yellow jackets. Within the next few weeks, it will be deer on the roadways and skunks all over the place. Here's why the skunks will be prevalent in Illinois.

Here’s How You Can Catch This Weekend’s Meteor Shower In Illinois

There have been far too many times that we could have seen a really cool meteor shower in Illinois skies...but we didn't because the weather just wouldn't cooperate. It's been too cloudy, there's been too much moonlight, whatever. Not this time, according to expert sky watchers. We should have a great look at a really cool sky show.

Illinois Has Quite A Few More Of These Than You Probably Thought

I guess I've always assumed that Illinois had more Bobcat loaders than we have actual living, breathing bobcats (think about which one you see more of)...but not surprisingly, I was wrong about that.

One Illinois City Lands On Best Places To Live For Families List

This Illinois city has a population of about 25,000 people and is ranked as the 20th best place to live for families in the entire country. In 2022 it was ranked 9th. Any guesses?

Big Retail Chain With 29 Illinois Spots Closing 40 Stores In 2024

The way things have been going lately, it might be easier to write about restaurant and retail store chains that aren't thinking about bankruptcy or shutting down multiple stores. We've had a lot of announcements this year, and they don't seem to be slowing down.