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.

Illinois Christmas: The “Hide The Pickle” Holiday Tradition

If you're not familiar with pickle ornaments or the "hide the pickle" holiday tradition, you've got to be a little confused by the headline. Read on to learn more about hiding the pickle, and how the whole thing may have gotten started by an Illinois Civil War soldier.

Look Up: Illinois Gets A Month Of Meteor Showers In December

Not one, but two meteor showers that have the potential to be really spectacular are going to be highlighting the skies over Illinois for almost the entire month of December, and we'll get pretty good looks at Venus and Saturn, too.

Payphones In Illinois: Can You Guess How Many We Have Left?

Way back when in the pre-cellphone era, if you were away from home and had to make a call you looked for the nearest payphone...and usually prayed that it would be in working order. Now that payphones are as hard to find as cheap gas, I got to wondering just how many of these relics from the past we still have around in Illinois.

Illinois Porch Pirates: They Steal The Most During These Two Days

We're just entering the time of year that people are ordering more stuff for delivery to their homes than any other time of the year, also known as the holiday season. We know that most of us are not going to stop having packages delivered, so maybe knowing which two days bring package thieves (or, "Porch Pirates") to your house than any other days will be helpful to you.

Look Up: Illinois Has Meteor Showers Over The Next Few Days

With clear skies at night over the next 3 to 5 days, we should be able to catch the streaks through the skies of the Taurid Meteor Showers here in Northern Illinois.

Illinois May Change The State Flag, Asks Residents For Designs

The Illinois flag has been updated before, but it's been awhile. Now, the state is asking those of us who live here to submit our ideas and designs for a potential Illinois state flag makeover.

Wisconsin Pizzeria Sickens Patrons With Weed-Infused Pizza

Famous Yeti’s Pizza in Stoughton, Wisconsin became really famous a few days back, but not for a reason that anyone wanting to become famous would want. They accidently sickened dozens of their customers when an unusual ingredient, THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, found its way into their pizza crusts.

Illinois Weather Experts: Here’s How Much Snow We’ll Be Getting

Although Northern Illinois' first snowfall is probably a few weeks away (it normally happens around Halloween each year), some winter weather experts have checked the maps and crunched the numbers trying to put together an accurate prognostication of how much snow Illinois will be looking at once snowfalls become a regular occurrence. You know you'll be needing your snow shovel...but how often?

Do You Know About Illinois’ Weird Way Of Taxing Halloween Candy?

If you've been an Illinois resident for any length of time, I'm sure you realize that our state's leaders have never met a tax they didn't like or want to impose upon citizens. That would include a strange bit of logic when it comes to the taxability of Halloween candy.

Illinois Produces A Mind-Blowing Daily Amount Of A Certain Candy

This particular candy may not be your all-time favorite, but I've never met anyone who hasn't had a bunch of these show up in their bag every Halloween.