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.

Here’s When Illinois Fall Colors Will Be Best, Say The Experts

One of the biggest joys we get living in this part of the country is knowing that we'll get a spectacular show of colored leaves (most years) before we spend several months with snow shovels and scrapers in our frigid hands. The question always is "when is the absolute best time to get out and enjoy it?" Here's what the leaf experts think.

Illinois Sending Checks To 138K People: How To Tell If You’re One

You're probably wondering what the catch is here, and that's okay---you wouldn't be an adult in Illinois if you didn't. However, there is no catch to this. The money is being sent out for a reason, and you may just be one of the nearly 140,000 Illinoisans who'll be opening an envelope with a money surprise inside.

Driving Barefoot Or With Flip Flops In Illinois: Legal Or Not?

It's probably important to note that the question is "legal or not," rather than "is driving barefoot or in flip flops a good idea or a very bad idea in Illinois, or anywhere else?" The answer to one of those questions is a definite no.

America’s Largest Truckstop Opens In Illinois Next Month

One of Illinois' neighboring states is about to see its title of "Home To America's Largest Truck Stop" get stripped away by a brand new venture in West Dundee, Illinois that's set to open an even larger truckstop on the first of October.

Illinois’ Last One Closed In 2020, Now The Final US Store Closes

You may have thought that this particular discount store (famous for its blue-light specials) was already dead and buried, but it turns out that there was one location that was barely hanging in there after all the other locations had shut their doors forever. Now, that location is closing permanently, too.

Banana Shortage? Here’s Why One May Be Coming To Illinois Stores

There is a very real possibility that Illinois grocery stores could become "banana-free zones" in the very near future because of a potential strike by over 45,000 American dock workers.

Have You Ever Been To Illinois’ Oldest Restaurant?

We really seem to stack up at the door anytime a new restaurant opens for business, but when is the last time you visited an eatery that's been around since before Lincoln was president?

Yelp Reviews Say This Is Illinois’ Best Place For A Sandwich

If someone said to me that I could only have one type of food for every meal for the rest of my life, I would have no trouble answering with "sandwiches." Years ago, it would have been pizza, but when you think about it, what are there more varieties of, sandwiches or pizza? Even though there are lots of different pizzas, sandwiches have pizza beat in the numbers game by about 10-1.

Illinois’ Favorite Drinker: Here’s How Much Harry Really Drank

Longtime baseball broadcaster Harry Caray has been gone for 26 years, but his legendary drinking exploits are still talked about and referred to. Sometimes, legends turn out not to be true, but the legendary boozing that Harry did seems to be pretty accurate. Here's how much he drank, by his own count.

Travel Site Names Illinois’ 12 Most Charming Towns

When you think about charming towns in Illinois, it's almost inevitable that you'll have Galena cross your mind. Not to give anything away, but Galena is on the list of the 12 most charming towns in Illinois...and there are eleven other towns that really crank up the charm factor in this state, too.