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.

It’s About Time: Illinois Now Has An Official State…Mushroom

Forget about high property taxes, high gasoline taxes, higher unemployment than any of our neighbors, a shrinking population, and crime. We've got a cool new official state mushroom!

Illinois Bug Warning: The Lone Star Tick Can Make You Really Sick

These creepy little things are in Illinois, spreading rapidly, and carrying a nasty bacteria than can make you become allergic to meat and dairy products...or worse.

This Illinois Caterpillar Will Ruin Your Day If You Touch It

Sure, it's cute and fuzzy, but...this particular caterpillar has some defense mechanisms that can be really annoying and painful for any human being who decides to pick it up. Oh, and that's not the only Illinois caterpillar you should be avoiding this summer.

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.

New Record? Illinois Man Steals 5 Different Vehicles In One Day

Maybe for this Illinois man stealing vehicles is a lot like eating potato chips, and he couldn't stop with just one.

Illinois’ Wasps Are Everywhere-Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Kill Them

It's late Summer heading into Fall, and Illinois' population of wasps and yellow jackets are really plentiful right now. Like many of us, your first instinct is probably to kill them on sight, especially if they're around your home. As much as you may want to end them, there are some pretty good reasons not to.

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.

Stargazers Will Absolutely Love Illinois’ Only Dark Sky Park

I've learned a couple of things over the last 24 hours that I never knew before. One, there are places called Dark Sky Parks, and two, Illinois has one in a forest preserve about 3 hours from Rockford.