Riley O'Neil and Joe Dredge in the morning

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?

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.

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.

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.

Three other states have enacted similar laws: New York, California, and Washington. With all of Illinois' problems, is this a priority?

You're probably thinking that winter time in Northern Illinois will bring cold, wind, ice, and snow. You'd be absolutely correct about that. The question going into winter each year isn't whether or not those things will come (because they most certainly will), it's how much of those things are we going to have to deal with before Spring rolls in.

And you call yourself an Illinoisan! Well, actually, I don't know if you call yourself an Illinoisan or not, but just in case you do, here's a list of Illinois-centric foods that a food-based website thinks you should try before your time here comes to a close. Let's see how many you've already sampled.

You've may have seen those stories about a super-lucky someone who had some paper money with a printing mistake that made it worth far more than the face value of the note itself. Well, check your own wallet to see if maybe the star of the story this time is you because there are some really valuable dollar bills floating around out there. Here's what to look for.

Earlier this year, a big mall-anchor store chain announced that they would be closing about 150 stores across the nation that were "underperforming," with a goal of closing 50 stores before the end of 2024. Now, as is the case so many times, a decision has been made to close more stores than originally expected this year.

If you've always thought that these little black and red bugs only come out late in the fall season, you might be surprised to see so many of them right now in July. Here's why box elder bugs are so prevalent in Illinois right now.