Bill Text: IL SR0579 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Congratulates Tom Skilling on his retirement
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-11-09 - Resolution Adopted [SR0579 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-SR0579-Introduced.html
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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to | ||||||
| 3 | congratulate Tom Skilling on his retirement from WGN-TV on | ||||||
| 4 | February 28, 2024, after 45 years of service; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling's first job was at the radio station | ||||||
| 6 | WKKD in Aurora when he was 14; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling worked for several TV and radio | ||||||
| 8 | shows in Illinois and Wisconsin before being hired as a | ||||||
| 9 | meteorologist for WGN in 1978; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling animated his own weather maps early | ||||||
| 11 | in his broadcasting career and subsequently helped bring | ||||||
| 12 | animated satellite imagery and radar on air to WGN; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling was a WGN meteorologist during many | ||||||
| 14 | weather-related events in Chicago history, including the | ||||||
| 15 | brutal winters of the 1980s, the Plainfield tornado on August | ||||||
| 16 | 28, 1990, the heat wave in 1995, and the Groundhog's Day | ||||||
| 17 | blizzard of 2011; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling has reported firsthand on the | ||||||
| 19 | weather in Alaska, Las Vegas, and on an ice-breaking ship in | ||||||
| 20 | the middle of Lake Huron and was famously chased by a tornado | ||||||
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| 1 | in Oklahoma in 2010; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling has won multiple Emmys from the | ||||||
| 3 | Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy Television | ||||||
| 4 | Arts & Science; he was honored with the Pride of Edgewater | ||||||
| 5 | award from the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce in 2017 and the | ||||||
| 6 | Broadcast Pioneer Award from the Illinois Broadcasters | ||||||
| 7 | Association in 2018; U.S. Representatives Bill Foster and Mike | ||||||
| 8 | Quigley submitted a statement to the official Congressional | ||||||
| 9 | Record that honors his four-and-a-half decades as a | ||||||
| 10 | meteorologist on November 1, 2023; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling funds a scholarship to assist a | ||||||
| 12 | local college student each year; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling has hosted severe weather seminars | ||||||
| 14 | at Fermilab near suburban Batavia for nearly four decades; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, In recent years, Tom Skilling has studied the | ||||||
| 16 | science of climate change, leading talks and participating in | ||||||
| 17 | conferences on the subject across Chicago and the United | ||||||
| 18 | States; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, As the longtime chief meteorologist for WGN-TV, | ||||||
| 20 | Tom Skilling has been one of the most trusted figures on | ||||||
| 21 | television screens throughout the Chicago area for decades, | ||||||
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| 1 | expertly and calmly explaining the region's often | ||||||
| 2 | unpredictable weather situations for generations of viewers; | ||||||
| 3 | and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Tom Skilling enjoys going to the beach and Loyola | ||||||
| 5 | University's lakefront campus and being a regular at Lickity | ||||||
| 6 | Split Frozen Custard, the Indie Cafe, and the Waterfront Cafe; | ||||||
| 7 | therefore, be it
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| 8 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL | ||||||
| 9 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Tom | ||||||
| 10 | Skilling on his retirement from WGN-TV on February 28, 2024; | ||||||
| 11 | and be it further
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