To me, WGN-TV in Chicago is synonymous with three things: the Chicago Cubs (sadly, only for one more year), Bozo the Clown, and Tom Skilling. For more than three decades, Skilling has been chief meteorologist at WGN, and he celebrated his 40th year with the station last August. While other meteorologists in Chicago get three- or four-minute weather segments each night, Skilling gets like eight to 10 minutes. Why? Because he’s:
This is the man who went viral for getting all weepy on air during the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. Wanna know what I did that day? I was unemployed, drank several double IPAs and vodka lemonades, got drunk, blacked out at the dinner table in front of my wife and oldest daughter, took a ride in an ambulance, and made a complete ass of myself in the hospital emergency room. Not one of my finest moments.
Anyhoo, other than his weather segments maybe being a little too long, I’ve never read or heard anything bad ever said about Tom. I can’t say the same about Tom’s little bro, Jeff. Yep, that Jeff Skilling. Who apparently now is a free man.
As you may recall, Jeff was originally sentenced in 2006 to 24 years in prison after being convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and insider trading, but his sentence was reduced to 14 years in 2013. He was released from federal custody on Feb. 21 after serving 12 years in jail and six months in a halfway house.
Feel free to debate whether Jeff got off easy and where he might turn up next. Me, I’m going to find out from Tom what the difference is between hoar frost and rime ice.
~ That’s it for us team. Have a great Thanksgiving! We’ll be back on Monday. That is, unless