Manuel Estopinan

Online Web Articles

13 WREX •

Artificial Intelligence Is Here: How The Innovative Technology Is Taking Over The Stateline

ROCKFORD (WREX) — Over the past several years many companies have harnessed the power of Artificial Intelligence across different industries and job sectors.The Stateline has been no stranger to the effects of AI as the technology makes its way into our everyday lives.If you step into the Rockford Walmart off Walton Street you’ll see ADAM at the One Kitchen, the resident mixologist, capable of making everything from a cup of coffee to a refreshing boba drink.ADAM is an AI-powered bartender and b...
13 WREX •

Gen Z Voters Could Impact The 2024 Elections, How Candidates Are Using Tik Tok To Mobilize Them

ROCKFORD - In the 2024 U.S. General Elections about 40.8 million Generation Zers will be eligible to vote according to the Center For Information & Research On Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).Since the 2022 Midterm Elections, CIRCLE estimates about 8.3 million newly eligible voters will have aged since then, we’re talking about young adults turning 18 and 19 in 2024.For reference, the youngest voter that will head to the polls this November was born in 2006.But will our country’s youngest...
13 WREX •

DECISION 2024: The race for Illinois' 17th Congressional District

Your 13 Election Authority is keeping track of the key races on ballots across northern Illinois at the federal, state, and local levels.One of the most hotly contested races this year is one on the national stage: the race for Illinois' 17th Congressional District. Voters will decide between incumbent Democratic Rep. Eric Sorensen and Republican challenger and former judge Joe McGraw.13 News Today's Manny Estopinan held interviews with both candidates to discuss key issues on the minds of voter...
13 WREX •

DECISION 2024: The race for Illinois' 11th Congressional District

As the countdown to Election Day continues, Your 13 Election Authority is helping you stay as informed as you can be before casting your vote.A top national headline this election is control of the U.S. House, in addition to the Senate and, of course, the Presidency. While Illinois does not have a Senate seat up for election this year, all 17 U.S. House districts are up for grabs.In the Stateline, the most hotly contested race is in the 17th District, between incumbent Eric Sorensen and challeng...
13 WREX •

Race for Freeport’s next mayor: Joshua Atkinson looks to bring a fresh start to City Hall

Joshua Atkinson is running for Mayor of Freeport, under the Democratic Party, trying to unseat 2-term incumbent Mayor Jodi Miller.Joshua and his partner moved to Freeport about four years ago from the O’Hare area, looking for a smaller tight knit community, he fell in love with the area and it’s future potential.In the past year, Atkinson became more involved with city politics, frequently attending city council meetings. He felt the city needed better leadership saying, “I [saw] things that tro...
13 WREX •

Stateline Latino physicians highlight underrepresentation in the workforce

ROCKFORD (WREX) - As we continue our Hispanic heritage month coverage, today we look ahead to National Latino Physician Day.Sunday October 1st will be a day to shine a spotlight on the low representation of Latino doctors across the nation.Right now Latinos make up 19 percent of the U.S population but only 6 percent of all doctors in the country are Latino.The movement enters its second year, as doctors nationwide try to bring awareness to this issue at hand.We sat down with one local ambassador...
13 WREX •

Plans For A Belvidere Train Station Take Shape

BELVIDERE (WREX) - Last month we brought you a proposal for a railway line from Rockford to Chicago. Tonight, city and state officials convening to iron out the details of the train station that will make its home in Belvidere. Many Belvidere residents looking forward to a new train line, with business owners also weighing in. The Region 1 Planning council hopes to answer many questions about the project.The topic discussed at length in their first public meeting for feedback was the location of...
13 WREX •

Celebrating Hispanic Cutlure: The Taste Of Puerto Rico

LOVES PARK - Throughout our Hispanic Heritage Month coverage we've brought you the tastes of Latin America, that you can catch right here in the Stateline.We've brought you the cuisines of Mexico, Peru, and Colombia but today we travel to the Caribbean islands, specifically to a place known to the locals as “La Isla Del Encanto”,The Island of Enchantment, Puerto Rico.Puerto Rican cuisine on the island draws inspiration from West Africa and Spain and it includes staples like rice, beans and plant...
13 WREX •

Husband recounts losing wife to weekend gun violence

ROCKFORD (WREX) - A Sunday drive-by shooting on the 700 Block of 7th Street left a 32 year old mother, Trulisa Kyle, dead.13 WREX sat down with the other victim in that shooting, Trulisa's husband, Lee Kyles.The last time Lee saw his wife was when she lost control of the car shortly after being shot. Lee did not see when his wife was shot, he was unaware when or how she had even been hit, only realizing it after she said it. "She said I'm hit and she said I'm dying. The car almost stopped so I j...
13 WREX •

Celebrating Community Leaders Amplifying Hispanic Voices: Ricardo Montoya Picazo

ROCKFORD (WREX) This month as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate the leaders in our very own community, who go the distance to amplify Hispanic voices that are too often silenced or even ignored.Today we shine the spotlight on Ricardo Montoya Picazo, he sits on numerous city and county boards, constantly bringing Hispanic voices to every table that he gets a seat at.Ricardo’s story starts on the Mexican border when he illegally crossed as a 7 year old child, given discreet instru...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: Rockford Teen Uses Poetry To Bridge Gap In Health Literacy

ROCKFORD (WREX) - One Rockord native is using her voice and the art of poetry to inspire the community to be more accepting of one another despite different backgrounds and despite what we may sound like.“We can be a little overshadowed sometimes but often times the most overshadowed people that have the best stories to tell,” jokingly shares Giulyana Gamero.Giulyana Gamero has been telling stories for as long she can remember falling in love with poetry back in the 7th grade class, where she le...
13 WREX •

Narcan vending machines come to Winnebago County

ROCKFORD (WREX) — The Winnebago County Sheriff's Office and Health Department have unveiled two Narcan vending machines, hoping this initiative curbs opioid overdose deaths. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2020 saw a significant 68,000 increase in opioid overdose deaths.In Winnebago County, data shows that there were 130 reported opioid deaths in 2019, 157 in 2020, and 147 last year. Officials at Rosecrance, an addiction and mental health center, tell 13 WREX that the pandemic...
13 WREX •

Worker's Rights on the Illinois Ballot

ROCKFORD (WREX) - Election day is less than a month away and there's a ballot initiative that's aiming to make changes to the state constitution to protect the rights of workers to unionize.Come election day, Illinoisans will have a chance to vote on the future of unions.Illinois's labor movement can be traced back to the 1860s when miners tried to secure safe working conditions to be a constitutional right but received pushback.Dr. Rosemary Feurer a NIU history professor explains, "It wasn't un...
13 WREX •

Psychiatrist Shortage Troubles The Stateline

ROCKFORD (WREX) -  For years, many have warned of the nation's rising concern of a doctor shortage.Dr. Thomas Wright, Chief Medical Officer for Rosecrance, broke down the rising need for mental health services in the Stateline, worsening since the pandemic. "We've seen a shortage in psychiatrist really for decades now. Half the counties in the united states don't even have one psychiatrist," says Dr. Wright. You heard that right, the psychiatrist shortage is so bad that, according to the Associa...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: Advocating For Adults With Developmental Disabilities

OREGON (WREX) - When we reached out to this weeks Inspiring 815, he insisted he was no inspiration, but the people he works with had so much to say about him.On any given week you can find Steve James volunteering at the Village of Progress, a place for those often overlooked by society, a safe haven for adults with developmental disabilities."They're so full of energy and happiness and smiling and happy to see you and grateful for any little thing you do for them. I just like being with the fol...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: From Auburn High School Valedictorian to Jeopardy Champion

ROCKFORD (WREX) - This week’s inspiring 815, Lloyd Sy, grabbed the Stateline's attention when he became a Jeopardy champion.This Auburn High School alumnus recounts his journey to becoming the grand champion.“I 100 % did not expect to win, again I was just trying to be happy, just trying to appreciate the moment, take in the fact I was literally on the Jeopardy stage in front of a national audience,” explains Lloyd when he beat out 13-time champion Ray LaLonde.Lloyd's journey to the Jeopardy sta...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: Granting Wishes for Young Adults with Cancer

ROCKFORD (WREX) - This weeks Inspiring 815 took a difficult moment in her life, full of despair and pain, and turned it into a mission that has spread joy across the Stateline and the nation to young adults battling cancer."You can imagine being 17 years old and getting the news you have cancer, to be outside playing basketball one day and for doctors to tell you have a 20% chance of living the next, it is just absolutely mind blowing,” explains Kelli Ritschel, founder of the Nikolas Ritschel Fo...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: Freeport Teacher Instills Hope

FREEPORT (WREX) - To many he goes by Mr. C! This week’s Inspiring 815 is a special education teacher from Jones-Farrar out of the Freeport School District and just recently he won the Illinois’ Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year.Despite adversity in his own life, this teacher instills hope to make sure his own students overcome their own challenges.“I was actually a product of trauma from poverty,” said Eugene very bluntly when he spoke about his impoverished childhood.Eugene Calignacion gre...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: A long recovery from traumatic brain injury

ROCKFORD (WREX) - Simply put a traumatic brain injury is an injury that affects how your brain works.According to the CDC, 2019 saw there were over 200,000 hospitalizations related to traumatic brain injuries.This weeks Inspiring 815 brings us close to one person's injury and their tough journey to recovery.May 17, 2017 started out like any ordinary day at work for Brian Dixon.“Middle of an overhead weld and I hear Brian look out and that's when everything changed,” describes Brian of that haunt...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: Leading A Center For Those Who Honorably Served Our Country

ROCKFORD (WREX) - This weeks Inspiring 815. Eric Willard, serves as the Executive Director for the Veteran's Drop-In Center but it was full circle on how he got there.After decades of not being involved with veteran affairs, he attended an event where he met another veteran that served in his same infantry division.That veteran advised him to see a counselor, where there Eric would later be diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD. It led him to receive a monthly government pension he...
13 WREX •

Celebrating Hispanic Cuisine: The Tastes of Peru

ROCKFORD (WREX) - As we celebrate Hispanic culture this month we're bringing you the tastes of Latin America that you can find right here in the Stateline.Last week we took you to the coast of Mexico, today we travel to the South American country of Peru.It’s a place popularly known for the ruins left by the Inca Empire hundreds of years ago but Peru has so much more to offer.Its cuisine is influenced from its indigenous and immigrant population with common staples like corn, potatoes, and seafo...
13 WREX •

Local foundation advocates for suicide prevention

LOVES PARK (WREX) — September marks Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a tragedy that continues to plague many Americans.Eight years ago Xavier Whitford lost her son to suicide.She turned her grief into the Tommy Coral Memorial Foundation(TCMF) an outreach and education program supporting many dealing with suicide.The foundation provides referrals for mental health services, financial support for counseling, and workshops and retreats that engage the community. Her message to parents: Don't bru...
13 WREX •

New Rockford Hard Casino Could Open August 2024

ROCKFORD (WREX) - Hard Rock Casino executives have revealed that the permanent Hard Rock Casino could open by August of 2024.They are aiming for a soft grand opening around Labor Dat Weekend.Executives are set to meet with the Illinois Gaming Board Thursday June 15th to finalize a potential opening date.Hard Rock International Chief Operating Officer Jon Lucas shares, "now when the permanent facility is done we expect that reach will grow just because of the amenities that we will be offering, s...
13 WREX •

Inspiring 815: Life Decisions helps restore Rockford youth

ROCKFORD (WREX) - This week's inspiring 815 is a relatively new organization just getting its footing back in 2021 but the impacts they have on our community's youth are just invaluable.You may not notice as you drive by but a quiet home tucked away off East State Street is building what they call a tribe of mentors.Life Decisions aims to help the Stateline's undervalued and overlooked kids ages 15 to 23.“Its magical to me, they can take any youth and literally transform them. I've seen, other t...
Load More