Shirland, IL Events and More

The new Cheezy’s at Victory is more than grilled cheese. Here’s what’s different in Loves Park

LOVES PARK — The new Cheezy’s at Victory represents an expansion of the local brand beyond the hearty grilled cheese sandwiches served up on its food truck. Owners Josh Wilson and Dustin DiBenedetto, who just wrapped up their fourth food truck season with Cheezy’s Grilled Cheese, cut the ribbon on Wednesday on their second physical location. It’s on the second floor inside Victory Pickleball, 7003 N. Alpine Road. They also continue to operate Cheezy’s Grilled Cheese inside BJ’s Place at at 2842 11th St. on Rockford’s south side.

Loves Park, IL · 1d

allamericanatlas.com

partner publisher · 14.4K followers

5 Best Italian Restaurants in Rockford, Illinois that Will Make You Feel Like You’re in Rome

Rockford, Illinois — a city where the Rock River carves a silver ribbon through neighborhoods stitched with memory and hope, where red-brick factories stand shoulder to shoulder with art deco theaters, and the air is alive with the laughter of families, the hum of old engines, and the scent of something soulful simmering on the stove. Here, the city’s heart beats in a patchwork of cultures — Swedish, Italian, Mexican, Black, and new arrivals from every corner — all gathering at tables that feel like home.

Rockford, IL · 3d

967 The Eagle

Dairyhäus Is Bringing Back Its 12 Scoops of Christmas

My sweet tooth is already in trouble! Dairyhäus is bringing back its Twelve Scoops of Christmas advent calendar, and the flavors sound absolutely delicious.

Rockton, IL · 2d

MyStateline.com WTVO WQRF

partner publisher · 73.8K followers

Rockford’s Plume named one of Illinois’ 50 best restaurants in statewide ranking

he "50 Best Restaurants in Illinois — 2026 Edition" list published by Travel With Me, a Chicago social media platform with about 1 million followers on Facebook alone.

Rockford, IL · 1d

The Money Overview

partner publisher · 75.3K followers

Surviving spouses of veterans who have not remarried can get a VA survivors pension with limited income and net worth, even if the death was not service-connected

Widows and widowers of wartime veterans can draw a VA Survivors Pension even when the veteran’s death had nothing to do with military service. The survivor must not have remarried and must stay under limits on income and net worth. The pension is separate from Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, the benefit VA pays when a […] The post Surviving spouses of veterans who have not remarried can get a VA survivors pension with limited income and net worth, even if the death was not service-connected appeared first on The Money Overview .

Janesville, WI · 6h

rockrivercurrent.com

River District Association to revive First Fridays in downtown Rockford

ROCKFORD — The River District Association is reviving a monthly event designed to draw people to shop and dine downtown. Participating businesses will offer special pop-up experiences, activities and other events on the first Friday of each month to encourage people to take part of downtown’s nightlife. The options will change each month, ranging from dining to live entertainment, art and other activities.

Rockford, IL · 1d

GazetteXtra

Janesville teachers' union not thrilled with pay arrangement, seeks district revamp of wage schedule

JANESVILLE — The Janesville School District’s teachers union is not thrilled with the wage agreement it has reached with the district the last few years, and the union is now calling the district to resume substantive talks on a new compensation schedule. The message comes via a public statement the Janesville Education Association released this week following the Janesville School Board approving a certified staff wage increase for union members of 2.63% — a “cost of living” increase in the coming budget year. The pact came out of the lack of a formal agreement between the two sides after three bargaining sessions. JEA President Laura Mattison said that for some teachers, that equates to a cost-of-living increase that leaves them with a salary that’s less than what they earned last year if they factor in the increase they’re also paying for health care costs. Some district employees, like Mattison, a foreign languages teacher with 21 years of educational service, find themselves working second jobs to make extra money — all while working more hours with larger classroom loads and a growing load of professional development responsibilities. “Three negotiation rounds and they didn’t bring a different offer to any of the

GazetteXtra

Boys basketball: Parker picked to finish seventh, Craig ninth in the Big Eight

The 2026-27 boys basketball season is right around the corner, and the upcoming season is already shaping up to be a wide open year, especially for the Big Eight Conference. Janesville Parker was ultimately picked to finish seventh while Janesville Craig was picked to finish ninth this season by Bound Wisconsin in their preseason conference preview series. Bound Wisconsin boys basketball staff writer Colton Wilson is reaching the conclusion of his preseason series of conference previews for the state of Wisconsin. Each preview includes projected 2026-27 standings, a sleeper team to watch out for, top players to watch as well as conference break out candidates. Parker enters its 2026-27 season with a senior-loaded team, something that will be a huge plus and advantage for the Vikings in an already difficult conference. Javonte Johnson, who was labeled as a player to watch by the outlet heading into the season, is one of the several returners primed to make a jump up this year. The Vikings faced some tough sledding last season, finishing 4-21 (1-17 Big Eight) and last place in the league. However, their returning senior talent and particularly Javonte Johnson’s 14.6 points/game and 7.9 rebounds/game have Parker poised to leap

Janesville, WI · 22h

GazetteXtra

Rock County District Attorney's office launches court case database in statewide transparency initiative

JANESVILLE — The Rock County District Attorney’s office is now part of a statewide project to give the public data on court cases, a move that’s aimed at boosting transparency. District Attorney Jason Sanders introduced a new database Thursday that he believes serves transparency for the public. The database operates within the bounds of strict rules around prosecutors publicizing individual court cases before resolution. He also pointed out that balancing transparency with the privacy of victims can be difficult as well. “For example, I should not and will not, tell anyone that a particular case did not go to trial on the most severe charge because the victim begged us to resolve it so they did not have to testify and relive their trauma in open court,” he said. He said that’s where the data dashboard comes in handy because it allows information to be released about the number of cases, types of cases, and outcomes of cases within Rock County. He said this will help not only the public, but the county, learn about how cases are handled. “We want to use every tool available to us, including taking a comprehensive look at what the numbers show, to reach

Rock County, WI · 23h

GazetteXtra

Opening Rock Haven to out-of-county residents could ease subsidy

JANESVILLE — Natalie Rolling-Edlebeck acknowledges that opening up Rock Haven to out-of-county nursing home residents could come at a cost, but she’s not yet sure how much. Rolling-Edlebeck’s reason behind a shift to accepting out-of-county and even out-of-state residents is to try to create maximum use Rock Haven’s 120 beds. Right now, the nursing unit can staff for 112 beds, a formula based on available nurses and the needs of patients now at Rock Haven. But a low tide in residents creates a capacity and staffing cycle that limits the amount Rock Haven can get reimbursed for residents, how many nurses it can hire, and how it can offset operating costs — all factors that drive a subsidy that the county said in its last budget wound up being $750,000. That’s down from Rock Haven being more than $2 million underwater in recent past years, in part because Medicaid reimbursements have increased in Wisconsin. But officials argue the ceiling for Rock Haven, which is county run, is low because of how it operates. Rock Haven is one of 10 skilled-care nursing homes in Rock County, but of those 10, Rock Haven is the only one that does not allow out-of-county

Janesville, WI · 2d

rockrivercurrent.com

partner publisher · 45.6K followers

2026 Excalibur and Excelsior award finalists announced

ROCKFORD — The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois announced on Wednesday the finalists for this year’s Excalibur and Excelsior awards, a 55-year tradition that recognizes people and organizations for their service to the region. The finalists for the Excalibur Award, which recognizes an individual who exemplifies excellence in...

Rockford, IL · 2d

We Are Rockford

Rockford Store Left Baffled After Man Buys 50 Atari Games

Why would someone buy every copy of a nearly 50-year-old Atari game? A Rockford shopper did exactly that at Disc Replay.

Rockford, IL · 3d

rockrivercurrent.com

Taste the Town | Get Thanksgiving ready with Kauffman’s Country Store in Beloit

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and if you’re starting to plan your holiday menu there’s one local stop you’ll want to add to your shopping list: Kauffman’s Country Store in Beloit, Wisconsin. Kauffman’s, 9550 W. State Road 81, is celebrating 29 years in business. Founded...

Beloit, WI · 1d

rockrivercurrent.com

Save A Lot in west Rockford kicks off annual holiday hunger relief initiative

ROCKFORD — Save A Lot on Thursday kicked off an annual holiday hunger relief initiative to support local families dealing with food insecurity. The grocery store, 1701 W. State St., kicked off its Bags for a Brighter Holiday campaign with 13th Ward Alderman Tamir Bell and two nonprofits that will benefit from this year’s drive: the Rock River Valley Food Pantry and the Boys & Girls Club of Rockford – Stenstrom Unit.

Rockford, IL · 1d

GazetteXtra

Norovirus closes Consolidated Elementary doors until at least Nov. 16

JANESVILLE — The Milton School District closed one of its elementary schools for the rest of the week because of a norovirus outbreak. Norovirus is more commonly known as the stomach flu. Late Wednesday, the district announced the closure of Consolidated Elementary because “more than 35%” of its student population had been sickened by norovirus. The District decided on this course of action after consultation with District Nurse Melissa Forrett and the Rock County Health Department. No other schools have been affected yet, according to the district. The district plans to open the school Monday. Superintendent Jeremy Bilhorn said that at the start of Wednesday, there were 30 students who were absent from the illness. Throughout the day, that number continued to climb as more students were sickened with the norovirus and were sent home. Bilhorn could not confirm the exact total at the end of the school day. “We noticed the numbers rose pretty high today,” Bilhorn said. The district will monitor reported absences at other schools and any ahead of Monday at Consolidated. “The idea is to take in account student safety, and best practice and guidance from our county health department,” Bilhorn said. Consolidated Elementary, the district’s

GazetteXtra

Girls basketball: Local teams pop up in Bound Wisconsin Preseason Top 10s

Bound Wisconsin officially released its Preseason Top 10 rankings and honorable mentions for all five divisions, and several area high schools were amongst those recognized by the outlet. Edgerton, Janesville Craig and Milton were each mentioned for their respective divisions. The Crimson Tide were the only team to actually crack the outlet’s top 10 with the Tiders coming in at No. 8 in the Division 3 rankings. Craig and Milton were both listed as honorable mentions in their preseason rankings for Division 1 and Division 2, respectively. Edgerton is a year removed from one of the best girls basketball seasons in school history in which the Crimson Tide won a total of 25 games and reached the WIAA Sectional Finals. While Edgerton lost the scoring production of Gracee Langer and Marti Rebman, the Tide bring back Claudia Jenny, Jolia Schlag and Brooke Kahl, setting the stage for the team to potentially run it back this winter. Tuesday, November 17 marks the season-opener for the Crimson Tide as Edgerton is set to play host to Fall River at 7:00 p.m. The Cougars are another team that has brought back a wealth of experience with Craig losing virtually zero production to graduation.

GazetteXtra

Girls basketball preview: 2026-27 Cougars are an experienced, balanced bunch

Young players in key roles have been a staple in Janesville Craig’s girls basketball program in recent seasons, but that’s not the case this year. Seniors Abbie Claas, Ava Schaffner and Nevaeh Johnson have been on varsity since their freshman years — and at times they even found themselves in the starting lineup as freshmen. Junior Yana-Aaliyah Stevens led the Cougars in scoring as a sophomore and started as a freshman. Junior Adilynn Wellnitz was one of the Cougars’ go-to post players last season and senior Mara Gondreau provided shooting off the bench. While the Cougars dealt with youth and inexperience in the past, the team is brimming with upperclassmen — and that’s one of the reasons why Craig coach Kellan Schmidt is excited about her team this season. “I’m really excited about this group, and I’m really looking forward to this season,” Schmidt said. “I think it’s going to be a really exciting season. We return a lot of key components of what we’ve been building the last few years.” Stevens highlights the returning cast of characters. The junior guard has multiple Division I offers and was a Big Eight Co-Defensive Player of the Year and member of the