From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star Podcast

Courtney Oakes, the Winnebago County Market Manager for Northern Illinois Food Bank, asks for more volunteers to help distribute food to shoppers at Northern Illinois Food Bank. Oakes was interviewed at the food bank on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Rockford.

Read more about this story at www.rrstar.com.

Reporting by Andrea V. Watson and Scott P. Yates/Rockford Register Star.

Former Harlem star and Syracuse defensive end Josh Black recently made the decision to return to college for one more football season — and to get his Master's degree. Listen to Josh talk about his reasons for returning, his hopes for the future, and his NFL aspirations on this week's podcast.

Former East and RVC star Madi Hecox has battled back from heart surgery — for a heart ailment that she discovered by chance when her new school happened to test her — and just had her first double-double for her new team, Southeastern University out of Lakeland, Florida. Now Hecox is finding ways to help others who may suffer from the same issues she dealt with as well as starring on the basketball court. Hear her story here.

Charley Kurlinkus won the high jumping state championship while a student-athlete at Hononegah, and now he's an emergency room doctor in Sacramento, California. But when he's not working, he's soaring through the air as one of the world's top BASE jumpers. He talks about both sides of his life as this week's guest on "Not Just a Game."

Former Freeport Pretzel stars Steve, Vance and Deion McShane sit down together with host Jay Taft and talk about what they've all been through this past year — as well as having a few laughs. Steve is rehabbing a torn Achilles tendon from his short stint in the XFL, while Vance and Deion have decided to forgo the track and field season so they can play spring football at Saint Xavier and Northern Iowa, respectively.

Senior left tackle Vederian Lowe, a former Auburn standout, talks about playing college football during COVID-19, why the Fighting Illini stumbled early in the season, and what he thinks it's going to take for Illinois to finish strong as this week's guest on the podcast, "Not Just a Game."

It's Black Friday. Shoppers were cued up before sunrise outside some chain stores in Rockford to take part in discounts and deals on their favorite items. 

Here's the Almonasi family walking out of the GameStop with two new PlayStation 5 game consoles.

Register Star reporter Shaquil Manigault has more on this story, on our website at www.rrstar.com.

Produced by Scott P. Yates / Rockford Register Star

Former Harlem standout Ben Black has worked his way up the coaching ranks the past five years and is now a graduate assistant working with the defensive line at Indiana University. The Hoosiers are on a historic run, even after losing by one touchdown to Ohio State last weekend, and Black is right in the thick of things. His younger brother Josh Black is a defensive lineman at Syracuse, and Ben and Josh talk "almost daily" as well.

As the holidays approach, public health officials and doctors say they anticipate a fresh coronavirus surge after Thanksgiving if people don’t shelter in place. Their message to Rockfordians and residents of northern Illinois, is to stay home - and wear a mask if outside travel is necessary.  

Dr. James Cole, surgeon-in-chief at SwedishAmerican, discussed the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases he is seeing now – and that he expects to see after the holidays, and what impact that may have on the readiness of the hospital systems and healthcare workers. 

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday reported 15,415 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in the state, including 27 additional deaths. 

As of Friday afternoon, IDPH reported a total of 551,957 cases since the pandemic began, including 10,504 deaths. Winnebago County has recorded a total of 14,421 cases and 206 deaths.  

Rockford Register Star reporter Andrea Watson has more of this story on our website at https://www.rrstar.com/news/20201113/winnebago-county-health-experts-fear-covid-19-surge-tied-to-holidays

Green Bay Packers' fifth-year starting defensive lineman Dean Lowry joins Jay Taft on this week's "Not Just a Game" podcast to talk about COVID-19, the Packers, and their matchup with Jacksonville on Sunday. Former Rockford Lutheran star James Robinson is the Jaguars' starting running back, and Lowry, the former Rockford Boylan stud, hopes to be helping to corral him in their showdown at Lambeau Field.