College Notebook | Sandburg grad Oblena has big season for Illinois-Chicago volleyball
By Mike Walsh
Correspondent
Illinois-Chicago women’s volleyball player Jaclyn Oblena was one of two Flames named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team.
Oblena, a Sandburg graduate, was named to the First Team.
Oblena, a junior libero, appeared in all but one set this season for the Flames, leading the team with 394 digs (3.46 per set) while finishing third in assists (77) and tied for fourth in aces (18). The defensive specialist picked up a season-high 24 digs in UIC’s regular-season finale against Valparaiso and had 10 or more digs in 21 contests.
Yay for Ray
St. Ambrose senior running back Ray Bouye III was named the recipient of the Bob Jurevitz Award for the 2022 season by the Fighting Bees’ football program.
Bouye, a St. Rita alum, rushed for 308 yards and a pair of touchdowns this season. He finished his college career with 819 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Bouye’s name will be etched on a plaque inside the Lee Lohman Arena lobby. The plaque is updated every year and lists all recipients of the award.
The annual award is named after Bob Jurevitz, a former St. Ambrose great who passed away in November 2011 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is presented to a Bees football player, selected by St. Ambrose football coaching staff and the Jurevitz family, who best exemplifies the characteristics Jurevitz displayed both on and off the gridiron.
Another Famous Flame
UIC men’s soccer player Andres Moreno was selected to the fall 2022 Missouri Valley Conference’s scholar-athlete team in his respective sport.
The senior midfielder, a Morton graduate, achieved a 3.63 GPA.
On the pitch, he appeared in 15 matches for the Flames in 2022, making eight starts. Moreno finished with seven points this season, tallying three goals and one assist.
A Stirn Example
Elina Stirn, a junior at Earlham College, qualified for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s 2022 Tom Bohlsen Fall Academic Team.
Stirn, a Lyons alum who runs cross country for the Quakers, is one of 31 athletes and five cross country runners from Earlham who qualified.
To qualify, student-athletes must be in their second year of school and have at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA.
A Thrill for Thill
Youngstown State’s Cody Thill was lauded as the Horizon League’s Diver of the Week for the period ending Dec. 7.
Thill, a junior who graduated from Sandburg, finished 11th in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives at the Miami (Ohio) Invitational. He scored a 235.95 in the 3-meter dive after scoring a 247 in prelims. In the 1-meter, he scored a 231.35 in finals after finishing the prelims with a score of 244.40.
Local News
‘They made us look like fools’
Spread the loveParents furious over one-two stumble by CPS By Tim Hadac As Chicago Public Schools were set to re-open earlier this week, parents of CPS students were still fuming over what most seemed to see as a two-part stumble by district administrators. “We did exactly what they asked of us, and they made us…
Toasting 2022 with champagne and herring
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com Hello everyone. So, the holidays are over. How did you celebrate? I love Christmas because I get to see family, some of whom I haven’t laid eyes on since Christmas 2019. New Year’s is a much quieter celebration. I have…
Girls Basketball: Sandburg falls to LW Central in champ game of Holiday Tournament
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Two years ago, a group of promising freshmen were bumped up to the varsity at Sandburg, joining an already stellar sophomore in Erin O’Connell. The team went through some growing pains in 2019-20 but flirted with 20 wins, finishing 19-12. Then there were some pains of playing an abbreviated…
St. Rita takes 5th at Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent St. Rita’s youth was evident in some mistakes the Mustangs made down the stretch in the fifth-place game of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic. But the Mustangs’ talent won out in the end. Sophomore guard Jaedin Reyna went coast-to-coast and scored on a drive to the basket with 2.5…
Murphy joins Schofield on U.S. women’s hockey team
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Abbey Murphy lists Kendall Coyne Schofield as her sports role model. Now, she will be a teammate of Schofield on the biggest stage for women’s hockey. Team USA Hockey announced its Olympic roster over the weekend and two-time medal winner Schofield, a native of Palos Heights and a Sandburg…
Richards principal walks 24 hours for a cause
Spread the loveRaises $20,000 for student scholarships By Kelly White Most people spend New Year’s Day relaxing. Richards High School Principal Dr. Mike Jacobson spent it on the treadmill. For the second year in a row, Jacobson inspired generous donations of more than $20,000 on New Year’s Day by walking 24 hours on a treadmill…
Students help design new District 230 logo
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva District 230 has a new logo. Students Tina Alkayed (Sandburg), Nycholas Golla (Stagg) and Trinity Walker (Andrew) teamed with Director of Communications Carla Erdey and Five Star Design branding specialist Laura Gilarski to work on the logo, which was unveiled at the Dec. 16 board meeting at Sandburg. “It’s a…
Praise Biden for naming blacks to the bench
Spread the loveBy Ben Jealous One of the most important reasons to vote Donald Trump out of the White House was to stop him from packing our federal courts with even more anti-voting-rights, anti-equality, pro-corporate judges. Stopping the flood of bad Trump judges was a huge accomplishment for every organizer and voter who helped elect Joe Biden as…
Our youth need to learn patriotism
Spread the loveBy William O. Lipinski Back in the 1960s, long before I ran for alderman of the 23rd Ward or the U.S. Congress, I was working in the recreation department of the Chicago Park District. It was the time of the Vietnam War. I had just completed my six years in the Army reserves and…
Neighbors
After 9 months, state data begins to detail new pretrial detention system
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois, the state is taking its first steps in publishing the data that crafters of the bail reform law saw as essential to judging its effectiveness. The data shows that judges in the 75 counties served by the Illinois Supreme Court’s…
ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS: Pritzker keeps economic development at forefront in exclusive interview
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com With fiscal year 2025 slated to begin Monday, Gov. JB Pritzker continues to tout available state tax incentives and promote Illinois as a site for business development. On the season finale of “Illinois Lawmakers” this week, Pritzker pointed to a pair of developments in East Alton and Normal…
Pritzker calls SCOTUS emergency abortion ruling ‘small respite’ as state protections await his signature
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Abortion remains legal as an emergency medical procedure in Idaho, for now, after a Thursday U.S. Supreme Court ruling, while a bill that would cement those protections in Illinois law awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature. The 6-3 decision saw the three liberal justices concur with the order. Three…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…
SCOTUS ruling could upend federal corruption cases for Madigan, allies
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the scope of a federal bribery law prosecutors have relied on in their cases against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and several of his allies convicted of bribing him. A jury last spring found those allies – former lobbyists and…
Quantum technology companies set for big tax incentives under new law
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday gave final approval to a plan to bolster the state’s tech industry, including an incentives package – backed by $500 million in the state budget – aimed at making Illinois the nation’s leader in quantum computing. The package also expands tax…
Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…
Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois law banning the sale and use of “bump stocks” and other devices that increase the firing power of semiautomatic weapons remains in place, at least for now, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday striking down a federal ban on such items. “Illinois law…
Another Choate Mental Health Center employee indicted for abuse of resident
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com Another caregiver at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna is facing charges for abusing a patient. A grand jury indicted Joseph A. Clark, 24, of Grand Chain, on a felony charge of aggravated battery and a misdemeanor charge of battery. Clark pinned a Choate resident to…
State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death. But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than…