Illinois
Like it or not, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. is back on the court and already dominating again
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25240674/1950583257.jpg "Like it or not, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. is back on the court and already dominating again")
Social media is teeming with (ahem) legal experts who won’t wait for Terrence Shannon Jr.’s criminal case to play out before rendering their verdicts about whether Illinois’ star guard has any business being back on the basketball court.
Some were outraged by his presence in an 86-63 victory Sunday against Rutgers in Champaign. Shannon, 23, is facing a rape charge in Kansas and was suspended by Illinois for six games until a U.S. District Court judge ruled Friday that the school had violated his civil rights and granted a preliminary injunction that allowed for his immediate reinstatement.
Many others — Illini fans, naturally — have piled in to defend Shannon’s due process. Some of these folks even are going so far as to proclaim Shannon’s innocence, despite the tiny fact they have utterly no idea what’s true or isn’t about the case.
Either way, a preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 23. And — for the time being, at least — Shannon, one of the best players in the country, is back at it.
‘‘I am grateful for the opportunity to rejoin my teammates and get back to work,’’ Shannon tweeted Friday.
Against the Scarlet Knights, the 6-6 Chicago native came out flying, reminding all those watching of why the No. 14 Illini (14-4) are strong enough, when whole, to give favorite Purdue a run for the Big Ten championship money.
The first two times Shannon touched the ball after coming off the bench a little more than two minutes into the game he raced up the open floor on breaks and fed teammate Coleman Hawkins for dunks. Shannon made his first bucket on a one-on-two break. One possession after that, the lefty drove and scored over — count ’em — three defenders. Later, he converted a three-point play off the break and scored his final two points on an emphatic dunk to end with 16 points in 28 minutes.
Shannon, who shot 10 free throws, has the giddy-up that few Illini players of recent vintage — Dee Brown, Ayo Dosunmu — have had. Without him, the Illini are a tough out in the Big Ten. With him, they have Final Four potential.
‘‘It’s amazing,’’ said guard Justin Harmon, who led the Illini with 18 points. ‘‘It just makes the whole team feel whole again because we’ve got our best player back.’’
For now, they do. For how long, we’ll see. As to whether he should be out there, well, it’s certainly more complicated than the pretend experts say. . . .
Who’s going to win the men’s national championship? Anybody. Or maybe everybody.
With No. 10 Memphis losing Sunday at Tulane, there now have been 22 losses by top-10 teams on the road against unranked opponents this season. According to ESPN, that’s the most through January in the Associated Press poll era, which dates to the late 1940s. That should tell you how up for grabs this nutty season is. . . .
Wake up and smell the coffee Loyola is brewing. After winning Saturday at Fordham, the Ramblers are 13-6 overall and 5-1 in the Atlantic 10. It’s a gigantic improvement from a season ago — their first in the A-10 — when they started 0-6 in league play on the way to finishing alone in 15th (last) place. And that doesn’t even paint a picture of how awful it was because each of those six losses was by double digits and most were blowouts.
Transfers Des Watson and Dame Adelekun have — along with the vast improvement of Jayden Dawson — ignited a team that is far from spectacular but leads the conference in assists and defensive rebounding. The backbone is strong. . . .
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark scored 45 points in a loss to Ohio State in overtime.
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
It was a treat Sunday to get the Caitlin Clark Show as an NBC lead-in to Buccaneers-Lions. Iowa lost at Ohio State in overtime, but Clark scored 45 points. She’s on track to move into third place all-time on the women’s career scoring list a couple of games from now at Northwestern. It won’t take more than a handful after that for her to pass former Washington star Kelsey Plum for first. . . .
Indiana’s men’s teams have lost 20 games in a row at Wisconsin, which has to be the craziest streak in college basketball. Some of us went to school in Madison as the pitiful Badgers were dropping 31 in a row to the once-mighty Hoosiers. . . .
A tip of the headband to the NBA for its ‘‘65-game rule,’’ which requires players to appear in at least that many games to qualify for All-NBA, MVP and other individual honors. Next time someone half your age barks about how lame players used to be, let them know that All-Stars in the Jordan era missed an average of about 10 games apiece and that the number swelled to about 14 games in the 2000s, 18 games in the 2010s and an unconscionable 24 games this decade — until now. . . .
The Bulls’ Zach LaVine, on the other hand, already has missed 18 games, leaving him with a max played of 64. In case anyone was wondering about his MVP chances. . . .
There’s sappy sentimentality, then there’s St. Louis, where MLB’s Cardinals just signed 38-year-old Matt Carpenter — who played there in 2011-21 — to a one-year deal. What, were Ray Lankford and Tom Pagnozzi too busy? . . .
Nothing is funnier than Alabama football fans (many of them fanboy media types) whining about ‘‘tampering’’ as opposing schools raid the roster for transfers, which is allowed when there’s a coaching change.
As if Alabama didn’t tamper at world-record levels in working with super-agent Jimmy Sexton as his client Nick Saban was preparing to step down. Who quickly got Saban’s former job? Sexton client Kalen DeBoer of Washington. Who was on the supposed list of candidates and got raises to stay where they were? Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, also Sexton clients. Nice work if you can get it. . . .
Such a shame about the Packers losing 24-21 to the 49ers in the divisional round as rookie Anders Carlson missed his 13th kick of the season. See? Forget quarterbacks. The Bears will take their Cairo Santos edge at the all-important kicker position, thank you very much. . . .
My ballot for the new AP Top 25, which comes out Monday: 1. UConn, 2. Purdue, 3. Houston, 4. North Carolina, 5. Kentucky, 6. Tennessee, 7. Auburn, 8. Kansas, 9. Illinois, 10. Wisconsin, 11. Oklahoma, 12. Duke, 13. Marquette, 14. Utah State, 15. Baylor, 16. Creighton, 17. Memphis, 18. Texas Tech, 19. New Mexico, 20. Dayton, 21. Colorado State, 22. San Diego State, 23. Florida Atlantic, 24. BYU, 25. Seton Hall.
Millions of asylum seekers have been impacted as caseloads have grown
A general crackdown on immigration courts the administration sees as liberal has led to the firing of dozens of immigration judges.
Recent polls show President Donald Trump’s approval ratings continue to dip as the war in Iran endures and national gas prices float above $4.
One such poll conducted by CNN/SSRS illustrates widespread upset among Americans with regards to Trump’s handling of the economy and inflation. Here’s how Trump’s approval ratings look nationally and within Illinois, as of April 20.
Donald Trump approval rating: CNN
Only 31% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the economy, compared to 39% in January 2026, according to the poll.
The decline in approval on the issue is even higher among Republicans, especially Republicans under 45 years old, according to CNN.
In the poll, President Donald Trump received his worst approval rating yet in either of his two terms on the economy.
CNN findings show about two-thirds of Americans say Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions, and 27% say they approve of Trump’s handling of inflation.
CNN also reported 63% of Americans say the prices at the pump have caused financial hardship in their household, including 15% calling it “severe.”
The poll, conducted March 26-30 among 1,201 U.S. adults, found 35% approve of Trump’s job performance overall. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
One poll respondent told CNN and the pollster about the most important issue facing the country: “Prices! Everything is so expensive. Makes it very difficult to do anything other than work and go home. Trips to the grocery store are ridiculous! Between gas and grocery prices, we are poor!”
Trump addressed the concerns about gas prices in his address to the nation on April 1, saying the Strait of Hormuz would reopen when the conflict was over and the prices would fall again.
Trump reaffirmed his promise about the strait on April 18, saying his administration had “very good conversations going on” with Iran after the country said the strait would not be reopened.
Donald Trump approval rating in Illinois: Civiqs
Trump’s job approval rating in Illinois, as of April 18, according to data from online survey platform Civiqs, is as follows:
- Approve — 32%.
- Disapprove — 65%.
- Neither — 4%.
Donald Trump national approval rating: Civiqs
Trump’s national approval rating as of April 13, according to data from Civiqs, is as follows:
- Approve — 39%.
- Disapprove — 57%.
- Neither — 4%.
Donald Trump approval rating in Illinois: The Economist
Trump has a -36% net approval rating in Illinois as of April 20, according to data from The Economist.
Donald Trump national approval rating: The Economist
Trump’s national approval rating as of April 20, according to data from The Economist, is as follows:
- Approve — 38%.
- Disapprove — 56%.
- Don’t know — 7%.
Trump, Iran War approval rating: Pew Research Center
A Pew Research study conducted in mid-March found that about six-in-ten Americans (61%) approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict in Iran, with 39% approving.
A report released in early April found that the largest concern for most Americans as a result of the conflict is higher gas prices, with 69% saying they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the issue.
Other Trump approval rating polls as of April 20
Here is a look at some other polling aggregators to understand how CNN/SSRS’s poll compares to the average Trump approval numbers as of April 20:
RealClearPolitics Poll Average: 41.2% approve, 56.6% disapprove.
The New York Times: 40% approve, 56% disapprove.
Silver Bulletin: 39.7% approve, 56.4% disapprove.
Which president has the lowest approval rating ever?
Although Trump has dropped to a historic low in approval rating polls this term so far, he hit a 34% low in the first term and other recent presidents such as Joe Biden hit a 36% low, Barack Obama hit a 40% low, George W. Bush hit a 25% low and Bill Clinton hit a 37% low, according to the Gallup polls, whose recorded lowest rating was Harry Truman with 22%.
As for the highest presidential approval ratings, George W. Bush holds the highest approval rating ever recorded at 90%, while his father, George H. Bush holds the second highest at 89%.
Trump is the only president that has not reached a 50% or higher approval to date in the Gallup polls’ history.
CENTRALIA, Ill. – An investigation is underway after multiple people were shot Sunday in Centralia, Illinois, according to a report from WFCN News in southern Illinois.
FOX 2 has confirmed the Illinois State Police is investigating a shooting and taking over the investigation, but ISP could not confirm many further details as of 9 p.m. Sunday.
“The investigation is in its infancy and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no additional details will be released at this time,” ISP said in a statement to FOX 2.
According to WFCN News, the shooting happened around 5 p.m. near the 900 block of East Kell Street in Centralia. Multiple law enforcement agencies have since responded to scene and multiple victims are hospitalized, according to the report.
It’s unclear how many people may have been injured and what led up to the shooting.
Centralia, Illinois is about 70 miles, or just over an hour, east of St. Louis.
This is a developing story. FOX 2 will update as more information becomes available.
The National Weather Service has teams of storm surveryors in the field April 18 investigating several reports of severe storms and tornado touch downs across eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and northeast Missouri.
According to the weather service’s website, windgusts of up to 60 to 70 mph along with teacup-sized hail and several tornadoes were reported April 17.
Many homes and outbuildings were damaged, trees were uprooted and power lines were downed in Lena, Illinois, where the most significant damage occurred, the site pointed out.
Very strong winds also were reported near Washington, Iowa, and Colmar, Illinois, where several outbuildings and grain bins were destroyed.
The weather service received reports of confirmed and possible tornadoes in the areas of Lena, Pecatonica, Shirland, Rockton, Roscoe and Capron.
The teams will be assessing damage this weekend into next week along with county emergency management teams to determine what types of storms occurred and their paths.
Dozens of power outages were reported, as well.
As of the afternoon of April 18, ComEd was reporting 85 active power outages across northern Illinois, down from 241 on April 17, and 6,751 customers affected, down from more than 18,000.
The bulk of those outages and the most customers impacted are concentrated in Jo Daviess and Stephenson counties.
-
World3 minutes agoDeadly shooting at historic tourist site leaves one dead, several injured as motive unclear
-
Politics9 minutes agoSoros-linked dark money network fuels Virginia redistricting push backed by national Democrats
-
Health15 minutes agoDeaths from one type of cancer are surging among younger adults without college degrees
-
Sports21 minutes agoStephen A. Smith makes brutal gaffe while talking about the Golden State Warriors
-
Technology27 minutes ago6 crypto scam scripts criminals use to steal your money
-
Business33 minutes agoTim Cook steps back as Apple appoints hardware chief as new CEO
-
Entertainment39 minutes agoEddie Murphy’s son and Martin Lawrence’s daughter welcome first child: ‘That baby gonna be funny!’
-
Lifestyle45 minutes agoBoF and Marriott Luxury Group Host the Luxury Leaders Salon