Illinois
Illinois hires ex-Michigan strength coach involved in Howard incident
Jon Sanderson — a former Michigan basketball strength coach — has moved to another Big Ten program, assisting the Illinois men’s basketball team as a sports performance consultant, the Fighting Illini announced Thursday. The move comes less than two weeks after Sanderson officially parted ways with Michigan after 15 years following a Dec. 7 confrontation with Michigan head coach Juwan Howard.
The confrontation resulted in Sanderson no longer working with the Michigan men’s basketball program, but Sanderson spent the 12 weeks before his official departure working out of the athletic department’s south campus complex, primarily with some of the school’s Olympic sports teams.
His exit also came after reaching a settlement with Michigan, two sources briefed on the agreement said at the time. That agreement included a non-disclosure clause, the sources said.
The confrontation between Howard and Sanderson stemmed from a disagreement between an athletic trainer and senior guard Jace Howard, Juwan’s 22-year-old son. At the time, Jace Howard had missed the entire season with a stress fracture and questioned the training staff not yet clearing him to play.
On Dec. 8, according to documents obtained by The Athletic, Sanderson shared his version of events of what followed in an email to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel.
Sanderson wrote that Jace Howard “was berating” the trainer and caused a “scene” that prompted several players to stop and watch. Sanderson described the scene as “totally out of control,” and said the trainer was trying to calm Jace Howard down and get him to discuss the matter privately. Noticing the trainer looking increasingly desperate and “panicked,” Sanderson intervened, yelling at Howard from roughly 30 feet away: “You’re a student athlete and he is a professional. You don’t talk to a professional like that. That is disrespectful and entitled.” He said he repeated that the tirade was “disrespectful.”
Sanderson wrote in the email to Manuel that he tried to de-escalate the situation, turning his back and walking away. When Sanderson looked back, he said Juwan Howard came at him, “angry and ready to fight,” repeatedly yelling as players and staff held him back.
Sanderson wrote that players and staff were ultimately able to restrain Howard, after which the team started practice and Sanderson went to his office.
On Dec. 15, following an HR review, the university cleared Howard of any wrongdoing in the Sanderson incident. In a statement, Manuel said the university reviewed “an incident involving several individuals during a team practice,” and, “based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for anyone involved.”
Howard has never publicly shared his account of the event. He told reporters only to refer to Manuel’s statement, saying “I think it was clear. It was precise.”
Sanderson also levied additional complaints about the program’s culture under Howard unrelated to the Dec. 7 incident, a source briefed on the matter said.
Sanderson’s attorney deferred all questions to the university. A text message to Sanderson was not immediately returned.
Sanderson arrived at Michigan in 2009, joining John Beilein’s staff as strength and conditioning coach. He became a program mainstay, working with 17 NBA Draft picks, including 11 first-rounders. He was one of a few holdovers from Beilein’s staff when Howard was hired in 2019.
Mike Favre, Michigan’s strength and conditioning director, replaced Sanderson on the bench in December.
Illinois announced Sanderson’s new role on social media, writing, “Excited to have Jon Sanderson assisting our program as a sports performance consultant. We will utilize Jon’s industry expertise — which includes three Final Fours and developing 30 NBA players during his career — through conversations and meetings with our current staff to create a first in class performance development program.”
Michigan (8-24) fell to Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday. Illinois (23-8) faces Ohio State (20-12) on Friday in a quarterfinal matchup in the conference tournament.
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(Photo: Hannah Fountain / CameraSport via Getty Images)
Illinois
Thousands of birds could migrate over the Chicago area this week, and here’s how to protect them
Thousands upon thousands of birds are expected to cross over Illinois as part of their spring migrations in coming days.
Thursday night saw the highest migration totals of the season so far, but researchers at Cornell believe that Sunday and Monday nights could see even more avian traffic in the skies over the Chicago area, with hundreds of thousands of birds expected to traverse the area.
According to estimates from Birdcast, Sunday night and into Monday morning there could be “medium” activity for migrating birds, with thousands of birds per kilometer flying over the area.
Even more birds are expected to take flight Monday night and into Tuesday morning thanks to favorable weather conditions, with a “high” number of birds expected to take to the skies over the Chicago area.
According to estimates, up to 383 million birds could be in flight over the central United States during the peak of the migration overnight.
On Thursday night the Chicago area experienced its busiest night of the spring migration season so far, with more than 367,000 birds having been estimated to have passed over Cook County alone.
In all, more than 23,000,000 birds are believed to have crossed the state of Illinois so far during the spring migration.
Among the primary birds expected to be flying through the area are American Redstarts, Magnolia Warblers, Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings, according to researchers at the CornellLab.
As millions of birds continue visiting the Chicago area, here are some steps that residents can take to keep them safe.
When do birds typically migrate?
Peak migration for birds over the state of Illinois occurs in mid-to-late May, with hundreds of different species heading north for the summer breeding season.
Those migration flights for songbirds and other species typically take place in the overnight hours. According to experts, birds typically take flight 30-to-45 minutes after sunset, with the greatest number of birds in flight typically seen approximately two-to-three hours later.
When should residents turn lights off?
One of the best ways to help protect birds is to turn off lights during peak migration times.
According to Birdcast, the best time to turn off or dim exterior lights and interior lights is between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., when most birds are active.
Bright lights can disorient and attract birds, making them vulnerable to collisions and to predators on the ground, according to the website.
Hundreds of millions of birds are killed each year in collisions with buildings, and residents and businesses are being asked to do their part to keep the creatures safe.
In addition to turning off unneeded exterior lights, residents and businesses are also asked to dim or turn off lights in lobbies, and to draw blinds to help keep light from escaping through windows.
Finally, exterior lights should be aimed downward and be well-shielded so that birds aren’t attracted to them.
Are there other steps?
Another key step in protecting birds is to bring pet cats inside during overnight hours.
According to the American Bird Conservancy, cats kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds in the United States every year, and during migration season those impacts can be even more devastating, as exhausted birds typically seek refuge in plants and trees to rest on their journeys, making them vulnerable to attack.
Since cats like to hunt at night, active migrating birds can be a target, leading to experts asking residents to keep animals inside when possible.
Police are investigating after a motorcyclist was killed in a crash in suburban Oswego on Saturday afternoon.
Officers responded to the 4000 block of Route 34 near Wolf Road for the crash around 1:42 p.m. The motorcyclist was unconscious and was receiving CPR when officers arrived.
They took over medical care until paramedics arrived and took the victim, identified as a 20-year-old man, to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
The victim’s identity is being withheld pending an autopsy scheduled for Monday, police said.
Initial reports say the victim was traveling eastbound on Route 34 when he hit an enclosed trailer being towed by a van. According to the police, the van was also traveling eastbound and was attempting to make a right turn into a driveway when the crash occurred.
The driver and passenger in the van were not hurt, police said.
Route 34 was closed between Wolf Road and Boulder Hill Pass for four hours for crash reconstruction.
The crash remains under investigation pending completion of the traffic crash reconstruction report.
Illinois
Man arrested after barricading himself inside vape shop in Des Plaines, Illinois, police say
A man was arrested after police say he barricaded himself inside a business in Des Plaines on Saturday morning.
The incident happened just before 9 a.m. in the 1500 block of Rand Road.
Des Plaines police said officers responded to Vortex Vapes, located inside a strip mall in the 1500 block of Rand Road, just before 9 a.m. for a report of a suspect, a 26-year-old man from Des Plaines, armed with a box cutter, who confronted the shop employee.
The employee was able to escape the business, but the suspect stayed and barricaded himself inside, police said.
The Tactical Response Team responded to the business and arrested the suspect, who surrendered without incident.
The business was closed for about four hours. Police said the area is now safe for travel, and the business has since reopened.
This incident is still under investigation. Des Plaines police said they will provide additional information once it becomes available.
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