Illinois
Off Podium Empire: Illinois Fighting Illini
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Illinois Fighting Illini
Ah, my beloved Fighting Illini. For how solid our track and field team has been recently, I’m a little surprised to not have more names here. But the double golf Belgians does fit our history as a golf school. Let’s get to it.
Who’s on the roster?
Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Golf. Belgium.
Jordyn Poulter, Volleyball. USA.
Rajeev Ram, Tennis. USA.
Thomas Detry, Golf. Belgium.
Rose Yeboah, Track and Field. Ghana.
Any previous Olympics experience?
Yep! Thomas Detry tied for 22nd at the Tokyo games, Jordyn Poulter won gold in 2020, and Rajeev Ram snagged a silver in 2016 (with his doubles partner Serena Williams (!!!)), although he didn’t make the podium in 2020. Lots of experience on this small Illini delegation.
Best chance for a medal?
The women’s volleyball team looks pretty stacked this cycle. I think Poulter is a good bet to win a second gold, along with the tons of B1G alums on that team. Rose Yeboah won the NCAA high jump championship just earlier this summer. Her winning jump would have placed 5th in the 202One Olympics. That’s a pretty good start. I could see both medaling.
Who’s the school’s most famous Olympic alum?
I’m thinking this is Deron Williams. Two-time gold medalist in 2008 (as part of the Redeem Team) and in 2012.
But who’s the most interesting?
I actually wrote about this earlier this summer! Harold Osborn won gold in the high jump and the decathlon in 1924, 100 years ago exactly. He was a world champion, a record breaker, and still smashing high jumps at the age of 45. After his career, he settled down and taught at Champaign High School, coaching another generation of track and field stars.
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Illinois
Illinois landlord charged with 2023 hate crime and murder of Palestinian American boy set for trial
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The trial of a suburban Chicago landlord accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in a 2023 attack on a Palestinian American woman and her young son is set to start Tuesday.
Joseph Czuba, 73, is charged in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14, 2023. Authorities said the family was targeted because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 with a Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Opening statements start Tuesday morning in a trial that is expected to last about a week.
Czuba has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and other charges. His defense attorney, George Lenard, declined to comment before the end of the trial.
The attack on the family in Plainfield, nearly 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, has renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination in the Chicago area’s large and established Palestinian community. The proceedings also come amid rising hostility against Muslims and Palestinians in the U.S. since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
“We firmly pray and hope that Mr. Czuba will be locked up for the rest of his life, so we can send a message that hate crimes against anyone on the basis of their religion and national origin are not tolerated,” Joe Milburn, a staff attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told reporters Monday ahead of jury selection.
Prosecutors allege Czuba became increasing paranoid about the war because of listening to commentary on conservative talk radio. Shaheen told police that Czuba was upset over the war and attacked them after she had urged him to “pray for peace.”
The boy — whose name was initially spelled Wadea Al-Fayoume by authorities — was stabbed 26 times. Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
The murder charge in the indictment against Czuba describes the boy’s death as the result of “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior.” Czuba remained detained with prosecutors arguing that Czuba was a danger to Shaheen and others.
Hundreds attended the boy’s janazah, or funeral service, where the boy was remembered as kind and into sports and Legos.
Separately, the father of the boy, who is divorced from Shaheen and did not live at the home, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Illinois
Murder trial to begin for Illinois man charged in fatal stabbing of Palestinian American boy
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The trial for the Illinois man charged in the fatal 2023 stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in what prosecutors call a hate crime is set to begin in Will County on Monday.
Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of stabbing Wadea Al-Fayoume to death and seriously injuring the boy’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32. He has been charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crime in connection with the attack.
Czuba pleaded not guilty to the charges in October 2023. He was ordered detained until trial.
Wadea was stabbed 26 times and died in the hospital. Shahin was seriously injured after she was stabbed more than a dozen times as she called for help and tried to protect her son, investigators have said.
The stabbings occurred on Oct. 14, 2023, days after the Hamas attack on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed around 250 taken hostage, according to the country’s officials. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave.
The attack was investigated as an anti-Muslim hate crime. Prosecutors have said Czuba targeted the mother and son because of their Muslim faith.
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The day after the attack, then-President Joe Biden denounced the stabbings.
“The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek — a refuge to live, learn and pray in peace,” he said at the time.
George D. Lenard, the public defender representing Czuba, said by phone Thursday night that he does not comment on cases while they are pending.
Shahin and her son rented rooms from Czuba at his home in Plainfield Township, Illinois, about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.
Czuba’s wife told investigators that days before the attack, her husband said he wanted Shahin and her son to “move out of the home.” That same day, Czuba confronted Shahin about the situation in the Middle East, according to court documents.
Just before he attacked her, Czuba told Shahin “he was angry at her for what was going on” in Israel, Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Fitzgerald wrote in the petition requesting that Czuba be detained.
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Shahin “stated she responded to him ‘let’s pray for peace,’” and that “Czuba gave her no chance to do anything” before he attacked her with a knife, according to the petition.
Family friend Yousef Hannon told NBC News at the time that Shahin didn’t expect Czuba would hurt her son because he had been like a grandfather to Wadea and had even built him a tree house.
“The child, when he saw Czuba, ran to him for a hug and instead was stabbed 26 times,” Hannon said.
Czuba’s wife, Mary Czuba, told investigators that her husband had become obsessed with the war between Israel and Hamas, authorities have said.
Shahin told police she had been texting Czuba’s wife earlier that week about his “hatred for Muslims.”
Illinois
Commission to explore Illinois-Indiana land exchange one step closer to reality
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A bill aiming to explore the possibility of a land exchange between Illinois and Indiana took a step closer to reality in the Indiana legislature.
The bill, which would establish an “Indiana-Illinois boundary adjustment commission,” passed on a party-line vote in the House on Thursday, and was referred to the state’s Senate on Friday.
That legislation comes as more than 30 Illinois counties have passed referendums expressing a desire to explore the possibility of severing ties with Illinois over what they believe to be a stark difference in values and ideals from those of Cook County, where a plurality of the state’s population resides and most of the state’s political power is centered.
The Indiana bill was authored by House Speaker Todd Huston, and passed through committee and the full House last week.
“To all of our neighbors in the west, we hear your frustrations and invite you to join us in low-cost, low-tax Indiana,” Huston has said, according to the Indianapolis Star.
The language of the bill would create a commission made up of five representatives from Indiana and five from Illinois, and would be tasked with evaluating the boundary between the two states, and whether states that want to leave Illinois would be permitted to be added into Indiana.
Even if Indiana passes the bill and Gov. Mike Braun signs it, Illinois would have to pass similar legislation, which is not considered likely given the state’s Democratic Party majority in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker dismissed talk of Indiana taking counties from Illinois as a “stunt.”
“It’s not going to happen, he recently said. “But I’ll just that say Indiana is a low-wage state that doesn’t protect workers, a state that does not provide health care for people when they’re in need and so I don’t think it’s very attractive for anybody in Illinois.”
In previous election cycles, more than 30 Illinois counties have evaluated non-binding referendums over the question of whether they would explore separating from Cook County and forming their own state. All of those counties have approved the measure, including Iroquois County, which is located roughly 75 miles south of Chicago.
The reasoning behind the referendums, according to supporters, is that the city of Chicago and Cook County have a sizable impact on the policies enacted by the state legislature, and rural counties share different interests that are not being represented by the actions of the General Assembly.
Many legal experts have expressed skepticism that such an effort would be successful on numerous fronts. To start, Illinois and Indiana legislators would both have to agree on territory that would move between the two states, and if that agreement were to be reached, the U.S. Congress would have to approve the move, as it has final say over all border debates between states.
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