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Suburban English teacher creates space for empathy and for students to be themselves

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

OAK LAWN, Ill. — WGN’s November Teacher of the Month is a high school English teacher in the southwest suburbs.Students say Mrs. Shatha Odeh is fun and relatable and she’s building genuine bonds in the classroom.At Oak Lawn Community High School, Mrs. Shatha Odeh has been teaching English for more than 20 years.One of her own teachers planted the seed.“Her name is Katy Cunningham. She’s at Reavis High School and she’s still there,” she said. “And I wanted to be just like her — touch students, connect with students, make them want to learn. And I thought it was such a beautiful art - the art of teaching.”Odeh says the art of teaching branches out well beyond the subject matter to delivery and relationship building. “As educators we have to find ways to keep their attention and keep them interested,” she said.It’s why she taps into TikTok, sharing unpublished videos with reviews and reminders for students. Nominated a teacher here! Senior Ava Johnson was in Odeh’s class, last s...

Former freshman All-American, 1st-team All-MAC wide receiver from South Suburbs hits the transfer portal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

DEKALB, Ill. — A wide receiver who played high school football in the southern suburbs and earned both freshman All-American and First Team All-Mid American Conference (MAC) honors, has hit the transfer portal, according to a post on X Tuesday.Trayvon Rudolph, who played football at Crete-Monee High School from 2016-19, announced his intent to enter the transfer portal after spending three seasons at Northern Illinois University.NIU wideout and return man and former @CreteMoneeFB standout Trayvon Rudolph entering the transfer portal. https://t.co/RCmqt2m3AF— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) November 28, 2023Rudolph was a freshman All-American in 2020 and a First Team All-MAC selection by Pro Football Focus in 2021, his best season with the Huskies, where he caught 49 passes for 877 receiving yards (17.9 yards-per-catch) and seven touchdowns. Rudolph also returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and scored a rushing touchdown in 2021.Originally a walk-on before earning a schola...

Fighting Illini's Jer'Zhan Newton cleans house at Big Ten Awards

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Jer'Zhan Newton, the University of Illinois' star defensive tackle, took home top honors in just about every category he qualified for during Big Ten awards season, the conference announced on Tuesday.Newton was voted the Nagurski-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Smith-Brown Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year by conference coaches and media. Newton is the fourth Illini in history to earn the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award, joining Dana Howard (1993, 1994), Darrick Brownlow (1990), and Moe Gardner (1990).Newton was also voted a First Team All-Big Ten selection by coaches and media.One of the most disruptive players in the nation, Newton led Power-5 defensive tackles in quarterback pressures for the second straight season in 2023, according to PFF. His 44 pressures this season leads all Big Ten defensive tackles by 15, and he also led Big Ten defensive tackles in sacks with 7.5, which ranked second overall in the conference. Over th...

Charges filed against man accused of shooting Bedford Park officer

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

BEDFORD PARK, Ill. — Charges have been filed against a man accused of shooting a Bedford Park police officer after he and another man allegedly attempted to steal a car on Sunday.According to Bedford Park police, 24-year-old Raul Perez is facing one count of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, one count of attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking, and an armed habitual criminal charge. FBI agents offer reward for information on man who attempted to rob banks in Chicago Police say the charges stem from an alleged shooting that took place after an altercation broke out between him and a Bedford Park police officer.According to police, officers responded to reports of a crash in the 6700 block of South Archer Road around 3:40 p.m. and found an unoccupied vehicle that was heavily damaged. Police then determined that the vehicle had been reported as stolen in a carjacking in Chicago.Police say after reviewing surveillance video, two men were seen fleeing the scene of the...

David Braun wins Big Ten COTY, 6 other Cats take home honors

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern University head football coach David Braun was voted Big Ten Coach of the Year by conference coaches and media Tuesday, and six other Northwestern football players took home all-conference honors.Braun earned the honor unanimously from coaches and media after leading the Wildcats to a 7-5 regular season record (5-4 in Big Ten) in his first season at the helm. His seven wins are the most by a Northwestern first-year head football coach since 1903, while his five conference wins are the most by any first-year Wildcat head coach, and represent the first time a Big Ten team has gone from one overall win to a winning record in conference since Iowa did so back in 1968.Northwestern's six-win improvement from 2022 to 2023 is the largest win improvement by any FBS team this season. Since 2000, the Wildcats are one of just five teams to win six or more games the year after finishing 1-11. Braun's seven wins are tied with Coastal Carolina's Tim Beck for the most ...

Are immigration issues making voters more conservative?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

(NewsNation) — The migrant crisis came into sharper relief on the national front over the past year after governors from border states began bussing hundreds of thousands of migrants to traditionally blue "sanctuary cities" like New York, Chicago, Denver and others, plunging them into crisis in turn. The result has been a shifting of political sentiment as local Democratic leaders spar with President Joe Biden over the handling of the border. In a statement that was surprising for a Democratic elected official, New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned back in September the migrant crisis would "destroy" his city. The city, at that point, had spent about $2 billion caring for the migrants and projected spending $12 billion by 2025 if there was no federal funding. The mayor even refused to meet with Biden amid repeated requests for federal aid and more recently announced widespread budget cuts as the city continues to grapple with an increasingly expensive migrant crisis. A similar situa...

Man arrested after attacking another man on wheelchair caused his death, APD says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A man was arrested after he was accused of attacking another man sitting in a wheelchair, which ultimately caused his death, according to the Austin Police Department.On Saturday, Nov. 18, the Austin Police Department responded to an "urgent check welfare call" in the 3500 block of Rogge Lane, according to an APD news release. The call to dispatch indicated a man was on the ground not breathing and CPR was in progress.Ronnie Green, 62 | Courtesy Austin Police DepartmentThat man was later identified as Baron Godwin, 68, according to police. Godwin was later pronounced dead at the scene. MAP: Where have Austin’s homicides occurred in 2023? Investigators arrived on the scene and believe "Godwin was on his wheelchair when he was attacked by Ronnie Green, which caused Godwin’s death," according to police. Green, 62, was arrested and charged with injury to the elderly, which is a third degree felony and was booked on a $50,000 bond.Anyone with any information should con...

Anthony Edwards injured as Timberwolves top Oklahoma City in matchup of West’s top teams

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

No, Minnesota won’t be in the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament quarterfinals. But they continue to set themselves up well for a potential legitimate playoff run come April. The Wolves wrapped up group play with an impressive 106-103 victory over Oklahoma City on Tuesday at Target Center.It was a game pitting the top two teams in the Western Conference standings, who are upstarts this season after meeting in the play-in round a year ago. Minnesota (13-4) gritted out Tuesday’s victory with a series of key offensive rebounds and timely buckets from Troy Brown Jr., who’s likely securing a rotational spot via his strong play whenever granted an opportunity.Brown Jr. hit a big triple with the shot clock winding down to put Minnesota up five in the final two minutes. Then he drove to the rack and finished to re-extend the lead to 103-98 with just 31.6 seconds to play.Five of Minnesota’s 19 second-chance points on the night came late in the contest.The Wolv...

Wild find their mojo, beat St. Louis 3-1 in first game under new coach John Hynes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

The Wild looked like a different team on Tuesday night. The question is whether it was just a sugar rush from a coaching change or the Wild have found a more permanent solution to their many issues.Joel Eriksson Ek, Freddy Gaudreau and Matt Boldy scored goals, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 22 shots as the Wild beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1, at Xcel Energy Center in their first game with new coach John Hynes on the bench.Hynes was introduced as the Wild’s new coach on Tuesday morning, just hours after Dean Evason was relieved of his duties in the wake of a seven-game losing streak. It appeared to get the players’ attention.Gaudreau and Jared Spurgeon earned their first points of the season, and Boldy scored his second goal of the season on a breakaway to make it 3-1 with 2 minutes, 52 seconds remaining.In addition, Minnesota’s beleaguered penalty kill — the NHL’s worst (23 goals, 66.7 percent heading into the game — was unscored upon in three chances. That included a 4-minute high-sti...

Small plane crashes into car on Brooklyn Park street; pilot and driver suffer only minor injuries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:09 GMT

The pilot of a small airplane and a car’s driver both escaped with minor injuries Tuesday after the plane crashed into the car in suburban Minneapolis.The accident happened just after 10:30 a.m. in Brooklyn Park. Police said it appeared that the plane was approaching Crystal Airport when it experienced a mechanical problem and lost power.The pilot tried to make an emergency landing on the street, striking power lines before reaching the ground and colliding with the car on Bottineau Boulevard, just north of Interstate 94.The 23-year-old pilot was alone in the single-engine plane and was treated at the scene for minor injuries, police said. The 32-year-old man driving on the roadway was alone in his vehicle and was taken to a hospital with what police described as minor injuries.The Federal Aviation Administration will conduct the initial investigation.Related ArticlesLocal News | State DFL senator will seek Dean Phillips’ congressional seat next year Local News...