Area prep basketball scores for Tuesday

Here are recaps and scores from area girls and boys basketball games yesterday.

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Boys Basketball

Maroons fall in conference tilt to the Generals

Cayden Love had 14 points and nine rebounds in Central's loss at home to Decatur MacArthur (21-1). Sophomore Elijah Young stepped up as the team's second leading scorer with 12 points. Love and the Maroons (7-12) drop to 2-4 in conference play and play Manual on the road in Peoria on Friday.

Heritage misses victory in thriller

In their second meeting on the hardwood, hands down, Heritage played a better game against Tri-County, closing out regulation time tied at 67-all. In their game two weeks earlier, the Titans dominated the Hawks, 71-58. This time Heritage fell short by two, 72-74.

Senior Rylan White dropped a team-high 27 points with James Dillon (13 points) and Clark Roland (11 points) contributing heavily in the effort. White finished with 11 rebounds and Dillon snagged 10 of his own.

Unity beats Central Catholic on the road

KeShaun Manney's 29-point romp, the Rockets held the Saints to 17 points in the second half for another Illini Praire Conference victory, improving to 20-2 on the season.

Dane Eisenmenger scored 11 points in the second quarter, giving the Rockets a one-point deficit at the half. He finished the road game with 19 points and Coleton Langendorf was good for 18. Tre Hoggard finished with 11 much needed points, nine in the second half to help the team stay undefeated in conference play.

ALAH turn one-point lead to 11 at conference tourney

Seven players contributed to the Knights win over Villa Grove in Lincoln Prairie Conference tournament action on Tuesday. Will Hilligoss led the way for ALAH with 10 points. Marcus Otto and Cruz Hale finished with eight points each.

Hoopeston Area takes down Cissna Park

Junior Nick Cardenas led the Cornjerkers with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. JJ Martinez chipped in eight points and two steals. Senior Cole Miller five points and six boards in the home conference game. Improving to 10-11 on the season, Hoopeston goes on the road Friday to take on Bismarck-Henning.

Boys' Area Scoreboard

Illinois Valley Central 64, St. Joseph-Ogden 49
Unity 66, Bloomington Central Catholic 52
Bismarck-Henning 72, Watseka 22
Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 45, Villa Grove 34
St. Thomas More vs Prairie Central - not reported
Centennial vs Lanphier - not reported
MacArthur 65, Champaign Central 51
Tri-County 74, Heritage 72 (OT)
Oakwood 67, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 57
Pontiac 45, Rantoul 36
Mahomet-Seymour 65, Bloomington 55
Hoopeston Area 41, Cissna Park 38

Girls Basketball

Rantoul falls in lopsided affair to Pontiac

Josie Roseman scored 12 points and Erykah Baltimore added ten more in the Eagles loss to Pontiac. Rantou falls to 12-13 overall and 2-4 in Illini Prairie Conference.

Urbana suffers 8 consecutive loss

Lai'yonna Harper put 12 points on the scoreboard and collected five steals but it wasn't enough to help lift the Tigers over the visiting Trojans on Tuesday. After a nine-all first half, Charleston outscored Urbana 30-17 for a non-conference win.

Kaya Hill was credited with eight steals and finished with seven points in the Tigers' 12th consecutive loss this season.

Scoring drought sinks Spartans at IVC

A huge third-quarter rally by the Grey Ghosts dug a hole too deep for the Spartans climb out, resulting in a 64-43 loss.

Timera Blackburn-Kelley finished with nine points for SJO, while Atleigh Miller added another eight points in the conference loss. Seniors Katie Ericksen and Kayla Osterbur were held to just seven points each.

Rockets stunned by Saints

Bloomington Central Catholic held Unity scoreless in the fourth quarter of their conference game Tuesday on the way to a 64-18 win. Allison Emm led all scorers with 18 points. Emme Hurie finished with 16 points and pulled in 10 of the Saints 35 rebounds.

Girls' Area Scoreboard

Illinois Valley Central 64, St. Joseph-Ogden 43
Bloomington Central Catholic 64, Unity 18
Pontiac 67, Rantoul 39
Charleston 39, Urbana 26
Prairie Central 62, St. Thomas More 21

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Nationwide protests this weekend sparked by the deaths of Minnesota residents

This weekend's series of protests were inspired by demonstrations in the Minnesota and fueled by outrage over recent fatal shootings by federal agents.

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Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Demonstrators elicited honks from drivers passing them on Vine Street during last October's No Kings protest in Urbana. No local demonstrations are planned for this weekend's two protest over the recent deaths of Alex Pretti, Renée Good, Silverio Villegas González and Keith Porter Jr. perpetrated by ICE agents.

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URBANA - A wave of coordinated protests will sweep across the country this week as organizers push for a nationwide shutdown Friday, followed by demonstrations at federal facilities Saturday. The twin actions, organized by a coalition of immigrant rights groups, labor organizations and student associations is calling for a nationwide protest this week, aim to challenge immigration enforcement practices following the fatal shootings of four people by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Urging people to walk out of work and school and halt consumer spending as part of a coordinated challenge to federal immigration enforcement, a “National Shutdown,” is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 30, and calls for “no school, no work and no shopping,” according to organizers. A second day of demonstrations is planned for Saturday, Jan. 31, when protesters are expected to gather outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, ICE field offices, congressional offices and businesses connected to immigration enforcement under the banner “ICE Out of Everywhere.”

Organizers say the protests were inspired by demonstrations in the Twin Cities and fueled by outrage over recent fatal shootings involving federal agents, including the deaths of Alex Pretti, Renée Good, Silverio Villegas González and Keith Porter Jr. Protest leaders argue those incidents highlight what they describe as increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement tactics and a broader erosion of civil liberties.

“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country,” organizers wrote on the NationalShutdown.us website. “To stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to shut it down.”

Organizers framed the moment as a turning point. Calls for participation have spread across social media and online forums, including local subreddits promoting solidarity actions and encouraging residents to refrain from work, school and shopping on Friday. In one post shared on a California-based forum, participants cited Pretti as a “union brother” and described the planned shutdown as a response to what they called government overreach.

Nearly two dozen organizations have formally endorsed the National Shutdown, including the Somali Student Association, Ethiopian Student Association and Black Student Union at the University of Minnesota, the Graduate Labor Union at the University of Minnesota, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, IFCO Pastors for Peace and the ANSWER Coalition. Organizers say hundreds of additional groups, including state and local chapters of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, student organizations and faith-based groups, have expressed support.

The people of Minneapolis "have shown the way for the whole country," according to the NationalShutdown.us website, adding that to halt what they describe as "ICE's reign of terror," Americans must "shut it down."

On Saturday, the advocacy group 50501 is coordinating the “ICE Out of Everywhere” national day of action, which aims to pressure lawmakers to block Department of Homeland Security funding and pursue legislation to dismantle ICE and DHS. The group is also urging local businesses, hotels and service providers to refuse service to ICE, Customs and Border Protection and DHS agents, and is calling for boycotts of hotels that house federal immigration personnel during enforcement operations.

“Elected officials need to publicly take a stand,” 50501 said in a statement, calling for legislation that would permanently remove ICE from communities and reduce federal funding for immigration enforcement agencies.

Organizers say details about local demonstrations and participation opportunities are available at NationalShutdown.us, with additional resources for Saturday’s actions provided through the “ICE Out of Everywhere” campaign.

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AI innovation causes inequity concerns for Illinois' Black residents

Affordable access to education is critical for ensuring Black workers can participate in the AI-driven workforce. While the full scope of AI-related job displacement remains unclear, the environmental and health effects of data centers are already evident.

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Photo: Emiliano Vittoriosi/Unsplash

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by Judith Ruiz-Branch
Public News Service

As the nation prepares to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., concerns about the growth of artificial intelligence and its impact on communities of color is increasing.

Experts say AI will disproportionately affect Black workers through displacement and the environmental burden of data centers, which are more likely to be located in marginalized communities.

Keisha Bross, director of the NAACP's Center for Opportunity, Race and Justice, said Black workers are overrepresented in entry-level jobs, as well as manufacturing and logistics work.

"The best thing that these companies can do is really provide educational tools and resources because we don't want people displaced from the workforce," she said. "We want people to be back in the workforce but also earning a wage that's livable."

Bross underscored that it's still unclear exactly where and how AI will displace workers. However, the impact of data centers is more clear; they've already been linked to health impacts for people in communities near them. Illinois is a top destination for data centers, estimated to have nearly 200 across the state.

Bross said Black communities already face higher unemployment rates. Black unemployment was at 7.5% in December, compared with about 4.5% for the overall population. To ensure Black workers have a place in the new AI economy, she said, workers need affordable access to education.

"We have to embrace technology and we have embrace artificial intelligence, but we also have to have oversight," she said, "and we have to have governance in order to make sure that it's not discriminatory, and that we're not implementing technologies that are going to hurt populations of people."

Bross said the Trump administration's fight against diversity, equity and inclusion has hurt people of color, but added that it's important for companies to commit to diverse hiring practices because representation matters and a diverse workforce will make their companies more successful in the long run.

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