New bill proposed to eliminate Native American imagery and names in Illinois schools K-12

Illinois State Graphic

URBANA - Redskins, Indians, and Raiders might become school nicknames of the past. State Representative Maurice West (D-Rockford) submitted House Bill 5617 in February, which requires elementary and secondary schools to alter mascots, logos, or names with Native American tribes or feature Native American culture. The bill also requires Native American history taught in all Illinois elementary and high schools.

Area schools like Judah Christian, University-High, Tuscola, and Mt. Zion, would need to adopt a new logo, buy new uniforms, and retire the sale of banned gear. Schools will also be required to remove Native American imagery and logos during the next renovation or update of athletics facilities, according to the bill.

Some of the other Illinois high schools that would be affected include: Pittsfield (Saukees), Lake Forest (Scouts), Thornwood (Thunderbirds), Stockton (Blackhawks), West Aurora (Blackhawks), Bremen (Braves), Annawan (Braves), Deer Creek Mackinaw (Chiefs), Cahokia (Comanches), Morrisonville (Mohawks), Sullivan (Redskins), Casey-Westfield (Warriors), Crete-Monee (Warriors), Granite City (Warriors), Warren (Warriors), Watseka (Indians), Winnebago (Indians), Maine West (Warriors), Chicago Westinghouse (Warriors), Waubonsie Valley (Warriors), Altamont (Indians), Brimfield (Indians), Chicago Calumet (Indians), DuQuoin (Indians), Carlyle (Indians), Dakota (Indians), Lewistown (Indians), Johnston City (Indians), Pawnee (Indians), Pecatonica (Indians), Payson-Seymour (Indians), Meredosia (Indians), Minooka (Indians), Mascoutah (Indians), Marengo (Indians), Momence (Indians), Neoga (Indians), Pontiac (Indians), Sandwich (Indians), Hononegah (Indians), and Wayne City (Indians).

It is not the first time Illinois lawmakers have broached the issue. In Feb 2020, West filed HB4783, a similar bill, which died in the House in 2021. In addition to leading the effort to remove racist school mascots from Illinois schools, he was also the lead sponsor of legislation last year requiring Illinois schools to teach Native American history.

West filed the bill in February, and it was assigned to the Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter Schools committee. Five additional representatives, including Laura Faver Dias, Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, Michelle Mussman, Elizabeth "Lisa" Hernandez, and Anne Stava-Murray, have added their names to co-sponsor the proposed law.

If signed by the Governor, schools would have to change their mascot and nicknames by Sept. 1, 2027. The bill would also prohibit schools from selling items with banned mascots and remove banned logos from school property. At this time the bill is still in committee.

Nokomis superintendent Scott Doerr told WirePoints, "If at this time we had to make a change, especially in a short amount of time that this bill might go into effect, we're talking about maybe $100,000 for signage change, uniforms and gym floors and all the mats and things that we have."

In April of last year, the state of New York passed a law that bans the use of Native American-themed logos and mascots unless they are approved by a recognized Native American tribe. Schools that fail to obtain permission from a tribe to use such logos or imagery must change their branding by August 2024.

In Washington state, schools have been required to get permission from the nearest federally recognized tribe to use a Native American mascot since 2021. Districts that refused jeopardized receiving state funds.

Some Illinois students and school districts have already taken a proactive approach. Change is difficult and there has been pushback.

In 2019, students at Hononegah High School started a petition to change their nickname from the Indians and Lady Indians. A counter-petition was quickly started and collected more 13,000 names to keep the imagery and name. It has been four years since the initiative started, and the school's mascot tradition continues.

Minooka underwent a similar challenge to change their name from the Indians in 2020 as well. Like Honnegah, the bid failed.

There have been some successful transitions. Over a decade ago back in 2012, Aptakisic Junior High School in Buffalo Grove changed its mascot from the Indians to the Eagles.

In 2022, the Morris school board approved a measure to drop the name "Redskins" by August of 2025. Their IHSA directory page no longer list a nickname.


Sunday Sports Rewind; St. Joseph-Ogden advances to baseball title game

Peoria - Brant Hoveln and Colton Hale head to the dugout during the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team's state semifinal game a Dozier Stadium. The Spartans plated three runs in the top of the ninth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie to beat Chicago Christian 5-2 and advance to the Class 2A champion game. Jesse Schlueter, Eli Place, and Austin Cain led the offensive effort with two hits each. Hale, who struck out eight of the 20 batters he faced across 6.2 innings, earned the win on the bump. Here's a look back at some of the game action from the game seven years ago this June.

Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



St. Joe-Ogden Athletics

St. Joseph-Ogden 3rd Quarter Honor Roll

St. Joseph-Ogden High School Honor Roll ST. JOSEPH - Last week, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced the third-quarter Honor Roll and High Honor Roll recipients. Over 270 students at the high school earned third-quarter Honor Roll recognition.

To make the honor roll at SJO, students must earn a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Students whose GPA soared above 3.74 are recognized as High Honor Roll students.

Freshman High Honor Roll

Lillian Ahart
Samuel Albrecht
Zhou Barbee
Zachary Benoit
Colin Burnett
Elizabeth Clark
Abigail Crider
Hayden Dahl
Iris Davis
Nick Ditchfield
Madison Farber
Nathaniel Farney
Nolan Franzen
Leah Gaines
Skyler Graham
Anna Hammond
Mark Harbourt
Nicholas Harris
Tyler Hess
Maggie Hewkin
Brynn Ikemire
Mia Jones
Alivia Learned
Chase Mabry
Hadley McDonald
Finnegan Miller
Maddux Musselman
Mason Ramm
Peighton Reim
Kiah Riesel
Dennis Rineberg
Sophie Schmitz
Ava Smoot
Adeline Stevens
Ani Stine
Isabella Turner
Brayden Waller
Jack Wear
Kaden Wedig
Emerson Williams

Freshman Honor Roll

Yadiel Acosta-Reyes
Alec Bowlin
Willis Canamore
Brenda Castro Gutierrez
Jaxson Colvin
Justin Downs
Aiden Hundley
Waylon Jones
Garrett Loschen
Avrianna Lyttle
Steven Newman
Mason Olinger
William Ricketts-Royer
Lilly Sollars
Cameron Wagner
Shelby Warns
Declan Yohnka
Dalton York

Sophomore High Honor Roll

Trevor Ames
Kylie Barrowman
Lexie Barrowman
Kaitlyn Beyers
Emily Bird
Tim Blackburn-Kelley
Aiden Bonny
Addison Brooks
Sara Bytnar
Jacob Carlson
William Carlson
Adelyn Childers
Katherine Ericksen
Callie Evans
Abigail Getty
Camden Getty
Zachary Harper
Claire Hartman
Bryson Houchens
Amelia Huckstadt
Lydia Huckstadt
Adalyn Jannusch
Kaelyn Jolley
Sophia Kasper
Madilyn Kelley
Samantha Kelso
Cooper Kietzman
Alexis Lackey
Ryker Lockhart
Mackenzie Loschen
Michael McDaniel
Danny McGinnis
Emma McKinney
Kodey McKinney
Patrick McMahon
Ava Midkiff
Ashlyn Miller
Hannah Mock
Delaney Nekolny
Allison Ochs
Brennan Oleynichak
Kayla Osterbur
Colton Overstreet
Garrick Page
Branson Pearman
Kaleb Peoples
Asher Pruemer
Ainsley Rhoton
Lily Rice
Landon Roberts
Logan Rosenthal
Amber Ruppel
Cameron Schlueter
Allison Schmitz
Gracyn Sjoken
Lucas Smith
Tao Smith
Karleigh Spain
Quinn Stahl
Sydney Steinbach
Hadley Sweet
Carlee Taylor
Sophia Vliet
Madeline Wells
Wyatt Wertz
Logan Xiao
Cyrus Zadeh

Sophomore Honor Roll

Caroline Aden
DeAva Barnett
Timera Blackburn-Kelley
Shelby Campbell
Rudra Chaudhary
Wade Clark
Christopher Coffey
Cade Crozier
Caleb Dwyer
Brandon Goodwin
William Haley
Erica Hardimon
Nick Jackson
Kylan Kincaid
Vance McComas
Jackson Mohr
Graham Ray
Lance Retz
Ethan Sanders
Trevor Sexton
Landon Smith
Lucas Truong
Hunter Van Meenen
Emma Wells

Junior High Honor Roll

EJ Beckett
Audrey Benoit
William Besson
Sul Bonny
Holden Brazelton
Arely Castro Gutierrez
Richi Chimal
Preslee Christians
Madison Clampitt
Ella Dietiker
Luke Ditchfield
Nolan Earley
Jackson Ennis
Savanna Franzen
Addison Funk
Tayton Gerdes
Olivia Getty
Makennah Hamilton
Lauren Harris
Haley Hesterberg
Maebree Houston
Kendrick Johnson
Dylan Jones
Sara Kearney
Amilliya Kindle
Madison Lankster
Logan Mills
Gabriel Mortlock
Grace Osterbur
Sonia Patel
Nathan Phillips
Sydney Reitmeier
Audrey Ruppel
Charles Schmitz
Tanner Siems
Kyler Swanson
Collin Thomey
Samantha Uden
Reese Wheatley
Charley Wright
Fiona Xiao

Junior Honor Roll

Jared Altenbaumer
Rylie Barton
Eli Birt
Landon Brown
Landen Butts
Hayden Coffey
Joshua Courter
Lauren Dewese
Lyla Frerichs
Kaiden Gaines
Paige Johnson
Owen Knap
Aiden Krall
Logan Lackey
Gabe Mata
Brenden Maury
Chayse Palmer
Logan Patton
Haley Rudolph
Corbin Smith
Thea Smith
Coy Taylor
Ava Worley
Zoe Wright

Senior High Honor Roll

Edward Alewelt
Chloe Allen
Logan Allen
Aden Armstrong
Samantha Beetz
Chloe Burkhalter
Payton Carter
Garrett Denhart
Mia Frederick
Addison Frick
Grace Getty
Chloe Harper
Rachel Harris
Brody Hausman
Annabelle Hueber
Tanner Jacob
Kya Jolley
Helene Jones
Quinn Lewis
Taylyn Lockhart
Addisyn Martinie
Ethan McElroy
Shannon McMahon
Talan Miller
Isaiah Mock
Rowan Musselman
Caleb Ochs
Macy Reed-Thompson
Addison Roesch
Addison Ross
Daniel Santiago
Addison Seggebruch
Lucas Skelton
Logan Smith
Dylan Smoot
Zoey Sweet
Drew Thurman
Emma Thurman
Braxton Waller
Elissia Ward
Colin Wayland
Corbin Wells
Hayden Williams
Peyton Williams
Spencer Wilson
Mitchell Wright

Senior Honor Roll

Kaden Allinger
Owen Baltzell
Mya Bott
Halle Brazelton
Kyler Brown
Tyler Buss
Maya Chahine
Cameron Dressen
Sadie Ericksen
Joseph Frasca
Alana Frerichs-McCurry
Grace Goldenstein
Ray Gutierrez
Jayci Hayes
Emmitt Holt
Ella Jones
Holden Jones
Tori Kibler
Luke Landrus
Lauren Lannert
Hayden Lewis
Connor Little
Carson Maroon
Seth McBride
Aescton Slowikowski
Brody Weaver
Nicholas Wetzel


St. Joe-Ogden Athletics

Telehealth access for low-income households is coming to an end

by Sarah Jane Tribble

California Healthline



For Cindy Westman, $30 buys a week’s worth of gas to drive to medical appointments and run errands.

It’s also how much she spent on her monthly internet bill before the federal Affordable Connectivity Program stepped in and covered her payments.

“When you have low income and you are living on disability and your daughter’s disabled, every dollar counts,” said Westman, who lives in rural Illinois.

Over 23 million people are enrolled in Congress' 2021 discount program providing online/telephone healthcare services. That could all end this month or in May.
Photo: Tech Journal/Pixabay

More than 23 million low-income households — urban, suburban, rural, and tribal — are enrolled in the federal discount program Congress created in 2021 to bridge the nation’s digital connectivity gap. The program has provided $30 monthly subsidies for internet bills or $75 discounts in tribal and high-cost areas.

But the program is expected to run out of money in April or May, according to the Federal Communications Commission. In January, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked Congress to allocate $6 billion to keep the program running until the end of 2024. She said the subsidy gives Americans the “internet service they need to fully participate in modern life.”

The importance of high-speed internet was seared into the American psyche by scenes of children sitting in parking lots and outside fast-food restaurants to attend school online during the covid-19 pandemic. During that same period, health care providers and patients like Westman say, being connected also became a vital part of today’s health care delivery system.

Westman said her internet connection has become so important to her access to health care she would sell “anything that I own” to stay connected.

Westman, 43, lives in the small town of Eureka, Illinois, and has been diagnosed with genetic and immune system disorders. Her 12-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy and autism.

She steered the $30 saved on her internet toward taking care of her daughter, paying for things such as driving 30 minutes west to Peoria, Illinois, for two physical therapy appointments each week. And with an internet connection, Westman can access online medical records, and whenever possible she uses telehealth appointments to avoid the hour-plus drive to specialty care.

“It’s essential for me to keep the internet going no matter what,” Westman said.

Expanding telehealth is a common reason health care providers around the U.S. — in states such as Massachusetts and Arkansas — joined efforts to sign their patients up for the federal discount program.

“This is an issue that has real impacts on health outcomes,” said Alister Martin, an emergency medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. Martin realized at the height of the pandemic that patients with means were using telehealth to access covid care. But those seeking in-person care during his ER shifts tended to be lower-income, and often people of color.

“They have no other choice,” Martin said. “But they probably don’t need to be in the ER action.” Martin became a White House fellow and later created a nonprofit that he said has helped 1,154 patients at health centers in Boston and Houston enroll in the discount program.

At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, a federal grant was used to conduct dozens of outreach events and help patients enroll, said Joseph Sanford, an anesthesiologist and the director of the system’s Institute for Digital Health & Innovation.


Estimates of how many low-income U.S. households qualify for the program vary, but experts agree that only about half of the roughly 50 million eligible households have signed on.

“We believe that telehealth is the great democratization to access to care,” Sanford said. New enrollment in the discount program halted nationwide last month.

Leading up to the enrollment halt, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led a bipartisan effort to introduce the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act in January. The group requested $7 billion — more than the FCC’s ask — to keep the program funded. “Affordability is everything,” Welch said.

In December, federal regulators surveyed program recipients and found that 22% reported no internet service before, and 72% said they used their ACP-subsidized internet to “schedule or attend healthcare appointments.”

Estimates of how many low-income U.S. households qualify for the program vary, but experts agree that only about half of the roughly 50 million eligible households have signed on.

“A big barrier for this program generally was people don’t know about it,” said Brian Whitacre, a professor and the Neustadt chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University.

Whitacre and others said rural households should be signing up at even higher rates than urban ones because a higher percentage of them are eligible.

Yet, people found signing up for the program laborious. Enrollment was a two-step process. Applicants were required to get approved by the federal government then work with an internet service provider that would apply the discount. The government application was online — hard to get to if you didn’t yet have internet service — though applicants could try to find a way to download a version, print it, and submit the application by mail.

When Frances Goli, the broadband project manager for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho, began enrolling tribal and community members at the Fort Hall Reservation last year, she found that many residents did not know about the program — even though it had been approved more than a year earlier.

Goli and Amber Hastings, an AmeriCorps member with the University of Idaho Extension Digital Economy Program, spent hours helping residents through the arduous process of finding the proper tribal documentation required to receive the larger $75 discount for those living on tribal lands.

“That was one of the biggest hurdles,” Goli said. “They’re getting denied and saying, come back with a better document. And that is just frustrating for our community members.”

Of the more than 200 households Goli and Hastings aided, about 40% had not had internet before.

In the tribal lands of Oklahoma, said Sachin Gupta, director of government business and economic development at internet service provider Centranet, years ago the funding may not have mattered.

“But then covid hit,” Gupta said. “The stories I have heard.”

Elders, he said, reportedly “died of entirely preventable causes” such as high blood pressure and diabetes because they feared covid in the clinics.

“It’s really important to establish connectivity,” Gupta said. The end of the discounts will “take a toll.”


This article was produced by KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. Subscribe to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.

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