There was a big fight at Urbana High School yesterday
(Lyndsay Jones / News-Gazette)
High school students fight. It’s rare that it leads to eight arrests, but outside of that, this is pretty unremarkable for a school district that has continually had problems with discipline and administration. Just read about their many issues this year, alone.
This fight, however, brought out some of the worst C-U opinions in recent memory, but none more tone-deaf than WCIA meteorologist (yes, the weather man) Kevin Lighty’s on Twitter last night:
I’m not really interested in the journalistic ethics behind sharing the video, which was obviously captured by a student in UHS and shows a staff member getting tangled in the fight. It’s an event that happened and the news is covering it. I get that. As long as the identities of the minors are protected, the video is, I think, legal to share.
(I am not a lawyer.)
But it’s also incredibly tasteless to refer to the video of the fight as “UNREAL.”
Lighty is a grown-ass man who works for a news entity, not a high school peer as his words would suggest. If he’s spent any time in public school (or just in life in general), he’s probably seen a fight before. This isn’t “UNREAL.” It is incredibly real, sad, and indicative of problems that need to be solved.
The verbiage is obvious
Just so everyone’s on the same page, that would make it clickbait about high schoolers (in other words, children) fighting.
Gross.
We gotta hold ourselves to higher standards than that, folks.
As you can imagine, there’s no shortage of bad takes on this subject. Look at any local coverage of the fight on social media and you’ll be sure to read some of the vilest and most hateful sentences you’ve ever read.
Ugh.
Click here for more coverage from Lyndsay Jones today.
The Illini are 10-point underdogs tonight
Michigan State is both really good (per usual) and coming off of two straight losses.
Doesn’t feel great!
Read The Champaign Room‘s preview here.
Tip-off: 6:00 PM
TV: ESPN2 (we’re on an ESPN network! This has got to be like the second time this year)
Line: Illinois +10
At least it’s an “Orange Out,” which appears to be the same thing as “Paint the Hall Orange,” just without the Hall.
Stand By Me is showing at The Virginia Theatre tonight
Just don’t forget your comb. The show starts at 7 pm.
This new Gwalla Boyz track is good
Easily the most melodic and catchiest local music right now.
Listen to CJ Run on WPGU tonight
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from local phenom CJ Run, but tonight they hit WPGU’s Can I Kick It? for an interview. Listen in if you care about local music or hip-hop or both.
Our good friends at WPGU neglected to include a time for the stream so I guess just listen to it nonstop for the next idk 16 hours and maybe eventually you’ll hear it.
I don’t know what “One Fly All Fly” means but this picture is pretty cool
Cunningham Township supervisor breaks down poverty stats for board
(Aldaberto Toledo / News-Gazette)
Illinois committed to giving Isaiah Williams a shot at quarterback — a big reason he signed with the Illini: ‘He loves that “he’s too short” thing’
In addition to having the most unwieldy headline of all time, this is also a good read from Illini insider Shannon Ryan.
C-U Monthly Weather Review: January 2019
(Andrew Pritchard / Smile Politely)
CU Public Health Offers Drug Users Clean Syringes To Stop Hep A Outbreak
(Christine Herman / Illinois Public Media)
Illinois Catholic Bishops oppose marijuana legalization
Blaze it and praise it, my folks.
(WGN)
N-G boys’ basketball Top 10: Feb. 5, 2019
- Danville, 20-3
- Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, 21-2
- Cissna Park, 21-2
- Judah Christian, 24-2
- St. Joseph-Ogden, 15-7
- Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin, 17-7
- Watseka, 17-5
- Monticello, 16-6
- Urbana, 12-13
- Paxton-Buckley-Loda, 15-8
(Colin Likas / News-Gazette)
