THE
Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026
VOL. 109, ISSUE 22
ICE agents arrest 6 men in Du Quoin JACKSON BRANDHORST LYLEE GIBBS jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested six men on their way to work in late
January in Du Quoin, marking one of the first reported ICE enforcement actions this far south in Illinois under President Donald Trump’s expanded second-term immigration crackdown. ICE agents conducting surveillance in Perry County on the morning of
Thursday, Jan. 29, stopped a truck of Hispanic men on Illinois 152 en route to their lumber-stacking jobs at Alstat Wood Products, a sawmill in rural southern Illinois. Original online reporting from the Daily Egyptian had only been able to
verify the arrest of five men, but the DE confirmed on Sunday through volunteers who had been in contact with the detainees that six men were arrested. Those arrested were 53-year-old Carlos Sanchez-Luna of Mexico;
Scott Nagy bares feet to raise awareness for shoe charity
37-year-old Guadalupe Hernandez Lopez of Mexico; 27-year-old Ramiro Lopez Alvarez of Mexico; 42-year-old Gilberto Gomez Perez of Mexico; 28-year-old David Ernesto Rodriguez-Mejia of El Salvador; and
DU QUOIN | 4
ELECTION PREVIEW
4 candidates vie for Jackson County judge BRAYDEN GUY bguy@dailyegyptian.com
Democrats Heather Heaslett, Benjamin Reed and Casey VanWinkle are campaigning for their party’s nomination to run for the Jackson County resident circuit judge in November. Republican Jamie Snyder is running unopposed in that party’s primary. The position opened after Judge Christy Solverson announced her retirement on Jan. 30, 2026. Circuit court judges hear cases typically in a specific docket assigned by the chief judge, but they do rotate which docket they work on. A docket is a record of the proceedings or filing of one or more cases. Circuit court judges also appoint associate judges who hear cases designated by the circuit court judges.
CANDIDATES | 9
insiDE Head coach Scott Nagy coaches barefoot from the sidelines as the Salukis face off against the Bradley Braves Feb. 15, 2026 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto ELI HOOVER ehoover@dailyegyptian.com
On Jan. 11, 2025, Saluki men’s basketball head coach Scott Nagy did something Saluki fans had never seen before: He coached their entire game against the Missouri State Bears barefoot. He coached barefoot again in the Dawgs’ recent matchup against the Bradley Braves, as he has once a year for nearly his whole career. “I’ve been doing it I don’t even know how many years now, 15 to 20,” Nagy said in an interview
with the Daily Egyptian. He does so to support Samaritan’s Feet International, a humanitarian aid organization that gives shoes to those in need around the world. For every barefoot game Nagy has coached, fans have had the option to donate shoes at the door in exchange for free tickets to the game or donate funds directly to a special link on the Samaritan’s Feet website. The tradition started after Nagy and his wife, Jamie, adopted their daughter Naika and were looking for a way to give back.
“I was looking for a way to help Naika’s country, Haiti, and there’s all kinds of ways to help but there was a coach in our league back then, Ron Hunter, who did the first barefoot game,” Nagy said. “I asked him about it, how did this come to be, and he introduced me to Manny Ohonme, who is the founder and CEO of Samaritan’s Feet International.” Nagy said he has gotten to know Ohonme well over the years of working with Samaritan’s Feet, FEET | 6
STAR bonds lead to an ‘oasis’ in Marion | Page 3 First-time students get to register early | Page 8 Softball goes 2-3 in Mexico | Page 10