Sports
‘Deplorable:’ 11th grader held by ICE shines spotlight on conditions
“This kid has been sleeping on a cement floor for five days, no access to a shower; he’s brushed his teeth twice,” said Marcelo Gomes da Silva’s immigration attorney. Massachusetts teen detained by ICE released after 6 days in custody A Massachusetts high school student arrested by immigration agents on his way to volleyball practice […]

“This kid has been sleeping on a cement floor for five days, no access to a shower; he’s brushed his teeth twice,” said Marcelo Gomes da Silva’s immigration attorney.

Massachusetts teen detained by ICE released after 6 days in custody
A Massachusetts high school student arrested by immigration agents on his way to volleyball practice has been released from custody.
Fox – Seattle
- The isolation that da Silva subsequently endured made him so “desperately lonely” that he took to banging on the walls of his cell to get someone to come talk to him, his lawyer told USA TODAY.
MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS − Sleeping on a cement floor in a windowless room. Only brushing your teeth twice in five days and never getting to shower. Being mocked by a guard.
These are among the “horrendous conditions” that Massachusetts high school junior Marcelo Gomes da Silva endured while being held by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, according to his lawyer Robin Nice.
Gomes Da Silva, 18, was arrested by ICE agents on May 31 when he was stopped on his way to volleyball practice with friends in his hometown of Milford. Federal officials said they targeted da Silva’s father, Joao Paulo Gomes-Pereira, who they say is an undocumented immigrant from Brazil, but they detained Gomes da Silva − who came to the United States at the age of 7 with his parents − when they realized he had overstayed his visa.
According to Nice, Gomes Da Silva was subsequently detained for five nights in cells that are intended to hold detainees for hours before being transferred. The cells lack access to basic amenities like beds and showers.
“The Burlington (Massachusetts) facility is not a detention center, it’s a holding cell,” Nice told USA TODAY after a June 5 hearing in Gomes da Silva’s case, which has drawn nationwide attention and fervent local opposition to his detention and possible deportation.
“It’s deplorable,” she added.
Nice first raised the issue in a federal immigration court hearing on whether he would be granted bail.
“He’s being held in just awful conditions no one should be subjected to: sleeping on a cement floor for just a few hours per night,” Nice began, before she was cut off by Immigration Judge Jenny Beverly, who noted the hearing was not the proper venue to raise the issue.
Shackles, teasing, and solitary confinement
Nice provided more details on her client’s confinement in a press conference after the hearing, in which the judge set a $2,000 bond for Gomes da Silva’s release, and in a subsequent interview with USA TODAY.
“This kid has been sleeping on a cement floor for five days, no access to a shower, he’s brushed his teeth twice. He’s sharing a room with men twice his age,” Nice said at the press conference outside the Chelmsford, Massachusetts federal immigration court.
At one point, Gomes da Silva was taken to a hospital emergency room because he was suffering severe headaches and vision loss stemming from a high school volleyball injury days earlier. When he was transferred to and from the hospital, he was handcuffed and kept in leg shackles and then moved to a different room, Nice said.
“He got back to the holding facility at 4 am and then was put in what I would refer to as solitary confinement: it was a room without anyone else, and all of these rooms that people are held in, there is no window,” Nice said. “There is no yard time, because it’s not set up for that.”
“If you are detained in the Burlington ICE facility, you do not see the light of day,” she said. “You don’t know what time it is.”
The isolation that da Silva subsequently endured made him so “desperately lonely” that he took to banging on the walls of his cell to get someone to come talk to him, Nice told USA TODAY. The guards, who he said mostly ignored him, nicknamed him “the knocker” in response.
When Gomes da Silva was held in the room with a larger group, one of the guards played a cruel practical joke on the detainees, Nice said:
“He said when ICE opens the door it means either someone’s coming in or someone’s getting released, so everyone perks up when they open the door. So he sees in a little slit in the door window, one ICE officer motion to another and says ‘watch this,’ and so one ICE officer opens the door to the cell and just stands their for a minute and then says, ‘psych!’ And closes the door. And everyone had just perked up,” Nice recounted.
The isolation in the ICE holding facility extended beyond its walls, Nice said. There was no way for her to call her client there, and he could only make one call for two minutes per day − and not even every day.
Nice wasn’t able to get in to see Gomes da Silva until the fifth day of his confinement. He was so shut off from the outside world that he didn’t know his varsity volleyball team had lost in the semi-finals of the state tournament, even though the match drew media coverage.
ICE did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Nice’s allegations.
In a statement on June 2, Patricia Hyde, acting field director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations’ in Boston defended Gomes da Silva’s detention and said the agency intends to pursue deportation proceedings.
“When we go into the community and find others who are unlawfully here, we’re going to arrest them,” Hyde said. “He’s 18 years old and he’s illegally in this country. We had to go to Milford looking for someone else and if we come across someone else who is here illegally, we’re going to arrest them.”
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‘Nobody deserves to be down there’
Later on June 5, Gomes da Silva himself addressed reporters after posting the $2,000 bond and being released.
“Nobody deserves to be down there,” da Silva told reporters. “You sleep on concrete floors. The bathroom — I have to use the bathroom in the open with like 35-year-old men. It’s humiliating.”
Gomes da Silva also said they were given only crackers for lunch and dinner. Nice told USA TODAY he was also fed what he described as an undefined “mush” that was “like oatmeal, but not oatmeal.”
A twice-weekly churchgoer, Gomes da Silva asked the guards for a bible but was not provided with one.
Beside him were U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton and Jake Auchincloss, both Democrats from Massachusetts, who said they returned from Washington, D.C., on Thursday to speak with da Silva and to inspect the detention center.
Consequences of an immigration crackdown
The Trump administration has sought to ramp up deportations of undocumented immigrants, including those like da Silva who were brought here as children and have no criminal record. ICE reported holding 46,269 people in custody in mid-March, well above the agency’s detention capacity of 41,500 beds.
USA TODAY has previously reported on allegations of conditions in ICE detention similar to what Gomes da Silva and Nice described.
In March, four women held at the Krome North Processing Center in Miami said they were chained for hours on a prison bus without access to food, water or a toilet. They also alleged they were told by guards to urinate on the floor, slept on a concrete floor, and only got one three-minute shower over the course of three or four days in custody.
The allegations come after two men at Krome died in custody on Jan. 23 and Feb. 20.
Contributing: Caitlin Kelleher, USA TODAY NETWORK, Lauren Villagran, USA TODAY.
Sports
Test automation and continuous integration – the key to faster and safer software delivery
Test automation and continuous integration (CI) enable development teams to shorten the time to deliver new features while reducing the risk of failures. Read the article to find out what you can gain by using them in your company. Benefits of test automation Test automation is a key enabler of speed and efficiency in software […]

Test automation and continuous integration (CI) enable development teams to shorten the time to deliver new features while reducing the risk of failures. Read the article to find out what you can gain by using them in your company.
Benefits of test automation
Test automation is a key enabler of speed and efficiency in software development. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, your team can focus on innovation and quality. What can you expect from implementing test automation?
Faster test cycles and shorter time to market
Automated tests run many times faster than manual tests. This lets you release more updates and respond faster to market needs.
Early error detection
Automation helps you run tests every time you change the code. This way, you can spot and fix bugs before they hit production.
Higher accuracy and consistency
Automated testing eliminates the risk of human error, ensuring consistency and reliability of results.
Better test coverage
Automation lets you test more cases. By implementing automation with Scalosoft, you can easily test scenarios and regressions that are difficult to check manually.
Cost savings
At the start, you need to invest in setting up automated tests, but later you can reuse them, significantly reducing testing costs in the long run.
How does test automation reduce manual errors?
Unlike manual tests, which can depend on the person testing and their mood, automated tests always follow the same steps in the same way. This eliminates errors related to human error.
Tests that run automatically for every code change let you spot potential issues before they reach later stages of the project. Automation also lets you test a much wider range of cases, reducing the risk of missing important bugs.
The role of continuous integration (CI) in secure and fast delivery
By automatically integrating code changes from multiple developers and running tests at every stage, errors are detected before they can cause any problems. Each change is automatically tested as part of the pipeline, which immediately stops if it fails. This minimizes the risk of deploying faulty code to production.
A well-configured CI/CD pipeline guarantees that your software is always ready for deployment. With regular code integration and quick feedback, your team will communicate smoothly and avoid wasting time on unnecessary tasks.
What will you gain from implementing CI/CD?
Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) are not just technical practices — they’re strategic tools that drive better collaboration, faster releases, and fewer errors.
Fewer software defects
Organizations using CI/CD report up to 50% fewer errors after deployment and have a significantly lower failure rate than companies that have not implemented CI/CD.
Faster error identification and correction
Immediate feedback helps you fix defects faster and limits their negative impact on users.
Higher software quality
Thanks to repeatable implementation processes, the quality of the final product is higher. Simultaneously, the risk of production failures is significantly lower.
Test automation and CI/CD – your foundation for scalable, reliable software delivery
Test automation and CI/CD are crucial in eliminating human errors. By using them in your company, you ensure fast, repeatable, and reliable delivery of high-quality software. You can learn more about automation and CI/CD outsourcing at https://www.scalosoft.com/outsourcing/.
Sports
Aces volleyball unveils 2025 schedule
Story Links EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Set to open his first season leading the University of Evansville volleyball program, head coach Zach Weinberg has announced the full 2025 season schedule. Full 2025 Schedule “Our staff is really excited about the slate of matches we’ve lined up for this season. This schedule will present […]

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Set to open his first season leading the University of Evansville volleyball program, head coach Zach Weinberg has announced the full 2025 season schedule.
Full 2025 Schedule
“Our staff is really excited about the slate of matches we’ve lined up for this season. This schedule will present lots of opportunities to learn about ourselves as we head into Valley play, and with so many new faces in the program (mine included), it will be good to get everyone truly integrated,” Weinberg said. “Having Michigan State inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse, as our home opener, is a great opportunity to show a Big 10 institution the level of community and fan support we have here in Evansville and at UE. I hope we can sell out Meeks and have that be an incredible atmosphere for a huge match!”
“Renewing the home and home rivalry with USI was a non-negotiable, in my mind. The two teams always play competitive matches, and when rivalries and bragging rights are at play, stats and history get thrown out the window. Those will be competitive matches, and I’m excited to bring the city together to witness it,” Weinberg added. “Before any “official” matches get underway, we will host our Purple & Orange scrimmage in Meeks at 6PM on Friday, August 22nd. Admission will be free, and it will be the fans’ first chance to see the 2025 Aces live and in person! Aces Fans-we’d love to have you there! 2025 is going to be a great building season for us, and I can’t wait to see everyone in Meeks Family Fieldhouse this year!”
Following an exhibition match on August 23 at Lindenwood, the Purple Aces open the regular season on Friday, August 29 at the Butler Big Dawg Kickoff in Indianapolis. UE faces Butler in the opener while completing the weekend with contests against Middle Tennessee State and Purdue Fort Wayne.
In the home opener on Wednesday, September 3, Evansville welcomes Big Ten foe Michigan State. It will mark the first time a Big Ten school has played inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse since the first match at the facility on Sept. 8, 2017 when UE welcomed Indiana University.
Non-conference action continues on Sept. 4-5 when the squad travels to Atlanta for the GSU Invitational. Hosted by Georgia State, the Aces take on Florida A&M, Queens, and host GSU. Florida A&M is the reigning SWAC Champion, posting a perfect 16-0 league mark on the way to the NCAA Tournament.
UE returns to campus for a home tournament on the 12th and 13th. UAB, Western Illinois, and Morehead State comprise the event. WIU won 17 matches last season while the Eagles represented the Ohio Valley Conference in the NCAA Tournament. Non-conference action wraps up with a home-and-home versus USI. The teams meet up in Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Sept. 18 while the Aces make the trek across town two days later.
Missouri Valley Conference action opens with a home contest versus Bradley on Sept. 26. UE heads to Southern Illinois on the 27th for its first league road match. October begins with home matches versus Belmont and Indiana State on the 3rd and 4th.
Five of the next six matches take place on the road with the stretch opening on Oct. 10 with a road tilt at UNI. The Panthers were a perfect 18-0 in the Valley last season and went 23-7 overall. The weekend continues at Drake, who won 20 matches a season ago while posting a 16-2 MVC mark. The road trip continues on Oct. 14 with a contest at Indiana State.
Evansville faces UNI at home on the 18th before traveling to Belmont and Murray State on the 24th and 25. On Halloween, the Aces host UIC before squaring off against Valparaiso on November 1. Following a road swing to Illinois State and Bradley (Nov. 6-7), UE completes the regular season at home against Drake and Southern Illinois on the 14th and 15th.
The MVC Tournament runs from Nov. 19-25 and will be hosted by the higher seed.
Sports
11 home games highlight Kiefer’s 2025 schedule
Story Links Head coach George Kiefer and his Grand Canyon men’s soccer program announced a16-game regular season schedule that starts at home Aug. 21. The Lopes will compete in the WAC for the 13th consecutive season, when conference play will open with an Oct. 4 home match versus Utah Valley. Men’s […]

Head coach George Kiefer and his Grand Canyon men’s soccer program announced a16-game regular season schedule that starts at home Aug. 21.
The Lopes will compete in the WAC for the 13th consecutive season, when conference play will open with an Oct. 4 home match versus Utah Valley. Men’s soccer is one of three GCU sports (also beach volleyball and men’s swimming and diving) that are not sponsored by the Mountain West, which is GCU’s future conference.
GCU Stadium will play host to 11 regular-season games, including an Aug.16 exhibition versus Eastern Arizona. All Lopes home games will begin at 7 p.m.
The regular season begins Thursday, Aug. 21, against Jacksonville, followed by matches against Cleveland State (Aug. 25) and Sacramento State (Aug. 28).
GCU then hosts SMU on Sept. 4, a rematch of the 1-1 draw during the 2023 campaign when the Mustangs were ranked No. 2 in the nation. SMU finished the 2024 season ranked No. 5 in the country and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Four days later, the Lopes conclude their five-match homestand with Santa Clara, a team that it played to a 1-1 draw last season on the road.
The first road tests of the season bring GCU west to California to take on Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 14 and 2024 NCAA Tournament team UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 21. The final two nonconference contests are back at GCU Stadium against CSUN (Sept. 26) and UT Rio Grande Valley (Sept. 30).
After the Oct. 4 WAC opener against Utah Valley, GCU will have home conference games with San Jose State on Oct.18, Utah Tech on Oct. 23 and UNLV on Nov. 1..
Road WAC matchups will be at San Diego State on Oct. 9, California Baptist on Oct. 12 and Air Force on Oct. 26.
The WAC Tournament will begin Nov. 9 in Riverside, California, with California Baptist playing host.
Sports
Waugh to run track for DePauw University
Natalie Waugh, a 2025 graduate of Mount Gilead High School, will run track for DePauw University. Courtesy Photo In deciding to attend college and compete in track and field, Mount Gilead graduate Natalie Waugh found Indiana’s DePauw University to be what she was looking for. I picked DePauw because it’s a small school and I’m […]


Natalie Waugh, a 2025 graduate of Mount Gilead High School, will run track for DePauw University.
Courtesy Photo
In deciding to attend college and compete in track and field, Mount Gilead graduate Natalie Waugh found Indiana’s DePauw University to be what she was looking for.
I picked DePauw because it’s a small school and I’m used to small schools,” she said. “I wanted something with smaller class sizes and something that was still prestigious where I could run track at Division III. I just really love it there and I want to go out of state.”
It also didn’t hurt that DePauw’s track and field program reminded her of Mount Gilead’s.
“The team is very motivated,” she said. “They’re very excited to compete and things like that, which is a lot of what we get here. Very similar to the coaches that I have here, so I like that.”
It wasn’t a quick process to pick a school, though.
“It was a longer process,” she said. “I was between Denison and DePauw. They’re very similar, so it was a hard process. A lot of the financial stuff, we had to worry about, but now that I’m decided, I’m definitely very relaxed about it.”
At DePauw, Waugh expects to compete in the same sprinting events as she did in high school, competing in the 100 up to the 400 and also taking part in relays and the high jump, so for her, the main adjustments she’ll have to make involve being in a new place with new people.
“Probably just getting used to new coaches and getting used to new teammates,” she said. “I’m super excited to meet all of the team. I’ve met a lot of them already. Really looking forward to that. And then just competing with new people and competing in a new place against new teams. It’s all new and it’s very exciting.”
While at DePauw, Waugh will study the digital arts.
“I will be studying film and media, I think at this moment, so cinema and maybe some graphic design,” she said. “Things like that. I’m very interested in digital arts.”
And she is excited to see what her future has in store for her over the next few years.
“I’m very excited to branch out,” she said. “I’m used to living in such a small town, so a lot of people here don’t major in art and things like that. So, I’m very excited to break out and use all the resources I have available to me and meet new people.”
But she will miss the bonds she’s developed while at Mount Gilead.
“I will definitely miss my friends and teachers for sure,” she said. “People who have mentored me. A lot of people who have helped me out here. I definitely owe a lot of my success to them, so I will definitely miss them. Obviously, just Mount Gilead. It’s a small place where we’re all close. I’ll miss that closeness.”
Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS
Sports
2025 Volleyball Season Tickets Available for Purchase
Story Links FAIRBANKS – Season tickets for the 2025 Alaska Nanooks volleyball season are now available for purchase. Fans can now purchase volleyball season tickets for $100 via this link. Season ticket holders support the Nanooks at the highest level and get their preferred seat saved for the entire season. A court […]

FAIRBANKS – Season tickets for the 2025 Alaska Nanooks volleyball season are now available for purchase. Fans can now purchase volleyball season tickets for $100 via this link. Season ticket holders support the Nanooks at the highest level and get their preferred seat saved for the entire season. A court sport season ticket option where fans can purchase season tickets for all volleyball and basketball games for $250 will be available for purchase later this month.
The Nanooks volleyball team is set for 12 home games in 2025, beginning Sept. 11-13 with the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic. The Nanooks will host their annual Food Truck Rally on Sept. 13 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. They will then begin their home GNAC schedule on Sept. 25 vs. Saint Martin’s and conclude the regular season by hosting Montana State Billings on Nov. 22. On Oct. 2 vs. Alaska Anchorage, the Nanooks will host their Pack the Patty and White Out Night, where we are aiming to get 1,000 fans in the Patty Center. Other big matches include our Dig Pink match presented by Alaska BCDC vs. Central Washington on Oct. 18 and Military Appreciation Night vs. Seattle Pacific on Nov. 20.
Reach out to the Nanooks Ticketing Office at (907) 474-NOOK (6665) or by email at uaf-athletics@alaska.edu.
Ticket Office Hours
Monday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
For the full schedule and match details, CLICK HERE. Season tickets for remaining sports will be available shortly.
Follow the ‘Nooks
IG – @NanooksVB
X – @NanooksVB
FB – Alaska Nanooks Volleyball
Sports
Ryleigh Cavanaugh Joins Lindenwood Lacrosse Coaching Staff
Story Links Ryleigh Cavanaugh has joined the Lindenwood University women’s lacrosse staff as an assistant coach, head coach Jack Cribbin announced today. “We are thrilled Ryleigh is going to remain with our Lindenwood lacrosse family,” Cribbin said. “She will be a great addition to our staff. Her resume as a student-athlete and […]

Ryleigh Cavanaugh has joined the Lindenwood University women’s lacrosse staff as an assistant coach, head coach Jack Cribbin announced today.
“We are thrilled Ryleigh is going to remain with our Lindenwood lacrosse family,” Cribbin said. “She will be a great addition to our staff. Her resume as a student-athlete and leader speaks for itself. I know Ryleigh will be a tremendous coach, and we are excited her journey will begin with us.”
Cavanaugh, a Manchester, New Hampshire native, was a former student-athlete at Lindenwood from 2023-2025 where she earned a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration. She served as a team captain in 2025, while helping the program to a 23-11 overall record with two consecutive appearances in the ASUN semifinals. Cavanaugh owns the Lindenwood University all-time draw control record, average draw controls per game record, single-game draw control record, and single-season draw control record. She was voted by her teammates as the team Most Valuable Player for both the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In addition, Cavanaugh was voted the team’s Heart of a Lion award recipient in 2025. In May 2025 she competed in IWLCA Senior All-Star Game in Sparks, Maryland.
Prior to Lindenwood, Cavanaugh spent four years as a student-athlete at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. At Roger Willams she served as a team captain and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative. Cavanaugh was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Rookie of the Year in 2021. She was a First Team All-Conference selection in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In 2023, Cavanaugh was named the CCC Offensive Player of the Year, Roger Williams Female Athlete of the Year, and was a CCC Woman of the Year Finalist. She was an IWLCA First Team Pilgrim Region selection and was an IWLCA Third-Team All-American in 2023 and was named to the CCC All-40th Team in 2025.
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