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D e cember 7, 2015 • $1 .0 0
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Stuckert to be new circuit chief judge By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Judge Robbin Stuckert will be the new chief judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit. She will take her seat Monday, succeeding Judge Timothy J. McCann. Stuckert is currently a resident circuit judge in DeKalb County. She has been a circuit judge since 2003 and has been the presiding judge over DeKalb County since 2012, when the 23rd Judicial Circuit was formed. The 23rd Judicial Cicuit
has two main courthouses – one in Sycamore and one in Yorkville, with branch courts in Sandwich and the city of DeKalb. Stuckert was perfect for the role, said Judge Ron Matekaitis, of the 23rd Judicial Circuit. “She is an outstanding judge in her own right,” he said. “She is recognized by her peers by teaching at educational conferences and is involved on a statewide basis in organizing educational conferences for judges.” In her new role, Stuckert
will oversee both Kendall and DeKalb counties. It is written into the bylaws that Kendall and DeKalb counties alternate appointments to the three-year term, Matekaitis said. “Not only will Robbin be the first for DeKalb County,” he said, “but the first female chief judge for the 23rd Judicial Court.” Stuckert couldn’t be reached for comment Friday. Stuckert has introduced improvements to the justice system in DeKalb County and should be successful in the
role, McCann said in a news release. “Judge Stuckert will be an excellent leader for our circuit,” he said. “Judge Stuckert has introduced innovative and cost-effective programs in DeKalb County, including a well-known and respected drug court which is a model for the entire country.”
DeKalb County Presiding Judge Robbin Stuckert listens to Assistant State’s Attorney Phil Montgomery during a 2014 trial. Shaw Media file photo by Danielle Guerra - dguerra@shawmedia.com
Obama: U.S. will defeat terror threat’s new phase
PRESERVING THE MEMORY OF DEKALB COUNTY’S FIRST WWII DEATH
By JULIE PACE The Associated Press
Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Jim and Deanna Glass of Genoa, with the help of family members, recently finished two shadow boxes with medals, photos and artifacts of Jim’s uncle, Willard Aves, the first DeKalb County casualty in World War II. Aves was a Navy shipman aboard the USS Arizona when it was bombed in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The shadow boxes will be displayed at the American Legion post named after Willard Aves in Kingston.
Not to be forgotten
Genoa family pieces together life of Pearl Harbor victim By KATIE SMITH
K
ksmith@shawmedia.com
INGSTON – Willard “Bill” Aves was just 20 years old when Japanese dive bombers demolished the USS Arizona. Aves, of Kingston, was the first man from DeKalb County killed during World War II. The attack sank the ship Aves and more than 1,000 crewmen were aboard Dec. 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many consider the attack the start of World War II for America. Aves’ family members have spent the past five years scouring newspapers and the contents of tucked-away boxes in search of Aves’
complete story. Recently, Jim Glass, Aves’ nephew, and his wife, Deanna Glass, prepared two shadow boxes to display at the Willard Aves American Legion Post 1010 in Kingston, and Willard Aves put a face to the name they fear could be forgotten. Died aboard “If this doesn’t get done, when USS Arizona we’re gone, nobody will even know who Willard Aves is,” Deanna Glass said. “This will always be there to remind people who he was.” The project began while digging through boxes of memorabilia left behind by Jim Glass’
Web poll Do you know someone who has served in the military? Vote at daily-chronicle .com. mother when she died in 2010, Deanna Glass said. “When he first told me he had an uncle that went down on the Arizona, my mouth flew open because I always had a thing for Pearl Harbor,” she said. Among the items recovered was a poem
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WASHINGTON – In a rare Oval Office address, President Barack Obama vowed Sunday night the U.S. will overcome a new phase of the terror threat that seeks to “poison the minds” of people here and around the world, as he sought to reassure Americans shaken by recent attacks in Paris and California. “I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure,” he said, speaking from a lectern in his West Wing office. “The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it,” he declared. The president’s speech followed Wednesday’s shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people and wounded 21. Authorities said a couple carried out the attack and that the wife pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and its leader in a Facebook post. Obama said that while there was no evidence the shooters were directed by a terror network overseas or part of a broader plot, “the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization.” “This was an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people,” he said in the 13-minute address. In speaking from the Oval Office, Obama turned to a tool of the presidency that he has used infrequently. His decision to speak in prime time reflected the White House’s concern that his message on the recent attacks hasn’t broken through, particularly in the midst of a heated presidential campaign. Yet Obama’s speech was likely to leave his critics unsatisfied. He announced no significant shift in U.S. strategy and offered no new policy prescriptions for defeating IS, underscoring both his confidence in his current approach and the lack of easy options for countering the extremist group. “Nothing that happened in the speech tonight is going to assuage people’s fears,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, said on Fox News. Obama did call for cooperation between private companies and law enforcement to ensure potential attackers can’t use technology to evade detection. He also urged
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