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McHenry County News DISPLAY ADVERTISING & CLASSIFIEDS: 815-654-4850 • CIRCULATION: 815-654-4854 • E-MAIL: McHenryNews@RVPublishing.com
VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 30
THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2018
11512 N. 2nd ST. • MACHESNEY PARK, IL 61115
Hundreds of soldiers head to Louisiana for month-long combat training exercise
ERIC CRAMER, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, USAG-ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL McHenry County News
Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers drive a HUMMV onto the first car of an eight-car unit at the Rock Island Arsenal rail head July 10. More than 200 vehicles are being loaded at the Arsenal, with an additional 700 being loaded at Camp Atterbury, Ind. The rail exercise is part of a movement by the ILARNG to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.
Hundreds of vehicles and pieces of equipment are being loaded up and heading south for a massive month-long military training exercise. About 200 vehicles from the Illinois Army National Guard will load onto rail cars at the Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) July 9-13, as part of a deployment to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The moving effort is part of training and loading exercises using assets from the National Guard, RIA, and the Illinois State Police, according to Lt. Col. Kevin Little of Franklin, Illinois, deputy logistics officer for the ILARNG. Part of the training exercise includes demonstrating the Guard’s ability to deploy vehicles and equipment quickly. Little said the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) established rail head operations to load equipment at RIA and at Camp Atterbury, Ind. “This is to test how well we move and how well we build up combat power,” said
Chief Warrant Officer Jeremy Doggett of Greenview, Illinois, civil operations officerin-charge of the ILARNG’s Logistics Directorate. “We have about 180 pieces of rolling stock here we have to load, and another approximately 700 pieces at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. The whole exercise includes this unit and 24 enablers from around the United States.” He called the effort a complex move with “2,400 moving parts.” Col. Mark Alessia of Sherman, Illinois, commander of the 33rd IBCT, says ILARNG leaders realize this month-long training is a big commitment for many Guardsmen. “We very much appreciate our families and civilian employers who continue to support us as we take on some additional training to make sure we are combat ready at all times.” The 33rd IBCT will establish a rail head in Wilmington, Ill., to unload the vehicles and equipment when it returns from its JRTC rotation in August.
Michigan man guilty of kidnapping suburban Chicago woman, attacking federal jail employee A Michigan man has pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a suburban Chicago woman whose home he burglarized. Carleous Clay admitted in a plea agreement that he broke into the woman’s home in Lansing, Ill., in September 2015, took several items of value and carried them away. When he returned later that night to steal more items, Clay encountered the woman, who was returning home with groceries, the plea agreement states. Clay abducted the woman and drove her car to an ATM in Munster, Ind., where he used her PIN to withdraw $140 from her bank account. Clay then drove to the parking lot of a vacant commercial business in Burns Harbor, Ind., and sexually assaulted the woman in the backseat of her car, the plea agreement states. Afterwards, Clay strangled the woman and used lighter fluid and a lighter to set her on fire in an effort to kill her, his plea agreement states. The victim survived but suffered permanent and lifethreatening bodily injuries. Clay, 35, of Holland, Mich., pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of kidnapping, one count of attempted murder, and one count of using fire to commit a felony. The conviction is punishable by up to life in prison. U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall set sentencing for Oct. 9, 2018, at 10 a.m. The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by police departments in Lansing, Ill.; Burns Harbor, Ind.; Ogden Dunes, Ind.; Munster, Ind.; Porter County, Ind.; Holland, Mich.; and Ottawa County, Mich. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel M. Krull and Ronald DeWald. In addition to the kidnapping, Clay admitted in the plea agreement that he attacked a female case manager while jailed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago. The attack occurred in April 2017 in the case manager’s office on a residential floor of the MCC. Clay pretended to make a complaint about another inmate, but once inside the office he pushed the case manager to the floor and took her keys, which he used to lock himself inside the office with the victim, the plea agreement states. Clay admitted that he put a homemade knife to the case manager’s throat and threatened to kill her. Multiple MCC staff members eventually entered the office, deployed pepper spray on Clay, and removed the case manager from the room.
Tie down crews ready eight flat cars to receive their cargo at the Rock Island Arsenal rail head in preparation to load Illinois Army National Guard vehicles and equipment. The facility is large enough to allow eight rail cars at a time to be loaded for the month-long JRTC deployment. More than 200 pieces of rolling stock will be loaded at the Arsenal facility July 9-13.
Crystal Lake to implement additional mosquito control efforts As part of the Crystal Lake’s ongoing mosquito control program, a City-wide misting application took place overnight between July 11-12.. The City is aware of the increase in mosquito populations in Crystal Lake. The recent rains and high heat has created a large population of floodwater mosquitos. The City’s adult mosquito control efforts are ongoing including the recent City-wide misting treatment on Saturday, June 30. Clarke Environmental, under contract to the City, will apply a synthetic pyrethroid used widely throughout the Chicagoland area for adult mosquito control. Clarke regularly
examines and treats breeding sites throughout the City, including storm sewer catch basins and stagnant water areas. The program helps control mosquitoes while they are in the larval stage. In addition to the abatement program, residents can help control mosquito development by monitoring potential breeding sites in their yards and throughout the City and alerting Clarke to the locations by calling the toll-free Mosquito Hotline at 1-800-942-2555. Questions regarding the application or any other part of Crystal Lake’s Mosquito Abatement Program can be directed to the Clarke’s Hotline at 1-800-942-2555.