Partly cloudy and windy this evening then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 21F. W winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..
Tonight
Partly cloudy and windy this evening then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 21F. W winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
...GALE WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS EVENING...
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO
MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT...
* WHAT...For the Gale Warning, west southwest winds to 35 kt and
significant waves to 6 ft. For the Small Craft Advisory, west
winds to 30 kt and significant waves to 4 ft expected.
* WHERE...Winthrop Harbor to Calumet Harbor IL, and Calumet
Harbor IL to Gary IN.
* WHEN...For the Gale Warning, until 9 PM CST this evening. For
the Small Craft Advisory, from 9 PM this evening to midnight
CST tonight.
* IMPACTS...Strong winds will cause hazardous waves which could
capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Mariners should alter plans to avoid these hazardous conditions.
Remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, and/or secure the
vessel for severe conditions.
&&
Weather Alert
...GALE WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS EVENING...
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO
MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT...
* WHAT...For the Gale Warning, west southwest winds to 35 kt and
significant waves to 6 ft. For the Small Craft Advisory, west
winds to 30 kt and significant waves to 4 ft expected.
* WHERE...Winthrop Harbor to Calumet Harbor IL, and Calumet
Harbor IL to Gary IN.
* WHEN...For the Gale Warning, until 9 PM CST this evening. For
the Small Craft Advisory, from 9 PM this evening to midnight
CST tonight.
* IMPACTS...Strong winds will cause hazardous waves which could
capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Mariners should alter plans to avoid these hazardous conditions.
Remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, and/or secure the
vessel for severe conditions.
&&
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Zeus is safely in a boat after struggling for about 30 minutes after falling through the ice in a pond in Cabery.
When there are warnings about thin ice on rivers, lakes and ponds, most residents heed the advice. But how do you tell a dog?
Well, you can’t, but Cabery residents and a Kankakee County Sheriff’s deputy came to the rescue of an approximately 2-year-old pit bull that wandered out Monday morning onto the thin ice on a pond on the north side of the village.
Sgt. Russ Belcher, a 20-year deputy, got the call around 9 a.m. of a dog in distress in the icy waters. Belcher said the week before the ice on the pond had been thicker due to the below-zero temperatures, and some kids had been venturing out on the ice.
As temperatures had recently warmed, the ice was very thin. Zeus, the adventurous dog, fell through and was struggling mightily.
“He was doing the best he could, but it was hard,” Belcher said. “He was trying to pull himself up with his little paws on the ice.”
Belcher arrived at the pond at 9:07 a.m., and he quickly threw out a throw rope that was in his vehicle. The rope has what looks like a frisbee on the end, but the dog was unable to grab it. A crowd of three or four residents had gathered to offer help.
“I asked everybody, ‘Does anybody have a boat?’” Belcher said. “Someone said, ‘We don’t, but one is on the way.’”
While Belcher was waiting, he started looking around the immediate area for a boat.
“As I started looking, I saw the truck pull up with the boat,” he said.
More of the Cabery community came out to assist. It’s a dog, you’ve got to help him, right?
“It started with three people, and we got up to six or seven,” Belcher said. “… We had heard he might bite, so we were concerned about that. The dog was getting exhausted and scared. I just think he was so scared and knew we were there to help.”
At one point, the dog fell under the water and rolled over. It was an “Oh, no,” moment.
“We pulled up with the boat, and he climbed right up,” Belcher said.
The unidentified man in the boat, called by the name of Alan in Belcher’s bodycam video, hoisted the dog into the small fishing boat.
“I thought we were going to lose him,” Belcher said. “He fought through it and got back up. I don’t think that he had much fight left in him. He gave it his all.
“A lot of people came out with blankets and towels. They wrapped him up very good.”
Belcher was then told where the dog owner lived, and he drove over to the house and the man just happened to be outside.
“Are you missing a dog?” Belcher asked.
The man said, “Yes, he ran off this morning.”
Belcher told him the dog fell through ice, but they got him out.
“He came over right away,” Belcher said. “When he got there, he picked up his dog, put him in his car and drove away.
“Everyone was super excited. The vibe was certainly a relief. No one wanted to see the dog die.”
Belcher said he was super focused on rescuing the dog, and he wasn’t able to get the name of the man with the boat or the dog owner.
“We all just went our separate ways,” he said. “Everybody took off. There were a lot of handshakes.”
Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said with the experience of Sgt. Belcher or anyone in the department, they’re going to do the right thing.
“It could’ve been Sgt. Belcher, it could’ve been any one of our guys,” he said. “We work with the community. Fortunately, this was a good outcome by the deputy and the community.”
The whole ordeal lasted about 25 to 30 minutes. Belcher said he was just doing his part, and he gives much of the credit to the people of Cabery for coming through in the crisis.
“Without the boat, we wouldn’t be telling this story,” he said.
Chris Breach is the Associate Editor of The Daily Journal and the editor of the business section. A graduate of Indiana University, Breach has more than 25 years experience in newspapers. He can be reached at cbreach@daily-journal.com.
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