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2ND YEAR IN A ROW
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THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
CHANGE IN DIVERSITY
Demographic shifts over the last 14 years provide clues to what McHenry County is going to look like in the future. We should expect to be older and more diverse. How well are we situated for the gradually changing population?
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42 38 Complete forecast on page A8
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Flurry of filings for spring elections By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Big Brothers Big Sisters of McHenry County site coordinator Katie Ozarka (center left) and Licia Sahagun, executive director at the Garden Quarter Neighborhood Resource Center, talk Thursday while children play games during an after-school program at the resource center in McHenry.
COUNTY’S LATINO POPULATION EXPECTED TO GROW By JEFF ENGLEHARDT • jenglehardt@shawmedia.com
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andra Gonzalez’s story is becoming more common in McHenry County. Gonzalez, who left Mexico decades ago, came here 13 years ago because of the job opportunities and safety the area provided. Her husband was offered a job producing signs and banners, and the city of McHenry was a safer place to raise her then-newborn daughter, she said. “There has been a change and there is more diversity,” Gonzalez said of the increasing Latino population. “The community has become more accepting of Hispanic people … but there are still challenges.” Census data show the Latino population will grow. As the white population – which never has dipped below 90 percent in the county – gets older, the Latino population is getting younger. The Latino population in McHenry Coun-
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“The community has become more accepting of Hispanic people ... but there are still challenges.” Sandra Gonzalez McHenry resident
ty is significantly ahead of other minority groups, with more than 35,249 people – about an 80 percent increase from 2000 to 2010. The white population accounts for 90.1 percent of the county’s 308,760 residents, which is down from the 93.9 percent in 2000. The decline likely will continue as 42.4 percent of the white population is age 45 or older, and 84.2 percent of the Latino population is age 44 or younger, including 51.2 percent that is
24 years old or younger. The median age for whites is 40.5 in McHenry County, while it is 24.7 for Latinos. In the most recent countywide, comprehensive Community Health Study, the report showed the Latino population was the foremost group in need of more community attention because of its size, barriers they confront in living here and array of services needed. The study, facilitated by the Health Systems Research at University of Illinois-Rockford campus, is released every four years and combines interviews with community leaders, an online community survey and research into demographic and social trends to identify needs and improvements. The study showed the dramatic shift in population trends has not led to many societal
See DIVERSITY, page A6
ABOUT THIS SERIES
THE SERIES DAY-BY-DAY
A look at U.S. Census and other data and an examination of how the housing industry, social services, education and local government is adjusting to changing demographics.
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WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
What’s changing about the population of McHenry County and how are we adjusting to population needs?
How have social service agencies been changing delivery models and what needs are they trying to fill?
Is the housing market well suited for a population that’s getting older?
What are local educators doing to give students who aren’t native English speakers the best chance to succeed?
Are the shifts in ethnic diversity being reflected in local elected offices across McHenry County?
As Monday’s election petition deadline arrived, a flurry of filings occurred, which helped lead to some contested races in the spring election scheduled for April 7. In the municipal elections, contested races are set for Spring Grove, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Fox River Grove, Prairie Grove, Harvard, Huntley, Oakwood Hills and Woodstock. In Algonquin, five people have signed up to run for the three trustee positions up for grabs. Incumbents Debby Sosine, Jim Steigert and John Spella will be joined on the ballot by Kerry Inside Stallard and Sandra K. Robertson. List of McHenry There will be com- County-area mupetition for the three nicipal election Lake in the Hills trust- filings. PAGE A5 ee seats up for grabs. The three incumbents Russ Ruzanski, Frank Covone and Ray Bogdanowski will be on the ballot, along with Bill Dustin, who unsuccessfully ran for village president in 2013, former Village Board member and County Board member Paula Yensen and Tyna Zarecky. In Huntley, three trustees spots are up, with five people appearing on the ballot. Niko Kanakaris and Harry Leopold are the incumbents. Pam Fender was a trustee until 2013, when she decided not to seek re-election and ran for Grafton Township supervisor instead. She lost in the general election. Tim Hoeft and Darci Chandler also will appear on the Huntley ballot. In Oakwood Hills, only Paul Smith is running for village president, a seat previously held by Melanie Funk. However, with three trustee seats up for election, six people will appear on the ballot: Kristina Zahorik, Kerry Leigh, Patrick M. Riley, Chad Rider, Mary Beth Salvo and Mark Wise. A name that will not appear on the spring ballot in Cary is Village Trustee Karen Lukasik. Lukasik initially said she was not going to run, and then decided she would run after encouragement from community members. She began collecting signatures, but did not file petitions at Village Hall by the Monday deadline, Village Administrator Chris Clark said. Some school board races also will be crowded. Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 has 11 people running for the school board’s three seats up for grabs. Karen Whitman is the only incumbent school board member set to appear on the ballot. The school district has been involved in the controversy over a set of bleachers at Crystal Lake South High School.
See FILINGS, page A6
Jury duty raise could mean financial hit for McHenry County By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com A new state law raising jury pay to slightly above a pittance could mean big budget headaches for McHenry County. Senate Bill 3075, signed into law Friday by outgoing Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, requires counties to pay jurors a minimum of $25 for the first day of service and $50 each additional day. McHenry County jurors presently get $5 a day or $12.50 if they are
seated and hearing testimony, plus mileage. Quinn signed the bill over vociferous objections from larger counties that the mandate would further drain their financial resources. County Board Chairman Joe Gottemoller urged Quinn in a Dec. 8 letter to veto the bill, concluding that it would increase the county’s costs by 425 percent. “Our county will not be able to handle these extra costs without cuts in other county government services. We have no additional rev-
On the Net You can read the text of Senate Bill 3075 at www.ilga.gov.
enues to cover this new unfunded mandate,” Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake, said. The bill, filed by Rep. Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park, passed through the General Assembly earlier this month in the last days of the fall veto session after the Nov. 4
election. The law, which does not take effect until June 1, attempts to defray some of the increased costs by ending the mileage reimbursement requirement and cutting the sizes of civil juries in half from 12 people to six. For McHenry County, which contains the 22nd Judicial District, the new rate translates to a significant increase, Court Administrator Dan Wallis said. The county paid out $58,950 in jury pay last year for 9,825 juror
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days, not counting $29,411 in mileage at 10 cents a mile. Given that about half of jurors serve at least two days during a weeklong jury service –which Gottemoller wrote was a “very conservative” estimate – he estimated the county would have paid out $309,488 more last year had the impending rates been in place. Gottemoller, a zoning attorney, also wrote that the halving of civil juries will have little effect on the overall cost.
See RAISE, page A6
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