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THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
New study finds matrimony is a maybe for many people By JEFF ENGELHARDT
A
Percentage in 2012 (23 percent of men, 17 percent of women)
from 20 and 23, respectively, in 1960. That trend means people are making mature decisions before tying the knot, said the Rev. Budd Friend-Jones, pastor for First Congregational Church in Crystal Lake. “Our society has so many major issues going on right now, but it seems to me this younger generation is more thoughtful and more careful in regards to marriage,” Friend-Jones said. “That gives me hope. I’m not pessimistic about it.” With marriages starting later in life, there has been a decline in divorce rates. Seventy percent of marriages started in the 1990s have reached 15 years, compared to 65 percent in the 1970s and 1980s when divorce was at its peak. Marriages started in the 2000s are trending similarly to the 1960s and experts believe two-thirds will never involve a divorce, according to a recent New York Times report. Arn Schaper, pastor at the Congregational Church of Algonquin, said the declining marriage rate is
See MARRIAGE, page A4
MEDIAN AGE AT 1ST MARRIAGE
20 23
2012
27 29
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By EMILY K. COLEMAN
Illustration by R. Scott Helmchen - shelmchen@shawmedia.com
9 20
Percentage in 1960 (10 percent of men, 8 percent of women)
Complete forecast on page A6
ecoleman@shawmedia.com
BY THE NUMBERS
1960
34 25
District 155 submits zoning request for CL South structure
jengelhardt@shawmedia.com
ADULTS 25 AND OLDER WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN MARRIED
LOW
Bleacher permits sought
RATE OF THOSE WHO MARRY ON DECLINE
mericans are no longer married to the idea of marriage. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, about 20 percent of American adults 25 and older have never been married. The historic high is more than double the number in 1960 when only 9 percent of those 25 and older had never been married. A number of factors have been attributed to the decline in marriage rates, including economic difficulties and the growing trend of cohabitation as nearly 25 percent of never-married adults between 25 and 34 live with a partner. But there is a very real difference between cohabitation and marriage when it comes to each individual relationship and the greater societal symptoms, said Crystal Lake therapist David Cook. Cook, who has offered couples therapy and marriage counseling both through Centegra and in his own private practice for more than two decades, said marriage is still an important aspect of society and offers more than cohabitation. The Pew Research study shows not everyone agrees with Cook, as it was a 50-50 split between people who said society is better with marriage and children and people who believe society is better when people pursue their own priorities. “Cohabiting couples are not married for a reason and whatever that reason is often gets in the way of the relationship eventually,” Cook said. “Some may think even though they are cohabiting that it should follow the rules of marriage, but it doesn’t.” While Cook said the commitment marriage requires is beneficial to society, people’s decision to marry later in life can also be good. The research showed the median age for a first marriage is 27 years old for women and 29 for men – up
HIGH
COHABITATION Percentage of nevermarried adults 25 to 34 who live with a partner (after three years of cohabitation, 58 percent marry, 19 percent break up and 23 percent continue)
24
WILL THEY MARRY?
61 53
Percentage in 2010 of never-married adults who said they would like to marry Percentage in 2012 of never-married adults who said they would like to marry
THE VALUE OF MARRIAGE
46 50
Percentage of people who say society is better off if marriage and children are a priority Percentage of people who say society is just as well off if people have other priorities
CRYSTAL LAKE – The controversial and lawsuit-inspiring bleachers at Crystal Lake South High School will start making their way through the city of Crystal Lake’s zoning process one and a half years after they went up as part of a $1.18 million expansion. Community High School District 155 – which operates four high schools and an alternative education center – filed a request for special use permits Friday as it said it would following the dismissal of one of its appeals, said the city’s community development director, Michelle Rentzsch. The school district has Next step been racking up fees – which with a potential $5,000 a day, Crystal Lake city reached a total of $295,000 staff will review Tuesday – for the west bleach- District 155’s ers, which the city says vio- special permit late five elements of the city’s request, and once zoning code, including by it is complete, it being too tall and too close to will be considered neighboring properties. by the Crystal Lake The fines can continue to Planning and Zonaccumulate until the district ing Commission. completes its submission, The final decision Rentzsch said, adding that it is missing landscaping and will then fall to the Crystal Lake City engineering plans. Once all that is in, the Council. fines are typically placed on hold, though the final call on News sent to that decision depends on the your phone circumstance of each case, she said. Text the keyword The district’s proposal in- NWHCRYSTALcludes some modifications LAKE to 74574 to to the expanded bleachers sign up for Crystal that the district says try to Lake news text meet the best interest of all alerts from the its stakeholders, including Northwest Herald. students, staff, parents, taxMessage and data payers and other residents, School Board President Ted rates apply. Wagner said in a news release. The district has already made some changes designed to minimize the bleachers’ impact, including relocating the portable restrooms to a more remote location, increasing security during games as well as when the bleachers are not in use, and restricting access to the top and side seating by roping off those areas, the release said. A forestry consultant has also been hired to look into creating a barrier between the bleachers and the neighboring properties. “We are and have always been open to making compromises to address the privacy and quality of life concerns of our residential neighbors –
Source: Pew Research Center
See BLEACHERS, page A4
Committee chair shuffle in store for McHenry County Board By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com A number of McHenry County Board committee chairmanships could change hands under a roster drafted by its new chairman. The Committee on Committees, which is convened after every November election to assign board members to committees, boards and commissions, recommended approval of the roster proposed by new Chairman Joe Gottemoller on a 7-0 vote Monday. The group meets again Friday morning to assign the board’s 24 members to its 11 standing committees and about two dozen other groups on which it has seats. The roster must be approved by the full County Board, which typically takes place at the January morning
meeting. Four people will keep their existing chairmanships under Gottemoller’s proposal. Anna May Miller, R-Cary, will still lead the Transportation Committee, Sue Draffkorn, R-Wonder Lake, will run Law and Justice, Ken Koehler will lead the Liquor and License Committee, and Michele Aavang, R-Woodstock, will run Natural and Environmental Resources. Four existing chairpeople will slide into new roles. John Jung, R-Woodstock, will chair the Human Resources Committee, while Nick Provenzano, R-McHenry, will take his place as chairman of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. Mary McCann, R-Woodstock, will move from Finance and Audit to chair Public Health and Human Services, replacing current Chair-
What’s next The McHenry County Board Committee on Committees will next meet at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the county Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock.
Online Visit http://shawurl.com/1lql to learn more about the County Board’s standing committees and the numerous other groups to which it sends representatives.
woman Donna Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake. Kurtz will not get another chairmanship under the proposed roster. Carolyn Schofield, R-Crystal Lake, will move from Human Resources to
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Brandon Marshall, now on IR, makes Algonquin radio appearance / C1
Pioneer Center for Human Services president will resign in February / A3
Cary may be looking at deficit for general fund budget / A3
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chair Planning and Development, which had been run by Gottemoller. Board rules forbid the board chairman and vice chairman from also holding a committee chairmanship. Former board Chairwoman Tina Hill, R-Woodstock – who did not seek re-election to the board’s top spot – will chair Management Services, which she has done in previous years. The committee had been led by Paula Yensen, D-Lake in the Hills, who did not win re-election. Former board Vice Chairman James Heisler will assume control of the Building Projects Committee from Provenzano. The committee meets on an as-needed basis when county government plans to build new
See COMMITTEES, page A4
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