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Health experts push measles shots County seeing growing number of exemptions By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com As the number of measles cases in the United States this year just surpassed 100, county health officials said the increasing trend of parents declining the measles vaccination is a cause for concern. The state of Illinois allows residents to opt their children out of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine for either religious or medical reasons. Illinoisans cannot, however, opt out through a philosophical exemption. In McHenry County, the number of school religious exemptions from the MMR vaccine has risen from 465 students in fiscal 2011-12 to 548 in fis-
private schools who did not receive the MMR vaccine, compared to three years ago. 548: Number of school religious exemp“We always, and especially have tions from the MMR vaccine in fiscal 2013-14 this past week, reinforced the public 465: Number of school religious exemphealth message – vaccinations save tions from the MMR vaccine in fiscal 2011-12 lives,” said Debra Quackenbush, spokeswoman for the McHenry County Voice your opinion Department of Health. She said the MMR vaccination rate Should schools allow unvaccinated children in local schools is at a good level, 95 perto enroll? Vote online at NWHerald.com. cent, but added that if the exemption trend continues, it could eventually affect schools’ “herd immunity,” which cal 2013-14, according to Illinois State refers to when enough people in a comBoard of Education data from the coun- munity are immunized to make the ty health department. That means last spread of infectious disease unlikely. school year, there were 83 more stuSee MEASLES, page A6 dents in McHenry County public and
Impact in McHenry County
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
A certified medical assistant brings in vaccinations, including a measles booster, for a 5-year-old patient in June 2014 at the Centegra Physician Care pediatrics office in Woodstock.
What to look for in gov.’s address
POLL: YOUTH MORE WILLING TO VOLUNTEER THAN PARENTS
A HELPFUL GENERATION
By SARA BURNETT and KERRY LESTER The Associated Press
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
Volunteer Jessica Silva (left), 17, reads off bingo numbers Saturday to residents including Eleanor Cairns (center), with the help of Justine Cusack, 16, at Fox Point McHenry Assisted Living in McHenry. An AP poll found young people under 30 are more apt to give back than their parents were. Silva and Cusack are part of the Key Club of McHenry High School, in which members volunteer throughout the year at numerous organizations.
Giving back to community on rise for young county residents By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Laura Whiteside’s future career may have been unlocked by the Key Club. Whiteside, a senior at McHenry High School – West Campus and now president of the student volunteering organization, said four years of volunteering helped her discover her passion for helping others and has her on a path to a career in helping children and adults with special needs. What started as volunteer work through the group at places such as senior centers and events such as St. Baldrick’s quickly blossomed into an individual initiative to volunteer at places such as GiGi’s Playhouse to help those with Down syndrome. “I want to work with special needs children and never would have known if I didn’t join the Key Club,” Whiteside said. “I think a lot of kids our age don’t
know there are so many opportunities to volunteer. I know I didn’t.” But more and more young adults are willing to volunteer more than their parents’ generation, according to a recent Associated Press-Gfk poll. While the survey showed nearly all civic duties, such as voting and jury duty, declined among young adults compared to their parents’ generation, volunteering was markedly higher with one out of every five people younger than 30 volunteering in 2013. Only 14 percent of the same age group volunteered in 1989. The trend has not gone unnoticed by Jean Boyle, site coordinator at GiGi’s Playhouse. Boyle said teens like Whiteside are becoming the norm for volunteers at the organization, as the majority of the roughly 100 volunteers per year are high school and college students. Some volunteers are as young as 12 years old.
See VOLUNTEERS, page A4
CHICAGO – Gov. Bruce Rauner has a chance to fill in the details on his plans for fixing the state’s many problems when he addresses the General Assembly on Wednesday. Many see his first State of the State speech as the true start of a new legislative session that officially began in January. It has essentially been on hold as the Democratic-controlled Legislature waits for the new Republican governor to detail his policy priorities. Rauner, a first-time elected official who Bruce became Illinois’ Rauner first Republican governor in more than a decade, will have to work with the Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers. It will all play out against a backdrop of the state facing a multibillion-dollar budget hole. Some programs already are running out of money for this year or are very close to it. Here are some things to watch as Rauner gets started:
LOOKING FOR SPECIFICS
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Volunteers Madeline Baron (center), 15, of McHenry hands bags of potatoes to Wylie Frydrychowicz (left), 15, of Spring Grove and Grace Knudsen, 15, of McHenry at the Jan. 16 mobile food pantry hosted by the Key Club at Marian Central High School.
Find volunteer opportunities online: Visit Volunteer Center McHenry County at www.volunteercentermchenrycounty.org
Rauner has been previewing – some might say practicing – his speech in stops across the state, where he’s echoed the themes he repeated on the campaign trail: Illinois is broke and its government is broken. But so far, he’s spoken only broadly about solutions. And some legislators, taxpayers and others have been growing impatient. Rauner’s team says the long-awaited specifics are coming Wednesday, and in a Feb. 18 speech in which he will lay out his budget blueprint. If that’s true, it will be the first concrete legislative proposals from an administration
See GOVERNOR, page A6
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