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Talks set for D-158, union
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McHENRY COUNTY RESIDENTS REACT TO ALZHEIMER’S GRIP ON WOMEN Jeannie O’Leary (left) and her mother, Mary Gray of Crystal Lake, play dominoes while O’Leary visits Tuesday at Autumn Leaves in Crystal Lake. O’Leary visits her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, almost every day.
2nd session with mediator planned By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com
HUNTLEY – Ahead of an upcoming mediation meeting, the spokeswoman for the District 158 teachers union said the union’s hope is to reach a quick resolution before the start of school. The Huntley Education Association called for mediation June 15 after nine negotiation sessions with the Consolidated School District 158 Board made “no significant progress,” HEA spokeswoman Cindy Rick said. Still in the beginning stages of mediation, the two sides are grappling over what Rick described to be an issue of not only obtaining, but retaining quality teachers with competitive pay, among other issues. Only one mediation session has been held thus far, with another scheduled for Thursday. “We’re hoping to look at special education teacher caseloads because they’re kind of being overwhelmed and overworked,” Rick said. “And to look at some class sizes. Some core classes have 35 kids or more.” With 500 to 600 member teachers, the HEA is looking to negotiate both base pay, as well as health insurance, Rick said. This is not the first time in recent years negotiations between the two sides have gotten to this point or beyond. In 2008, the union went on strike for three days, and then in 2012, teachers inched toward another strike after declaring an impasse over compensation.
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Study finds women more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s Research seeks reasons why gender differences occur nie O’Leary walk into her room. O’Leary lights up, too, although she said she sometimes struggles with CRYSTAL LAKE – She doesn’t what Alzheimer’s disease has done know how old she is, where the rings to her mother. on her fingers came from or that the “It’s hard. You grieve over the woman who visits her daily is her person you love,” O’Leary said. daughter. “You fall in love with this little perBut 88-year-old Mary Gray still son, and you’ll have to grieve all can count by threes and win a game over for them.” of dominoes. O’Leary isn’t alone in watching And even though she might not her mother disappear. New research know who she is, Gray lights up when she sees her daughter JeanSee ALZHEIMER’S, page A6
By KATIE DAHLSTROM
kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Mary Gray plays dominoes with her daughter Tuesday at Autumn Leaves.
See HUNTLEY, page A6
Social Security marks 80 years; disability fund set to run out By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Social Security turns 80 on Friday, and the massive retirement and disability program is showing its age. Social Security’s disability fund is projected to run dry next year. The retirement fund has enough money to pay full benefits until 2035. But once the fund is depleted, the shortfalls are
projected to be enormous. The stakes are huge: Nearly 60 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children get monthly Social Security payments, and that number is projected to grow to 90 million over the next two decades. And the timing is bad: Social Security faces these problems as fewer employers are offering traditional pensions, forcing older workers to think hard about how they will afford retirement.
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“This is a program that’s been immensely popular since it began,” said Nancy LeaMond, executive vice president of AARP. “Increasingly, people recognize that saving for retirement is becoming harder and harder, and Social Security is becoming even more important.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on Aug. 14, 1935. Here are things to know about the federal government’s largest
Social Security’s long-term financial problems are largely a result of demographic changes. Every day, about 10,000 people in the U.S. turn 65. These are the baby boomers. Typical boomers, however, didn’t have as many children as their parents did. As a result, relatively fewer workers are left to pay the payroll taxes that
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Why is Social Security at risk?
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Neighbors call 911, save dog from house fire; Menoma Trail home left uninhabitable / A4
‘It’s a whole new feel’
program on its 80th birthday:
Health insurance enrollment Obama’s law sees rise in sign-ups; rate of uninsured in nation less than 10 percent / B3
support Social Security. In 1960, there were more than five workers for every person receiving Social Security. Today there are fewer than three. In 20 years, there will be about two workers for every person getting benefits. Americans also are living longer. In 1940, someone who was 65 could be expected to live about 14 more years, on average. Today, they
See SOCIAL SECURITY, page A2
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