McHenry High School's student-written and -edited newspaper

The McHenry Messenger
McHenry High School's student-written and -edited newspaper

The McHenry Messenger
McHenry High School's student-written and -edited newspaper

The McHenry Messenger
Splitting up, or joining together?

Splitting up, or joining together?

Michalina Sotka, Print managing editor • April 11, 2025

In the past couple of months, there has been a certain question posed both in the minds of many people and on the ballots of primary elections. Many of these questions fall along the lines of “Should...

Sales associate Tom Koenig raises the U.S. and Illinois flags outside an Ace Hardware store as it opens on Jan. 27, 2025, in LaGrange Park.

Update: Illinois votes for the current flag

Grace Crockett, News Editor • April 3, 2025

Illinois’ flag redesign contest comes to a close, resulting in the majority of voters wanting to keep the current flag instead of the other options. Out of the 385,000 votes received, 165,000 wanted...

Because many have criticized Illinois’s state flag as a “seal on a bedsheet,” state officials are letting people in Illinois vote for an new flag based on several citizen-designed options.

Illinois holds a flag redesign contest

Grace Crockett, News Editor • February 13, 2025

Illinois opens up a vote for citizens to decide on a potential state flag redesign until Feb. 14. A contest to redesign the Illinois state flag received nearly 5000 entries from participants all over...

Opioid addiction can happen in any place to any person, and its costs can be devastating. In the past few years, McHenry County has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic, but has the services in place to prevent tragedy.

Am I going to use today?

Ethan Rasmussen, Staff Writer • January 27, 2025

Though the vast majority of Illinois leans red and votes Republican, the population of Chicago is usually enough to cause the entire state to go blue in elections. Some downstate counties want to secede from the state so that their voices are better represented.

Seven southern Illinois counties want to secede from the state

Michalina Sotka, Print Managing Editor • November 19, 2024

Seven Southern Illinois counties are considering secession and splitting from Cook County and its surrounding counties, including Iroquois County, Calhoun County, Clinton County, Green County, Jersey County,...

State Rep. Justin Slaughter celebrates after the chamber passed changes to the controversial criminal justice law known as the SAFE-T Act at the Illinois Capitol building on Dec. 1.

Controversial SAFE-T Act now in effect, portion ruled unconstitutional

Lydia Lawrence, Business Director • January 19, 2023

On Feb. 22, 2021, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the SAFE-T Act into law at Chicago State University. Parts went into effect on Jan. 1, and many have questioned the clarity and adequacy of this law. This...

Judge Elizabeth Rochford, a Democrat running for a seat on state Supreme Court, has been a Lake County Circuit Court Judge for a decade.

Meet Elizabeth Rochford, the Democrat running for Illinois Supreme Court

Freedom Tomasello, Opinions Editor • October 26, 2022

Judge Elizabeth Rochford is a Democrat running for Illinois Supreme Court against Republican Mark Curran. She  talks of her qualifications, experiences, and policies she has already put in place ahead...

Bill Foster, Democratic congressman for Illinois's 11th congressional district, has represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2008. Because of redistricting, his district will now include McHenry and other parts of McHenry County.

Meet Bill Foster, the Democrat running to represent Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives

Vanessa Moreno, Staff Writer • September 29, 2022

Congressman Bill Foster (D-11) will be up for reelection against Catalina Lauf (R-11) in the Nov. 8 midterm election. He has represented Illinois’s 11th District, which now includes McHenry, in the...

Activists react to the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling which overurns the landmark abortion Roe v. Wade case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 in Washington, DC.

Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

Nikki Sisson, Marketing Manager • June 24, 2022

On Friday, June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court made the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending nearly half a century of protected, federal abortion rights. This means that it will be up to the states to...

Though masks became optional at MCHS and other schools in the state on Feb. 7, this decision puts students, staff and the larger community at risk as the school continues to face COVID-19.

Opinion: Choose safety over comfort

Lydia Lawrence, Staff Writer • February 22, 2022

A student wearing a mask stumbles through the school halls that are full of students. Desperately trying to avoid contact with COVID-19 because of an ill family member at home, they become more worried...

Masked American Studies students work on an assignment together on August 27 in room 289 at the Upper Campus. Governor Pritzker's mandate will impact both vaccinated and unvaccinated students and staff, but will not change the policy already put in place.

Governor reinstates Illinois mask mandate

Alayna Majkrzak, Staff Writer • August 30, 2021

Governor JB Pritzker reinstated the Illinois mask mandate on Thursday, August 26. People in Illinois are now required to wear their mask indoors regardless of vaccination status.  Due to a steep rise...

If Rep. Marcus C. Evans Jr. can blame "Grand Theft Auto" for society's problems, then it only makes sense to blame him for starting the pandemic. After all, was he wearing a mask at all before the state was placed on lockdown?

Opinion: “GTA” is here to stay, Marcus C. Evans Jr.

Ciara Duncan, Features Editor • March 11, 2021

The pandemic has slowed, and it seems to me that Illinois Representative Marcus C. Evans Jr. (D-Ill. 33rd District) is getting bored. But, instead of watching movies, picking up a new hobby, scrolling...

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