Hi, this is Lombard calling. I was on Interstate 88 heading west and the tollbooth was blocked, there was no open road tolling, you had to go through a tollbooth, and they put the gate down for everybody and collected your money. This is ridiculous. We pay taxes, we pay tolls; why isn’t the road open? Something must be done.

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This is to the person who’s calling about the barking dogs. First of all, get a life. Secondly, why do you always get the police involved? Last of all, if the dog is out in a fenced yard, it is all right. And, if the dog has water and food, there is nothing you can do about it. Finally, if my dog is barking and it irritates you, come and knock on my door and tell me.

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Hi, good luck to the new president. I hope he can make hay out of this situation. However, the reality is, he’s a glossy, polished individual, but not much substance. He said he’s not going to hire insiders? That’s about all he’s done. He’s going to close Guantanamo Bay, where they interrogate the poor terrorists who want to hurt us and kill us. Every terrorist in the world rejoiced when Obama was elected. Also, our taxes are going to go up. The evil rich people are going to get punished—and that’s going to help the economy?

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I don’t know about this, but our new president, by his third day in office, our country is in such a shambles, there’s so much that needs to be done, and what does he do? He wants to close Guantanamo Bay and move the prisoners around our country. I don’t know about that, folks—I think if he wants them here in America so bad, he should put them somewhere in Washington, D.C., and let them deal with it.  I think with all the problems our country has right now, that’s one of the last things that should have been on his agenda right now. I’m a little afraid of that, if you folks who voted for him made a huge mistake. Time will tell.

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Now I’m really getting ticked off. I’ve been out of the country for a couple of weeks, come back and watch all these supposed news shows about how to deal with the fact that the economy’s going bad, and how to make ends meet. People will not give up their latte coffee or anything like that, or their SUVs, or their $2 million homes that they can’t afford. They’d rather go bankrupt than give up these supposed luxuries. I’ve lived by myself for over four years. I’m making ends meet on macaroni and beans. Give me a break.

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You know what I find funny? A caller stated that you can’t blame Clinton or Carter for this war. You can’t really blame Carter, but Clinton had the opportunity to get bin Laden a long time ago, several times, and didn’t do it. The war is probably the wrong thing to do, but Clinton could have done more to protect us and he didn’t. You can blame Clinton partially for this war. If he had done the right job instead of bombing an aspirin factory, and gone after bin Laden like he should have, maybe we wouldn’t have gone to war. Did you ever think of that?

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Hi, Lombard here. I was going down Main Street on a Saturday afternoon, about 2 p.m., when I came upon the stoplight at Glenbard East High School, south parking lot. Lo and behold it was red, not a car in sight. Can’t they synchronize these things so it’s green when there’s no traffic? Don’t they have the sensors coordinated yet? What’s going on?

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Hello, Lombard, I see we’re paying Roger Marquardt fees in excess of $20,000 for lobby efforts in Springfield. Can we get an answer as to what that’s all about and what we’re getting for our money?

Village Manager David Hulseberg responded: “The Village of Lombard utilizes the professional lobbying services of Roger C. Marquardt & Co. Inc. before the Illinois General Assembly and the executive levels of Illinois government. There are several legislative issues that are of importance to the community and that the village desires to have our input represented. At present the Legislature is considering a capital bill. The village has $7.5 million in projects that we are seeking funds for. The lobbyist services of Roger C. Marquardt & Co. Inc. have proven to be a successful vehicle in accomplishing the village’s legislative agenda in Springfield .” –JAC

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This is great that Barack Obama is against lobbyists and the reform that he has put in for lobbyists, but here’s a dumb question: Why is the guy who is going to be the assistant defense secretary a lobbyist? He’s breaking all the rules that Obama put in place. That’s change, isn’t it? Let’s see; a federal rule that says no lobbyists in my Cabinet, and if they are, they can’t do certain things. Then he puts a lobbyist in his Cabinet. That’s change.

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I’m calling to complain about an American flag hanging over a business in Lombard. It is tattered and poorly masted. Flag etiquette dictates that a flag that is tattered needs to be taken down and destroyed. A new flag should be put in its place. It should be masted properly and it should not be tattered. This is showing no respect whatsoever to the flag.

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Lombard calling. Feb. 6, around mid-day, my wife was entering the Lombard Post Office. Trying to pull the doors open while using a walker is not an easy thing to do. There was a man behind her and a woman behind him, both wanting to enter also. The man told my wife that if she had to use a walker, she shouldn’t come to the post office. The woman stepped around the man and held the door open so my wife could get in. But she had to wait as the man dashed around her and into the post office. The woman who helped went into the office and complained about the man. Someone came out of the office, called the man out of line and talked to him. Our thanks to the woman.

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I agree with the callers about the name change for the new water park. I never heard before the referendum that it would be called Paradise Bay—or any name, for that matter. We taxpayers are paying for it; shouldn’t we have had a say in what it will be called? The board spent our money on this thing, so we are shareholders. I hope the park district listens to its constituents.

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Villa Park calling. Wow, so two Lombardians woke up last week, saw the temperature and decided to call SPEAK OUT and proclaim global warming is a lie? Amazing. Global warming, better known as climate change, is about weather extremes. Do you know we have had the two wettest years ever in our area in the last 15 years? They started keeping records over 110 years ago. Please, do some research from reputable sources unless you’d like a wet basement.

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Hi, this goes to Paul at Ultra Foods. Thank you so much, Paul, for everything you’ve done, for helping out the needy families of DuPage County. We really do appreciate it. You guys are the best. Thanks again.

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I was reviewing the Jan. 28 SPEAK OUT and read about Bill Moran—that his name will no longer be on the water park. I believe the alternative name sounded just so tacky and commercial. I agree with the sentiments of this person that we should recognize the merits of the person who worked so hard, rather than going with a gimmicky, tacky name. That’s my opinion.

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I’m calling from south Lombard to say that I’m also getting weekly magazines, bills and department store sales material not on time or after the sale is over, as a previous caller complained. When I call the post office I get the run-around; like the labels come off, pieces get stuck in the magazine, it’s really frustrating to say the least. And now to hear the post office may cut down its delivery days, the delays in delivery will only get worse. But the cost of a stamp is going up in May. That’s really something.

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President Obama is now going to lift the international ban on abortions. That means what we’re doing is we’re reinstating federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions. Isn’t that wonderful? You’d better look at your conscience if you voted for this man, and then we’ll also be letting all the terrorists out of Guantanamo, reversing what President Bush had done? Certainly not the best president, but one who kept us safe. Then we can expect more changes, more union power—that’s what continued to bring down Ford and GM. What a joke.