Hello SPEAK OUT. I was just calling to complain about the light on St. Charles Road. I’m always late to church because of it and I would appreciate if they could make it shorter at Grace and St. Charles.

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Going east on Crescent from Glen Ellyn, there is a sign that says Welcome to Lombard, and the funny thing? Right by the sign is a pretty big pothole that you have to watch out for. Also, there is a big one on North Main street where the pavement is chipped away from a manhole cover, and a few more doozies around town. Lombard’s not alone, but these things are costly to our vehicles. Please Lombard, Villa Park and other towns, take a driving tour, make note of the potholes and get them fixed. Our vehicle health depends on it.

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To the person who commented on the Nov. 19 SPEAK OUT complaint, and the phrase used was “Manage your own home,” we pay taxes, which pay police salaries. We have a right to know how our dollars are spent, especially with the degree if mismanagement nowadays. Tone down the rhetoric; allow a taxpayer to logically question how their money is being used.

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Lombard calling. What happened to 621 Diner? Does anybody know?

In the Dec. 10 issue SPEAK OUT, it was noted that the operator of 621 Diner, Jason Paskewitz, told the village he found it too difficult to operate both his Lombard and Chicago diners, and decided to keep the business operations consolidated in Chicago. –JAC

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Now that Barack Obama has been elected president, we look forward to change. However, are we going to get the same kind of change that we got for the DuPage Theatre? That was awesome; a vacant lot was the best change we ended up with. I hope the president does a better job than that.

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I’m just wondering, with the supposed hard economic times, maybe now all these sporting events—college football, pro football, hockey, baseball, basketball, whatever, all of these time outs, three-point shots, pitching changes are not sponsored by a corporation, that all this money would be taken away from these corporations, spending all this money to sponsor them, or money given to pro teams for naming their stadiums. It needs to end now. Hopefully we’ll never hear that again.

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Hi, please don’t call in anymore and complain about Lombard’s fire department or police department. These organizations are highly accredited by national fire and police organizations. Anyone other than the police or fire department members calling in to this newspaper are totally unqualified to question anything they do. I have complete faith in our fire and police departments to protect our community the best as anyone can. All you’re doing is questioning their ability to do their job, and you have no basis to do that whatsoever.

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Regarding taxes. These politicians are thinking of adding tax to our gasoline. We’ve been ripped off too long. If they get that idea of adding tax to gasoline or any other tax increases, instead of lowering them, they can kiss their jobs goodbye the next election day. Believe me, ladies and gentlemen, once they’re out of a job, boy, they’ll get the message nice and clear. Vote them out of office. Let them look for a job like everybody else.

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I have a comment for the Republican from Lombard. I know what you’re saying about the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and how it’s Clinton’s fault and Carter’s fault, but is it Clinton’s fault for the war in Iraq? I don’t think so. Is it Clinton’s fault that we’re spending $10 billion a month for the war? Is it Clinton’s fault that the twin towers went down? Again, on George Bush’s watch. Bottom line is, George Bush is going to go down as one of the worst presidents ever in our history and it’s too bad. I think he’s a nice guy, but for commander and chief, no thanks.

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I was reading SPEAK OUT and find it amazing that people want to blame administrations—Clinton or Bush—for this credit crisis. It was the greed of the American people who thought they could buy homes they really couldn’t afford, who signed these documents to pay their mortgages. It’s that greed that people want to keep up with the Joneses, that has forced this credit crisis. Granted, there should have been more oversight by both administrations, Clinton and Bush, but I don’t remember Clinton or Bush holding a gun to anybody’s head at a closing, saying, “You have to sign these documents.” This is the people’s own fault who signed up for these loans, knowing full well that in two, three, four or five years, these loans were going to change.

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Regarding camping in Sandwich, Ill. Last year you had an ad for Stone House Camping. Are they still in business? Thank you.

After a little checking with the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce—they said there is no such place in their town—it was discovered that there is a Stonehouse Park in nearby Earlville. If that is what you are referring to, they are located at 3719 Suydam Road, and can be reached at info@stonehousepark.net or 217-369-2265. –JAC

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Hello, I’d like to thank the water department for being so professional and prompt for coming out to our house after we had a couple of situations where we needed the sewer rodded. They found the problem and the very next day they came out and gave us a very nice clean-out. So again, I want to thank them for taking care of us and all the hard work they do. Hopefully other people acknowledge it as well.

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To the caller who said he or she uses the naughty and nice list with the children at Christmastime, and didn’t think a threat to call Santa was an inappropriate way to discipline, what about the rest of the year? Will the Easter Bunny not show up if the kids don’t behave? I agree with the first caller and I think it’s a crutch to put the disciplining onto someone else. You are the parent, you are there in the moment, so that’s when a situation should be dealt with. If you use threats that someone else will take care of things, such as Santa, how will your kids respect you as the person of authority and discipline? It’s your job.

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Yes, you’re right, dogs do bark, but we’re tired of listening to yours bark and bark and bark, and go on and on. So, bring it inside and listen to it bark in your own house.

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I was just wondering what the village plans to do with Main Street and Grace, from North Avenue to St. Charles. They keep patching the holes and patching the holes. Pretty soon we’ll just be driving down an alley. It’s been like this for four or five years. I’m just wondering if they plan on doing anything or if they just don’t care about this side of Lombard.

Note: To report a pothole, call Lombard Public Works at 630-620-5740. –blm

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To the persons calling about cable TV and losing the Hallmark Channel and the one who called about having it on digital cable, there’s your answer. Those of us who still have regular cable keep losing channels, and are being forced to upgrade to digital, aka pay more, to get our basic cable channels back as they keep getting shifted to the digital one. I wish the village would help us out here; not everyone can afford to go digital.

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I would like to thank a young man who helped me out on Christmas Eve morning. I’m a senior citizen and live on North Grace Street. I was trying to clear the heavy snow at the end of my driveway that the street plows left, and he stopped and said, “That’s too heavy for you to do. Let me clear it.” He pulled in and cleared it for me, and before I could thank him and get his name, he waved and said, “Merry Christmas.” Thanks again; you really made my day. There are still some wonderful people in the world.

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I was reading SPEAK OUT and was wanting to find out the phone number for Santa Claus. A woman said she saw a mom pull out her cell phone and call Santa. If that woman has a direct number to Santa Claus, that would be great to keep in mind for next year, for misbehaving kids.