Just wondering where the Village of Lombard priorities really are. I drove by the village hall complex—while every other village has its administrative complex in their downtown, helping to maintain some for of life in its central business district, I noticed the repaving of the streets adjacent to this complex—streets that were not in need of repair before. Then I drove through Lombard’s central business district, down St. Charles Road, and saw a street that matched the business district, one that is in dire need of repaving and improvements, which would only help in reflecting a central business area that is at least trying to bounce back. If the village board is serious about improving downtown Lombard then put their money where their mouths are and priorities in line. I really wonder why the trustee in that district hasn’t raised this issue. I bet President Mueller wouldn’t want his picture next to any of those potholes along St. Charles Road.
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This is Lombard calling with a message to people on strike. Wake up, guys. You have a job; you should be grateful you have a job; you should not be on strike because there are millions of Americans who are unemployed due to the largest recession since the Depression. So if you’ve got a job, put down your strike signs and go do it and be grateful you have a paycheck to take home to your family.
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I’d like to congratulate the Lombard police for catching the two sex offenders who were living next to the parks. It only took another newspaper to point it out to you that you didn’t do your job.
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Recently while driving in Cook County I noticed warning signage place at least a half block before reaching a photo-enforced traffic intersection. Likewise, additional signage and flags were clearly visible at the photo-enforced traffic signal. Specific signs at the photo-enforced intersections indicated the right turns on red were either permitted or prohibited. The officials in DuPage County seem to conveniently omit some of the signage protocol. As to the comments made by the village president that 40-60 percent of the $100 tickets are rescinded, please indicate your reliable source of this information.
As a matter of fact, Lombard officers are approving only about 27 percent of the tickets sent by RedSpeed. Lombard Police Deputy Chief Dane Cuny related in a Sept. 30 Lombardian article that the department’s three Traffic Safety Unit officers have reviewed 7,485 tickets approved by RedSpeed since the cameras were placed at two Lombard intersections in mid-April. Of those tickets, the Lombard officers approved 2,071 or about 27 percent. Statistics show that about 90 percent of the violations at both of these intersections have been issued for right turn on red.—blm
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I want to thank SPEAK OUT for the courage to be put back into the paper after you kept it out that week. I applaud you for the courage of giving the citizens of DuPage, Villa Park, Lombard, Elmhurst a forum to speak freely. Thanks for your courage.
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As a longtime supporter of Glenbard East, it’s very interesting to note the continued coverage of Glenbard East student Luke Martinez raising stuff for the troops. But it’s very interesting to note, how would you get another student to be able to get the same coverage if their parent wasn’t also a coach and a teacher at that same school? There are many students who are very involved in many different programs who do not get the recognition without having that visibility.
The newspaper feature students when we are given information about their involvement. If you know of a student who is involved in such a community service project, contact Jane Charmelo, community editor, at 630-627-7010, or at lombardian@sbcglobal.net.—JAC
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Norbury calling. I hope everyone’s proud of the 57.6 ticket rate that was published recently in the Sun-Times. Our next door neighbors in Villa Park are over 70 percent. Congratulations Villa Park on enforcing speed limits. Maybe Lombard can learn something from this and enforce the speed limits instead of a slap on the wrist.
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Here’s a thought for you on red-light cameras. Red-light cameras aren’t there to save lives. Red-light cameras are there to generate revenue. Red-light cameras are actually going to cause accidents. If you haven’t already seen people slamming on their brakes at the hint of a yellow light, which is going to cause rear-end collisions, watch for them—you’ll see it. Red-light cameras? Revenue generators, not lifesavers. Revenue generators and bad ones, at that.
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I’m from Lombard and senior—76 to be exact. In February of this year, “20/20” had a segment on the Appalachian children in Kentucky and the dismay of living conditions they face every day. I decided I would get in touch with a newspaper in Kentucky that could provide me a town that needed help at Christmas. They suggested Beattyville, about 140 children living in the mountain. Out went a call to the church and friends and donations came in every day; clothes, books, stuffed animals. We washed and ironed all the clothes, wrapped them in tissue and boxed them. We have 200 gifts that are going to be delivered to Beattyville; 200 Christmas gifts for the children.
Please call Jane Charmelo, community editor, at 630-627-7010 to provide more details.—JAC
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Villa Park. Guess what happened again? The 100 block of Van Buren was broken into. I guess the Villa Park police should have listened to the people in the neighborhood when we told them that people were stalking the houses and using their public alley to create damages. Damage is getting worse in the area. My neighbor still can’t get if off his house from the vandalism. Let’s get on the ball, trustees.
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Lombard calling. This is in regard to a contest going on. Please visit www.staplesdreampark.com. Vote every day until Nov. 16 for Madison Meadow park. There are maybe 10 eligible parks; the top five, Madison Meadow coming in at number four. Let’s win some money—$25,000—to the local park that wins the most votes. Go to your local Staples store to pick up a power card to make your votes go even further. Pass on this information to everyone you know in hopes that we can get $25,000 toward Madison Meadow park.
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This is Lombard calling. I enjoy reading your coverage of local high school sports teams. One thing jumps out at me about Glenbard East football according to the column; if the coach hasn’t gone to the playoffs in 10 years, why is he still the coach?
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I’d really like to see a Bealls department store go into the old Hobby Lobby. It’s great and I go to it all the time in Arizona and it’s a discount place. We have no place to shop in Lombard for clothes at all.
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I missed your SPEAK OUT in the Sept. 16 edition. I still wish you a happy 50th anniversary and thanks for a great local newspaper.
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Lombard calling. $325 a year for a parking spot sounds like a deal. Figure in a monthly train pass to Chicago, and your yearly cost amounts to just under $1,350. Now, compare this to the cost of driving 30 miles each way in a vehicle getting about 20 miles to the gallon at about $2.30 a gallon. Fuel alone will run you about $1,800 a year and this doesn’t even include vehicle maintenance and wear and tear. And, good luck finding a $1.25-a-day parking downtown. I can extrapolate this out further to include the cost of your time sitting in traffic, but I think the message is loud and clear. I think $1.25 a day to park in Lombard is a pretty sweet deal.
