This is a resident of Villa Park calling. It is the Monday after Oktoberfest and I want to know, why does the music have to be so loud? I live over near the library and don’t even have to go to Oktoberfest; I can hear the music. I was also at my daughter’s house, which is in Lombard near Maple and Westmore, and I could hear the music fine. They need to turn it down—I don’t know how anybody could sit there and enjoy it as loud as it was.

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I’d like to thank the Lombard Police Department for the honorary escort to Hammerschmidt School. My husband just returned from his second yearlong deployment in Afghanistan, and our neighbors had arranged the escort as a surprise for us. The plan was to send one or two patrols over as we were taking our kids to school, but that morning, every available officer volunteered to be part of the little five-minute parade and escort us to the school. It’s wonderful to see our community take a moment to not only honor our service men and women but also recognize the sacrifices the children of deployed soldiers make. I want to give a quick thank you to the public works department for their advice and kindness as I tried to figure out the best way to hang the welcome home banner. Thanks again.

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This is in response to the Villa Park resident with dogs locked in cages morning, noon and night. I’m glad you’re concerned and calling SPEAK OUT, but please take it further and call the police so they can check it out. Dogs need exercise, discipline and affection. Evidently, they’re not getting any attention. These people shouldn’t have any animals. It’s cruel and abusive. Be a responsible neighbor and give those dogs a life.

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I saw a news clip of a woman who was distraught at a tea party and she was expressing concern about her loss of freedom. I’m calling to see if anyone can shine a light on any freedoms we have lost. What was she talking about?

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Hi, I just wanted to let everybody know that the red-light camera at North Avenue and the right-turn lane going onto Route 53 is completely missing the white stripe. When we’re sitting there, we’re watching the cameras take pictures of probably hundreds of cars a day that are not stopping behind the white line and getting a picture taken. There is no white line there so I decided to call the village and the village told me they have nothing to do with that white line, that it’s a state thing and the state has to paint the line. But the village is the one issuing the ticket to people turning and not realizing they are crossing the white line because it’s missing. I just want everybody to be careful over there.

I checked with Lombard Police Officer Joe Menolascino, a member of the department’s traffic unit and one of the three officers who reviews the tapes and issues the red-light violation tickets. According to Menolascino, there is a white line, however it is quite faded. He did say that IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) has been contacted and they will be repainting the line. “If you stop, before or after the white line, and it was a safe stop, you will not get a ticket,” Menolascino said, adding that if the officers see that an accident occurred or might have occurred, you will be issued a ticket. The three officers have reviewed 7,485 tickets approved by RedSpeed since the cameras were placed at two Lombard intersections in mid-April. Of those, the Lombard officers have approved only 2,071 or about 27 percent, Lombard Deputy Chief Dane Cuny said recently.—blm

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I saw a blue van the other day speeding down Main Street in the left lane. Hurried past me under the viaduct, then an ambulance was coming down the street going south. Still behind the van, I could see the person stopped at the intersection, in the middle lane—didn’t even move over to the right, though there were no cars in the way. The ambulance honked and the van still didn’t move over; the ambulance had to go into the left-turn lane and around the van to continue south on Main Street. What’s the matter with you? First of all you were speeding and I saw that you didn’t make any attempt to slow down or move over when the siren was sounding. You just stopped and blocked the ambulance. If you were doing the speed limit, I bet you could have maneuvered better.

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I’m calling in regard to the recent comment from someone who said they got a ticket in Lombard at one of the red lights. I just wanted to make a comment that they can go to the village hall; they do have hearings which I went to, only to find out I still have to pay a $100 ticket even though I did not go through a red light. The comment in the Lombardian is true—if you simply move up a little to see if there is more traffic coming, that is when they snap your picture.

While it is against the law not to stop, Lombard officers review each of the tickets before they are issued. “We look for vehicles not interfering with other traffic while making a right turn, yielding to other traffic and making an effort to slow down,” Lombard Police Deputy Chief Dane Cuny said in an article that appeared in last week’s Lombardian about the review process by the traffic officers. “We generally do not write those citations.” In fact, Lombard officers are approving about 27 percent of the tickets sent by RedSpeed.—blm

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This is Lombard calling. I just want to say thank you to West Suburban Bank for the excellent shredding event they held. It helped me get rid of a lot of important documents safely and it also provided consumer reports. They gave a bag of goodies on consumer fraud. It certainly brought to mind that I need to be more aware of the fraud that goes on. Thank you, West Suburban Bank; you do a fine job for the community.

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Somebody needs to check the timing of the left-turn lane turning onto southbound Main Street off of westbound North Avenue. It’s about 3 p.m. on a Thursday; five cars had to go through that light—three in one lane and two in the other. The other eight cars had to stop and wait through a whole light. There’s something wrong with the timing.

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Nothing is free—neither freedom nor health care. I’m responding to the person paying health bills. You should talk to the doctor; talk to the hospital. Work out a payment plan over time; I did. I was having the same problem. They will work with you. I feel good about the health care bill in the House in the Senate because Americans came out of complacency and made the politicians blink and step back, to give us something good.