This is to the postmaster. What’s the point of putting a drive-mailbox in and then putting a barrier in front of it so that you can’t drive up to the thing? It’s only been up a very short time and there’s paint scratched off of it. People must be hitting it like crazy. When I get there I have to stop, put my car in park and get out of the car. If I’m getting out of the car, why don’t I just go into the post office? It doesn’t make any sense. Take the thing out or do it right and leave it the way it was. I don’t see anything wrong with it; it’s been there for many years. Progress, right?

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Again recently in speak out the ignorant intelligence of the global warming deniers have shined their light. Every time a major snowstorm hits any part of the country, the right-wing noise machine ramps up its anti-science rhetoric to mock global warming. The reason it has been very cold here is that Greenland is unusually warm, which pushes the arctic air down; that’s how weather fronts move, differences in temperature. By the way, it’s called global warming, not U.S. warming; here’s something that deniers can do to maybe help them; take out a globe and look to see how big the U.S. is compared to the rest of the globe. If these deniers are waiting for winters to have no more snow, we’ll all be long gone by then. NASA just reported last week that 2010 will be the warmest ever on record. See, deniers, not the coldest ever, but the warmest. Again, I like to look up the facts; the deniers just wait for a snowstorm. I feel like I’m trying to teach 1 plus 1 to these people.

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Yes, this is to the person who called in the SPEAK OUT Dec. 1 from Lombard. I think that person had better read the Pledge of Allegiance one more time because it is one nation under God; so why not have the American flag and the church flag in the sanctuary of a church and that includes St. Pius. Our church has it set up that way and I see nothing wrong. That person had better read the Pledge of Allegiance again.

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Lombard calling. In response to the caller that was upset about icy sidewalks. That could be my house. I did not have a chance to shovel and the weather came in quick with the cold. I tried to shovel the walk, but it was too late. It was frozen. What would you like me to do now? Go out and spend my money on salt or other forms of ice melt? I wish I could afford to do that for you, but I cannot. As a courtesy, I do shovel the sidewalk. I do not see where it has become my “residential duty.” Now, I am lazy? Well, I wish I could give you a heated tunnel so you could get to the train safe without slipping and falling down. Be careful out there, because sometimes you have to walk around things. I know it’s tough, but that’s the way it is.

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Hello, I live in Lombard and just went by one of the gas stations on Roosevelt Road. The gasoline is $3.29 and 9/10ths, which makes it $3.30 a gallon. Do you think the Democrats will blame this on Bush or take credit for it? Let’s wait and see. Meantime, President Obama told us to inflate our tires, so take your pick.

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I was recently reading a gas sharing program drive with Nicor article you had written in the Lombardian, and I was very for it; I’m a single father of two and I have custody of my children. It was biased that the first line says “a single mother supporting her children,” and I was wondering why not a single father supporting his children? I became unemployed a couple of weeks ago and was wondering why the heck they had to put that in there. I do want to speak out against that and let you know I was just concerned about the fact that it was kind of a biased article and who wrote it, whether it was Nicor. Does Nicor offer me that same program, or does it just offer it to a single mother supporting her children? I’m a single father supporting both my children, living here in Lombard for six years. That’s all I have to say.

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Hello, Trustee Zach in Lombard. Since you want to be village president so bad, why don’t you just say it? Just do it. Quit beating around the bush and trying to circumvent the process.

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Having lived in Lombard, I didn’t realize how many people have the same nickname—”Slacker.” If you don’t recognize them on the street, you can tell where they live. They are the people who don’t bother to clean their sidewalks, and probably the same ones who complain about the mail service. I always thought if you don’t shovel, they don’t have to deliver.

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Hi, just making a comment about the person about the phrase “Happy Holidays.” I don’t think anybody’s against it, just that when I was raised, and I’m Catholic, we said “Merry Christmas,” and I don’t think it’s fair for people to say we shouldn’t say “Merry Christmas.” You can say whatever you like, but I prefer Merry Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful 2011.

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Lombard calling here. I saw the article in the Dec. 22 Lombardian about possible term limits for Lombard board posts. I couldn’t help but catch Trustee Gron’s comments that if you’re not doing a good job as trustee, you are going to hear about it. I’m not sure what his position is, but have to assume he is against term limits, as is his mentor, Bill Mueller. Well, let’s talk about his job as trustee of his district, which includes downtown Lombard; deteriorating shopping area, struggling merchants, deplorable train station, poor vehicle traffic patterns, as well as pedestrian traffic by the train station, etc., all under his watch, not to mention we merchants never hear from him or see him in our stores. Enough said? Term limits sure sound good for this position.

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When are these restaurants and fast food places going to shape up a little bit? I’m a senior, and when I go out for lunch I usually order a pop, and they charge you two bucks, $2.25, under the guise of a free refill. How much can you possibly drink? I don’t finish the first glass. I don’t need any free refills. So I am boycotting them. I order water. They charge you $2.25 for something that cost them about a dime to make a fountain drink, maybe 20 cents. You can even buy canned drinks retail at 70 cents a can; no need to charge $2, $2.50, or $2.95 for free refills.

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Just a general lot here; watching the 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. news. You’re in Chicago, it’s almost winter, it’s December. Spoiler alert—it’s going to snow. Oh, my gosh. Be prepared for Armageddon, the number one news story. People who live in the Midwest, it’s going to snow in November, December, January, February, March, sometimes April. Why is this such a big deal? There are other stories going on that are way bigger than this than about 1 to 2 inches of snow.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. All I wanted for Christmas is the money that was spent on the streetlights to be returned to the village taxpayers, because the streetlights don’t work. They look really pretty, but shame that the village doesn’t accept any responsibility for the fact that the streetlights don’t work.