This is Villa Park calling. I heard on the news that our water in our village, and Lombard, has contaminated Lake Michigan water with some sort of metallic content. I’d like to know what the villages are going to do about this. So far I’ve seen nothing in the current edition of the Lombardian or the Villa Park Review; nobody has addressed this issue to tell us what they’re going to do to get rid of these carcinogenic substances in the water.

Carl Goldsmith, director of public works for the Village of Lombard, said the metal you refer to is called Chromium VI. He forwarded a press release from the Chicago Department of Water Management Commissioner Tom Powers, dated Dec. 20, 2010, that says the water is safe and “meets or exceeds all standards of testing and quality established by the U.S. and Illinois Environmental Protection Agencies which is required by law.” The press release further states that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is currently evaluating new health effects data on Chromium VI, and that the city, from which our Lake Michigan water originally is collected, is also working with the American Water Works Association and the Water Research Foundation on research into Chromium VI levels. Goldsmith also noted that the first treatment of water is made in Chicago, then analyzed further by the water commission here in DuPage County, before water makes its way to our communities. He added that if need be, municipalities can further treat the water.

John Beckwith, superintendent of utilities with the Village of Villa Park, echoed that the villages get their water from the DuPage Water Commission, which gets it from the city of Chicago. “We definitely meet or exceed the standards” set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), he said, and added that the water is “safe according to the standards that exist now.” He reiterated that the EPA is “evaluating the health effects [of Chromium VI].”—JAC

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So much for health care reform. My spouse is on a regimen of pain medication and has used the generic with no problem. However, what was a co-pay of $8 in 2010 is now a co-pay of $42 in 2011, because the insurance company decided to raise it up a so-called tier, which is what the company uses to determine how much the co-pay will be for a particular drug. It is a common and widely used medicine, nothing fancy, mind you. That is a big increase and it seems the companies can arbitrarily make these changes whenever it suits them. Shows they will get you one way or another.

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This is an answer to the caller about the flag being displayed in St. Pius Church. I do not attend that church but feel I should reply to this. The words separation of church and state do not appear in the Constitution. The First Amendment reads that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof. This limits Congress, not the church.

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The glut that gets the taxes is the Federal Reserve. They are printing free-up money to make sure we stay in debt because that way we can pay high interest rates, which are billions of dollars. Barack Obama isn’t doing a thing about taking care of our problems. He doesn’t stay home. He gets on a jet every week; he has to fly somewhere and spend billions of dollars flying on that jet. Like the Greeks say, “The fish stinks at the head first. Don’t buy from the tail up.” Our country’s problems lie with the president on down. He’d better get together and get things in order pretty soon or we’ll all be broke and we’ll all be in trouble and the ship will sink.

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A big thank you goes out to the people on Main Street with all the Santa Clauses. I can’t tell you how many times you put a smile on my face. I just love those Santa Clauses. Do you know what the story is behind them? Are they just collectors, were they left by relatives? They’ve got to have a great sense of humor. Again, thank you very much.

The homeowner was featured in “Out and About” a number of years ago. He said then that he began collecting Santas when he would find them discarded or “retired” and wanted to give them a new “home.” When word of his mission spread, people would donate their Santas over the years instead of throwing them away.—JAC

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Hi, I live in Lombard. I called once before about the Lombard post office. I did note the postmaster’s name, but she does nothing. Yes, the person who called recently said no accountability. How or where do we go to complain, to go over the postmaster’s head because she does nothing. Seriously, I would like the name or an address or a phone number or something to call and complain. I have just had it. I am so fed up with this post office.

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A message for our Congress: I implore you to be about the work of the people. Understanding the workings of Washington is not something I can do. Congress to this point has represented illegal aliens, unions and your party, but not We the People. It is about time you do the job you were sent to do; represent We the People and serve the republic.

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Hi, I’m a 52-year-old woman with a couple of college-age students. I just was wondering if anybody really would like to answer this question—The government, I think, should lower the drinking age to 19 years old. When I was 19 the legal age was 19. If they can send kids off to war at 18, I see no reason why these kids should not be able to drink at the age of 19. I really don’t understand that, never have. I was just wondering if anybody really had an answer for that, because there probably isn’t a very good answer. It’s legal to have your kids go off to war and shoot each other and get killed, but they’re not legal to drink.

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Lombard calling. I had to chuckle when I saw on a reality show a mom give her adult son a dollar for a burger on the dollar menu, and he joked that he would have to come up with the 6 cents for the tax. I immediately thought to myself, You’re lucky you don’t live in Lombard, where you would pay at least 8.25 percent or more for the so-called dine-in tax. On the other hand, at least it isn’t Schaumburg, where the piled on taxes add up to at least 10 percent.

According to the village’s Web site, the sales tax rate for most of Lombard is 8.25 percent. However, the site explains that at the request of Yorktown, the village board approved an additional 1 percent sales tax for the Business Improvement District, which only includes the new development on the site of the old Montgomery Ward store, some of the out lots along Highland and Butterfield and a portion of the southwest wing of Yorktown. The money will be used to offset some of the development costs associated with The Shops on Butterfield project at Yorktown. The rest of the mall as well as the three anchor stores, Carson Pirie Scott, Von Maur and JCPenney, are not within the district and therefore are not subject to the tax. Restaurants that offer sit-down dining are also subject to an additional 1 percent local Places for Eating Tax.—blm

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Hi, I just wanted to call and thank the Lombard Park District for the ice skating rink over on Grace by the lagoon. My kids and I had a great time. You guys do a great job. I see you every day working on it at 8:40 a.m.

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Villa Park calling. The answer to the person’s question regarding bashing Congressman Roskam; you need to know your facts. The last 10 years have not all been bad. It’s been two years since we’ve had unemployment near 10 percent, mostly due to the poor policies by the current administration. A trillion dollars spent with real unemployment still near 20 percent. As Obama said, it’s time for a change. I have one question for you? When is the last time you hired an employee to help the economy turn around?