This past election, for the first time ever in DuPage County, there was Spanish on the ballot. I personally found it quite disturbing. I’m not a big fan of the multi-cultural, anti-American movement thing. I called Patrick O’Shea’s office trying to find out if this was a county law or a state law, and he never called me back. Go figure. Typical. I’m wondering if someone at the Lombardian can find out if this is a county law or a state law, and whichever one it is, who sponsored the bill so we can find out who’s responsible for this. I, for one, am getting tired of pressing 1 for English. You can call it whatever you want to call it, folks, but there is nothing racist about wanting to keep a national identity. We are supposed to accept everyone else’s culture, but if we want to respect our own culture in America, which does consist of speaking English, we are somehow racist? Hopefully the Lombardian can help us out and let us know who’s responsible.

According to information on the U.S. Department of Justice Web site, the bilingual ballots are a result of DuPage County’s having become a “covered jurisdiction,” which was determined by the Census Bureau “based upon a formula set out in the Voting Rights Act.” These jurisdictions were created in October 2011. Additionally, on the DuPage County Election Commission Web site, Executive Director Robert T. Saar, in a Dec. 2, 2011, letter to local election officials, further explains the bilingual ballots, reiterating the covered jurisdiction status because the Spanish-speaking citizens constitute more than 5 percent of voting-age citizens. Therefore, the director states, the county falls under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act.—JAC

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. Has anyone seen a picture or rendition of the pedestrian bridge over the Great Western Trail? Could the village print one sometime soon so we can see what it is? Thanks.

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Hi Lombard. I am glad that I am not the only Glen Ellynite to support Lombard. I grew up in Glen Ellyn and resided there until I was in my late 20s. Malloy’s was the first liquor store I ever knew. My parents received information about wines and how to do wine tasting from this fine establishment. Sadly, I do not see them on http://www.lombardtowncentre.org/Members/bizdirectory.htm. I will have to say that since I moved to Lombard 21 years ago I have only stepped into Malloy’s twice, the reason being is they are not in Lombard proper. When I wanted a large liquor store that had a lot of information I would go to Famous Liquor. They used to have cooking classes and great tasting events, but they have recently chosen another path. I have been very lucky to find a liquor store right here in Lombard on St. Charles Road. I actually found this establishment through my involvement in the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and the Elmhurst Lions Club. I am proud to say that they have supported my endeavors in finding the perfect items for gift baskets and dinner parties. I have seen enormous generosity in donating to charities by 20 West Wine and Spirits. I chose Lombard because of economics. I stayed in Lombard because of its businesses and people. 

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This is to the Democrat who is completely misinformed. I must laugh at you because the president can only pull federal funding, not state. You see, state funding comes from things like the lottery for school districts, not from the overspending President Obama. And if you wanted to save a life, you would vote President Obama out of office.

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To the person in SPEAK OUT who said the downtown would not be revived since we ripped down that theater, that building was just an eyesore and the inside was very, very expensive to be fixed. If you want to do something, village, move the village hall back into the downtown area. With you building a new village hall in the downtown area, you could put a substation for the police with the village hall in the downtown area. You could add courthouses, which would bring revenue into the village. With that revenue you could build the downtown. Where would you put it? Just go down St. Charles from before the post office all the way down.

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Hi. This is in response to the call in SPEAK OUT about the downtown area that they took the theater out of downtown. Trust me. They took the village hall out of downtown. That’s why Lombard does not have a downtown. Please, please look into the facts first, and it was your trustees who made the village hall go away.

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I know the village is not going to answer, but once again, just a commentary. We once again now have, on Maple from Grace Street to Edgewood, somebody doing some sort of sewer work, just like we’ve had other small projects in the village. Well, the people are there maybe one day, two days and they have their equipment on the street. It usually takes months and months and months before the village gets a project done. I’ve seen a whole expressway paved in four days and three blocks can’t be done for three months? That’s just ridiculous.

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I’m calling in regard to the person who stated that many of the call-ins to SPEAK OUT are on the fringe of common sense. I could not have said that ever as well as this person did. I totally agree and thank God there’s somebody who understands what is going on in the world. Thank you.

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He’s at it again with that tired, tired, tired old Warren Buffett rule as he likes to call it. Folks, what that means is our president wants an increase in the capital gains tax. We’re the only industrialized nation that has a capital gains tax on its people. Most other countries do not tax the profits you make called capital gains. If this capital gains tax, the Warren Buffett rule, was so important and would work so great, why didn’t President Obama pass this in the first two years of his presidency, when he could have passed anything he wanted, because he had the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate? I can tell you why. A 30-percent capital gains tax would destroy our economy and it’s a cheap stunt. That’s all it is.

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No more general music at Westlake. Surprised? Surely you all know by now that our taxes are never used for the students’ best interests. Maybe you’ll finally start voting no on District 44 referendums. The whole field of education is going down the tubes. The union is a hotbed of liberalism whose only concern is to keep Democrats in power. They could not care less about your child’s education. This mentality is obvious with District 44’s latest move. They have to get rid of music even though anyone with common sense knows the benefits of being exposed to the power of music. It’s a class which encourages creativity, expression and, heaven forbid, fun. So what if it enriches and even changes life for the better?

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Why does SPEAK OUT challenge or refute some comments, but allow others to be published? There was a misleading comment in the April 11 SPEAK OUT stating “There are fewer state employees per 1,000 citizens in Illinois than in any other state in the union.” Please. There is no citation of where that statistic came from, and the comment does not mention the actual number of state employees in Illinois. The only reference to that statement I could find was from the Associated Press, and it had one key addition. It made the same statement and added the words, “excluding K-12 teachers and employees in higher education systems.” That’s a major omission from the SPEAK OUT comment. Are K-12 teachers and employees of public universities paid with public tax dollars? Of course they are. If you go to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site (www.census.gov/govs/apes) you can find statistics about state and government employees. According to the bureau, there were about 105,000 full-time state employees in Illinois in 2010. Consider this; how many public employees are there in the city of Chicago, and in Cook County? Quite a lot, to be sure. One other thing, Illinois is broke.

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Good morning. Just want to say thank you to Ken Bohl and all the people at Maple Street Chapel Preservation Society who made the American Heritage Concert the wonderful musical experience of a lifetime. It’s just fantastic. Anyone who missed it this year, be sure and put it on your calendar for April next year. It’s a wonderful musical experience, and the dancers from the Dance Centre were just wonderful. I can’t say enough. Thanks, Ken, and your wonderful group of musicians who put together this great program. Thank you. Bye now.

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This is Villa Park calling. This message goes out to the trustees and president of Villa Park and also the police in Villa Park. I just spent 45 minutes of my time waiting for a stopped train at Addison Road. This is happening more and more lately. I want to know what the village is doing about it and how much money the village is making in fines to the railroad company for blocking traffic. There should be no reason for it but ever since they installed the new set-up over there at Addison Road, it’s been a pain. I hope our village is making a lot of money off of this. If not, start looking into it.

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This is for the people complaining about teachers. Just a little word of advice. You’re dealing with a union member. You’re never going to win. They’re always overworked and underpaid. So why bother? Once they have their union card, basically they’ve got the blinders on. Stop arguing with teachers. You can’t fix it.

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Hello, Lombard. Another outrage—the lilacs blooming at this time of the year? It’s unbelievable. The village manager should be fired and the entire park district board should resign in disgrace. What’s next?

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I have a very simple question: Who thinks that voting for Democrats will save lives? High unemployment, raising taxes, raising gas prices, out-of-control spending. Need I go on? How can you say Mitt Romney, Gingrich and every other Republican, Independent and Green Party candidate is wrong when Barack Obama has spent more money than the previous president, George Bush, in three years, than he did in eight? And, he was wrong also; Bush should not have spent that amount of money. However, if we continue upon this path, we will be Greece. We will have such high unemployment, such high inflation, such a huge debt, we won't have any jobs in this country because they'll all be in Europe and in Mexico.

SPEAKING OUT FOR 25 YEARS

The following comments are reprinted from the April 24, 1996, SPEAK OUT column in celebration of SPEAK OUT’s 25th year.

Villa Park calling. Now that warm weather is coming, it will also bring out all the noisy motorcycles that are so disturbing. I just wish the police would be able to enforce their noise ordinance on these people. There’s no reason for a motorcycle to be so impossibly noisy.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I’m calling in regard to the person who called in wanting vehicle stickers eliminated and finding a new way to raise the money. I think having to get the vehicle stickers all the time is just a big hassle. I think they should find a way to raise the money. Thanks.

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I just found out that the gas station owners, after the gas is delivered, make up their own prices so they can raise the prices any time they feel like it. I think it should be checked into.

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Hi, Lombard calling. Well, it’s a beautiful spring day and I can tell spring is here because all of my neighbors have their dogs out barking for hours, ruining the peace and beauty of the day for everyone else. Right now there are seven dogs in five yards outside. One poor mutt has been out woofing at the wind all day long. People, these aren’t someone else’s dog, they are your pets. How can you possibly think other people enjoy having to hear them barking for hours on end? Keep your animals inside and if they’re outside, play with them and entertain them. Don’t leave them out there baking out of boredom. Thank you.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I was just wondering if anybody has any information on these bugs that I’ve been seeing lately. They are black and red and I believe they’re called box elder bugs. I’ve lived in Lombard for 12 years and I have never seen these bugs until last year. Now they are everywhere. I can’t even open my windows because they are all over my screen. If anybody has any information on them, I’d love to know what they are. Thanks.