Has anyone heard of this, that the per-person Medicare insurance premium will increase in 2013 to $120 and in 2014, to $247? The increase in 2014 is because of provisions in Obamacare legislation—supposedly the 2014 was delayed due to the election. Obama wanted a second term. Is this true? Remember, a nation of sheep creates a government of wolves.

According to Politifact.com and FactCheck.org, this misinformation has seemingly gone “viral” through cyberspace. Both FactCheck and Politifact.com have versions of this incorrect information on their sites, and both explain how these figures are wrong. As Politifact.com explains it, “Explaining Medicare premiums is pretty complicated,” so for more information, visit either of these Web sites (www.politifact.com and/or www.factcheck.org) or Google “Medicare premium increase 2013” to find specific links to these sites’ explanations.—JAC

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I’ve got a question. If it was such a great idea to raise taxes on rich people, why didn’t he do that the first day he became president, when he had the White House, the Senate and the House, where he could pass any single thing he wanted? The Republicans couldn’t stop it if they wanted to. Why didn’t he do it then? A few months ago the president said the worst thing you could do is raise taxes on people right now. This guy just can’t make up his mind. You could confiscate all of the wealth, for every person who has a $1 million or more, take their money, take their home, take their boats, and do that to all the people in the United States and that will fund our federal government for about four or five months. You know why he didn’t do it when he first became president? Because it wouldn’t change a thing and it’s an election year gimmick. I like the old Democrats better; they were tax and spend. Now he’s just spend and see if we can tax.

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Here we go again. Street lights on at 9 in the morning. It was Friday, April 19, and the street lights were on between Maple and Parkside down Main Street. Others have called about this so now I am, too. I know the village won’t address it, but hopefully they will read this and do something about it. And by the way, this is not the first time I’ve seen the same street lights on at that time of day, so this isn’t a fluke.

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Lombard calling. My goodness; drinking and driving and not being accountable for one’s actions. For some time now I have observed the same group of 55-plus individuals exiting a certain establishment Monday through Friday between 5-6 p.m. in Lombard. These individuals apparently are above the law because they are visibly intoxicated with an attitude of “I’m never going to get caught.” Then, like a scene from a bad comedy routine, they stagger down the street, only to get behind the wheel of their cars, and drive home. Yikes. Lombard police, MADD, are you listening? Thank you, bye.

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Lombard beware; there is a scam going on with the elderly. Two gentlemen who claim to be water testers testing your water for bacteria, when in fact what they want to do is get inside your house, distract you into the basement area or whatever area they can get you into where you’re away from the other person trying to get in to ransack your house. Be forewarned these are two people working together; they will put your car in a place where you can’t see it; one will try to get you to turn on bathroom water or your bathtub or toilet and try to get you down in the basement so they can signal the other one that it’s safe to come in. They will offer you $50 for the use of your water that they wasted, so they claim, but only have $100 bill so they ask for change. This already happened once and it may happen again. Be warned; this is a scam. Do not let them in your house.

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The callers to SPEAK OUT are not on the fringe of common sense as some believe. Many callers have legitimate concerns and wish to vent those concerns. Elected officials are not listening; maybe an outpouring of concern can develop into something the politician will react to, to correct. Keep calling. Never give in to mediocrity.

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Lombard speaking. Please respect your neighbors with asthma and lung disease when using fire pits. I have to close my windows, use my inhaler and breathe in smoke. Please limit your use or go to a campground. Thanks.

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Hi, I live in Lombard. My reason for calling is that there are so many complaints that there are not enough businesses in the downtown area. It’s just so obvious that there’s no place to park. I mean, especially on Cruise Nights—you have the cars parked on the streets but there’s no place for you to park. If any of the stores are popular, where people would like to shop, then that creates another parking issue. I realize the former theater space is available for parking, but people still work on the weekends and evenings and those spaces are taken. Thank you.

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Hi. I was driving to work on a Friday and I noticed somebody from Kiwanis collecting money and giving out peanuts early in the morning. I went back that way during lunch hour and that same woman was still there. Then again on Saturday as I was running errands again, at the intersection of Butterfield and Finley, I saw the same woman on Saturday morning. I think that says quite a lot about this woman who would dedicate this much time to Kiwanis, which is such a worthy organization; and I think Ann needs to be applauded and respected by her club members for the contribution that she made this past week.

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Hi, Lombard. Congratulations to Westlake Middle School’s Cantabile Choir for making it to the state quarter finals. Also a special congratulations to your instructor, coach and mentor, Ms. Pierson. The Cantabile Choir is a 16-member, audition-only, highly talented choir at Westlake Middle School. The Cantabile Choir members are truly dedicated as they practice many times a week, even before school starts at 7:15 a.m. It is too bad that the school administration has decided to keep band and orchestra, but decided to downsize the vocal music program and terminate the music instructor, Ms. Pierson, next year. We were told that reducing the music classes and the music instructor is necessary to make more foreign language classes available to sixth-grade students. Currently, foreign language classes are offered to more than 50 percent of the seventh- and eighth-grade students, and one class is offered to sixth-grade students. As a side note, foreign language classes are available to all grade levels at Glenbard East High School as well. This decision by District 44 just does not make sense.

Phil Wieczorek, Glenn Westlake Middle School principal, responded that while there may be a change in choral directors, the after-school choral program is not being reduced. Additionally, he said that the figure you quote about offering foreign language classes to over 50 percent of the seventh- and eighth-grade students is slightly off. He said based on an average of 320 to 340 students in each of the two grades, five sections of foreign language in each grade and then roughly 30 students in each class, the figure hovers closer to just under 50 percent. Wieczorek also noted that students attending the math and literacy labs—who still continue to take their regular math and reading classes—are also pulled from humanities classes.—JAC

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Hi, this is Lombard. I want to make a comment how affluent we must be here in Lombard. Villa Park had to save up about four years to get money to build a four-lane highway bridge on Ardmore Avenue. But we can pay $6 million to build a bridge to ride bicycles over on St. Charles Road. What a wonderful arrangement. What is wrong with this picture? I guess we’re made of dough.

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I’d like to make a comment to the individual who apparently was outraged at the Lombard village manager and park district board, that they should resign, due to the fact that the lilacs were blooming too early for the annual Lilac Festival this year. I realize politicians, political appointees and public works employees do, from time to time, get under one’s skin, can do unthinkable things, etc., but controlling the weather is not one of them. Maybe Tom Skilling, but not the normal human being. What are you thinking? One can only hope that you use a bit more forethought and intelligence come November, when you enter a voting booth and cast a vote for one of the candidates that may have a say in running our village, state and country. This is what really scares me about this country: People, who have such a right to vote, but use such lack of judgment, and then wonder why things are so screwed up.

See response below.—JAC

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Hi. Please tell me that the lilac blooming call in SPEAK OUT on April 18 was a joke, or that is the dumbest thing I have ever read. Who could stop the lilacs from blooming? Bye.

It’s possible you explained it in the first part of your comment—the person was likely trying to use humor to make a point.—JAC

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Good afternoon. I hope I’m not the only one—in fact I hope I am the only one—I have a question. Why would it take something postmarked Feb. 15, 2012, from a place in Wheaton, to arrive at my address here in Lombard April 21? Feb. 15 to April 21, and when I received it, it was wrinkled, scrunched, dampened. The Lord only knows where it’s been kept over two months. Unreal. Have a good day.

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SPEAKING OUT FOR 25 YEARS

The following comments are reprinted from the October 12, 2005, SPEAK OUT column in celebration of SPEAK OUT’s 25th year.

Hi, Lombard here. This is a quick question that I’ve been pondering. It’s now 2005, but yet in 1965 and 1955 they were showing filmstrips of us being on the moon and flying around in hover cars like the Jetsons. How come that hasn’t happened? Aren’t the 1950s nostalgia any good anymore? Thank you.

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Hello, Lombard calling. After reading the Lombardian of Sept. 7, I am appalled that the four trustees voted to demolish the DuPage Theatre and not to save any of the artifacts. They also voted no to the grant money. It seems that this is what they were planning on, and were waiting for the right time and the right vote to come in. I don’t like this kind of politics at the expense of the village. How arrogant are these four trustees?

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Hi. This is in response to Peter from Lombard who wants to know with all the tragedies in the world, why the Lombardian would waste the front page with pictures of the theater. How about because the Lombardian is a local paper, not USA Today? Is Steve Spoden supposed to go to New Orleans to take pictures for the Lombardian? If you want world news, get a different paper. Don’t blame a local paper for covering local news. Thank you.