This is Lombard calling. I live near the Madison Meadow park and I enjoy taking a walk in the mornings around the pond. One day, during my walk, I came across a group of geese and they wouldn’t move out of my way; one goose, that was very large—his head appeared to be up to my waist or even taller—stood in front of me and hissed at me. It really scared me; I had to back away and go back to where I was coming from. I couldn’t continue to go around the pond. These geese are becoming aggressive. Is there anything that can be done to get rid of these geese and send them somewhere else, or whatever? They’re becoming a problem.

“Canadian geese are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918,” noted Paul Friedrichs, executive director of the Lombard Park District. “In a 1998 publication by the University of Wisconsin and the Wildlife Society, it concluded that ‘a single, quick-fix solution is unlikely to reduce goose problems.  An integrated approach using several techniques is much more likely to succeed,’” he added. The director further stated, “This past spring, the park district asked for, and received, a permit from the state of Illinois, and employed the services of an outside company to help deal with the goose population at the Lagoon, Madison Meadow, Four Seasons and Sunset Knoll. The firm uses several techniques including dogs to chase/harass the geese and egg depredation to attempt to alleviate the problem.”  He concluded by stating, “Egg depredation keeps geese from having a successful nesting season. This is one of the humane ways of controlling the Canadian geese population that is endorsed by the Humane Society of the United States.”—JAC

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I don’t know if I have ever, in my 52 years, seen a president this out of touch. He came out and said the private sector is doing just fine. Really? Did he really say that? Well me, and several million other people who are trying to find a job, keep our houses and keep our heads above water, we’re not just doing fine. We really aren’t. His friends who got bailed out at Solyndra, that cost us $500-and some million bucks, they’re doing fine. His friends at GM who got $80 billion to bail them out, they’re doing just fine. The private sector is not doing just fine. Can somebody out there tell me they still buy into what this man is saying? Again, I have to say, really? Really? The private sector’s doing just fine? Beam me up, Scotty.

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This is in regard to the response to the person who called in about the dogs at Cruise Nights. Most everybody loves dogs and they’re a lot of fun, but you know, how would you like to be on the end of a chain when it’s 95 degrees, walking up and down the street? Most of the time these poor creatures, their tongues are hanging out, they’re hot, they’re miserable, and that can make for a dangerous situation. I don’t care how loving your dog is, if they’re hot enough and uncomfortable enough, some little child could run up and get bit. They don’t belong at Cruise Nights. They belong safe and sound in their air conditioned home, on the couch or bed, wherever, sound asleep.

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For those of you who think that “unaffordable” pension benefits promised to public-sector workers in Illinois like teachers and social workers caused the state’s outsized, $83 billion unfunded pension liability, read what Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a bipartisan fiscal policy think tank,  has to say in Springfield’s State Journal-Register, July 3, 2012;  article titled: “Ralph Martire: Cutting benefits won’t fix state’s pension crisis.” He presents facts to show that the pension crisis is a result of state legislators borrowing from the pension fund for decades to pay for state services instead of finding another way to do this. If the state had incurred this debt with a bank rather than the retirement systems, Illinois couldn’t even try to make the bank’s workers repay the state’s debt or see them as the problem. Here’s a link to the article in the State Journal-Register:http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x1762349853/Ralph-Martire-Cutting-benefits-won-t-fix-state-s-pension-crisis?zc_p=0.

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I live on the north side and had to wait as well to have the branches and debris cleaned up, but gosh, people, how much area can the village cover at one time? I know, I know, the north side seems to get the short end when it comes to clean-up, power loss, etc., but maybe it’s because we are less populated. I mean, didn’t the redistricting issue show that the population on the south side has increased since the last census? Maybe that’s it. I wasn’t happy to have to get the debris out so fast after the storm—think of those who had nobody to help them—but I’m not going to complain about the brush on the curb.

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You ran an article on townships offering free prescription discount cards, but it would have been very helpful if you had told us what we have to do to get one from York Township.

After reviewing the press release in question, there was indeed no further information on obtaining the free card. However, if you go to www.coast2coastrx.com, you can obtain the card by following the links.–JAC

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Nice to see a letter from President Mueller commending ComEd after the recent storm and then on the next page see about a meeting with two trustees complaining about ComEd.  Obviously Mueller is running for election next year and the two trustees are not. These two trustees should put their own house in order before complaining to outside agencies. Why were there still trees on the parkway in their districts more than two weeks after the storm? I bet there were no branches left on the streets of any elected officials.

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What did the seemingly pretend manhunt cost the police department and the village? The guy runs from a crime in Wood Dale and crashes in Lombard at 12:30 in the morning.  Our police department bosses really think that eight hours later he is still hiding in the same area where the helicopters and dogs could not find him? Sounds like a show for the media that showed up. How about some common sense and accountability instead of wasting resources and money? 

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I have such a perfect way for the villages of Lombard and Villa Park to make so much money—you could take down all the stop signs because nobody stops, the yield signs because nobody yields, no parking this side of street because people do, left turn on green arrow only because people do not pay attention to that. They could take down every single one in both communities and sell them for scrap metal and both villages will have money. It’s the perfect plan.

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Lombard calling. I’d like to give a big way-to-go to the five Supreme Court justices who upheld the Affordable Health Care Act. Craig Ferguson begins his late night talk show each day saying, “It’s a great day for America.” Well, after the vote, he was truly correct.

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Hello, this is Lombard calling and I would ask a question of the Lombard Police Department, why is it that they hardly ever radar Main Street, whether North Main Street, where it breaks out to four lanes, or even downtown, where the speed limit’s only 25? Every time I drive through town I’m being passed all the time. I think I’m the only person who drives the speed limit. It’s ridiculous. You have so many people crossing by the Prairie Path, you’re just waiting for something to happen. I’d like to see them write more tickets, use the radar guns that they have and start making people abide by the law.

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Fireworks are not small stuff. You must sneak out of state to purchase fireworks and hope the police are not taking down your license plate and get stopped and get your car searched as you enter Illinois. This was done in the past. Then you must wait until dark to set them off. If they were small stuff, go down to Wilson and set them off in front of the police station. It is not small stuff when you set them off for hours and for a week after the Fourth of July. It is not small stuff when I must go to the veterinarian and pay for medication to calm my dog. It is not small stuff when, in Addison several years ago, a man from Lombard was fatally wounded. The only place this is small stuff is with the police, as they apparently have not been able to stop illegal fireworks.

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The revolving door on the fire chief’s office continues to spin. Wednesday, Holst was named as interim chief, Thursday Howell was interim chief and then, Friday, Gericke is the new interim chief. How do you expect the rank and file to continue working in this type of environment? We have some of the best firefighters/paramedics in the state of Illinois and they are being disrespected by Lombard Village Manager Hulseberg. Instead of changing chiefs, how about changing our village manager before a fireman gets injured or killed?

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This is about the person complaining about the person calling for the dogs on Cruise Nights; I love dogs. I’ve had dogs my whole life. I know they love to ride in the car. I know they like to go for walks but they don’t need to be walking up and down the sidewalk where there might be a few hundred people with children. Dogs are lovable creatures but one can never predict what they will do in the heat of the night. They do not belong at Cruise Nights.

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Because of the outstanding communication and management skills of our village manager, the village is now dealing with a total of six employee unions, three of them new in the last year. What does the village now spend on negotiations with six different unions? Who is paying the increased cost of legal bills for the village lawyers to negotiate contracts for all of these employees?

Sorry, we are unable to obtain an answer to your question due to a village policy which was approved by Lombard trustees on May 19, 2011. It is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source. Anyone with questions regarding the village should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance.—blm

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To the person who called in comparing the pension mess in Illinois to a mortgage on a house, it’s a terrible analogy because the two things are completely different. A better analogy would be maybe that you guys made a Faustian deal. I don’t care that you were told you would get X amount of dollars in your pension 30 years ago and the state never paid it. That’s not my problem. I paid my taxes. You should have never made that deal with the devil. You knew that no way could it possibly be in the real world that you could be a policeman, fireman or teacher and age 52 retire and make over $100,000 a year in pensions. Too bad. We can’t pay it anymore. I work for a union carpenter shop. I control my pension. I would never let my boss control it. You should have never let the state control your pension.

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What a great day for America. Not only do we have to pay for children of illegal immigrants not to be deported, now we have Obamacare; anybody who cannot afford health insurance is now going to be subsidized by the taxpayers, which means our taxes are going to go up. Can you say socialism, communism, any other variety of word in that fashion? Absolutely unbelievable.

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Lombard here. I’m really sad to see that Chief Justice Roberts has decided to join Obama’s Communist Party. What a mistake. What a terrible happening we have for our country. This is the worst thing that could have ever happened.

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Hello Lombard Park District. Can you tell us what it cost us to have that new tulip logo that you have on all your vehicles and signs, and everyplace else?

Lombard Park District Executive Director Paul Friedrichs responded that the cost was less than $150.—JAC

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I noticed on St. Charles by the monstrosity of a crossing that they put state law, must stop, must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. I also noticed on Wilson by the park they have them also. At one time they had them on Main Street by the Prairie Path but the village decided to take them down, I believe, because they were causing too much confusion and potential accidents. My question is, you can’t pick and choose where you want to do it. It’s a state law. We should be stopping on Main Street by the Prairie Path. The signs should be there. And also, every intersection that intersects the Prairie Path should have those signs. You just open a can of worms when you pick and choose, just like all the other politics in Lombard.