I received campaign fliers from Kirk Dillard and Chris Nybo. Dillard’s was very positive and included a long list of endorsements from respected officials. The Nybo flier apparently was an attack piece with zero endorsements. He did have a quote from deceased president Ronald Reagan.

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I think Finley Road has become the new Sunset Street; bumpy, uneven, a pain to drive on. Please, Lombard, make smoothing it out a priority when you start looking at roads to fix. It is somewhat of a gateway street in and around Lombard and one we could be proud of if it were smoothed out.

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Lombard calling. President Mueller and Village Manager David Hulseberg have been in control of things for the past 10 to 20 years. Still, in the State of the Village address, Mueller talked about possibly putting a satellite office downtown to move forward. Has Hulseberg and his staff been out of town for a long time? Another point of the address is no one can understand why Lombard’s credit rating went down when we don’t pay our commitments. It sounds like the village is being run by satellite. If we do what we have done in the past, the future will be the same. Groundhog Day.

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Lombard here. Here’s a great idea, President Obama. Since you want to disarm the United States, why don’t you just give our atomic weapons to Iran and fellow radicals? Maybe you can charge them $1 trillion each to help the debt you love so much. Thank you.

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This is to the snow plow driver on Berkshire between Main and Grace. Fantastic job; he slowed down at the driveway, came back and offered to help two senior women finish clearing the driveway at the parkway. Thank you so much. Bye bye.

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Lombard here with a radical idea for those participating in SPEAK OUT: Check your facts before you rant and rave—it will save the rest of us from having to read your drivel and spare you from sounding like a lout.

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So in most public schools around here, there is no school for maybe three weeks in June, no school at all in July and no school for maybe three weeks in August. There are two weeks off at Christmas, and a week off for spring break. There are also at least half-a-dozen holidays during the school year. Fine. But why do teachers get to build up their sick days, and then cash them out when they retire? Have you read about the scandal in the Chicago Public Schools, where teachers and administrators have padded their income by cashing out their sick days? How about a use-it-or-lose-it system? Beyond all the holidays, how about five to 10 days off per school year, with no buildup?

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What is Obama going to campaign on this year? Four years ago, he didn’t have much of a record, and a lot of people were sick of George Bush. Now it’s 2012. Bush is long gone, and Obama will have a record to defend. What will he run on? Reducing unemployment? Cutting the deficit? Closing Guantanamo? Bringing peace to the Middle East, and getting once-hostile countries to like us? Lowering the price of gasoline? None of the above. In addition to calling on the fact he ordered the raid on Bin Laden, he will probably resort to what Democrats have done in recent memory—branding the opponent as stupid, evil and insensitive to poor people.

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I was wondering why the District 44 Science Fair is being held on St. Patrick’s Day. There are many members of our community who have strong Irish traditions. People will now be forced to choose between celebrating what many families consider an important holiday or participating in a school event.  For example, the Girl Scouts of America are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, all Girl Scouts in the Chicagoland area have been invited to walk in the annual Chicago St. Patrick’s Day parade downtown. As a troop leader, I am very excited for this event. Unfortunately, there are several girls in our troop who are unable to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity because they will be at the science fair (a requirement in fifth grade). And for most of these girls, it is their last year in Girl Scouts. Also, there are many girls in this district who participate in Irish dancing and are performing in a parade on that day. They are unable to participate in the science fair because of the conflict. I absolutely understand the importance of the science fair and think it is an invaluable learning tool for our children but there are certainly other Saturdays in March when the event could be held.  Maybe someone could look at the calendar next year before scheduling a district event on the day or even weekend of a holiday.

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Lombard calling. Why is our government trying to control our religious institutions? Should we permit this? Go figure.

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This is in regard to District 44 and the computer controversy. I remember when my child was in band and he played the trumpet. They gave us a trumpet we bought but we made payments. I would think instead of going to the taxpayers to buy computers, maybe there should be a lease/loan program to all the parents where maybe they could pay $25 a month until the iPads or Macs are paid off. Please don’t straddle the taxpayers. If parents are moving with technology and parents are moving with technology, let the parents buy it for the children.

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Imagine my excitement when I saw the Lombardian’s front page on Feb. 29 with the caption, “Historical signing.” Then I found out it wasn’t Mueller’s resignation.

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Hello, SPEAK OUT. I would like to respond to the teacher call about “tell your teacher to provide a reality check,” the teacher who taught from the 1950s to the 1980s and the person was paid very low, did many, many duties and taught all across the curriculum, it sounds like a story my father used to talk about how he walked 15 miles in the snow in bare feet. The teachers today have things very different from the 1950s and 1960s. The families are completely destroyed, the divorce rate is high, there are single-parent households everywhere, every kid has differentiated learning, they have problems in special ed, and on and on. In those days you’d never even imagine a kid coming to school carrying a gun, much less acting out violence. I think teachers today do quite a bit more than they did in the past. I agree with you that a teacher is a teacher, but the ones today are really the only ones who have accountability in society.

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Hi, I’m calling in response to the caller talking about three reasons to be a teacher—June, July and August—and also mentions at the end, two weeks at Christmas and one week in the spring; I also wanted to mention to the caller that we get five days for Thanksgiving and then numerous three-day weekends throughout the school year, which is great. And, if we’re lucky, snow days. Oh how wonderful it is to be a teacher.

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I was just watching the news and I see another family stating that they don’t want their kids to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Well, that’s fine. You don’t want to say the Pledge of Allegiance because of “in God we trust” and all the God references? Then how’s this? You can’t touch our money, either. It’s on our money- every dime, every nickel, in God we trust. Now for the teacher issue. You’re dealing with union members and when dealing with union members you get the union mentality.

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This is Lombard calling. I just found out the closest early voting place for this area is all the way at the Glen Ellyn Civic Center in Glen Ellyn. We used to be able to be able to vote in the past at York Township on Meyers Road or at Yorktown. Why can’t we do that again this year?

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Hi, Lombard. Question. I see we may be getting turf at Glenbard East as long as we raise enough money. But why would you have a Black and Red Ball and then three weeks later have the Lilac Ball? Why are we competing against each other in town? Couldn’t the booster club come up with something better than having a ball? Thank you.

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I called about getting on the stick and one caller’s comment about not being under the Obama regime because you didn’t vote for him seems to put you behind that one tree in the forest and not sure how to go around it. Congress has been doing the same thing for three years. It’s that uncooperative, don’t-blame-me attitude that has us where we are today. And unless you’re leaving or don’t live in America, you’re under the Obama regime. Take off your blinders; you’re about to hit that tree.

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Two things came to mind when I was reading SPEAK OUT on Feb. 22. One is the teacher who is complaining about bratty kids and needing three months off to recuperate; I give you a little bit of advice. I don’t think you should be a teacher. I’m not sure I’d want you teaching my kids if you think kids are bratty. Try dealing with the public on a daily basis. And second, to the caller who asked what George Bush did his first two years in office, I’m sure you complained about him just like every Republican is complaining about Obama. Get a grip. Obama has messed up this country just as much as George Bush did. The only difference is, Obama is making it three times as bad as George Bush. I’d take George Bush any day over Obama.

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Thanks for fixing the pothole in front of the new tile store off Route 53. That one was brutal.

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Lombard. To last week’s SPEAK OUT about how the bridge to nowhere isn’t going to go away; I didn’t see any report from President Mueller in his State of Lombard address about how wonderful that $9 million-plus bridge is going to enhance our lifestyle in Lombard. It makes me wonder if it was just an oversight. Maybe the bridge fiasco will become another unpaid bill in the unknown state deficit.

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Our thanks to the members of Congress for extending the tax benefits that increase the take-home pay in our checks. The bipartisan support of this extension shows how Congress should function. Of course with the election forthcoming, we know why this important measure passed.

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All of you who complain about teachers’ salaries and their pensions, if Santorum wins you won’t have to worry about it because he’s going to pull all federal and state aid for public schools and there will be no school so you’ll have to home school your children and you won’t ever have to worry about teacher salaries or pensions. But, you will have to quit your job to stay home and home school your children. One of you will have to be there at all times. So, I hope Mr. Santorum wins and you will all be happy because then you’ll realize just how valuable a teacher is. They’re just as valuable as a parent.

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Hello, Lombard. This is in response to the caller who said “Yeah, I’m a teacher and I’m tired of seeing all the bashing in SPEAK OUT.” First, I would like to say that I am a big supporter of teachers and appreciated the hard work they do to educate our children and I consider their profession of the utmost importance. I also think teacher bashing in SPEAK OUT is ridiculous but in reference to misbehaving and unruly kids, this speaks volumes of your own lack of skill and dedication as a teacher and I hope you don’t think you represent all teachers. It sounds to me like you, personally, have made a mistake, and would be better off looking into a different field where you can continue to change into an angry, cynical person. I say to you in regard to teaching, love it or leave it.

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Teachers aren’t paid that much that their pensions are bloating the system. It’s the administrators. Many of them are former teachers. I propose that once you become an administrator, you are no longer a teacher, therefore you should not be entitled to the pension and accumulating extra years in the teacher retirement system. Administrators hold the fates and futures of the teachers in their hands. Let’s see how they feel when they don’t have such a secure future ahead of them if they have to pay into a different system, if you have one at all. Thank you.

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This is Lombard calling, speaking to the Obama haters who claim he has taken away their freedoms. I must say that among our freedoms he has not taken away is that of freedom of speech. If our president were indeed a king or a dictator, his secret police would be knocking on your doors and you would never be heard from again. This, of course, won’t happen under Obama, but it came dangerously close to being a reality under the disastrous Bush and Cheney regime.

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Hello, this is Villa Park calling. Again, the teacher bashing; three reasons to be a teacher, June, July and August. Most of the teachers I actually know put in 60 hours a week or more in the nearly 10 months they work. The constant bashing of the teachers will have no other effect but really giving them a bad attitude. June, July and August are a reason to work throughout the year. And by the way, you can fire any teacher right now with the political action that’s happening. You also have to get a teaching degree, not a liberal arts degree, to teach. Most teachers will not stay in the profession. That will do kids a lot of good. Keep on hammering away at the teachers and you’ll really have mediocrity walking through the door. For you teachers out there, keep trying to do the right thing, despite the fact that you’re a human piñata nowadays.