Hi, this is a message for Villa Park. I think their village is willing to respond and speak out to calls, unlike Lombard, so maybe you could contact them with this question. Somebody called in about Highridge, the street between Willowbrook and the mosque, and I’d love to hear a Villa Park response about that street. Is it county property that it’s in such bad condition? What can be done? I know they’re trying a new stop sign at Ardmore and Highridge and I’m wondering about fixing that street. If they want to put in curbs, even, but at least repaving it. Could someone from the Village of Villa Park respond? Thank you.

Vydas Juskelis, director of public works for the Village of Villa Park, responded, “Highridge is Villa Park’s jurisdiction from Ardmore Avenue to the west property line of Willowbrook High School. The village had previously submitted several federal grant applications to resurface High Ridge (estimated cost $332,000), but has not been successful up to this point. A full reconstruction with curb and gutter was previously discussed, but not considered further because it was much more costly and would have required a special assessment. The resurfacing of High Ridge was also included in the proposed list of streets for two previous failed referendums. The village currently receives about $1.4 million annually for street improvements from a dedicated sales tax revenue. With this amount of revenue we complete one reconstruction project and resurface a few streets every year. We also use these funds as local match for grant funded infrastructure projects. We have already committed to several projects for 2013. High Ridge will be considered along with other resurfacing candidates when we determine the amount of remaining funds available for 2013.”—JAC

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The Tri-Town YMCA Taste of Illinois on Sept. 8 was a big joke. You pay $20 to get in and have all the samples you want, but you get nothing but a shot glass to drink out of, not a beer mug or a wine glass. A shot glass, which is used for liquors. This was an embarrassment to the community and to the Y, and while there I heard people calling other people not to come. Normally I’d say nice try, but it wasn’t even that.

Joanne Mitrenga, executive director of the Tri-Town YMCA, responded, “I am surprised by the comment since everyone had a choice of either a wine glass or a shot glass. We added the shot glasses this year because we expanded the event to also include spirits and cheeses—both of which were a big hit. We had a record crowd for our event, and ran out of souvenir wineglasses with our logo, but we did have plenty of clear wineglasses available. All board members or I heard in mingling throughout the event were the positives about the expanded offering and the great prizes like the Bulls tickets and sports prints. I’m sharing a lot here because I don’t want one sour response to misrepresent the event. The $20 for all you want is also a misrepresentation. There was a purchase of tasting tickets.”—JAC

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Lombard calling. The so-called debates about teachers, it’s ridiculous. Saying the teachers make so much money and they’re so well off, I know a teacher, my mom is a teacher and she makes less than $50,000 a year. Does that sound like it’s well off to you? No. Teachers educate the future and they allow the people of this country to succeed. Without teachers, people who are talking could never make all the money they are making now. The people who are calling out the teachers don’t understand what responsibilities they have because frankly they don’t. Stop attacking the teachers.

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This is in response to what the Republicans did about the cost of oil and gas. In July 2008, the cost of a barrel of oil went to $145. On July 14, 2008, George Bush lifted the off-shore embargo on drilling for oil and the cost of a barrel dropped to $30.28 in December. Gas was about $1.85 a gallon when Obama was sworn in. It has over doubled in price and he is doing nothing about it. When he campaigned, his platform was to increase the price of energy and he fulfilled that promise. If he is re-elected, what will the price of gas be then? If you are a senior, and I am, did your Social Security check increase because of the price of gas and all the increases in food costs? Has your health care gone up? Mine has and Obamacare will make it worse. Social Security will be broke in about eight years. Then what will you do? Be very careful on how you vote this November.

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I just love the Republicans. Mitt Romney has never talked about the Afghan war, like it doesn’t even exist. Our boys and girls are getting shot up and maimed over there. The GOP has blocked the veterans job bill; now the veterans come home and they can’t get a job because the GOP blocked that. He’ll block the cost of living raise for the people who receive those benefits. No raise. Why are they doing that? And the disability compensation bill, they blocked that too. All they’re doing is blocking all these things for the people who are serving our country over there and putting their lives in danger. I don’t understand why Republicans do things like this. It has nothing to do with being bipartisan; it’s just the right thing to do. Good grief, I mean, we’re Americans, aren’t we? Come on, Republicans, do something for us.

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I don’t know how you feel but I’m sick and tired of all these unions of the teachers, firemen, policemen, public workers all wanting more money. I am a taxpayer and I want to be treated fairly with my taxes. I’m sick and tired of doing nothing but paying more and more and more taxes. Real estate taxes; shopping taxes; this tax, that tax. Now they call it a fee, but it’s still a tax. When are you going to give us a break? If you don’t stop, the bridge is going to break and everybody is going to lose. We have to stop this merry-go-round and we have to stop it now.

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I think President Eisenhower got it right when he said politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who will protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage. I believe right now party politics, ideology and self interests overshadow what is good for our country and its citizenry.

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It’s 3:06 and we’re still waiting for the trains to go by. Well, to let everybody know, here’s what we should start doing. Every time a train sits there for more than 10 minutes, lay on your horn. Call the village president. Call the village hall. Pretty soon they’re going to have to do something. This is a great village to live in, isn’t it, and I’m being really sarcastic. Welcome to train central, and the Villa Park parking lot.

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To the caller who bashed the Chicago Teachers Union for standing up for their rights, this caller should know that those teachers have to protect their jobs. The new evaluation system is used to freeze out the top-level pay makers and it’s going to be successful, even though the contract went well. What the principals can do is be less than honest on their evaluations and there’s nothing the people can do. You can be an excellent teacher and if the principal doesn’t like you, he or she can just give you an unsatisfactory evaluation and that’s the way it is, and it’s terribly unfair.

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Hi. Just getting tired of listening to everybody complain and gripe all the time. We live in a relatively safe community where people can actually go out and not worry about some drive-by shooter coming down the street and shooting them to death, or worry about their kids getting shot on the way to school. Then you complain about the trees on the parkway not being picked up fast enough after we had that devastating storm and so many were down? Learn to live with it. If that’s all you have to complain about you’re one lucky person.

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Lombard calling. This is to the party who takes credit for taking a sign off the Prairie Path. You’re pretty fortunate you didn’t get caught. I agree with you that there shouldn’t be any advertising on the Prairie Path. However, you’re not supposed to touch somebody else’s property and during campaign season you could get arrested for that if somebody caught you, so be a little careful.

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I have a solution to voter fraud here in the states. I think what we should do is, as people vote, they should have ink put on their hands. That would keep people from going to different polling places and voting for other people. I think this is an easy solution, it is cheap and can be done the day of the election and prevent that aspect of voter fraud. I think more people should look into it because voter fraud is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.

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Deputy Chief Pat Rollins is to be commended for the actions he took in getting the golfer to the golf course on time. His sense of fairness and competition has put Lombard in a favorable light on the international scene that no amount of tax money or marketing could have done. I spoke with many people from Ireland, England and Germany who were at the Westin, and they’ll all be back and this just put the icing on the cake. Congratulations, Deputy Chief Rollins. You made Lombard look very good.

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If there is even one person out there who doesn’t believe there are physical or computer attacks on the U.S., you live in a hole and you are blind or can’t read. Duh. Libya for one; please stop the ignorance.

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A big thank you to the Glenbard East band for playing at the start of the crop walk. It was a great send-off for the walkers.

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Just kind of curious. Why is it every election year, for roughly the last 10 or 11 election years, two weeks to probably two months ahead of the election date, all of a sudden the government breaks up an alleged terrorist ring that wants to do damage to the United States? No matter who the president is, it always happens. Seems kind of suspicious to me.