Hi, I was at Mr. Z’s today and the shelves are very, very empty. I’m just wondering if Mr. Z’s is going to be closing or what’s going on? Thank you.

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I love Mr. Z’s but have you been in there lately? The shelves are bare. I asked them what’s up and they said they’re waiting for delivery. I hope they don’t close. Lombard, support our Mr. Z’s.

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What is going on in Lombard with our longtime grocery store Mr. Z’s? There are few customers in there; maybe it’s because the shelves are empty. Are we going to lose this longtime food service? Thank you.

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Hi, can anyone please respond and update us on the status of Mr. Z’s? I don’t know if you’ve been in there lately but they have virtually no stock. There’s no produce in there today, nothing from the sale ad, the clerks seem to think they’re being told nothing; and it’s very,very sad. If you haven’t been in there lately, please go in and try to support them. Every time I’ve gone in there in the last month the stock has been diminished, but there was enough to purchase. I have a very bad feeling about the situation, so I’m hoping someone can respond to SPEAK OUT and update us. If there’s anything that can be done, for the community to help, Mr. Z., we certainly would want to do that. Please don’t keep us in the dark. Please let us know. It would be really sad to lose this store.

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Lombard calling. I really like to shop local, I really do. I prefer an independently owned store over a large chain store. However, our local grocer is making that very hard. It has finally come time for me to do all my grocery shopping at another store. They never have produce, they don’t have half the stuff that I need; I can’t keep running to two stores just to do my grocery shopping just to support the local business. I wish they’d make a decision—either be a grocery store or don’t be a grocery store. I hope they decide to stay a grocery store. I’d love to continue supporting them. Thank you.

I spoke with Steve Zeidler about the callers’ questions in SPEAK OUT and he provided the following answer. “During these tough economic times, Mr. Z is experiencing difficulty restructuring ownership to the next generation. We hope our loyal customers will support us the best they can while we work to resolve this issue and restore inventory. We look forward to being your local supermarket for years to come!” The Mr. Z’s Family.–blm

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It would be nice if the Lombard community police officer turning right on a red light would understand two things: Number one, if you are turning right, you should use your turn signal. Number two, if you are turning right on red, the law requires you to make a complete stop. Thank you.

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Hi, sure hope our governor signs that bill that’s been sitting on his desk know for quite awhile; a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months. It’s the best thing that could happen for the people of Illinois—thousands of people in Illinois—if he signs this thing. And what is this thing that’s going to help these people? Medical marijuana.

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So Dave Hulseberg put in for his resignation and/or retirement, but he didn’t give a date. What’s going on, Dave? So in the meantime, Dave, good luck in the future. See you next time. I know you understand.

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Good morning Villa Park. Did anybody see SPEAK OUT the other day? Well, that wasn’t a SPEAK OUT, that was basically telling us how they’re going to waste more money; money that they don’t have. And now we’re going to have our streets checked out by a truck and that’s going to cost us big dollars, when we could drive down our street and we know what streets are bad—mainly Adams, where your own board members live. Thank you.

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Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in his ruling for gay marriage passed a moral judgment on millions of Americans who adhere to God’s word on traditional marriage. He called them and me a hater. As a justice, he is to rule on the law and the Constitution, not a personal bias—as a disgrace to the Supreme Court and America—with the slander of Americans like me.

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Hi, this is a former Lombard resident calling. We’re just really disappointed to see that the Morning Star bookstore went out of business. It was such a great store. Did the rent go up or taxes were too high or something? Anyway, that was a major loss for Lombard. Thank you. Bye.

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I see that the Lombard village manager is retiring at age 52, taking advantage of the early retirement offering currently offered by the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, which the state of Illinois currently buys into. I’m sure the amount is a good part of his annual salary, probably as much as 75 or 80 percent, and then if he so chooses, he’ll also get medical/dental until age 65 at least, which we the taxpayers no doubt will pay for. Can’t criticize him for taking advantage of the offering, but consider someone being allowed to retire at middle age and with health coverage paid by the taxpayers, and then ask yourselves why this state is so close to insolvency. Public employees such as our legislators created these programs, partly for themselves, and then don’t even maintain the funds to support these programs. Then they wonder why they are so despised.

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Hello. Lombard was published as one of the three towns with 100 percent governmental transparency. That is great. Too bad Village Manager Hulseberg couldn’t give due credit to the person who actually instituted it. Trustee Peter Breen is the one person who deserves credit as the one person who pushed for 100 percent government transparency. Just wanted you to know. Goodbye.

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Thank goodness there are people out there in the world who don’t have their head buried in the sand. Our president is one very, very, very, very dangerous man right now and no matter where you get your news from, you might know that every day he seems to be doing all he can to take away all your rights given to you by the U.S. Constitution. You’re all just a bunch of sheep waiting for the slaughter. Hopefully someday, perhaps you’ll wake up as you’re being led into the FEMA camps when marshal law is imposed and you’re unable to get your Starbucks when you choose. Wake up, America.

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Could someone please make it clear exactly what can be burned outside and what’s going to gag a healthy person, let alone someone with asthma, probably send them to the hospital? People seem to be burning green leaves and bushes. Thank you.

The Village of Lombard Fire Prevention Bureau brochure states, “Residents are prohibited from burning landscape waste such as leaves, shrub and grass clippings and green limbs.” and that “Only dry seasoned wood is permitted to be used.” Furthermore, while the bureau does not address health conditions specifically, the brochure indicates that “Fires that produce offensive smoke or objectionable odors will be prohibited.” The brochure also states, “The commanding officer at the scene of a burning complaint is authorized to order the extinguishment of a fire which creates or adds to a hazardous or objectionable situation, or is in violation of the adopted codes and ordinances.” For more information, contact the bureau at 630-620-5750.–JAC

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This is for the guy who’s talking about Obamacare and how horrible it is, and what a disaster. How can something be a disaster if it doesn’t even get implemented for another six months? That’s the number one question. Number two, you’re proud that Obamacare passed with no Republican votes? You’re proud of that? You’re proud that your party would let 44 million poor, disabled, veterans even, go without health insurance? You’re proud of that? To deny 44 million Americans health insurance—who cares if they live or die. That’s what you’re proud of? Man, are Republicans messed up.

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About the Second Amendment, regardless of the opinions of super patriots, please look up the definition of “militia” in your dictionary. An interesting article you can find on the Internet is “Rethinking the Second Amendment” by DeeDee Freedburg. Both sides should check it out. Thank you.

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Isn’t it amazing that we have representatives who sat on their duff while millions entered our country illegally? Shouldn’t they have noticed a little sooner and done something about it before millions came? Now they can’t figure out how to stop it. Maybe they should have read the oath they took to uphold our laws. Too little too late. Just like the drunk drivers in the police reports—no license, no insurance, wrong side of the road, no headlights, etc. They’re charged and released. Why released; aren’t they a danger to all of us? Do they wait until someone is killed to get them off the road? Jail them for the first offense. It’s a serious crime. Why always wait until it’s too late?

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Hi, Lombard calling. Funny, on Page 2 of the July 10 edition, I’m reading how Lombard Town Centre severs ties with new executive director Michelle. Wow, but then I turn to Page 14 and somebody’s sending kudos out to her for all the great events they’ve been having. She didn’t even know it either. Wow. Just shows you. You know what? That’s three executive directors in less than three years. They have a lot of casualties there. I’m wondering, is it the executive directors? No. Is it the village? No. Maybe it’s time to rethink that board. We really need to rethink this. I thought we were doing this for Lombard.

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I feel bad for the folks in Villa Park whose roads are in desperate need of repair and resurfacing. Here I am in Lombard and streets that aren’t all that bad are being resurfaced—again. Wish I could send them your way, neighbor. You guys need it more than my neighborhood.

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This is Lombard calling and I just wanted to say that every Sunday I go to church and I go to an English-speaking Mass and I want you to know that at the end of the services the last three weeks the songs have all been sung in Spanish. If I wanted a Spanish-speaking service, I would go to one. I really resent the fact that it’s an English-speaking service and now they’re doing the songs in Spanish. This is not for English-speaking services. Just wanted to let you know that. Bye.

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Now the Republicans are upset that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. He didn’t pick it up. He didn’t order it. He didn’t make it. It was given to him, OK? Given to him. He has no bearing on whether he got that or not, OK? If you want to be upset about something, be upset that he put a banner up behind him that said “Mission accomplished” and that banner went up a good three or four years before the mission was even close to being accomplished. That’s what you should be mad about. Bush had that sign put up. He had to have OK’d that or someone on his staff. They asked for that banner. Obama didn’t ask for the Nobel Peace Prize. It was given to him. This is ridiculous.

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When I moved here Mr. Z’s was a woods, the auto repair shop on Madison had beautiful evergreens and Roosevelt Road was Smitty’s vegetable stand.

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This is for the person who thinks letting four people die in an embassy is the same as letting 53 people die in an embassy. George Bush has had 94 percent of all embassy killings under his watch. Less than 10 percent are under Obama’s watch. Bush is worse. End of story. And if you want us to stop bringing up the last administration, maybe Bush should have left a $3 trillion surplus when he left office, like Clinton did. Nobody talks about the kind of shape Clinton left the country in when he handed it over to Bush. The country was doing great. The only reason we keep going back to Bush is because he ruined the entire world.

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In a recent SPEAK OUT somebody mentioned that the Senate messed up; they let the college student loans go from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. They went on to say that it was the young Tea Party who blocked this and how terrible it was because $51 billion is not nearly as important as the education of our students. You know what? I didn’t go to college. I turned 18, I got a job and I’ve been paying for everything myself ever since then. If you want to go to college, pay for it yourself. I don’t know why you people think you have a right to have Uncle Sam to come and take money from me to pay for your college education. If you are going to beg, have the intestinal fortitude to come and knock on my door and beg for yourself for your college tuition money. Don’t be a coward and send the government. This entitlement attitude of you people—whoever called in I bet you believe that people should pay for all of your bills. These kids complain that college costs too much and they can’t recoup their costs ever. Then don’t go. And if you want to go to college, pay for it yourself.

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As a downtown business co-owner, I would like to send the correct kudos out to the correct group. To the person calling in sending kudos for recent great events in downtown Lombard, if you want to thank the correct person(s), thank the Lombard Town Centre Board and their tireless volunteers. This group of people are the ones putting together, planning and holding all of the great events we have seen downtown. As a business owner, I am so thankful for the LTC board and their volunteers. We, the business owners, are very grateful for all of the hard work and dedication they have shown the businesses and our downtown. Thank you, LTC.

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In response to the Wednesday, July 10, SPEAK OUT, all District 45 schools collect Box Tops for Education, so if you live in Lombard you could try Schafer, Westmore or York Center. They’d all be more than happy to take your box tops.