A woman from Ohio, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus District, Rep. Marcia Fudge, is asking for sympathy for Jesse Jackson Jr. and said he was charming, entertaining and intelligent. Well, I want to tell you something. The devil is charming, entertaining and very, very intelligent, and he gets all of us tricked into his lies and sinning, so, listen, judge, do not get taken in by what that woman says. He committed the crime and he must pay the time. Goodbye.

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To the reply to the person who talked about the hardworking immigrants versus the homeless and how the hardworking immigrants would take resources from our country, what do you think the homeless do? They take medicine, they take food, they take social services; and as far as a hardworking immigrant coming into this country, at least they’d be putting something back in. It wouldn’t be just a total waste, sitting at the library, waiting to sleep inside a church for the evening or in a train station. Once again, I say, bring in the immigrants and ship out the homeless. Thank you.

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To the person obsessed with the police officer at the high school at 2:30 p.m. If you look, they park at the south drive north of the stoplight. There are several buses on the hill in front of the school, probably 10 of them, hard to miss. The officer stops traffic and lets them out onto Main Street. The buses do not exit at the stoplight and this prevents accidents and lets the buses out all at once. The off-duty officer is paid by School District 87.

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I grew up in Lombard when the Dutch elm disease devastated the beautiful umbrella-shaped American elms that line all the parkways. As a child, the trees were not only our shade but part of our play, using them as a safety for tag and hiding behind them in hide and seek. So even though I was very young I still felt the sadness when the big old elm in front of our house was cut down. The neighborhoods that had been filled with shade and beauty were now without trees and in all sun. We learned a valuable lesson; not to plant the same tree on all the parkways. Now I again live in Lombard and I see nature repeating itself with the devastation happening to the ash trees slowing dying from the ash borer. At least now I am only losing one parkway tree instead of four. I commend the Village of Lombard for trying to keep up with the dead and dying trees. I see workers cut them down and plant new trees. I can only imagine what an overwhelming task this must be for the village. But thank you for keeping Lombard beautiful and the parkways tree lined. In the future years, the ash trees will all be gone but new trees will grow in their place. Let’s all hope the maples and new trees stay strong.

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Thank you Trustee Breen. We are grateful for all your efforts and your success in eliminating the vehicle sticker fee. It is a comfort to know that you understand “what is ours is ours.”  Eliminating the vehicle sticker fee, to some, may be less than important. But to many, you have set an important precedent, thank you. You have established a procedure, “Don’t take what is not needed.” Many Lombardians have to count their pennies and we need trustees who understand that. You taught a lesson in unnecessary spending by eliminating an expense; thanks. 

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Lombard—I would like to know if there are plans to improve road conditions on Highland Avenue, especially between Roosevelt Road and 15th Street. Using Main Street in order to avoid the Highland Avenue “bumps and thumps” was an option until all the Main Street barricades went up. With gas prices so high these days, detours become an added expense for everyone. Main Street seemed to be in good condition after all the construction work done north of 22nd Street in recent years, so why the “completion of the Main Street project” and why the big, expensive sign at this particular time when Highland Avenue is a such a disgrace?

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Lombard Park District and all you other sports fans, how about talking to the Ricketts family and getting that Cubs team to come out to Ken Loch? There you go, that will solve all our problems like the Westin did. Thank you.

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Lombard and Villa Park. Our towns are full of people who have nothing better to do than gripe about things that one, won’t be answered by the village—so why bother bringing it up—or two, are of such a miniscule nature that it seems like a waste of time for the newspaper and whoever they have to contact for a response. What’s wrong with taking the initiative to find out answers for yourself? If it’s important enough to ask the newspaper staff to get answers, it should be likewise for you to make a phone call or send an e-mail. Maybe it will keep our officials on their toes if constituents actually hold the village accountable to answer questions and be transparent.

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Oh, forgive me, Village of Lombard, for I have sinned. My last confession was last week’s newspaper article. I was mistakenly lying when I said my TIF district taxes were raised from $24,500 to $27,500. I’m sorry. It was my typographical error. It was really from $12,500 up to $27,500. Oh, my. I have sinned. Why are my neighbor’s TIF district taxes only 13 cents for the year and mine are over $13,000? It seems suspicious. Hmm. Have a good day, Village of Lombard.

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Yes, I, this is to the person who left such glowing accolades about Mr. Hulseberg last Wednesday, I only have one thing to say. The Mueller-Hulseberg convention center debacle. Thank you.

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Hello, in answer to the caller in the June 12 SPEAK OUT who thanked the village for raising taxes and being put in a TIF district. The village doesn’t let the money sit in a bank account. I read a couple of years ago in SPEAK OUT they spent $30,000 of TIF money to buy a sculpture to put in front of the village manager’s office. Someone said it will eventually be returned to its final resting place across the street from Walgreens. It has an old man being pushed by a child on a swing. How cool. The price of brass is going up. Bye.

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To the SPEAK OUT caller last week who is tired of hearing about the village manager of Lombard, Mr. Hulseberg, he has done a fantastic job. Under his watch, we have the Westin Hotel debt, the village credit rating has gone from AA to BB. The TIF tax funds are providing millions of dollars for a beautiful bike bridge to ride your bike on. Someone last week even thanked the village for putting his building in a TIF district and driving people out of town with Gestapo tactics. Yes, we need to look at the facts. Thank you.

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We thank the Villa Park police and our neighbor for a quick response when the neighbor thought our home was being burglarized in the middle of the night. It is great to know Villa Park police do everything they can to keep us safe.

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I can’t believe people are complaining about police pensions. They work for their pension. There aren’t a lot of people who risk their life for other people’s safety. I personally appreciate and admire every one of them. I do personally resent people who break laws or who don’t work and get medical, food, etc. Evidently you don’t mind supporting them with your tax money. When people dedicate their life to helping others, they deserve everything they get and more. God bless firefighters and police, paramedics, etc.

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This is to address the Second Amendment caller making fun of the person who “thinks it’s a great as sliced bread.” Number one, that’s a foolish comparison; number two, that’s the way this country became free, with firearms and spilling of blood. I hate to be honest and I know you can’t really handle it as you would say, but that’s the way it was. Maybe you could move to Sweden where they have excellent gun control laws and a certain ethnic group is taking over everything and burning the cities, or England, where people stood around while someone got hatcheted by another ethnic group. That makes a lot of sense. Where there is concealed carry, and you can look it up according to John Lott, University of Chicago professor, the crime is rapidly down. It’s in a book called “More Guns, Less Crime,” and yes, he is from a liberal university but sometimes some truthful matter does squeak out as far as political leanings. Gun control works rather well in Chicago, doesn’t it?

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I just want to answer the person who asks why do Republicans lose the election. First of all, it’s because of people like you. Second of all, Benghazi was all Obama and his people. If that was your son or daughter in there, I’d like to know what you’d have to say then. They’re always blaming Bush. Well, I have news for you; Obama is the biggest fault. So, get your stories straight.

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Just two quick observations. I see Villa Park calls itself the Garden Village. I beg to differ. I believe it would be called the village of the pot holes. Also, to the advertisers on TV, please stop making Spanish-speaking commercials on American television channels. Thank you very much.

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Good morning, Villa Park. I am driving down Washington and notice that it’s being repaired. You have parts of it torn up to resurface. How about we do that to Adams, because Adams is five times worse than this ever was here on Washington. Thank you.

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Hey, all you anti-gun people out there, this is Lombard calling. Want respect, courtesy and conversation? Go to a gun range. You’d be amazed and don’t forget, the right to bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Bye.

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I keep seeing in SPEAK OUT the Republicans this, the Democrats that. The present administration is bad not because it is Democrat, but because of the lack of positive programs and the constant scandals. Our president is one of the poorest, if not the poorest. The administration is marked by scandal: Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS, AP scandal and the most recent one is the spying scandal. I would vote the for the candidate that puts America and Americans first. Neither party has thus far done that.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I’m just curious. What’s the deal with the million-dollar bicycle path, bridge to nowhere. You think it might be open in 2013? I thought it was supposed to be open Memorial Day. But here is a Saturday, and I’m sure the village is paying overtime for these workers to block St. Charles Road and continue to try to open it? Nice planning, Lombard, once again. I’m still embarrassed to live in Lombard. Mr. Giagnorio, how about we get to work one of these days and take care of some of these crazy issues? That’s why you became president. Let’s get this thing going so we can be proud to live in Lombard. Thank you.

According to a Village of Lombard press release, the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Great Western Trail bridges was postponed to August from the previously scheduled date of May 25. “Due to the fact that 15 of the past 30 days we’ve had rain and because of the flooding, the project will not be completed by the original date,” said Paul Kuehnlenz, project manager and civil engineer for the Village of Lombard’s Public Works Department. “It’s unfortunate that we need to reschedule, but necessary to ensure a safe event,” Kuehnlenz added. The release indicated that the ribbon cutting has been rescheduled to Aug. 6 to coincide with the annual “National Night Out” event at the Lombard Common, which is located near the bridges. “More details will be available as the date of the event nears,” the press release concludes.—JAC

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Lombard calling. When you play the blame game in SPEAK OUT, at least know the players. Peter Breen is on our side. He eliminated the vehicle stickers. The pot holes in the street need to be fixed properly by our maintenance department, which is run by a director name Carl Goldsmith, who works for a village manager named Dave Hulseberg—both of whom get paid by us, both of whom will not answer published comments in SPEAK OUT. Goodbye.

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To the person who made a comment about Benghazi in the June 12 SPEAK OUT, George Bush did not “let” 13 embassies get attacked under his watch, as you stated. Were any U.S. ambassadors killed during those attacks? No. Did Bush and his administration blame any of those attacks on spontaneous protests to an obscure YouTube video? No. Did Bush and his administration refuse to send help after it was requested? No. It seems left-wingers apparently aren’t deep thinkers. They just lap up what they’re told. The June 12 comment was one more example.