I got another petition in the mail against payment of Social Security benefits to illegal aliens. Names on the form are Senators Durbin, Kirk and Duckworth. I’m supposed to send money with the form. Don’t we already pay our senators to do their job—which is not to give benefits to illegals? Uphold our jobs, you guys. That’s what your salary is for.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. Why don’t we attack cancer instead of Syria? Thank you.

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Hello, just offering up a concern about the new Great Western Trail bridge. Right off, being an avid runner and bicyclist, I really liked the concept of building it and enjoy using it. However, when riding over it, there appears in my unprofessional opinion to be a safety concern in the section of road where there is a swerve between the bridge over St. Charles Road and the bridge over the Metra tracks. I noticed that there is no safety fence there. I believe for that section the safety fence should extend between the bridges on both sides of the trail, which has steep declines. This is particularly a concern on the west side of the trail where there is a steep decline heading right onto St. Charles Road. That spot appears to be an accident waiting to happen.

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Hey, SPEAK OUT. Why do you have Peter Roskam’s “In the District”? You should have Tammy. Roskam does not represent me or most of Villa Park anymore. And besides that, the number they have listed for his Bloomingdale office has been changed, so when you print something, get it correct. His views do not represent mine anymore, and your paper is kind of very biased, but that is neither here nor there. Let’s get with the times, please. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments about “In the District.” Although District 6 has been redistricted, U.S. Rep. Roskam still represents this area, including a portion of Lombard, thus we continue to run his column. As for running a column by U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, I can contact her office and see if that is something she would like to do. Roskam’s “In the District” is part of this week’s paper, but please notice we have removed the Bloomingdale phone number, thanks to your comment.–blm

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Hi, Lombard calling. I see that the fathers are out for proposals on the old DuPage Theatre site. What are they doing with the Hammerschmidt site? That seems like a viable piece. It’s just sitting there, we’re mowing the lawn and even the parking lot we’re subsidizing for people from Glen Ellyn to come over and park.

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Lombard calling here. I’m in total agreement the caller made about Finley Road. Two-and-a-half months is way too long for us to be subjected to the constant noise and horrendous dust, very little streetlights. Now they’ve torn up all the sidewalks and the driveways and many seniors are going to be terribly inconvenienced trying to get back and forth from their homes to their cars. Thank you, Village of Lombard, for not taking residents into consideration. Bye.

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I’m so glad to hear that Deb Conroy is having a “Rules of the Road” event. Unfortunately it’s not mandatory that everybody go. Please have her tell people that right turn on red requires a full stop first. When you do turn out onto the street, you’re supposed to turn into the closest lane to you and not go all the way across all the lanes from a dead stop. Those of you who ride in the left lane for hours and hours, and miles and miles, you need to notice that when you get to the corner, there are people behind you who would like to get into the left turn lane and you’re blocking it because you want to go straight and there’s nobody in the other lane. Please be courteous and at least pull up to the guy in front of you. You leave two car lengths.

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Just wanted to say I was reading SPEAK OUT on Sept. 11 and I think it’s amazing that there’s somebody alive and breathing in this day and age who believes anybody can live on $10 an hour. Not only live on $10 an hour but live well. Not only should that person be elected president, I hope he or she will make us known who that is. And the other person complaining because Glenbard East held a fundraiser and was allowed to post signs on the parkway, for crying out loud. What a bunch of whiners.

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This is a Lombard resident calling. When are the lines going to be repainted on northbound Main Street at North Avenue? There’s hardly a line visible there. This is conducive conditions for an accident. Thank you. Bye.

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Hi, Lombard. I’m a Lombard resident wondering when you’re going to start addressing these ash trees that are dead all over town. I see Villa Park has hired some contractors to do some tree removal. I would think that Lombard would have the financial assistance also and to go for grants to remove the emerald ash borer. These trees look terrible in the community and I know on my block alone there about 15-18 trees that are deader than door nails. Hope something is in the works. Thank you.

As you know, the village will not answer questions, but because I did an article on this subject in late July, I can tell you, at that time, Lombard had close to 1,000 parkway trees which were slated to come down. Steve Kremske, the village’s forestry and urban landscape supervisor, related back in July that 790 parkway trees had fallen victim to the emerald ash borer. He related that the trees were being taken down by in-house crews and a contractor. The smaller trees, 10 inches and smaller in diameter, were being taken down by in-house crews and the larger trees by a contractor. The cost to remove a tree with a diameter of 10 to 25 inches comes in at about $365 per tree, Kremske said. The bigger the tree, the higher the cost, so trees with a diameter of 30 inches or more cost about $950 each. Hope this information helps. –blm

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Hi, Lombard. Does anyone know if we really are getting a dollar store on Main Street where the old Walgreens used to be, or is it just a rumor I heard? Thank you.

Anyone with questions regarding the village should contact the Lombard Village Hall at 630-620-5700 for assistance. Remember, it is against village policy to acknowledge or respond to any item that is from an anonymous source, as was approved by the board of trustees at the May 19, 2011, meeting. However, I do recall seeing a blurb in the August/September 2013 issue of Lombard Pride. Under the Trustee District News section, District 6 Trustee William Ware wrote, “Family Dollar has submitted for permits to build out a new, modernized store at the old Walgreens site at 727 S. Main St., with an opening this fall. Hope that helps.—blm

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This is Lombard calling. So Glenbard East just spent a bunch of money on a football field, but the school doesn’t have air conditioning. The kids are sweating, yet we spent money on a football field. I’m not sure how this equates to common sense; maybe this is why the schools in Illinois are so messed up. Why would we have a school that has no air conditioning and spend $2 million on a football field? I don’t care who paid for it, but if you’ve got that money, don’t you put air conditioning in? Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m just a little bitter about the state, but I just don’t get it. Really? Football, in particular Glenbard East football? The girls badminton team could beat them.

Your information is incorrect. Glenbard Township High School District 87 Community Relations Coordinator Peg Mannion offered the following clarification of the facts: “Regarding installation of synthetic turf at Glenbard East High School, the $1.37 million project followed Glenbard District 87’s collaborative funding model. The Lombard Park District will fund $500,000 of the project, the Glenbard East Booster Club will fund $433,333 and Glenbard District 87 will fund $439,017 through vending commissions. Approximately 50 percent of Glenbard East has air conditioning.”—JAC

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The Villa Park village manager stated during the Sept. 9 board meeting that he only recently became aware that glass bottles were recyclable. Seriously? A grown man, not to mention a village manager, thought that glass bottles should be disposed with regular garbage and not recyclable? Where has he been for the last 20 years?

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The president of the United States was elected to become president of the United States, to run the country. He was not elected to be king, he was not elected to be dictator, and he has to understand that he has to run the country but not dictate. There are rules and laws for him, as well as there are for everybody else in this country. He is not a dictator. Goodbye.

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Now that Lombard’s past village manager is gone and collects full pay as a part-time consultant, maybe he can find time to answer questions of the past in SPEAK OUT. Thank you.

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I’m calling about the Prairie Days; it’s really too bad they got bad weather today. I feel bad for them. However, they also totally did not advertise this program. It’s unbelievable. If you come over here it’s great what they’re trying to do; I know there’s not many people because of the weather but most people I talked to had no idea what I was talking about. If you go on the village Web site you don’t know anything about this. That’s a handful of people who know about that. You need to put some energy into communicating. People are busy; if you don’t put this in their face, they’re not going to come. It’s so sad, all this effort and energy, for nothing because most of the village has no idea this would even be going on.

The Lombardian had a photo and caption on Page 2 of the Wednesday, Sept. 11, edition, highlighting details of the event, which was organized by the Lombard Garden Club and the Lombard Park District, the latter of which advertised the Prairie Day event with a sign on the south side of Greenfield, across the street from Terrace View park, and also on its Web site, wwwlombardparks.org.–JAC

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A great work crossword puzzle this week, Bonnie. Thank you.

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Mr. Tom Masterson did a great presentation, for the short period of time he was allowed, at the last Lombard board meeting. The people affected by past apparent poor judgment of village employees need more than a few minutes to explain. Can the board please expand the time limit for these complex situations? The citizens of Lombard deserve it. Thank you.

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Lombard calling. Let’s give our new village president and his board of trustees support to work out solutions for the problems that come up lately. These people did not create the past. Let us support them for a great future for Lombard and the generations to come. P.S. Tell your neighbors to get more involved and join the team. Together, everyone accomplishes more. Goodbye.

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I’m calling to say that I agree 100 percent with the caller who called in a couple of weeks ago saying that we should march on the DuPage assessor’s office and the Lombard Village Hall. All the other things people complain about in SPEAK OUT don’t amount to a hill of beans compared to what the taxes on our houses are in this town. It’s ridiculous. I have a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Lombard. My taxes are $8,500 a year. I have two houses in Arizona; both three bedrooms, both two baths. My taxes on both just came today. The taxes on both of those houses are $1,700 total. How in the world can they justify $8,500 for one house compared to two houses—same size, same square footage—two houses, $1,700. That’s where I’m moving the minute my daughter graduates from high school.