I just noticed the downtown Christmas lights seem to be a lot dimmer than the other years. It was always quite beautiful before but now you can hardly see the lights.

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I’m going to chime in on the medical marijuana thing. Absolutely we should judge people on medical marijuana. It is a joke. I just read an article where you can apply online now for the medical marijuana so once it kicks in you can get it. If there’s going to be medical marijuana it should come from one place. It should be produced under severe, strict guidelines and you should only be able to get it at a real pharmacy. We’ve got Rahm Emanuel going after e-cigarettes, which is people inhaling steam. Cigarettes are evil and marijuana is good? Absolutely disgusting.

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This is to the people who want to raise the minimum wage. A lot of us feel that if you’re between the ages of 22 and 50, and you’ve been at a minimum wage job all your life, you don’t deserve more money. Go out and get a better education to get a better job. Minimum wage jobs are for kids in school and also for people to supplement their income later in life. So, if you’re between the ages of 22 and 50, deal with it.

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Is anybody but me sick and tired of having to blow your horn at seemingly almost every red light when the light turns green to notify the texting person in front of you that it’s time to go? In the meantime there are 10 car-lengths ahead of them that’s empty and half the time you don’t get through the light. They sit there until you finally figure out it’s time to blow your horn; then they move and you get the yellow. I’m getting sick of it.

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This is Lombard. The travesty in Ferguson, Mo., of a police officer who was doing his job, defending himself against a young man of black origin who had allegedly robbed a store and roughed up the poor owner, reportedly disobeyed the office and acted in a threatening way, to an officer of the law who was trying to enforce the law and protect himself and his community. Then, the destruction of property, of burning and looting, seemed to have just been allowed to happen without any type of consequence at all. What is our president getting involved in? What is happening with the way we’re thinking about right and wrong? Now this officer has resigned. Unbelievable.

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I would like to say thank you to the person who returned my purse, which I left in the shopping cart at Jewel/Osco on St. Charles Road. You truly have the holiday spirit and I thank you very much. Goodbye.

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Instead of standing in the streets of Ferguson with both hands raised, and shouting, “Don’t shoot,” perhaps it would have been better sitting in a classroom with one hand raised and shouting, “Call me. I know the answer.” Maybe then they wouldn’t be burning shops and looting liquor stores.

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Whether or not one agrees with the grand jury decision in Ferguson, I have not heard one justification for the rioting and looting that followed the announcement. OK, people are angry with the decision, but how does that help the cause by destroying property and someone’s livelihood? I have yet to hear a logical explanation, except from a few radicals who say it’s out of frustration at not being heard, etc. Well, instead of throwing things through windows and burning down buildings, use that energy to march peacefully and make your case for protesting. This criminal behavior won’t get anything resolved. If anything, it just pours fuel on the fire.

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Hey, Villa Park, now that you’ve got your referendum through, are you going to do anything about Highridge? It’s like a mine field.

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I have been hearing on TV by everyone from our president to Al Sharpton to the people in the street about what the officer and the police department should have done differently that day in Ferguson. Now certainly, some things should have been different, but I have yet to hear anyone say what Michael Brown should have done differently. Should he have robbed that store and casually shoved the proprietor aside on his way out, as was alleged? Should he have hit the policeman in the face and tried to take is gun, as reported by the officer? Should he have then walked away, when told to stop, as alleged by the officer? Should the protesters have set fires, burned cars and looted the stores? Aren’t they also part of the problem? Errors made that day and the following were apparently made by both sides and I believe the blame should also be applied to both sides in equal measure.

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I would like to thank J & R Cycle for many years of service as a small business in Lombard. I am very sad to see that they are going. I wish them the best of luck and will continue to visit them at their new location. I just wish the village would do more to help keep these small businesses in our town that are established and have been here for a long time and are successful. I wish there was a way they could offer an incentive to offset the high-rising costs. Good luck and thank you.

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In a recent SPEAK OUT one caller pointed out that corporate profits are at record highs, unemployment is below 5.9 percent, the dollar is at its strongest level in years, the stock market is at record highs, gas prices are falling, etc. This was followed by another caller who said some of the American people are stupid and we should call them by name—Democrats. I tell you, reading SPEAK OUT is like listening to a debate between a graduate student and a first-grader.

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Ferguson, another issue where there likely will never be a meeting of the minds. One point, though; the accusations of robbery against Michael Brown were not proven beyond a doubt, so stop using that as an excuse to try and convict him. Remember, he was considered just a suspect at the time. And you apparently can’t rely on the store video alone: Just look at the case in New York, where the incident was caught on video, yet the Grand Jury said there wasn’t enough evidence to indict the officer. There are three sides to every story, you know.

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What we need in this area is a Cracker Barrel, Old Country Buffet or a Golden Corral restaurant. Our fast food choices seem to consist of lukewarm hamburgers in a cardboard box. Nobody seems to use a grill anymore. And I wonder why business is down. Thanks to Portillo’s we can still get really good fast food, in my opinion.