Hello Villa Park. Since opening the Ardmore bridge (finally) last year, the speeds that the cars, trucks and yes police cars are going is on course to get someone killed. There has been no police presence there but a couple of days at best. Vehicles are going an average 50 plus north- and southbound. Help.

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Hello I have lived in Villa Park for a little over a year now and I can’t remember living somewhere where fire pits are such a big deal. This is to all the people who say fire pits should not be allowed, you all must not have family and enjoy sitting outdoors; what is such a big deal? I understand not burning trash and garbage and stuff like that but you mean to tell me you’re against firewood being burned? This is why I will be taking my family and moving out of Villa Park soon, and I will also let others know that this is just the beginning. I think the roads are terrible, when you go over the railroad tracks I feel like my car is going to break in half, the schools here are below average and now fire pits cannot be used. Like I said, what is next? I will be seeing Villa Park no more hopefully sooner than later. I thought this is America home of the free not home of the crybabies thank you. A concerned resident.

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I would like to comment on the wonderful photograph and the duly awarded award of valor to our Lombard police officer for his bravery and going into a home not knowing if he is going to get shot by someone and taking care of the incident. Thank you so much, Scott Jean, for your bravery and your definitely due award of valor. As a resident of Lombard it’s nice to know what a wonderful police officer among all of them we have. Congratulations. I’m so glad they had this in the paper.

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Villa Park calling, congratulating the class of Willowbrook High School 2014, but Villa Park Review, there are three middle schools as well—Jackson, Jefferson and Albright—that had graduations last week and they were not recognized in your paper. I expect photos next week. Thank you.

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Lombard calling. I just left the Lombard Post Office after waiting in line about 35 minutes. There were eight of us waiting in line and one clerk. Nobody else ever came up. You need to do something; 11 a.m. on a Monday, it’s got to be a busy time.

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To the caller saying that the Lilac Princess should not get her scholarship, I think that would be discrimination. Please note the editor’s reply. In a previous article, she also stated that offering the princess her scholarship did not break any rules, laws, ordinances, etc. Guess you missed that article. I never did, nor will I ever, have a problem with it because those young ladies were chosen not only by people outside of Lombard but by first name or number only—it was fair and square. So, only certain girls can apply? I hope this doesn’t deter future young ladies from wanting to be a princess just because they have some connection to a Lombard employee or trustee. It is their merits I look for and so should everyone else.

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I recently pulled into Lombard on Roosevelt Road and noticed underneath the Lombard sign it said something about Tree City. It needs to be changed to Dead Tree City. I live a few blocks from the Lombard Common and our neighborhood has been overrun with dead trees. And, it’s not just the emerald ash borer trees I’m talking about. There are plenty of dead maples and elms; trees half dead. When are the trees that died in 2013 going to be removed? The village needs to take a priority on this and remove the dead trees and replace them as soon as possible. Anyone else feel this way?

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In regard to the SPEAK OUT June 11 about the water bill; the price was $12.56 per 1,000 gallons and said the bill for 12,000 gallons was $159.42, if you do your math correctly, it’s $150.72, not $159.42. Thank you.

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I just drove by Terrace View Pond and after God knows how much money they spent on it with the Army Corps of Engineers, lowering it and with the problem with the silt, the algae and the leaves, I’m proud to say it’s probably about 4 or 5 inches less in depth, but you still have the algae. You still have the lily pads. You still have the silt. I’m going to be one to go on record that you’ll probably still have the smell come August. Great job. Have a nice day.

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Went for a walk for the first time around the pond which after all the construction’s done is a total disaster area and a cesspool. There’s a chair floating, a garbage can floating, garbage floating. There was a duck that was stuck in garbage. It’s totally disgusting and there’s no room for any of the people who used to fish, to fish anymore. Are you telling me it’s all done? It’s terrible. Bye.

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What’s the deal with Cruise Nights? I went to the first one and it said until 10 p.m., but they rolled up the sidewalks, so to speak, just after 9 p.m. The DJ packed up and cars were leaving. It was sad because I saw people driving down St. Charles to look at the cars, but they were mostly gone by 9:30. I know there was a possibility of bad weather, but there was hardly a cloud to be seen. Any explanation?

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This is for all you people who think that the Republicans only care about the rich and that the Democrats are for the ordinary working guy. In Illinois, the Democrats rule everything. Let’s look at what the Democrats have done over the last few years. They’ve raised your income tax and tolls, and the price of a license plate. The Democrats in Chicago have raised the parking rates and sales tax in Chicago is the highest in the country. Now Quinn and Madigan don’t want to let the income tax go back down. These are all things that hurt the working man. In the meantime, they’ve given massive tax breaks to Sears, Motorola and CME Group; and yet you people are going to vote all the same people back into office in November. For what? People are hurting. There’s no end to the misery in sight and you’re going to vote Democrat again just to keep on trying to prove some kind of failed point.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. We lost our electricity today, Tuesday. It’s just raining; it’s not lightning, it’s not windy and we lost our electricity last week and it wasn’t raining at all. Commonwealth Edison laid people off in the 1990s and 2000s. They apparently stopped maintaining the poles and the wires and they lost their good workers. Now we have to pay for it by losing electricity all the time. This is terrible.

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This is important; 190,000 Puerto Ricans and Guatemalan children are coming into Arizona and Texas by invitation of President Obama telling their news media he won’t send them back. They are being bussed across the border, left with a bottle of water and nowhere to go, army bases are warehouses and are being used to store them. Another Obama crisis; a child crisis. Next we’ll have to reunite them with their parents, sisters, brothers, maybe even grandparents. You do the math. And jobs will be needed, which we haven’t got for our own citizens. You’d better start screaming to Rep. Peter Roskam and Sen. Dick Durbin. Impeach President Obama and Eric Holder. They are not upholding our laws.

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Shame on you, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin and county board members for trying to slip themselves and other elected officials a pay raise by putting it on the agenda the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend for a board meeting the following Tuesday meeting. At the meeting, Glen Ellyn resident Jean Kaczmarek brought this up at public comments saying it was in violation of the Open Meetings Act, which requires six days notice for benefit packages totaling $150,000 or over. As a result, the meeting was postponed until a special meeting on Tuesday, June 3. Remember your county board members are up for election November 2014 and 2016. This is not about Democrats or Republicans. This is about our tax dollars and transparency.

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I attended the inaugural Lombard Ale Fest on Saturday. This was the best event I have ever attended in Lombard. Kudos to the volunteer parents of the Glenbard East Boosters Club, they did it again, great job. Remarkable event by dedicated and hardworking individuals.

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The other day I saw what looked like a dead coyote on Route 53 going south and it made me wonder, who is responsible for cleaning up dead animals along the roads? There was a dead raccoon going north on 53 that was there for what seems like over a week, but I noticed it’s finally gone. I know the village won’t answer, but maybe they will take notice and either take care of this kind of task if it’s in their jurisdiction, or contact the appropriate agency. It’s just so gross and to me a potential health hazard.

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This is to the person who called in about his conceal and carry. Good for you. I’m glad you feel you have the need to go down the street with a gun but you can be assured I would never walk up to you or if I see someone coming down the street with a gun, I will cross the street and go the other way. I’ve lived 71 years and never did I feel unsafe on the street. Now I do because everywhere I go now people can conceal and carry. There’s absolutely no reason for anybody to conceal and carry a gun. You have just now made me even more afraid of going down the street than I should be.

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I drive up and down Grace Street an awful lot every week, and when I get to St. Charles Road by the new bridge, I’m constantly seeing people walking their bikes by the side of the ramp, crossing over Grace Street and going back up over the bridge. Don’t they trust the construction or are they missing something? I’ve never been up there. Does it not go through? Why would they come down like they always had to, now that they’ve got that multi-million-dollar bridge?

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I believe in climate change. I believe that it changes day to day, month to month, season to season, and that it varies year to year. It’s frightening, isn’t it? Really, it’s just another falsehood that our government wants you to panic over in order to create more laws. Government wants you to believe that it is one more danger from which only legislation can protect you. This is just a re-hashing of the big “ecology” push from when I was in grade school around 1970. Only then, Time Magazine was sure that the next ice age was coming.

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I am extremely grateful that District 1 has a trustee who really cares and actually listens to his constituents. He doesn’t just say he listens like so many who are currently in local office, but he actually listens. I recently went to District 1 Trustee Dan Whittington’s district chat which he has been doing since he got elected. This chat was about the video gambling before the board. It was a great discussion and it was refreshing to have a leader who truly wanted to hear our opinions. What disappointed me was the fact that District 3 Trustee, Reid Foltyniewicz, also was there listening. Even though the majority of the calls he has received and the people who were at the meeting were all against this issue, he plans of voting for lifting the ban. Even though Trustee Reid Foltyniewicz ran on the platform of listening to people and carrying out those wishes, in less than a year, he clearly has forgotten that. He would rather teach all of the people saying that Lombard is better than the communities that have video gambling a lesson, than to listen and act on the people’s wishes. I really hope that people in District 3 remember this when he is up for re-election because he really isn’t listening to you. I, for one, plan on reminding District 3 of his actions and hope that they vote against him. Thank you Trustee Whittington for listening and acting on your people’s behalf.

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To those who are complaining and asking to ban fire pits, what is next? Fireplaces? The majority of people who have fire pits use them responsibly. We have spent a lot of money having a nice brick one put in and we only burn the same exact materials that we burn in our indoor fireplace. There is no difference in the smoke that is emitted from our fireplace than what comes from our fire pit. Additionally, all of our neighbors who have fire pits do the same. If you have neighbors who are burning something illegally, then call the police. Or even better yet, talk to them. Tell them you are having problems breathing and come to a compromise. There is no need to punish those who use their fire pits responsibly because of the very few who don’t. I along with our responsible neighbors will fight every effort in this proposed ban.

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I read the most recent edition of the Lombard Pride newsletter I read about all of the negative effects that video gaming could have on an individual, up to and including suicide. I hope the elected official who wrote this has the factual documentation to back up his accusations? Otherwise this sounds like conjecture, scare tactics and political opinion. 

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Obamacare; 23.6 million-plus success stories and counting. I hope one day all Americans will not have to fear losing their life’s work when they get sick.

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Villa Park calling. I just read SPEAK OUT from the caller about the grass and weeds not being taken care of in Villa Park. I agree. It seems like Villa Park has become the scourge of the suburbs.