Lombard calling. This is in regard to the snow laws that Lombard has. Why are some businesses not keeping their sidewalks clear? Number, two, who cleans the intersection of the sidewalks at the corners of the streets? Three, who is responsible for removing the snow around public fire hydrants? Thank you.

Your question was forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response: “Village Code requires commercial property owners to clear at least a 3-foot pathway on public sidewalks adjacent to their property within 24 hours of the end of snowfall. Concerns regarding compliance should be directed to the village’s Code Administration staff at 630-620-5749. After such a snowfall occurs and a reasonable time period has passed to provide businesses the opportunity to clear walkways, Village staff will go out into the field and meet with business and property owners to inform them of the clearing provisions where needed. The village's intent is to inform and promote compliance rather than writing tickets. The fire department asks that residents clear snow around fire hydrants in order to quickly identify and access hydrants during an emergency.”—blm

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Lombard calling. Kudos to our street crew for doing an excellent job in removing the snow. This is Feb. 3 and I know it’s been a trying weekend, with a huge snow, but why did I just spend 45 minutes on my corner lot allowing commuters to access a sidewalk that in a matter of seconds the village just blocked—again? Respect for humanity? Respect for each other? Is there an excuse for this, though I don’t expect the village to answer. It’s just a question about why I’m never going to do it again?

Your question was forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response: “Per the village snow removal policy, the first priority in heavy snowfalls is to maintain drivability and emergency access on the roads. The task of pushing snow to the curbs is in the interest of driving safety and clearing storm drains is one of the last tasks. Sidewalks that are cleared prior to this task being completed are unavoidably plowed over during the active snow removal process. When removal is completed, the village will review key intersections in the downtown area and remove snow from the crosswalk and curb as necessary.”—blm

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I don’t know who’s in charge of cleaning up the sidewalks in downtown Lombard, specifically the intersection of Main Street and St. Charles Road, but it’s a joke. The big storm was Sunday night; the gas station on the corner has mountains of snow that the thousands of commuters literally have to travel over every single day, and there are no clear paths there. This is downtown Lombard—supposedly the village wants downtown Lombard to be a viable part of the community. Not if they don’t clean off the sidewalks, they don’t. On Monday, you had to walk into the street just to get to the train station from the various parking lots. It’s ridiculous. It’s several days from when the big snow took place. The job has not been done. It’s horrible. Something needs to be done about this. Thank you.

Your question was forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response: “Sidewalk clearing is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. The village is responsible for clearing sidewalks next to the commuter parking areas, in front of village-owned properties, below the train platform, and under the viaduct. Businesses are responsible for the sidewalk in front of their own property.”—JAC

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Hello Lombard, or Addison. I’m wondering who is in charge of the crossing on Grace Street where the two towns meet. They’re getting pretty rough. I’m hoping somebody can look into that and take care of it fairly soon. Thank you.

Your question was forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response: “The north side of the tracks is within the Village of Addison and the south side is unincorporated DuPage County. The Village of Lombard jurisdiction terminates a few hundred feet south of the railroad tracks. In terms of the tracks themselves, the Canadian National Railway is responsible for maintaining the crossing.”–blm

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To the naysayer who is always complaining abut the weather reports year-round—presumably the same person by the regularity of the calls—there are those of us who depend on knowing what the weather may or may not do for our jobs, getting to our jobs, family commitments, appointments, etc., and to be able to somewhat plan ahead. If you are tired of listening to weather reports, tune them out. And just as you are tired of the repeated reports, I, for one, am tired of reading your seasonal calls. What’s the difference between you and the repeated weather reports?

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It’s interesting how SPEAK OUT’s resident Fox News critic or critics never provide any actual examples of bad journalism or egregious behavior. How typical. Who would expect sanctimonious liberals to deal in facts? It’s clear that the pious left-wingers are jealous of the Fox News Channel’s success.

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Two good things about this cold weather: no fire pits, no firecrackers.

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Good morning Villa Park Police Department and the Village of Villa Park. Just taking my usual drive on Sunday through Villa Park and what do I see? People who can’t stop for stop signs, people who roll through them, ride people’s rear ends and I look and see, no police. We have a problem with the younger generation today; no respect. And how can we give them the respect when the police aren’t out there to enforce the law? Thank you.

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I agree with the comment about the Faux News caller being sophomoric. It seems to me that when the Democrats take issue with something, instead of making a rebuttal with facts, they tend to express their disagreement by deflecting from the topic and making snide comments instead, like calling it Faux News. Do you think sarcasm and other similar remarks are going to get your point across? Well, instead of making those kinds of comments, give me the facts. I have always seen a representation of the political spectrum—even one of the commentators, Juan Williams, is a Democrat—in their guests. Whereas on MSNBC, those people seem to be as left-wing as I have ever heard. See, I was able to say that without a snide comment.

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To those people in the grocery parking lot who are too lazy to return their cart to the cart corral, what makes you think it’s all right to put them in the handicapped space? You expect some guy to get out on crutches and move it? Very, very inconsiderate.

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Hello, SPEAK OUT. Lombard calling. I just returned from walking my dog at Lombard Common, one of the oldest parks in Lombard, and a very nice one. It also has a memorial to service men and women. The path that cuts the park in two is nicely maintained. The problem? There were piles and piles of dog feces, not only along the pathway, but around quite a few of the trees off the beaten path—over a dozen or more. Dog owners, really? Have you no sense of pride in the park nor intelligence to realize that leaving your dog’s feces all over the park spreads diseases, decreases the quality of the park and frankly, simply reflects your laziness? It takes no effort on my part to put a little plastic bag in my pocket and pick it up, depositing it into the many garbage cans provided. If this continues as it is, the thoughtless dog owners will destroy the privilege for all of us who enjoy walking our dogs at this lovely park. Keep your dogs on a leash, pick up your dog poo and enjoy the park the way it should be. Thank you.

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This is Lombard calling. I’m just a little upset because four years ago I voted for Laura Fitzpatrick and she assured me that she would serve me well as her trustee. Well, here she is, resigning two months early and not living up to her commitment. I would just like to make sure that the village does not pay her, her stipend for the last two months she’s going to miss after her resignation. Thanks.

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I’m reading a book called “Killing Kennedy” by Bill O’Reilly. It brings to mind a real contrast between two presidents; presidents Kennedy and Obama. During the Cuban Missile Crisis Kennedy blamed Khrushchev for the missiles in Cuba in a countrywide speech. I remember. I was put on alert. His speech was powerful and strong. Fast forward to now. Children are being buried alive, Christians are being beheaded, Muslims are being burned to death, a Russian thug invades and occupies Crimea, Ukraine is invaded by the same thug. The world asks for and wants our help. This president talks with no action. What a difference.

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Hello. One evening last week, it was almost midnight, I went to turn my lights off on the porch in the back—I have a big patio door—and I thought I saw my neighbor’s big mastiff on the next block walking. I just stood there and watched and here there was another one, and another one. I realized my neighbors’ lights were out; it wasn’t her mastiff. I thought, maybe it’s a horse. Maybe a horse-drawn carriage marching down Maple going toward the train station. There were, I counted them in single file, six big reindeer. They were beautiful. What a sight to see in the snow. They were silhouetted in the snow walking on the sidewalk single file. I keep looking out to see them again and I haven’t, so they were all going for a midnight walk, I guess. What a lovely sight. But, Santa Claus wasn’t there. I’m not kidding. This is a true story about the reindeer. Bye.

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During World War II the government warned citizens not to talk about troop movements that their family members were involved in. Remember, loose lips sink ships. To reveal such information to the enemy was considered treason and punishable by death. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for doing exactly that. Now we have a White House and a Pentagon that are telling the enemy exactly what we intend to do. For a president who won’t use the word “victory” but instead and I quote, “degrade and contain,” this is the recipe that will lead to national suicide. Thank you.

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Hello. I’d like to thank my neighbor, Bob, who lives across the street from me. He’s always been so good about plowing not only my driveway but the whole block without even asking him. He’s such a dear and God bless him for all his good work. We sure all appreciate it. Thank you, Bob.

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Lombard calling in regard to the candlelight bowl the Two Rivers Federation held on Feb. 7. It was truly an enjoyable evening. The food was good, the bowling a lot of fun and the raffle prizes remarkable. I can’t believe how supportive the local community is of the Tri-Town YMCA and the parent-child programs of the Two Rivers Federation. It was so nice to see all the raffle prizes that were donated by all the local businesses. Thank you very much to the elders group for putting on such a fun, supportive event of these parent-child programs.

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Villa Park calling. I am a Metra commuter who walks down Ardmore in the early hours of the morning to catch the train. I’m tired of having to walk out into the street because of cars parked in a certain residence near the train station, blocking the sidewalk. Where are our police? Thank you.

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You know what, I agree with the person who says we all have to stop watching Faux News. Absolutely. You would think after this Brian Williams thing, people would realize that NBC is just fake. Why don’t you switch over to some real news and maybe watch Fox, where people don’t make up stuff about things? Thank you.

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Yesterday was Presidents Day and many of us took advantage of the day off and the many retail special sales for the day. I just googled “Presidents Day” and it is viewed as the day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present. Then why is it spelled “President’s” with an apostrophe ess, “Presidents’” with just an apostrophe or just “Presidents”? If you look at all the ads and every article I’ve read, they all spell it differently. Bonnie, what is the correct spelling to honor this day? Thank you.

The Lombardian and Villa Park Review staff use the “Associated Press Stylebook” as our main reference. According to the book, the correct expression is “Presidents Day.” To further explain it, the guide defines this as a descriptive phrase rather than a possessive one. Other examples include “Veterans Day,” “teachers college” and “writers guide.” For those of us with a pet peeve about the use/misuse of apostrophes (DVDs, not DVD’s; the correct use of its and it’s; etc.), Lynne Truss provides a humorous—yet helpful—perspective on the subject in her book, “Eats, Shoots and Leaves.”—JAC

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Our president can’t even call the slaughtered 21 Egyptians what they are, Coptic Christians, just like he won’t say Islamic terrorist. This is a JV team? Radical Islam is killing Christians across the world. It’s like Obama is protecting everything that’s Muslim. He’s certainly not protecting our troops with his silly rules of engagement or our country by ignoring the scourge that’s marching across the whole world.