Hi, this is Villa Park calling. Again this year on July 4 we had excessive amounts of illegal firework activity. I want to know what the Villa Park Police Department is going to do about this. This is getting out of had. This is very dangerous. I do not want my property burned down. I don’t want to be injured by these illegal activities. Please do something about this, Villa Park. About putting something in the Village Matters that this is illegal, how about having police patrol the neighborhood in their cars? Do something, please. Thank you.

Villa Park Police Chief Bob Pavelchik responded to your comments: “The [Villa Park] Police Department responds to all calls for illegal fireworks, and anyone who hears any should call 9-1-1.”—JAC

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Hi, this is Lombard calling about the amount of garbage left behind in Enchanted Castle’s parking lot every weekend. There’s everything from baby diapers to liquor bottles and the entire parking lot is littered. A crew cleans the lot every morning but what kind of example are parents setting for their children to just carelessly litter like that? Parents, you’re in my neighborhood. Your lack of respect is appalling and you should be fined.

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There was a ridiculous comment about illegal immigrants in the July 22 SPEAK OUT. Using information from a left-wing outfit known as the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), the contributor stated that undocumented residents paid $10.6 billion in federal and state taxes in 2010. First, I question that statement. Does anyone believe that a majority of illegal residents fill out and file a U.S. federal tax form each year? I don’t. It’s possible that the $10.6 billion figure includes sales taxes. Everybody in this country, including illegals, pays sales taxes. If you buy anything, you cannot avoid them. But again, I cannot believe many illegals are paying federal or state taxes, let alone property taxes. By the way, according to usgovernmentrevenue.com, the total amount of federal, state and local income tax revenue in 2010 was $1.39 trillion, including $1.09 trillion in federal tax payments. So even if the left-wing group’s $10.6 billion number was accurate, illegal residents kicked in well under 1 percent of the country’s total income tax receipts. Here’s the most ridiculous statement in the July 22 comment. “Undocumented residents convicted of committing a crime, both violent and nonviolent, are deported to their home country.” The SPEAK OUT page isn’t large enough to include the facts debunking that outrageous statement.

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Hi, Lombard calling. I just wanted to reach out and say thanks to the Glenbard East football team. They came out and ran a camp for our fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at Sacred Heart. I just wanted to thank them for their time and all their dedication and working in the community. Thanks to Coach Walters and a fine bunch of young men they have there who stepped up and really helped us out. The kids had a blast. Thank you very much. Bye.

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If you are unhappy about chipmunks in your backyard, please call Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn at 630-942-6200, ext. 0, for ideas and tips to rid your yard of chipmunks. These are called deterrents. You can also find help online by going either to Google or Yahoo. Type in Willowbrook Wildlife Center and when you get to the top it will say "education." There are online brochures regarding many different animals. Also, Schroeder’s Ace Hardware has Willowbrook Wildlife Center brochures available. We all love wildlife, we want to protect our wildlife, we just don’t necessarily want the wildlife in our backyard. Please don’t call a trapper because oftentimes the trappers end up killing the animals.

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To the man or woman who keeps harping on weather broadcasts July 22, OMG yourself. You’re the one who needs to stop it. You are getting to be no different from the weather reports by repeating yourself. You’ve made your point—every few months, to be exact. It’s not going to change. Some of us depend on weather reports, or predictions, at least, for our jobs, travel timing, etc., to anticipate what may be coming and get prepared. Just like with anything on TV or the radio, if you don’t like it, change the channel.

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SPEAK OUT readers are very smart and they have answers to many difficult questions, and my question is this: If illegal immigrants and many other foreigners can come into this country and always get a job and live very well off of it, why do we have so much unemployment compensation and pay those high taxes? Answer please soon. Bye.

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Hi. I just read in SPEAK OUT someone promoting the DuPage County Fair and mentioned a rodeo. It’s 2015 and I can’t believe we are still using a barbaric way of entertainment. If watching an animal be tortured and scared is fun, then there’s something wrong with this society. There are many more ways to have fun than having to abuse an animal. I’m shocked and ashamed that DuPage County is still using this as entertainment. Please, think before attending these events, about what is happening to these animals. You don’t like to be hurt; neither do they. Find enjoyable entertainment that doesn’t involve using an animal at your own cost. Thank you.

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North Lombard news. Today, July 22, approximately late morning, our mailbox was left open after our mail carrier was there. The doors were left open, exposing probably 20 people’s mail. The keys were in the doors. I called the Lombard police, they have better things to do, but they actually locked it back up. I’m not sure what happened—I don’t want to draw conclusions, but people’s stuff was exposed and privacy concerns were mentioned. People speeding on West Road; very ignorant. A lot of kids. You don’t need to go 35 mph. That’s ridiculous, an accident waiting to happen. Also Main Street and the Great Western Trail. There’s going to be an incident of some sort, I’m guessing.

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Lombard calling. Always these people talking about Rauner and it’s his problem that the state of Illinois is in the condition it’s in. He’s been there for six months. There are people who are in Springfield for decades who have caused this problem who are now thinking they have to fix the problems they caused. They all should be incarcerated. Thank you, bye.

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I’m just wondering if anyone else in the Lombard area, Grove Street, downtown area, has been hearing a loud noise over the last few nights. It sounds like a helicopter but it’s flying very low and it’s very loud. I contacted the police department and they don’t know anything about it and was wondering if anyone had information. What is it and why are they flying so low? Thank you.

You may have heard the sound of multiple Blackhawk helicopters (as this editor saw from West Road a few nights ago at nighttime) or other military craft, flying at a low altitude. According to an NBC5 report, “The low-range flying may scare some residents, but city officials say it fits the federal, state and city standards.” The report quotes the Office of Emergency Management and Communications as saying that this routine training is nationwide, and helps service members meet certification requirements and “prepare for upcoming deployments worldwide.”

Source:http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Military-Helicopter-Training-Returns-to-Chicago318177671.html#ixzz3gpGIgqfc for more information.—JAC

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Do you remember when we used to have a local unemployment office? It was busier than the secretary of state’s office, which it was right next to. That office, like so many other state offices, is now closed. In the last four years of Quinn’s administration, the Illinois Department of Employment Security had its operating budget cut by 26 percent and its work force cut by 40 percent. I think that most readers would be floored if they learned about how much the state work force has been reduced in the last 12 years, and yet I listen to these Republicans senators in an interview with their caucus in which they’ve decided the way to balance the budget is to cut more from state agencies. It makes me scratch my head. Thank you.

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Mike Madigan, last week you accused the governor of playing politics. Well, you ought to know. You’ve been playing politics for 30-plus years. Get with the program and start changing things around in this state so we can all get some benefit out of it. Bye now.

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Hi. This is directed to either ComEd workers in the area who live here or my neighbors. We’ve had our street light out for exactly a week and we called ComEd about it and they said, “It’s on the report, we’ll get it done.” Two days later we called again. They said, “Oh, it shows that the work was done.” Sorry, it’s still dark out there. I wonder why. Two more days go by and I have my son call in. They say, “It’ll take between 10 and 14 days to get a new street light working.” Why is it taking so long? It’s not just for us, but for the drivers to see and whoever’s walking. I don’t know what the big delay is.

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It breaks my heart that our young men and women give up their lives to fight for our country, our freedom and our free speech, only to have companies such as ComEd get away with charging people an additional monthly fee of $21.50 to those who opt not to have a smart meter installed in their homes. Since ComEd does not pay my mortgage or taxes on my house, I feel I have the right to decline if it was to be installed or not, without being penalized. And thanks to the politicians who are letting ComEd get away with this hideous situation. You can rest assured you will not be getting my vote in the next election.

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Hi. I just want to make everybody aware of the farmers market that is located on the south end of Yorktown shopping center. It is open Thursday through Monday. The prices are wonderful. It’s all fresh. I think everybody in Lombard should do themselves a favor and go visit this. You’ll be very surprised.

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I understand why the village has the trees, especially that are near wires, trimmed. I live on Grace and I think you need to drive up Grace Street. It is horrible. I know how they trim the trees—they look like something went down the middle of them. They’ve got a branch sticking out here, a long branch sticking out there. Any beauty the tree might have had is long gone. I think you need to cut them down and plant trees that only grow maybe to 10 feet. Anybody who comes through this town and looks at these trees is going to laugh.

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OK, once again, I’m watching an American TV channel but yet the commercial is in Spanish. Please stop it now. Please. I’m begging you, please stop showing commercials that are in Spanish on regular American TV channels.