In response to a caller last week who viewed the plant growth at Terrace View Pond as “objectionable,” and asked to save the prairie look for across the street, the Village of Lombard has provided the following information:

“The Village of Lombard took on the maintenance of Terrace View Pond at the request of the Lombard Park District. Part of that agreement includes the maintenance of the plants around the pond. As recent as last week, village employees and contracted workers from ENCAP were at Terrace View Pond to clear out overgrowth and unwanted plant species. The work will promote native grasses and other indigenous plants in the flood plain buffer. These plants have deep roots that are used to water fluctuations and will serve to limit erosion along the pond bank. They will also provide a healthy and interesting ecosystem including insects and animals. For photos, a video and more information visit www.VillageofLombard .org/TerraceViewPond.”—blm

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Hi Lombard and Villa Park. I called months ago and asked about yellow ribbons on trees; I called a few months later asking about yellow ribbons on trees for our military people and I see none. How sad is it that the villages of Lombard and Villa Park won’t support the military. This is a very small way to support the military. They need our support, so please, let’s come together and put yellow ribbons around the trees. It’s not that hard and it’s not that expensive. Let’s do it for our military. They deserve it. Thank you.

Your comment was submitted to the Village of Villa Park, which provided the following response:

“Unfortunately we do not provide ribbons but we have no prohibition against residents putting up their own.”—JAC

Your comment was also forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response:

“The Village of Lombard has always fully supported neighborhood efforts that honor veterans, including yellow ribbon campaigns. The Village of Lombard holds our veterans to the highest esteem and as such we celebrate and honor their contributions to our country. Each year we pay tribute to Lombard’s veterans with a Memorial Day Ceremony at our Veterans’ Memorial located in the Sunken Garden in Lombard Common. The village also provides a “Welcome Home” program for Lombard-resident veterans who have completed their time serving our country. While we do not currently have a yellow ribbon campaign, you can find additional resources and information to help assist veterans at www.VillageofLombard.org/Veterans.”—blm

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I wanted to know if it’s true that we get all the freight trains in Lombard because the northern suburbs didn’t want them. I heard they’ve been rerouted. There are a whole lot of freight trains during rush hour now.

Mark Davis, from Union Pacific Corporate Relations, responded: “That rail line in the Lombard area is busy – averaging about 100 trains a day – that includes commuter and freight trains. The number of freight trains is driven by how the economy is doing. We do stage freight trains over by Finley Road during the morning and evening commuter train rush hours. That location doesn’t impact mainline operations and is a safe crew change location without blocking crossings. Also, there is a joint Union Pacific/Metra third mainline ($90 million) project in the process that will assist in a more fluid operation in the area. It won’t eliminate staging, though we expect a significant reduction in trains being staged. Currently, the project is in the design phase and it will be built in 2016/2017. Trains using this line are either commuter trains or trains that move east/west.”—JAC

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The Associated Press sponsored exit polls after the last election. The numbers show that 32 percent of those who voted described themselves as being from a “union household” and that 41 percent of those voters voted for Rauner. If Rauner had announced that he wanted to do away with unions in this state before the election rather than after, he would be a footnote in Illinois history at this time. He didn’t acquire 50.3 percent of ownership stock, he received 50.3 percent of the vote in a single election for a single branch of government. All this gets him is a seat at the table. It is time that he stop prancing around the state and starts acting like a governor, which means taking a seat at the table, like Thompson and Edgar did before him, and spending the long hours in hammering out the details of a budget.

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I’d like to thank the National Weather Service for sending out emergency text messages about flooding in my area, wherever I live, wherever that would be. Gee, thanks a lot. I work shift work and you woke me up twice out of my sleep with this screaming text message. Because of you I’m only going to get a couple hours’ sleep and then I have to go to work. So, thanks for wrecking my sleep, National Weather Service. I appreciate it. Hope you have a good day.

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The Japanese lilac is not a true lilac tree. It’s a hybrid. Thank you.

A couple of things to point out: First of all, it is called a Japanese tree lilac—Syringa reticulata—and can be a very large shrub or tree, according to the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, which states that the lilac comes from northern Japan and is named also for its tree-like form. The site states that the Japanese tree lilac was introduced into cultivation in 1876 and is “the only species that attains a tree-like form and size.” Landscapenewengland.com claims that the largest Japanese tree lilac in North Dakota, for instance, is 45 feet tall with a canopy spread of 39 feet.—JAC

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Can any of the joggers in Butterfield East who use the street instead of the sidewalk to jog, please explain to me why they’re so special and need to use the street and not the sidewalk? Thank you. Goodbye.

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I want to express my best wishes to our recent Lombardian newspaper delivery person, Teddy Sullivan, for a job well done. Teddy and his siblings have delivered the Lombardian to our house on Eugenia Street for many years. Always prompt and always on our front porch. If only the Chicago Trib could do as good a job. As he embarks on a college career, may he be as successful as he was delivering our paper. If he does as good a job in that endeavor and his future years, he will make his parents proud and be successful in whatever he does. If only our politicians in Washington and Springfield could perform in a similar manner, we’d all be in a much better position.

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Have you ever noticed how the gas prices fluctuate from day to day? It can be $2.75 one day, one evening even, and the next morning it can be $2.99. What happens overnight to drive these gas prices up that high and isn’t a lot of that gas in the tank already? Why are the prices going up and fluctuating the way they are?

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Two good things about all the rain we’ve been having; fewer fireworks and fewer fire pits. We do, however, have one neighbor who still blows off firecrackers, fireworks, three of four times a week. It would also be nice if the people using their fire pits would stop burning garbage and yard waste.

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Sometimes people complain about the sounds of summer, like lawn mowers, leaf blowers, etc. I don’t really mind hearing those noises because it means someone is taking care of their property. I don’t expect push mowers and brooms to take their place just for some peace and quiet. However, where I live, I have to listen to a dog a block away that barks all the time, a startlingly loud motorcycle at all hours of the day—and late at night—and one household a block away where I can hear a bunch of young siblings screech, scream and yell whenever they go outside—beyond the typical sound of kids playing—and a noticeable lack of adult supervision. I’ll take the other sounds of summer any day.