Lombard calling. Does anybody know why every second street light is missing from the posts in the first block of East St. Charles Road on the south side? It seems very odd. The posts are there, but there are no lights on the top and those are the very fancy colonial ones that were installed a few years ago. I hope they haven’t been stolen.

Your question was forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response: “The department of public works is in the process of rehabilitating the lights. The village completed the lights west of Main Street last year and will complete the lights east of Main Street this year. The poles are being removed by village staff and sent to a Lombard business for repairs and repainting. The lights are being removed in an alternating pattern so that adequate lighting remains during the process.”—blm

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Is there anyone else out there who voted for Rauner because he promised to be fiscally responsible, who is now ticked off that he created a new state job so that his wife could have a $100,000-a year-chief of staff and that his own office staff has come in at dramatically higher salaries than the staff that they replaced?

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Villa Park calling. I’ve been an avid reader of SPEAK OUT for well over a year now and it’s become very obvious to me that the majority of the callers are senior citizens. The lack of information regarding modern-day issues and a clear misunderstanding of the concept of living in the 21st century is appalling but not surprising.  Studies have shown that seniors are the least informed of all American citizens; and you can look that up. That being said, I would propose that upon reaching the age of 72 all citizens have their voting privileges restricted unless they can pass a current events/civics test; similar to getting a driver’s license renewed. On the flip side, Americans can’t vote until they reach the age of 18 and I don’t see much difference between the unawareness of your average high schooler and a senior citizen these days, so limiting the voting of these oldsters can only put our country headed back in the right direction by limiting low-information voters.

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Read in the Tribune that the governor finally convened his first Cabinet meeting. He let everyone know that the next few years will be rough, but that he has their backs and then he left after 10 minutes. Quinn may have been a mope, but he was hands-on. I guess we get what we pay for. 

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To purchase a new quality standard washing machine and dryer, I highly recommend Soukup’s Hardware in Glen Ellyn. Good quality, good customer service, good prices. Very pleased.

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Good morning, Lombard, it’s Thursday morning, Feb. 26, and I would just like to say that Lombard Public Works really deserves awards or something. I drive through Lombard and I drive through Addison on my way to work in Itasca and Lombard streets were clear, they were wet. After all this snow it’s amazing. I got into Addison and it was miserable and Itasca was slightly better than Addison. Lombard, without a doubt, is the best village around that I drive through in caring for and maintaining its streets and I think the public works department really deserves a big thank you. Bye.

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This is Lombard calling. Looking at the Lombardian on Wednesday, Feb. 25, Laura, you helped destroy Taste of Lombard. Now all of a sudden you’re stepping down as a village trustee. So, since you are stepping down as village trustee, put back the Taste of Lombard. Thank you.

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Page 5, Feb. 25, Wednesday, Lombard Woman of the Year will be judged by prominent citizens of Lombard; prominent Lombard residents. The judging will be done by prominent Lombard residents. I would like a list of prominent Lombard residents to make sure my name is not on it.

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Why did the Village of Villa Park once again hold its state of the village in the Willowbrook High School auditorium? Maybe 40 people, including village employees, attended the event. Those employees made up at least half of the “crowd.” A tiny audience in a huge auditorium looked ridiculous. They could have held the event at the village hall, the library annex or even in a classroom at Willowbrook. Also, the lighting was disturbing. Did they need to hold the event in darkness except for a spotlight that wasn’t even directed at the speakers? Was this some type of theatrical presentation? The village doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence with its egomaniacal choice of venue for an event that basically amounted to Villa Park employees patting each other on the back.

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Good morning. Lombard calling here. Hey, we’ve got a great little newspaper and in it the politicians are waxing on about the proposed state budget, but no one seems to be emphasizing that if it goes through, both Lombard and Villa Park will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue through operating funds. The budget is actually proposing cutting in half the share of state income tax dollars returned to the different municipalities. Can we get some numbers on this? Thank you.

Your question was forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response: “At present, the amount of Local Government Distributive Funding (LGDF) that would be eliminated from the Village of Lombard revenue per the initial budget proposal of Gov. Rauner would be approximately $2.1. However, it is important to note that there are lots of moving parts to the state budget proposal and a lot of negotiation is anticipated among state leaders. It is difficult to say how it will turn out, but the reductions being discussed are permanent reductions and not a one-time shortfall or a recession that we can work through. Until we can define what the long-term impact will be, the village will need to be diligent, fiscally responsible and maintain its mission of serving the community the best we can. In addition, it should be noted that the Village of Lombard, along with the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference and the Illinois Municipal League, is in regular contact with legislative representatives making sure they understand the impact that reducing the LGDF will have on local government.” SPEAK OUT will reach out to Villa Park for a response as well.—blm

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I happened to watch a show with Morgan Spurlock on CNN, about following his garbage from his house to its final destination. You could see where it goes, what it and other garbage goes through, etc. Fascinating and frightening. Someone also added two R’s to the three R’s of reduce, reuse, recycle. They were “rot,” or compost, and “refuse,” as in not buying items at the grocery store wrapped in plastic. You can bring your own container, weigh it and then put food in there to weigh again, for instance. Pick out some hamburger at the meat counter, plop it in, etc. I think that is a good idea. If a nuclear plant can contain its by-products, why can’t someone figure out how to burn garbage and contain the emissions?

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Quotes from Laura Ingraham: Jeb and Hillary can run on the same ticket. Both agree on Common Core, wide surveillance for Americans and a free pass to American citizenship. She also goes on to say that CPAC should not be a coronation of any candidate and for these two, Jeb and Hillary, the slogan will be, “What difference does it make?”

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. Once again, every year at wintertime, the Lombard Police Department allows people to park on Wilson, near Wilson and Fairview. This is the third year I’ve called on this. I’m surprised they let people park overnight for street parking. Bye.

Your question was forwarded to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following response: “The Lombard Police Department allows all residents up to four nights a month to call in a car parked on the street overnight. Extended parking beyond that would be screened and allowed for only special circumstances. While our officers enforce overnight parking violations, if a resident has a specific complaint, we would appreciate that they call 9-1-1.”—blm