Absolutely unbelievable. It’s late August and I’m already getting phone calls about who to vote for in the election next November. Somebody has to stop this; it’s getting way out of hand. I’m tired of being robo-called for something that’s going to happen over a year away. It has to stop now.

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Here’s a question for Obama and Al Gore. What are you going to do about all the carbon that comes from forest fires and volcanoes? You going to try to punish God? Thank you, goodbye.

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We don’t go to church to be judged on what we wear to church. We go to church for one reason only and that’s because we believe in the Lord, our hearts are full and we want to go pray. What you wear is not what you should be judged on. There are many reasons people wear what they wear. Sometimes kids have a ball game afterward and don’t have time to change. If women come to church dressed in clam diggers or shorts, as long as they’re presentable, they’re dressed nicely, what difference does it make? It makes no difference. We’re all there for one reason. Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s when I was a kid, if you weren’t dressed up when you went to church and you didn’t have money to dress up, you were frowned on and looked down upon. So, let’s get the real reason to go to church. It’s not to be judged on what you wear. Just be thankful we’re all there for the same reason and clothes should make no difference. Goodbye.

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A presidential candidate campaigning gave a speech in Spanish. What country does he want to be president of? English is the language of America. Spanish is on our phones and stores, etc. If he becomes president do we all have to learn to speak Spanish?

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Everybody’s complaining about how tied up the highways are and how there’s no parking available, and when it’s available, it’s some astronomical price. All this could be eliminated if we had better train transportation. There’s excellent train transportation around the world, and many of them put our country to shame. I think all this is being prevented because the airlines want everybody to fly and the bus people want everyone to ride the buses. So we all have to drive the cars and tie everything up and pay high taxes in gas, parking fees, license sticker fees. This is all ridiculous. All this can be prevented if we’d come up with world-class train-operated transportation.

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To the person who inquired about who the Village of Villa Park hires to fix the roads, Washington and Summit as an example, it’s the same people who either don’t know what a pot hole is or refuse to fix one unless they’re asked to fix it. The same people who won’t trim a tree in the Village of Villa Park unless they’re asked to do it. Now the fiasco with fixing the streets that require storm sewer work.

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I voted in the last election for Rep. Deb Conroy and for Gov. Rauner. I believe that when both parties get together, what emerges is a compromise that is really pretty good legislation. I am disappointed in Rep. Conroy’s vote to remove Gov. Rauner as a negotiator for those of us who voted for him to negotiate the state workers. Rep. Conroy now seems to be a true foot soldier and dictator in Madigan’s army, and sadly it is an army that does not serve the true taxpaying middle class, but rather only the limited special interests. I am so disillusioned.

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Breaking news from the war zone called Chicago. There were six dead and 39 wounded during the weekend recently.

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We were up at Fox Lake over the holiday weekend visiting friends, and we were able to witness the funeral for that officer who was killed. The procession itself was two-and-a-half hours long and it was a tribute to that man. Also, I wanted to commend our Villa Park and Lombard police for being such good participants. It was so sad to see the faces of that family. It’ll stay with me for a long, long time. Thank you.

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First let me thank SPEAK OUT for letting me speak out. My SPEAK OUT talk is related to Dan Cronin and I thank him for holding down the taxes—which it should be and all government should do that. Even if you have to pare government down a little bit, we don’t need all those people figuring out ways to spend money. The other thing I’d like to see Dan Cronin do is to get away from me having to pay taxes to the DuPage County Airport. None of us use it. I don’t have enough money to buy the things that I need. Thank you again, SPEAK OUT, for letting me speak out. Goodbye.

Comments about the airport tax were addressed both in the May 13 and June 3 editions of SPEAK OUT. Here is an abbreviated version: “According to the Web site www.welowertaxes.com, 20 years ago the airport levied $20 million in property taxes, whereas last year the levy was lowered permanently from $6.4 million to $5.9 million.” The site also notes that airport authority officials “say the ultimate goal is to someday end the airports’ reliance on property tax dollars.” The site explains that the property tax money is “set aside to help pay for improvements to the airport.”

As for your statement that no one uses the airport, here is what the DuPage Airport Authority Web site claims: “To provide general aviation facilities and services to the suburban Chicago area, including corporate aviation service, recreational aviation, charter service, local commuter service and air cargo while fostering aviation-related business on the field; and to develop and lease or sell surplus vacant land in a manner compatible with airport uses in order to generate significant long-term income which, along with increased aviation revenues, will stimulate the local economy; provide for the creation of jobs; bring outside revenues to local businesses; increase tax revenues for local communities; and reduce the airport’s reliance upon property tax levies until the airport operates profitably without using revenue from taxpayers.”—JAC

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Hello, this is Villa Park calling. Just wanted to leave a message and thank the Village of Addison for another wonderful Rockin’ Wheels event this year. A great assortment of entertainment, something for everyone, young and old alike. Can’t wait until next year. Thank you.

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Three men allegedly took the life of a Fox Lake police officer who was dedicated to his job and not one person in that town had anything bad to say about him. I wonder what the friends of these three men think of them. Was this gun violence or three violent men? Guns aren’t violent. People who use them to kill other people are.

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Hi, this is in response to the people who seem so preoccupied with what other people are wearing in church. I would suggest they spend more time bowing their head in prayer and thanksgiving and less time critiquing what other people are wearing. At a time when less and less people are attending church services, as long as they are dressed modestly, I think we should be happy they are attending. Thanks.

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Hello, this is Lombard calling. I just got back from the downtown ghost town. There were no classic cars to look at. It wasn’t even Labor Day. I want to put it out there to get anybody from Lombard, bring your motorcycles the Labor Day weekend of 2016 and let’s have a bike show, because this is lame. Signed, a Lombardian. So long.

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Lombard calling. Last month we received an anonymous letter telling us that if we didn’t stop parking on the sidewalk, they would go to the police. I agree with the person in SPEAK OUT last week who described this as a cowardly act. This person should discuss this with us. We live on a busy street and we have six people in our family and we only park on the sidewalk occasionally. This is unfortunate that this neighbor could not just come up to us and discuss this. Thank you.

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Hello, northwest Lombard calling. To the caller who talked about freight trains going at inconvenient times, take a look at a map and see the freight lines. They go across a lot of areas. They’re going to inconvenience somebody at some time. And, as far as scheduling them, they have to get their freight to a destination and that’s their business. I’ve been inconvenienced as well. That’s what trains do; they go down tracks, they cross roads and they stop people, unfortunately. One of the worst is in Maywood as I’ve encountered off of 1st Avenue just north of St. Charles Road. It’s terrible, but it’s part of life. If you want to shut down the railroads, good luck with the economy.

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Grace Street calling. This is in regard to the dispute over sidewalk parking. I’m not involved but I am affected. To those committing the infraction, your neighbor is doing you a favor. They could have just let the police handle it. Secondly, outing oneself doesn’t always go well for the whistle-blower. Thirdly, for you not to acknowledge your ordinance infraction but to be upset by the accusation is called diversion. My ex-wife used to play that game. Anyway, love thy neighbor. I think that’s in the Bible somewhere.

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I’m calling about the mail delivery of the Sept. 2 Lombardian. The Lombardian office said they mailed them out on Wednesday, the second. I did not receive it. I talked to the mail carrier, a substitute, who said it would be delivered on the following day, the third. I did not receive it so I called the post office, and the post office said they didn’t have any and any extras they had, had been given out already. I called the Lombardian office, who were very nice, actually. They said I should have received it via the mail. I did not. On Friday I still had not received it. I ended up buying one at Ace Hardware. I’m very disappointed in the post office. This will confirm my suspicions that any time we have a substitute mail person on the route, things are messed up. My neighbor did not get his Lombardian either.

Sorry you did not receive your paper in the mail. Next time, and I hope there is not a next time, call our office and we will drop one off for you.—blm

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Hello, Villa Park calling. Seems that I regularly hear complaints in my area here in town of coyotes, foxes and even the local cats roaming in the neighborhoods and I think it’s very important that the citizens realize how important these creatures are to have around to keep our rodent population under control. I don’t believe any local or state department has ever considered a coyote or fox a human safety risk and my local felines in the neighborhood are always welcome. Glad to have these four-legged creatures all around town. Thank you, bye.

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Hi. This is for the person who was asking if there were a whole lot of birds eating this time of year and getting seeds. I noticed that, too, and when I went over to Pioneer the new lady owner said there are people coming there every week to get seeds. Maybe the birds know something we don’t because I know the chipmunks are hoarding seeds a lot—of course they’re safe in their little dens in the winter. So, yes, we have also noticed that birds are really eating a whole lot this year. OK, thank you.

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Lombard calling. I would like to thank the organizers of this past Friday night’s Two Rivers Nation Family Fun Night. The event was truly enjoyable. My family and I had a lot of fun there. Everyone was so kind and had great activities set up. I will definitely be joining that program with my children. The best thing about it is it’s all run by volunteers. If you get involved you can make the program what you want it to be. Once again, the biggest thanks to the Two Rivers Nation for a truly fun night and showing me something that I can do with my children in the future. We will definitely be joining. Thank you.

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Everybody is complaining the state budget is being cut and people aren’t getting the money to do the things they want done. But, let me ask you this. Suppose you’re working for a company and the company couldn’t make money, and the company went broke. They don’t have any money, so all you people got laid off. Now you can’t make your car payment, you can’t make your credit card payment, you can’t pay your bills, you can’t go on vacation, you can’t buy pension funds. What are you going to do, scream at the company? I know I’m not working for you anymore but keep sending me that check. I don’t care if you went out of business; keep sending me that check because I need the money. This is what’s happening with all these people out there on the dole and getting something for nothing.

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I remember a few years back a local church held a rock and roll concert and invited some young people who are into their own style of clothes and music. The pastor was trying to acquaint the teens with church in general, to help them make a positive connection. What a concept, and nobody cared about their attire. That pastor was just glad they came. And speaking of music and church, I suppose there are some who don’t think bands belong in church either—only the sounds of pianos, organs and choirs. In fact, I heard some pretty righteous Christian “soft” folk-rock-style music during a worship service at that same church, and it was spiritually moving for me. Sure, I think it’s great that people take the time to dress nicely, but more important to me is looking to the inside, not the outside.

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Hello, this is Lombard calling. The sign on Lilac Way that some of you drive around every day says “Road closed, no through traffic” just in case you weren’t able to read it.