Can someone please tell us what’s happening with La Tosca, the restaurant on St. Charles Road in Villa Park? There are notices on there about it not being in compliance with the health department, so I’m just wondering what’s going on—is it going to reopen, is it closed down, is it bankrupt? What’s happening?

The Village of Villa Park responded to your inquiry: “The village is aware the private business closed, but we are not privy to the reason why or if it will re-open. The village is happy to support local businesses in any way we can.” —JAC

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To the person who commented on my call about the misappropriation of teacher funds, you misunderstood. Where would it be going indeed? It’s the teachers who are asking that very question about their pensions; I’m just repeating what they said. At educationpost.org the author, a teacher herself, wrote, and I quote, “The way politicians have managed the funds, however, is eerily similar to an illegal Ponzi scheme: promises of large, guaranteed returns, misappropriation of investment dollars, with investors seeing strong returns on paper until the money runs dry.” Also, I am actually very well educated and know that despite your saying the economy is doing so well, I am witness to the college graduates who can’t get a decent job and are joining the minimum wage picket lines out of desperation.

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Last week’s meeting with the Villa Park Library Board about the renovation/expansion was much more informative—that’s the good news. We are told the No. 1 use of the $11 million tax to be spent is for a vending area and book sale area —really? Then were told we need additional “teen” space, a drive-up book return, more parking and a kids play area, in that order. These are the actual—in writing—items we were told are the priorities. Which of these has anything to do with disbursing information to the community in the form of educational materials? Others have written here about even needing a library in 10-15 years and apparently our library board realizes this as they are planning anything but educational use of the rehab. We need to vote no in the fall when this comes up.

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The ongoing problems with the Lombard mail delivery continue at ridiculous levels. In addition to several items we knew were mailed to us and not received, we did not get our 2015 W-2 wage statements. This is outrageous. Not only does it require an extra few steps to have the W-2s reissued, the loss of them suggests potential identity theft and other invasions of privacy—all because the post office cannot do its job correctly. What makes the problem even worse is the attitude of the person when we have called the post office, denying that mail delivery is a problem in town and suggesting our lost mail was never mailed to us in the first place. The Lombard Post Office needs a full review of its people and operations. We have a right to adequate mail delivery, and this post office is denying us that right.

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Hi, please print this. Can anyone explain what’s going on at the Citgo Gas Station at Ardmore and Roosevelt? The convenience store appears to be open but the station is closed. Is it going to reopen? Does anyone know? Can somebody from the village or someone please respond to SPEAK OUT? Thank you.

According to the Village of Villa Park, they do not have information on the gas station because it is located in Oakbrook Terrace.—JAC

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Lombard calling. With all this talk about grocery stores these days, I think people should look into Prairie Food Co-op. They have been working hard already to bring a grocery store to Lombard, owned by the community, that will support local food producers. All the other stores people mentioned, they provide jobs but don’t provide much else. A co-op keeps most of the money in the community while providing good-paying jobs. Prices are a little higher but it’s worth it when you realize how beneficial a food co-op is to its community. Thank you.

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Hi, this is Villa Park calling. Yes, spring is in the air—the weather is turning nice, the leaves are turning green, flowers are starting to bloom and landscaping trucks are illegally parked on the streets. I was wondering where I could get a special parking permit so I would be able to park on the wrong side of the street and ignore the no parking signs up and down the streets. If anybody could give me some information on that, that would be great. Thanks. Have a great day.

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This is for the person who called SPEAK OUT trying to blame the teachers for the people who were picketing for a $15 an hour minimum wage, saying that if the teachers taught them they wouldn’t be out there. If this person had looked at the picket lines, most of the people out there are mothers and fathers, young people in college; there are teenagers also who are all entitled to work for a minimum wage. Thank goodness the teachers taught them that they can picket and they can strike to earn more money. There are a lot of parents out there working who maybe for some reason didn’t finish school or just graduated from high school who cannot get high-paying jobs. This is the only job at the present time the way that the state is; these people can’t get any other job. They have to work three and four jobs. A lot of them work eight hours and go to fast food restaurants or wherever to work another four hours to earn money to put food on the table and pay rent.

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Hi, Lombard calling. Two days ago I was walking my small dog when my dog was viciously attacked by a dark brown pit bull or pit mix. I screamed and then sprayed the dog in the face with my pepper spray, grabbed my dog and called 9-1-1. The dog ran after that and was not able to be found. However, the police did come to my home and said I was probably really lucky that I had the spray. Five days ago I was walking my dog when a brindle-colored pit bull or pit mix was running loose and ran toward me baring its teeth, and went for my dog. When I screamed, however, it did stop going after my dog but it followed me for about 30 feet then stopped. It’s so sad that we have irresponsible dog owners who allow their pets to run loose and in my case, terrorize, because if I had not had my spray, my dog could be dead. It’s very sad. People, keep your dogs leashed. It’s the law.

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Went to Glenn Westlake’s talent show on Thursday night and it was just spectacular. Every youngster who performed, it would just send chills up and down your spine, and especially the young man who sang "Hallelujah" was just wonderful. Everybody should have gone; it’s a better look at the youth and what people think. There are talented and smart kids out there. Bye.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I’m calling for my neighbors and all the dog owners, now that the weather is warm, it’s great to leave your dog outside. However, when your dog begins to bark excessively, and continues to for not only five or 10 minutes but up to an hour at a time, please be considerate your other neighbors and bring your dog in the house. My question is, is there an ordinance against excessive dog barking and who do I call to report it? I’d rather that my neighbors were responsible about their dogs and stop the barking. However, if needed and there is an ordinance I would have no problem calling the police or whomever it is to stop the excessive barking. It is very annoying and irresponsible for you to leave your dog outside and let it continue to bark and disturb all your neighbors. I, too, would like to enjoy the outside and do not plan to spend my spring and summer listening to your dog bark excessively. Have a great day. May God bless you.

The subject of excessive barking was addressed in SPEAK OUT on March 23: According to the Village of Lombard, “If there is incessant barking, please feel free to contact the Lombard Police Department, as such activities may be deemed to be a nuisance, per Section 90.17 of Village Code.”—JAC

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Congratulations Willowbrook High School. That was a terrific show—what great talent and a great meal too! Keep up the good work.

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This is to the caller who blames teachers because some adults and kids work at McDonald’s. First of all, there’s nothing wrong with working there. Many successful people got their start under the golden arches. More importantly, those workers were our students, but they are your children. This caller highlights the real problem that teachers face. Many parents expect teachers not just to teach their kids but raise them as well. Our schools spend time emphasizing the pillars of character in our Character Counts! program. This is in addition to meeting the wide-ranging needs of a culturally diverse student body. We also deal with an increasing number of kids with emotional issues that requires many hours outside of our regular work day to do this right. I’m not complaining. It comes with the job, but all our efforts will be wasted if we don’t have support from parents. A student’s best chance of success is a stable home. Are parents making kids’ needs a priority over their own? Are they making the hard choices to make their kids come first? If not, this caller should point his or her finger in another direction. Thank you.

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I was at the American Heritage Concert on Sunday and as usual, it was a great performance. I’m very happy they give a tribute to our men and women who have been in service, past or present, and the finale was a nice, fun touch. They had a musical tribute to all of the Chicago sports teams. It was a lot of fun. Thanks, Ken, you and your staff do a great job.

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Hello, SPEAK OUT. This is directed toward the people who were at the Dairy Queen on Saturday and especially to the man who came up and spoke to me. You have my apology for the outburst and I have made an appointment with my doctor to go over my medications.

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This is a very disappointed 17-year resident of Villa Park. After reading in last week’s paper about the new street light that is going up at Roosevelt and Villa, and seeing the new platform that is being redone at the train station and also the work that was done on Ardmore last year on the north side of the tracks, this is all upsetting seeing all these new things being done when the old, broken down streets are not being taken care of. When leaving the library, I cannot even drive on Park because it’s so bad and when I do get home, I come home to a street full of pot holes, much of which is in front of my home and the gravel from the pot holes is in my lawn. My streets actually look worse than the platform at the train station. When is the village going to do something about our streets and when will this be done? And, will they be mowing my lawn with the gravel in it this summer? Thank you.

Your inquiry was forwarded to officials from the Village of Villa Park, who gave the following response: “In Nov. 2014, Villa Park voters approved a $23 million, seven-year bond referendum dedicated to much-needed street improvements following Infrastructure Management Services and Robinson Engineering’s comprehensive Pavement Management Study evaluating the condition of village streets. In 2015, 18.54 total miles of street improvements were completed. This year, 19 streets are slated for improvements, including Park Boulevard from Villa Avenue to the east end, South Michigan Avenue from Park Boulevard to Madison Street, Princeton Avenue from Ridge Road to Terrace Street, Ardmore Avenue from North Avenue to Wild Fire Drive, Harrison Street from Ardmore to Cornell, Home Avenue from Harvard Avenue to Ardmore Avenue, Leslie Lane from Jackson Street to Ardmore Avenue, Monroe Street from Harvard Avenue to Summit Avenue, Orchard Hill Court from Harrison Street to the south end, Summit Avenue from Madison Street to Kenilworth Avenue, Wild Fire Drive from Harvard Avenue to Ardmore Avenue, and Yale Avenue from North Avenue to Wild Fire Drive, as well as Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin avenues from Vermont Street to Stone Road.”—JAC