Hello, this is for the individual who called up and said that Trump is an idiot. Believe me, he's not an idiot. I am no fan of Donald Trump, I am no fan of Barack Obama and I am no fan of Hillary Clinton. You say that Trump is putting lies in people's head? What do you think Hillary Clinton has been doing? The same thing with Barack Obama. You say Barack Obama is a wonderful president? That's your opinion; you're entitled to it. As far as saying he did a great job, we all know he came in and inherited a failing economy and two wars, but the economy hasn't improved and believe me, we're still involved in those two wars. You seem to be the type of person who thinks the law is unfair. As I've always said, there's always the ballot box or maybe you and your buddies should get together and try to change those laws. Don't vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Vote for an independent. Let's give them a shot and see what they can do.

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If Hillary Clinton is so smart and so brilliant and so qualified to be our next president, why did she flunk the Washington, D.C., bar exam? As Carl Bernstein noted in his biography of Clinton, 817 people took the D.C. bar exam in the summer of 1973; 551 (about 67 percent) passed the test. The great Hillary Rodham was not one of them. She did pass the Arkansas bar exam, and she followed Bill Clinton to Arkansas.

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This is Lombard calling. News flash. Message to Lombard Village Hall. Please, may we have all the details on the rumored mosque that is to be constructed at Roosevelt Road and 355? Were there not supposed to be public hearings on this? Thank you.

Your inquiry was submitted to Village of Lombard officials, who responded: “This property is in unincorporated DuPage County and not within the Village of Lombard. DuPage County held public meetings for the mosque back in 2011 (DuPage petition Z10-076) and it was approved by the DuPage County Board at that time. If you have further questions regarding the development, contact DuPage County at 630-407-6700.”—JAC

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Lombard calling. Kudos to the village for installing a bicycle lane on Madison Street. This is a great addition, and I hope more arterial streets are being considered for bike lanes.

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Regarding the gun shop on Main Street. Who are these people who are saying that it's a bad thing? Are the bad guys going in there with background checks and a FOID card to buy guns? No. Are people walking out shooting? No. You want to see gunfire? Go to some neighborhoods in Chicago that have the toughest gun restrictions and gun control, and gun violence is rampant. Why don't you check your facts and don't tell people to take a jump or leap or whatever your words were because they believe in the Second Amendment. It's the bad guys who don't follow the rules, not the good guys who own guns like me. I can tell who you're voting for, and it's one reason America's going downhill. Thank you very much.

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Since May, Gov. Rauner's campaign has transferred another $10 million to the Illinois Republican Party—and that is a start. But as the self-described head of the Republican Party in Illinois, I think he needs to officially state whether or not he endorses the party's nominee for president.  He certainly is not shy about expressing his opinion on other matters.

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I noticed that the new Hammerschmidt commuter lot just East of Main Street has weeds there 3 to 4 feet tall. Wasn't landscaping included in the price of the parking lot? If my yard looked like that I'm sure the village would give me a violation notice or a citation. That needs to be cleaned up.

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To the individual who complained in the Aug. 4 SPEAK OUT about a concern for an individual running for office who speaks Spanish. First of all, English is not the official language of America, or the United States. So before you start complaining about non- English speakers, learn that there is more to America than just our country. As well, nowhere in the Constitution does it state English is the official language, let alone one at all. Don't confuse the fact that the majority of politics is spoken in English equate to it being the only language that should be spoken at all. When actually, people who speak more than one language should be praised because they have taken the time to learn another way to communicate to more individuals, while you ignorantly sit in what you believe is a world that revolves around you and your anti-xenophile agenda.

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This is for the person who's confused because of the candidate running for the second-highest office in the United States actually spoke a foreign language. My goodness. Maybe we best stop teaching all foreign languages in high school and college; maybe we should just stick our heads in the sand and think that America cannot accept someone speaking another language. Isn't it wonderful that he's able to have the second language that he learned while he was serving as a missionary in a foreign country of the language that he spoke? Shame on you for being confused. Maybe you need to broaden your horizons and learn another language.

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This is Villa Park calling. First of all I want to commend your newspaper for some really superb reporting on events in Villa Park. I'm referring specifically to the articles about the roads and sewers. Also, when the referendum was originally passed it was made perfectly clear that sewers weren't going to be included. We've had some really bad boards in the past years. We finally have some people who are taking an interest. I'm in favor of an increase in the water tax. Our water is very cheap compared to other suburbs and to wait for a referendum on the sales tax, I don't think would be a good idea.

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I’d like Jason Nelson of the Rotary Club to explain to me how the library is free if my tax dollars are paying for it. I just don't understand it.

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What I don't understand is why our politicians think the only way to correct problems is to raise taxes, fees, etc. Why don't they figure ways to stop spending the money? Stop spending when you don't have it. The regular homeowner knows that if he doesn't have the money, he doesn't buy. The politicians have only one thing: raise taxes. Take more of the people's money. This country's going to go down the drain, we're going to have a total collapse. Believe or not, it may not be today, but tomorrow's payday is coming. You politicians have to come up with better ideas than taking more of our money. This system is going to cause a total collapse. So long.

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Lombard calling. In response to the notice about Wendy's corporate decision closing on Roosevelt Road, I was up at the one on North Avenue the other day. They tell me their franchiser bought the Wendy's on Roosevelt and the one on York Road in Elmhurst. They're going to rehab them. They should be open in two to three months. Bye.

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Great. So the south side of Lombard gets more traffic jams, while the north side still does not have a grocery store option. The addition of Mariano's makes three grocery stores on Roosevelt Road in less than a two-mile stretch in Lombard village limits. Another stop light on Roosevelt Road, around 150 yards after the intersection of north Finley? More construction on Finley and Roosevelt? Mariano's is expected to generate a total of $37.5 million in sales annually. How much is new sales versus sales siphoned off from existing Lombard grocers like Jewel and Ultra, who did not get a rebate on taxes? Did Lombard not learn from the Westin debacle?

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Hi. I’m calling regarding Lombard Post Office. I've had to use the post office numerous times in the past few weeks. I'm calling regarding the customer service at the counter. Every time I go in there, there are six or seven people waiting in line and only one person behind the counter. For me, I've had to ask for my mail, which involves the customer service person having to walk to the back to get my mail. I'm not asking people to run around, what I'm asking for is a little customer service to help customers out. This is the worst customer service I've had, the slowest service in the world. I'm sure there are a lot of people in Lombard who would agree with me. It's a horrible, horrible customer service experience.

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Hello, Lombard. Well, I think it's great to be bicycle friendly. I enjoy getting out on my bike just as much as the next guy, but these bike lanes on Madison, this is ridiculous. How much time and money was wasted on this? Striping is needed in a lot more places, around schools and other intersections. Or, we could have taken that money and filled some of our pot hole-plagued streets. Really, what's going on? What are our priorities here?

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Good morning. There is so much wrong in the world today. We also read about it, especially the negativity in SPEAK OUT, but our family would like to say something positive. This call probably should have been made six months ago. We have taken our pets to Lombard Veterinary Hospital for years and we met a wonderful doctor, Dr. Ernat. He is so good. Take your pets to him. There is also a staff member who has been there for some time, actually a long time. His name is Kurt. People, take your pets to Lombard Veterinary Hospital and ask for Dr. Ernat and Kurt and you will have some positive in your day, I am positive of that. Take care.

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Wow. Another higher tax for Villa Park. How can we afford this? Between struggling families and seniors on fixed incomes, Villa Park is not looking so good.  The library is considering a referendum that if passed, would raise property taxes, and now the village wants to put a surcharge on our water bills. There will also be a vote to increase the sales tax by half a percent. This does not even take into account whatever the new tax rates will be. There has to be a limit on what we can afford. I can actually agree with the sales tax as that means people who don't live in Villa Park will help pay our expenses. Raising our sales tax to 8 percent is not out of order. If we raise it to 8.5 percent, as some suburbs currently are, we could eliminate the increase in water bills. Again, this means we get tax from people who don't live in Villa Park. As far as the library is concerned, even the costs to fix what we have are more than what is reasonable. We won't need a library in 20 years

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We have people protesting against the police—and certainly not making a good case for their cause by calling the police names and wishing them harm. A smart person made a very good point, which is, why aren’t these same people protesting against the gangs who are killing people minding their own business, or are innocent victims who perhaps happen to be related to another gang member? Kids in the city can’t play outside or sit on the front porch without fear of getting hurt, and bullets are even flying through walls into people’s homes. Where is the outrage about that? The police can’t be all over the city at once. Maybe it’s time to call in the National Guard and declare a state of emergency.

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I went to the Helen Plum Library Web site and saw a yes vote will result in my property taxes going up $300 per year. I will be voting no. Now there is a fundraiser at Dairy Queen to raise money for the yes vote and cause my taxes to go up. I will not be going to Dairy Queen.

Ed. note: The Vote Yes For Helen Plum Library Committee is a citizens group, not affiliated with the library.—JAC

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There was a very interesting article to read in a recent Sunday Chicago Tribune, at the bottom of the editorial page 20, how this young man, going through a neighborhood, is starving. He's asking the people if he can chop up their wood and the people say they don't have money. He says, “I'm not asking for money, I'm just asking you to give me a sandwich.” The guy was starving and he was willing to work for it. That's the trouble today. People aren't willing to work for anything. They just want a handout, they want the easy way. We've got too many takers and makers. The makers shouldn't it be making it that easy for the other people because you do not solve a problem, you do not teach them a lesson. The only lesson you learn sometimes is the hard way.

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Villa Park calling. I've been driving around our village and other villages around here and noticed a lot of blue ribbons in other villages except Villa Park and Lombard. I asked what the blue ribbons are for and found out that the blue ribbons are to support our police departments because of what's going on in the city right now. I think it would be awfully nice if we actually did support our Villa Park and Lombard police by putting some blue ribbons on your trees, your house, someplace, so they know they have our support. Thank you and have a good day. Bye.

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In the midst of all the verbiage on the latest police shooting in Chicago, involving an alleged car thief named Mr. O'Neal, what appears to have been lost in all the back and forth comments by Black Lives Matter and the police is the fact that this individual may well still be alive had he not reportedly stolen this car, and had not allegedly damaged police cars, injuring police officers, and attempted to elude the police. Whether or not the police may have made mistakes, the fact is, these alleged mistakes would never have occurred if Mr. O'Neal had obeyed the laws in the first place. Those faulting the police should first recognize that this individual broke the law.