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December 1, 2016


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Did anybody see the blazing signs on the library on Thanksgiving Eve? Great big giant closed signs and then on the drop boxes, it said drop boxes were closed from 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 24. Look at the calendar. Thursday was not Nov. 24. Duh. They put the wrong date on there.

Editor’s note: Check your calendar, as Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, was indeed Nov. 24.—JAC

 

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Some people may be wondering if there were silent or shy Trump supporters in the Nov. 8 election. I wouldn't be surprised if there were. The explanation is quite simple. A good number of leftist Democrats who have become “unhinged” since the election are seemingly some of the most arrogant, smug and intolerant people on the face of the earth. Why would anyone want to engage with these people, and who would want to publicly profess their political preference in any way? If you put a Trump sign in your yard before the election, there was a good chance it would be stolen. If you put a Trump bumper sticker on your car, there was a good chance your car would be vandalized. If you wore a hat or shirt indicating you supported Trump, there was a good chance of being subjected to hissing and moaning from a morally superior leftist. It doesn't take any deep thought to realize why there wasn't more overt support for Trump.

 

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For all you people who voted for the exorbitant tax increase for the Helen Plum Library in Lombard, I hope you're very happy because I am not. In the Monday, Nov. 21, Daily Herald, there's a notice of a proposed property tax increase for the Helen M. Plum Library district. They want to approve an incredible amount of property tax increase to the levy and that's in addition to all this money you people gave them to build a new library. Now we get to pay higher taxes on what's left. Thanks a lot for letting us know this is coming up and thanks a lot to all you people who apparently voted without really knowing anything about what you're doing.

 

In response to your comments, this explanation came from Helen Plum Library officials: “The published levy notice reflects the tax rate increase approved by the majority of voters. As previously indicated, these funds will be used to build the new facility, house the library temporarily and increase the annual operating expenses and capital reserves. Additional details are available at helenplumnextchapter.org.”—JAC

 

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Lombard voters decided to approve a tax increase that will pay for a brand new library. According to the library's Web site, the estimated total debt for the new library is about $22.3 million. The same Web site states the new library will generate over $800,000 in additional staffing costs and benefits. I hope Lombard voters know what they were voting for.

 

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Reading SPEAK OUT in the Nov. 17 edition, I was amazed at how many Trump supporters were tooting their own horn about Democrats trashing lawns and Obama being infringed upon. I walk my dog quite a bit in Lombard and what was really funny to me was not one Trump sign did I see. Many Hillary Clinton and other people, which leads me to believe that those of you who voted for Trump knew that he was not worthy of the presidency. And as far as Hillary Clinton being not true for that office, let's just say that they pulled a fast one two days before the election saying she was untrue and then had the FBI commissioner step in. Half the people said, “I've had enough, I'm not going to vote for her.” Your guy won. I hope to God he turns out to be a good president because unlike you, I believe in my country.

 

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Good morning. I want to thank you for what you guys do, but I was reading the obituary section and there is a Korean veteran who has no family, a very short write-up and he was in the Korean War. He has no family, no friends listed. I personally think you should put in that the Lombardian would like to give a thank-you for serving our country. I think it would be awesome. I did not serve personally in the service but I think it would be great that you would put that in there. He had no family or friends listed. Thank you for your time and again, thank you for what you guys do. Bye.

 

Editor’s note: Obituaries are published based on the information submitted to the newspaper. We will honor these veterans by including a flag, at no extra charge, when requested.—JAC

 

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This is a shout out to my lazy neighbors. Garbage pick-up and recycling pick-up are Thursday morning. It's now Sunday afternoon. Your bins are still out on the parkway. You have enough people living in that house; somebody could bring them in so they're not sitting on the parkway days after they should be. And by the way, the TV set that's been sitting on your parkway for two weeks, that old-style TV that nobody's going to want, figure out how to get rid of it. That's an eyesore as well. Nobody's going to want that TV. It's been out in the rain a couple of times now. Please make our neighborhood look better. Thank you.

 

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I have personally reported school bus drivers to the police twice for bad driving behavior.  One time we even followed a school bus for over 10 minutes until the police caught up with us.  I write this because of the recent terrible accident killing five children and injuring many more.  Have our local school officials ever checked with the local school bus company to see if their drivers have various reasons they should not be driving our children? And should this be done more than just when they are hired? Our kids are too valuable to “assume” someone else is taking care of watching the bus drivers. All of us can call 9-1-1 when a school bus is seen driving strangely—just call with the bus number.  Seat belts would be great on buses, but we know they are extremely expensive, and kids would still get hurt in an accident. Driving safely is the best way to prevent school bus accidents.

 

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Remember those adapters Comcast gave us for free? They now cost $3.99 each month.

 

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What's ISIS going to do now that their leader is leaving the White House. There's a question for you.

 

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OK, SPEAK OUT. All the people who belong to the unions are protesting, an AFSCME fight for $15. I say OK, give them $15, $16 or even $17 but at the same time, stop the freebies. Stop the food stamps. Stop the subsidies. Stop the tax write-offs; then we can keep our money instead of being taxed to death. Let everybody earn their own income. They'd better think about this; you're forcing people sometimes to close their own business because they can't afford those high wages. Give them the high wages, then cut out all the freebies. I think that's only fair enough. Bye.

 

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Support our police. We may not agree with our police on some issues, but show them support and given them thanks for staying with the job. Their job is becoming very dangerous—far more than most of them ever expected. Thank you Villa Park and Lombard Police for keeping us safer than we realize.

 

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Bilingual in schools? I have never been one to protest, but this I would protest. Our country speaks English and I believe it is a disservice to any child to not speak English in our classrooms.  At this point in our country's history nearly every home speaks English as a first language, even if the parents do not. If we were to teach children in Spanish in the lower grades, then it follows that eventually we will have to teach them in Spanish in higher grades.  Where does it stop? Yes, we should help kids learn English, but not as as a second language.

 

Your comment was forwarded to Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources & Public Relations Aldo Calderin, who provided the following explanation: “District 44 is mandated to provide this bilingual service regardless of the language of the child. Federal law requires bilingual education for all children in the United States. This is not a District 44 choice. All of our general education classes are taught in English. When considering the phrase, ‘English as a Second Language’ it is important to note that if a child or [his or her] family speaks another language other than English or learned another language prior to English, then any language learned second would be considered a second language. It is simply the phrase used by the United States Department of Education for students who learned another language prior to English. English, therefore, would not be their ‘first’ language.”—JAC


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