Good morning. I’ve been a Lombard resident all my life, yet I’m a little confused on the village ordinance on stockpiling wood in your back or front yard. Could someone please clarify it for me and my fellow Lombardians? Thank you.

Your question was submitted to the Village of Lombard, which provided the following:

“Thank you for reaching out! We’re always happy to be able to provide an answer for our fellow Lombardians. Section 94.04 of the village code pertains to the storage of firewood on a residential property. The code states that outside storage of firewood is permissible provided that it is not in an amount exceeding 128 cubic feet (also known as one full-cord),  is not stored higher than 4 feet from grade or greater than 8 feet in width and is not infested with vermin or rodents. Wood piles are not permitted to be placed in front yards and should instead be stored within the buildable area of the lot. Please call the village’s code enforcement phone line at 630-620-5757 to report potential violations, or for any future code-related concerns.”—blm

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This is Villa Park calling in response to Mike Madigan’s article in last week’s edition. You talk about gridlock. You have been in office for eternity and led the effort for how long? All that I see is dysfunction.  You apparently listen to a team of lawyers who tell you what to do and say in order to benefit the legal profession. As a result our justice system is corrupt.  You rarely talk in public, but I’ve heard you talk on the radio and listened to you, talk, to put it nicely. I was not impressed. The tax system is utter chaos. If you don’t like your tax bill, talk to Mike’s law firm.  Where there is a will, there is a way.  What have you done to correct that system, Mike Madigan? Rauner is not the one cheating the system, it is you. Do the taxpayers a favor and get out and collect your pensions.

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I just had the same conversation with somebody about this person who called in saying President Obama has criticized Trump for not wanting to stop anything as far as illegal immigration. Maybe you people need to check facts or whatever you do, but stop listening to Fox News. President Obama has deported more Mexicans and illegal people back to Mexico than any other president we’ve ever had. Since he has more guards and there is a wall up there, very, very, very few people ever get through to cross the border. Unfortunately, most of the people listen to Fox News and all the channels that never say anything that is actually true. The Hispanic people are not very happy with him because he has deported so many people. So maybe just for once in your life do something possible and listen to the proper news stations that give you the proper news of what’s going on in the world around you.

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I see the Lombard Police are going to participate in the Click It Or Ticket program over Memorial Day and that’s nice, but I would much rather see them cracking down on people who are on cell phones. People who don’t buckle up are only going to kill themselves. These people who are driving along talking on cell phones, not paying attention, they’re going to kill me. I have yet to see anybody pulled over for cell phones. If you sit in front of Glenbard East on any given morning, there are hundreds of people going by on their way to work talking on cell phones. That’s been illegal for a number of years in a school zone. And, they’re not obeying the school zone speed limit. So, I think when you’re being selective about what you enforce, you ought to enforce something that helps everybody, not just the people who have the potential for killing themselves.

The Village of Lombard provided the following response to the above comment, which ran in the May 25 issue of the Lombardian and Villa Park Review:

“The Lombard Police Department takes the issue of traffic safety very seriously. In addition to traffic enforcement by all patrol shifts, the department also utilizes a Traffic Safety Unit staffed with three full-time sworn police officers. In 2014, Lombard police officers made over 11,000 traffic stops of motorists for a variety of traffic violations. More than 6,000 citations were issued to violators for many infractions to include speeding, driving while texting or talking on a cell phone, disobeying traffic control devices and DUI. We will continue our efforts at strong enforcement of traffic laws to ensure that Lombard remains a safe community to drive in. The Memorial Day Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over and Click It Or Ticket Campaign is designed to provide increased safety to all drivers by strictly enforcing sober driving and safe driving practices. The Lombard Police Department agrees that cell phone use is dangerous and recently participated in April’s National Distracted Driving Awareness Month (page 8 of the April/May Pride newsletter), to help draw awareness to this concern. For more information, please contact the Lombard Police Department at 630-873-4400.”—blm           

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Breen is right, Madigan is wrong. It is as clear as day. Raising taxes on business owners as one caller suggested will cause business owners to hire fewer people. That doesn’t solve any problems. Gov. Rauner is trying to make responsible decisions and decrease the amount of previous spending that got us into this in the first place. Let him do his job. Thank you.

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Illinois will never have a budget as long as Madigan is out there. Thank you.

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Good morning, Villa Park. I have a proposal. Can we do away with all the stop signs, the decency, the rights of way and anything else that goes with just being a decent person in our towns around us? Nobody stops for stop signs, no police there to give tickets, why have them? Everybody in the towns around us and in our town seem ignorant, and we don’t do anything about it, so I just propose we do away with everything and let everybody just do what they want to do because it sure seems that’s what’s happening anyway today. Thank you.

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Lombard calling. Michael Madigan’s letter in the May 25 Lombardian states repeatedly that Illinois’ budget problem is the result of Gov. Rauner putting his personal agenda first, which Madigan says has nothing to do with the state budget and blocks Madigan’s efforts to find a solution. He seems unaware that Gov. Rauner was elected by the citizens who are disgusted with Madigan’s efforts of the last 30 years, which have bankrupted the state of Illinois and made it the laughingstock of the nation, while making Madigan a multimillionaire. It’s time to put the blame where it belongs; fire Madigan and Cullerton; charge him with dereliction of duty and let Gov. Rauner do the job for which we elected him.

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This is in response to the call that was submitted regarding our neighbors to the south. Apparently the reader thinks that Zika virus is being caused by them and if the reader would inform himself or herself this person would know the virus is carried by mosquitoes. And, mosquitoes breed in standing water, which can happen anywhere in our country or other countries. So, unless the reader thinks that mosquitoes cannot get through a wall or borders, the person needs to inform himself or herself about how the virus is really carried.

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I have a question to all the Illinois educators and I hope you print it. I was watching on the news about how the teachers are rallying down in Springfield for more funding and how they really care for the children. Here is my question for you. Why don’t you take a cut in pay? Why don’t you change your pension? You refuse to do either of those and always ask for increases, increases, increases. I think by being in Springfield you’re not really concerned about the children but you’re concerned about feathering your own nest. Thank you very much.

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I’m calling in the response to the caller who agreed that the recreation department has a lot of activities that the library wants to offer, but noted they’re all available for a fee. If we have to pay for a bond of millions of dollars, that’s a pretty big fee and that’s everybody, not just the people who are using the library. There was an excellent letter in last week’s Villa Park Review from a Lombard resident commenting on the Helen Plum Library and I wish everybody would read it; very well thought out.

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I find it simply amazing how those people who see the situation in Illinois and the country in terms of Democrats and Republicans. They’re always saying tax the rich, tax the business. Let me ask, who provides the jobs? Who pays the largest portion of taxes? Why don’t people think in terms of  what is good for the United States, not Democrat or Republican? If every American professed an independence, what would the parties do? I’ll tell you what they would do—they would work for our vote year-round. There are worthwhile programs to be funded but Illinois is in a financial hole. Where is the money to pay for these programs? Us? Do you want to pay more taxes? Are our taxes used correctly? First and foremost, Madigan must go. Secondly, Illinois needs a budget and lastly, lower the taxes for business and individuals in the state of Illinois.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling in regard to an article in the Lombardian on Wednesday, May 11, that says the food trucks are coming. That would be a perfect  opportunity to have the same food trucks that are coming to NUHS for the whole spring/summer all the way through  fall, having those same food trucks come to the Fourth of July fireworks and  everybody who’s sitting there waiting  for the fireworks could be able to get food and drinks and  sit  back and relax, since we don’t have a Taste of Lombard anymore. What a  perfect opportunity and  the way I understand it, you  don’t really need to have a sponsor. Why doesn’t the Village of Lombard just do it? This is a perfect opportunity for the food trucks to  show off what they sell and everybody to get a bite to eat before the  fireworks. Thank you.

The following response was provided by the Village of Lombard:

“In 2015, the Lombard Pride Committee was formed for the sole purpose of seeking proposals from community groups to host a new community event, due to the  dissolution of the Taste of Lombard. While we have yet to receive a substantial proposal, the village remains open to  proposals for special events. Should a community group choose to sponsor a food truck event during the Fourth of  July fireworks, a special event permit may be pursued through the village’s Community Development Department. A permit would be required for all food trucks within the village, due to the DuPage County Health Department’s inspection approval process. Food trucks not operating within village code risk ticketing.

“The village will once again host this year’s fireworks display on Monday, July 4, at Madison Meadow Park at 9:30 p.m. Residents and visitors are encouraged to attend. Shuttles will be available from area schools. For information on the Fourth of July, please visit www.villageoflombard.org/ fourthofjuly. At this point in time there is not a food truck event planned. If you are a member of a  community group that would be  interested in coordinating a future event, please contact the village’s Community Development Department for permitting information at 630-620-5749. Please visit www.villageof lombard.org/pride committee for more information.”—blm