I'm calling about the new left turns on Madison and 53. About 30 years ago before we bought our home in Lombard I lived two blocks from 53 and watched an endless stream of horrendous accidents, including a fatal and one requiring a Life Flight by left-hand turns with no traffic lights. Now, after all these years, Lombard has put left-hand turns in again, and I have been cut off almost every single morning on 53 by people trying to make left-hand turns through gaps in traffic that are not large enough. I think this was a terrible decision to put left-hand turns back on 53 without putting traffic lights in and I think lives will be lost because of this poor decision by the people who are running our town. Thank you. Bye.

According to Village of Lombard officials: “The intersection improvements at IL Rte. 53 and Madison Street include a traffic signal which will be installed in the spring. The Illinois Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over IL Rte. 53. IDOT has approved the plan to allow turning movements from the new dedicated turn lanes on IL Rte. 53 prior to the installation of the traffic signals. The primary concern in the past over the turning movement was focused on the lack of a dedicated turn lane for the turning movements. The stopping of motorists waiting to turn off of Madison caused backups and dangerous conditions. With the installation of dedicated turn lanes, the through traffic is not impacted by the turning movements and the conditions that warranted the restrictions for southbound traffic have been alleviated. The village encourages motorists to demonstrate safe driving habits and be mindful of the changes in the configuration of the intersection of Madison Street and IL Rte. 53. Updates about our construction projects, including the traffic signal installation at IL Rte. 53 and Madison Street were printed in the past issues of the Pride, which were mailed to all residents. In addition, our construction Web site www.villageoflombard.org/construction is home to several construction project pages, including www.villageoflombard.org/53madison that contains additional information about the improvements.

“If any resident has any questions regarding safety pertaining to a village construction project, please contact the Department of Public Works at 630-620-5740, for a much more immediate response.” –JAC

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There is a precedent for the president to fire his attorney general for not following his unconstitutional demands, and it was in 1973, during the Watergate crisis. The victors and villains from that period are clear now—I implore everyone to be on the right side of history this time.

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It seems like Democrats care more about immigrants from other countries than they do about Americans. Or maybe they just want to portray themselves as caring and thoughtful while painting President Trump and other Republicans as evil bigots. Back in 2011, President Obama ordered a six-month pause in processing Iraqi refugee requests. I don't remember anyone freaking out or calling Obama a Nazi. When President Trump makes a similar order, leftists in Congress, Hollywood and the media become unhinged.

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I was the captain of Glenbard East's Science Olympiad team my senior year. For those unfamiliar, it is essentially a science club with occasional competitions with local/national high schools. I would estimate that 90 percent of the team were first- or second-generation Americans. I have a graduate degree and can honestly say that my teammates—right here in Lombard—were some of the smartest, brightest and best people I have ever met. My peers went on to be doctors, lawyers and engineers. To talk about banning immigrants and refugees is dangerous and foolhardy. Together we can make our country great, divided we cannot.

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This message is for the Village of Lombard. I can't believe you OK'd the landscaping between Route 53 and Finley Road on Madison. That is just terrible landscaping. Thank you, goodbye.

According to information from Village of Lombard officials, “The project is currently suspended due to winter weather, and temporary landscaping material was placed to minimize soil loss through the winter. Final landscaping will be completed in the spring. As always, please feel free to reach out to Public Works directly at 630-620-5740 with any village-related questions.”—JAC

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Just a reminder. The polling experts who claim Barack Obama left office with a high approval rating are some of the same “experts” who virtually guaranteed Hillary Clinton would win the election to succeed him.

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I’m absolutely amazed at the number of speeding drivers in and around downtown Lombard; Helen Plum Library, the Metra train station and other areas in downtown Lombard. People are driving in severe excess of the posted speed limits where you have a high degree of pedestrian traffic, including the elderly, kids going to school, people attending church and other members of our population. The Lombard Police needs to be much more proactive in issuing tickets and slowing these drivers down before there is a severe accident in these areas. I've seen four pedestrians almost hit in the last three weeks.

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More than 40 percent of the more than 30,000 refugees who have settled in the Chicagoland area since 2002, have come from the seven countries that are part of Trump's ban. At O'Hare, protests raged and legal residents were detained. Illinois' Governor Do-Nothing, not surprisingly, refused to take a stand on the issue. At least he didn't try to blame it all on Madigan.

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Just wondering how Villa Park is able to maintain its Tree City status. There are trees in this village that haven't been maintained for seemingly 10 years; trimmed or nothing. Dead branches, sick trees, all growing improperly. When is the Village of Villa Park going to start maintaining their trees once again?

Your comments were forwarded to Village of Villa Park officials, who responded: “According to the four key standards established by the National Arbor Day Foundation, Villa Park’s status as a Tree City USA community is maintained. These standards require a Tree City community to have a tree board/department, a tree care ordinance, a forestry program budget and an Arbor Day proclamation. Details can be found on the Web site at www.arborday.org. Also, please notify the Public Works Department of any specific trees that need maintenance by calling 630-834-8505 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.”—JAC

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There is a house displaying the Cubs W flag; the Cubs W flag should not be flying above the American flag. Go back and check your flag test from eighth grade. Thanks.

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Maybe Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Ashton Kutcher, Madonna, etc., could open up a few rooms in their mansions for some of the refugees and illegals they're welcoming to America. Or, are they perfectly content with the cheap labor and sending them to our neighborhoods to live 15-20 to a house?

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Hello all you haters. One of the reasons many of us call SPEAK OUT with questions is because we think the general public and many others would like to know the answer. So, when you say, “Just call me and I'll tell you,” that's not right. So all you police, park district and the other village, elected and appointed officials, answer the questions. The public wants to know. Thank you, and thank you for your answers.

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Hi, this is America here. It's time the Democrats change the name of their party to what they really are; the American Communist Party. Thank you.

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Hi, Villa Park calling. I am very happy to see that the plans for the Villa Park Library renovation and addition will include more computers. I was in the library a couple of days ago and had to wait for a computer. This is not the first time this has happened to me. I hope the April 4 referendum is successful and we get the technology we need. Thank you.

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This is in response to the call about the District 44 building off of Wilson. Mr. Calderin is incorrect that it has not been used since 1979. It was used around the 2001-16 school years for the kindergarten readiness program as well as the Together We Can program, and I believe a third program as well.

Your call was forwarded to Aldo Calderin, who responded: “In response to the ‘Speak Out’ comment, Lombard SD 44 has not had any programs that were sponsored by the district since that time. There have been several organizations that have leased the property including some similar to the ones indicated by your reader.”—JAC

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Well, it's Donald Trump's first weeks as being president. He has caused more worldwide dissension than any other president we have ever had. Leaders of the world do not know how to follow him. He has insulted them. The only good thing that came out of his first week is it showed the unity of the world and the United States of America that Saturday by all the marches that happened and all the momentous people who came out for these marches. Not angry marches. This is what we need to do; every time this man opens his mouth and says something, one way or another we need to protest, peacefully of course.

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Not all that long ago, California had many of the same financial problems as Illinois.  Then in 2012, they decided a progressive tax was in order—a tax on millionaires. We had a referendum on the ballot two elections ago, and we, the people, decided that we wanted to place an additional tax on those who were taking in more than a million dollars a year. Rauner told us that it just wasn't time for such a tax. Well, it is time. And, it is time to start voting out anyone who tells us that it is not time to do so. Let your representative in Springfield know that we have figured out a way to balance the budget.

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I did not realize the impact of the Places for Eating Tax on the Lombard economy until I saw that the Lombard Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual State of the Village address with the village president in Glen Ellyn. I guess the tax is a little too much for the chamber to bear. How unfortunate.

The issue of Crowne Plaza hosting events was addressed by the Lombard Chamber of Commerce and Industry this past October. This is a summary of the organization’s previous response:

“Crowne Plaza is a valued member of the Lombard Chamber, and has given the Lombard Chamber an excellent lunch price on a regular basis...  The chamber’s previous meeting venue elevated their price by $10 per person at the beginning of 2016, which was outside of our budget, and would have forced us to pass the increase on to our members. Crowne Plaza graciously came forward and offered us the price we needed for our members...The Lombard Chamber of Commerce is an area chamber, thus offering our membership opportunities and benefits to all businesses in and around the Lombard area, including Crowne Plaza.”—JAC