How can the Lombard Police Department be proud that they announced for the month of April that they wrote 184 distracted driving violations? If you do the math at 30 days in a month, divided by 184, it means they wrote six citations a day. I'm sure there are more than six squad cars that circulate the village per day, so they didn't even average one ticket per squad car per day. All you have to do is drive through the town and you can find somebody on their phone. It doesn't take that much work or effort to find it. So when you do the math on those totals, it's very unimpressive. Thank you, goodbye.

Your comment was forwarded to the Village of Lombard. The response is as follows: "While the Lombard Police Department actively enforces distracted driving laws year round, there was an increased focus on this type of violation throughout the month of April, in partnership with the National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which is designed to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. Focusing on this important initiative went beyond issuing citations, and included a targeted communication effort via social media, press releases, and an article in the Pride newsletter, to help educate residents. April was a very busy month for the Lombard Police Department. In fact, Lombard was the busiest town on Ducomm (DuPage’s 9-1-1 Center) for total incidents throughout April. In addition to the 184 citations issued for distracted driving, April also saw a 42 percent increase of traffic stops. Despite this heavier than normal amount of police involved incidents, the Lombard Police Department still wrote 100 more distracted driving citations, as part of Distracted Driving Awareness Month, than in 2015. Additionally, we’re happy to say that Lombard experienced a 9 percent reduction of crashes occurring in April since we began the Distracted Driving Month campaign in 2015. The Lombard Police Department will continue to focus on distracted driving prevention and ticketing, despite the fact that other police departments such as Chicago have decreased their efforts, having written 25,884 distracted driving tickets in 2015 and only 186 in 2016 (Chicago Tribune, May 2017). When only looking at the distracted driving citations it might look like the numbers are small, but please remember that this campaign was only a small piece of the enforcement puzzle. Please feel free to contact the Lombard Police Department with any questions you may have at 630-873-4400."—JAC

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Lombard calling. There is a reoccurring news story each time new numbers are released: more than 85 percent of us disapprove of the job that Congress is doing, yet most congressional districts approve of their congressman. My congressman is why Americans disapprove of Congress. If my congressman thinks this criticism is unfair, let me make this challenge to him. Take a few dollars out of your campaign fund (we both know how much is in it), and buy one page of advertising in this paper. On it list how you voted on every bill since you entered Congress, and then list your major campaign donors and how much they have given you over the years; say, any person or entity that has donated more than $1,000. If you are proud of your record, this would be great advertising, and it would help your constituents know you better than any of those telephonic town halls in which you pick the questions that you answer.

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Lombard calling. We've had this trash service for many years using the big green and blue toters. I'm driving down the street and I see a recycling toter full of construction lumber. They don't take that. I see a tube TV sitting on the grass. They don't take those, and I see the blue and green toters pushed right next to each other so the guy can't even get his clamps in there. He's got to get out of his truck to move one of them. It's not that hard, folks, to get it right.

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The comment in a recent SPEAK OUT regarding the departure of the District 44 superintendent and the director of human relations was laughable. This individual almost sounded like a recently-discharged employee. Regardless, this person needs to get his or her facts straight before making such comments. I applaud the school board for making the right decision for all the children and taxpayers for District 44. I am one of those taxpayers and, by the way, for the record, I am not a teacher. I have attended the board meetings and made it a point to educate myself on what is going on in our school district. I suggest you do the same and then you won't be in jeopardy of making apparently foolish comments that are ignorant. Knowledge is power. Ignorance is just ignorance. Thank you.

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This is Lombard calling. It is Saturday night, gorgeous night. Taste of Wheaton, also Taste of Glen Ellyn; are we ever going to have Taste of Lombard? It's been very missed and I feel the trustee who wanted to get rid of Taste of Lombard succeeded and now we don't have a Taste of Lombard. Thank you.

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Lombard calling. If you want to know which one of our local state representatives gets it, and who doesn’t, in regard to the state budget, look no further than this past week’s opinion page in the Lombardian. Peter Breen gets it. He said in his column, and I quote, “For three years running, more people have fled Illinois than any other state. Our tax burden on middle class families is today the highest of any state in the country.” Deb Conroy, on the other hand, is little more than a mouthpiece for Mike Madigan. In her statement on the budget impasse, Conroy plays the blame game, pinning everything on Bruce Rauner. She claims that she is, and I quote, “Ready to compromise to pass a balanced budget that invests in our schools, mental health and critical social services.” Yeah, right! When Democrats like Deb Conroy use the word “invest,” hang on to your wallets, folks. It’s their code word for raising your taxes.

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With the coming of summer in Lombard, comes “Cruise Nights." Although a nice event for Lombard, the downtown area of Lombard needs a break. This may be unpopular but hear me out. To be fair, perhaps Yorktown can host car nights starting next summer or split the summer calendar. The downtown residents would like to sit on their balconies without exhaust and noise pollution during the summer as well. Every weekend downtown is too much. Thank you.

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Congratulations to the Glenbard West athletic program, which won three IHSA state titles this spring. The Hilltoppers won state championships in boys gymnastics and girls track and field in May. Glenbard West's boys volleyball team won the state championship on June 3. So Glenbard West has won three state championships in team sports in the last month. That's three more titles than Glenbard East has won since it opened in 1959. Come on, Rams. If the Cubs can win a championship every 108 years, the Rams should be able to win at least one state title every 60 years.

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Am I the only person who boycotts the Villa Park Walmart? That's one ridiculous entrance. On top of that, the village positions two red-light cameras at the entrance/exit. Why? To increase safety? I don't think so. The village just wants to rake in as much money as possible from unsuspecting drivers who are too clueless to come to a complete stop. I'd like to see a village official say with a straight face that those cameras are there to increase safety. Please. It's all about the money. I've never received a red-light ticket there, and I never will, because that store is off-limits. If there were more people like me, maybe Walmart would lean on the village to remove the red-light cameras.

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Hi, this is the North side of Villa Park. Walking around meeting the new neighbors who moved in and I found out that on one block there are six rental houses; six rental houses on one block. I started talking to other friends and family who live in Villa Park and am finding out that in every neighborhood it's the same thing. People try to sell their house, they can't get what the house is worth or what they paid, so they are renting it out. I'd just like to know what our Villa Park board is going to do about this. There are too many rental houses in Villa Park. This village has got to do something. I'd like to know what they're going to do about it. Thank you and have a great day.

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I appreciate the comprehensive answer from the village regarding the hiring of department heads. The current police chief is from outside the department, the current fire chief is from outside the department, the current director of public works is from outside the village and the current village manager is from the outside the village. I wasn't aware and didn't know about the habit of hiring from within the village. According to village records for the past 28 years an outside department head was brought in to be chief. The only internal candidate lasted a year. It can be dangerous to put all of your eggs in one basket. Best of luck to all, we have a great PD; want to keep it that way.

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To the person last week complaining about not enough American flags being flown, and somehow connecting that to border walls—people of all colors, identities and creeds from all across the nation serve in the armed forces, and this country is as much theirs as yours, despite them perhaps not looking like you or believing the same things. I fly a flag proudly despite being embarrassed by our president at the moment because I believe in America in the broader sense, the land of innovation, opportunity and optimism. While our president peddles fear and division, he and his party are undoing the regulations that serve to protect citizens. While everyday people are still reeling from the 2008 financial crisis, Trump and his billionaire buddies have undone the weak protections put in place to prevent it from happening again. Hillary's Wall Street ties bothered you? Trump's team is all Goldman Sachs.

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Don't forget that the food bank at the Methodist church is open this Saturday, June 17—in addition to Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it's open the third Saturday each month.

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Hey, Deb Conroy, apparently that is 700 days you failed to stand up to Madigan. Just keeping track.

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Villa Park calling. Flag Day is on June 14, but I bet I’ll see more of these stupid Cubs W flags, or flags from sports teams flying from people’s homes, than anything else. Can’t we take these sports flags down just one day each year and honor our country by flying the American flag?

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I am tired about hearing that Clinton only won 500 counties while Trump won 2,600. Those 500 counties generate 64 percent of the economic activity in this country. Because of the taxes paid in those 500 counties, every year the 2,600 counties get $300 billion more than they paid into the system. In the same week that Trump declares that the FBI director who was investigating Russia's link to his campaign is a liar, Trump again publically declares that he won the popular election. Vote for anyone you want to vote for, and for any reason. But when the voting is over, stop trying to find ways to suggest that “the people” elected Donald Trump.

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There was an article in the Daily Herald about what some communities are doing to provide meals for low-income children during the summer months—when they are at risk of being what's known as "food insecure"—thanks to help from the Northern Illinois Food Bank and a USDA summer food program. There are a number of places where children can get a lunch meal, but the closest listed site to Lombard or Villa Park was the Addison Public Library. If it's happening here in Lombard or Villa Park, please get the word out. There are hungry children who depend on it.