Some SPEAK OUT caller claimed that Illinois has never been in this state of disarray since Bruce Rauner became governor, and called Rauner a fool. Oh, really? I’m no fan of Rauner, but this caller must be campaigning for Mike Madigan, or either is a public employee, working in public education or collecting a big, fat pension. Madigan and the Democrats have been in power and calling the shots in this state for decades—long before Rauner became governor. I think it’s safe to assume this caller must be one of the fools who continue to vote Democrats into state office every two years.

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This is Lombard calling. I was impressed with public works that applied the finish layer on many streets this summer. That should have saved a lot of money. The only problem was, they filled higher than some manholes and then a couple weeks ago, someone came and cut 4-foot holes around manholes and raised them up and put the blacktop on, higher than the street, over an inch too high, at least. The snowplow boys are really going to be having a time hitting them this winter. And, oh yes, the W stays up. Adios.

Your (street-related) comments were forwarded to the Village of Lombard for a response, which is as follows: "The Village of Lombard is aware of this issue. This project of paving Fairfield Avenue was contracted out. The village has contacted the contractor in regard to this concern and is awaiting work to correct the uneven surfaces. This issue should be addressed in the next few weeks. Please feel free to contact Public Works with any street related question for a quick answer at 630-620-5740."—JAC

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I really wish the newspapers wouldn't print the names of children in pictures, especially last names. With so many child predators out there, it is way too easy to locate kids and pretend they know them. I know the parents probably have to OK it first, so stop. It's endangering your child. You never know who is watching.

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It's obvious Obama got you to pay more for your health care because the current president vowed to destroy the system, to replace it with a system that covered everyone for less money that his majority party couldn't pass because their billionaire donors wanted to go back to the bad old days. Help yourself by getting more, not fewer Democrats elected. Start by paying attention to all the hard work Deb Conroy does. Hint: it won't be on FOX News. You have to do the research.

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It's eventually going to snow — we all know it. I hope the Village of Villa Park will not be plowing streets with a dusting of snow as has happened too many times. It is not only a waste of payroll, but wear and tear on the machines and blades that ruin our streets that we are all paying so much to repair.  Please, Villa Park, do not use up all the budgeted snow plowing money just because it was budgeted — that is unfair to all of us taxpayers, and just wrong anyway.

Your comment was forwarded to Village of Villa Park officials, who provided the following response: "The Village of Villa Park wishes to assure residents of its commitment to providing superior municipal services in a responsive, effective and fiscally responsible manner. To control the cost of manpower and equipment, snow plowing on arterial streets will only begin after the accumulation of two inches of snow, while secondary streets will only be plowed after accumulating four inches of snow. By and large, plowing will occur during normal business hours."—JAC

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Villa Park. They just put a new, beautiful intersection in at Ardmore and Roosevelt, but in the southbound lane, north of Roosevelt, they put the sewer 2 inches below street level. For a multi-million-dollar job, this should be unacceptable. The taxpayers deserve better workmanship. Where are the inspectors? Thank you.

According to Villa Park officials, "The Village of Villa Park was not involved in the inspection of this intersection and sewer installation. This project was conducted by IDOT."—JAC

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Hi, Villa Park, hi, Lombard. There's a new telephone scam going around that got my mom and her neighbors. These are people in their 80s and 90s. It's a phone call saying you will be arrested by the IRS. I looked into it with the police department and they said it's a scam; you're not going to be arrested. The area code for the scam is 717 and it's from Pennsylvania. I did find out by going online that if the IRS is going to come after you, you're going to get a registered letter. They do not call, they do not come to your house. It's a new telephone scam saying the local police will arrest you in 24 hours. It's a scam. Just stay away from it. Have a good day and have a great holiday. Bye bye.

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Hi. I'm calling about being disappointed in the Lombardian. You know, there is a high school that isn't Montini in this town. I rarely see anything about Glenbard East or Willowbrook. Once again, I opened the paper today, nothing about Glenbard East. No homecoming pictures from either of those schools but we have tons of Montini pictures and it's about time you covered all of the schools, not just Montini and Sacred Heart.

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I realize trying to talk to any Trump supporter is a useless feat because you all listen to FOX News and you can't actually check something out to find out if it's factually true or not. First of all, even though you would never admit this, ever, Trump is still riding on President Obama's coattails as far as unemployment is going. You talk about that the consumer confidence index is up, don't you realize why they're up? That's because you have a buffoon sitting in the Oval Office, offering all the rich people all these marvelous tax cuts so they can make twice as many billions as they're making now, so naturally everybody's flying high.

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Hey, Lombard Park District. It was a shame to see that you couldn't make a little effort, a rake, a broom, to clean up that veterans memorial. Shameful. Not exactly gold medal quality or standards.

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The person who called in to support or praise for President Trump and the Republican Party must be a millionaire or billionaire since on Nov. 16 they passed a bill that will lower taxes on millionaires and billionaires and raise taxes on people earning a whopping $10,000 to $15,000 a year. We should all be happy that at least Trump and Roskam will have a very Merry Christmas since they don't believe the Bible, Mark 10:25, and Luke 18:25. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven." Thank you.

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Hello, God bless America. Lombard calling. To the person or persons who keep denigrating our president — who does tweet too much, by the way — oh my gosh. Let me ask you. Are you patriotic? Do you love your country, the United States of America? Because if you do, you'll understand this man has supported the military. Your man for the last eight years apologized for America. He slashed our military, did a lot of race baiting, making divisions instead of unions, totally ridiculous. It's not everything, but it's something; our economy is smoking and steaming.

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Lombard calling: I noticed a couple of callers last week who want to see Trump impeached. One caller, in particular, said, and I quote, “It’s very hard for kids to be respectful of the president when they are aware of all his public, disgraceful comments about other nations and other people.” Well, you'd better come up with a better reason to get rid of him than that because the last time I checked, a president being arrogant, condescending and rude doesn’t meet the criteria of treason, high crimes and misdemeanors. As far as I’m concerned, the five snowflakes in Congress who announced that they are filing articles of impeachment ought to be impeached instead, starting with Chicago’s very own Luis Gutierrez. This do-nothing big mouth has been in Congress for almost 25 years. What has he accomplished, other than wanting to give the same rights and benefits that U.S. citizens have to those who have entered this country illegally? Politicians like Gutierrez who smugly thumb their noses at immigration laws that are already on the books and want sanctuary cities meet the criteria of treason, high crimes and misdemeanors in my book.