I would like to know how much it costs to have Liberty Banner Company change and put up the banners on the light poles on the streets of Lombard. I am okay with this if the village meets all of the other needs of the town, but I think the money spent on the banners could be put to better use. I am all in favor of beautifying Lombard but not at the expense of foregoing more important issues.

Your inquiry was forwarded to the Village of Lombard. The response is as follows: "The village’s current banner program includes the change out and storage of approximately 1,200 seasonal banners at locations throughout the village five times per year. The cost of storing and changing seasonal banners is $7,740 annually to Liberty Banner, which was awarded the contract in 2017 as the lowest bidder. The banner program is funded through the Hotel/Motel Tax fund and not general fund taxes (property tax, sales tax, etc.). Hotel Motel Tax revenues may only be spent on promoting tourism and marketing within the village and may not be spent on general operations or capital projects. After 2013, the Village of Lombard reduced the banner program to eliminate the design and purchase of new banners, as well as expansion of local banner locations, saving approximately $40,000 annually. The banners currently on display were purchased in 2013 and will be utilized until they break or tear, at which time they will be retired and NOT replaced.

The village remains committed to fiscal responsibility and finding cost saving measures to address structural budget deficits caused by unfunded State mandates, inflation, and the erosion of retail sales.  For more information please visit www.villageoflombard.org/budget."—JAC

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It's Monday morning, May 14, and in the past 15 minutes I got five calls from telemarketers. I've just got one comment: Telemarketing is the lowest form of life and even if you ask to get taken off the list, you still get put on another list.

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Good afternoon, Lombard. I was just following a regular school bus and realized that the rear end of the bus needs to be modified for rear-end collisions. If I were to rear end the bus, the front end of my car would go under the bus and the windshield area would jam the back door shut. This should be modified with a step ladder going down from the back door and also being a brace so cars could not go under them, like on 18 wheelers. Thank you.

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I just read in the Lombardian that the Illinois Senate passed a mandatory LGBT history curriculum for schools. It requires the study of roles and contributions of LGBT people in the history of the state. So, now are we viewing individuals' contributions based on their sexuality? Are you kidding me? When an individual contributes to society, who cares what sexual title they identify with? Will there also be curriculum on heterosexuals and their contributions? Our legislature can't get a budget passed so they focus on issues like this. Really? There's a lot of crazy in Springfield.

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This is for the Villa Park Police Department. The intersection of Madison and Addison, it's a rolling stop sign. Nobody stops at that stop sign. I never see a cop there enforcing anything at that stop sign.

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I'm calling in regard to the past SPEAK OUT. There's a comment about the traffic on Westmore and St. Charles Road, about the police department issuing citations for cell phone use and texting, and I think this is wonderful, except I have a question. What about the other 51 weeks out of the year? This is a one-week campaign and unfortunately this goes on every single day. I could count many people every day while I am out driving, so surely the police must be seeing them as well and I think even more citations should be given out, which could maybe even help save some tax dollars for the Lombard residents and more importantly, save a lot of lives. Thank you.

In a reply to your comments, village officials commented: "When the Lombard Police Department participates in specific campaigns such as Click It or Ticket, Drive Sober or Distracted Driving, the purpose is to draw attention to serious public safety concerns that are enforced year round. During these special campaigns, participating police departments are provided with additional funding from organizations such as Illinois Division of Transportation (IDOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The additional funds pay for additional officers to patrol the roads, seeking out violations specific to the campaign. Rest assured, Lombard Police ticket for illegal and irresponsible driving year round. For more information on these and more statistics, visit www.villageoflombard.org/police."—JAC

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I have nothing against Villa Park, but seriously, is Villa Park one of the best places to live in America? Does someone from the village work at Money Magazine? Does someone from the village have a relative who works at Money Magazine? Villa Park is all right, but let's be honest, it's not even one of the best places to live in DuPage County. I'm not even sure it's one of the best places to live in America that starts with the letter "V".

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Hello, Lombard, I was wondering who we need to contact with grass looking so horrible. There are dandelions all throughout Lombard, 8, 9 inches high and who oversees us? It is just really looking bad in town. I'm a senior citizen. I take care of my lawn and wish everybody else would, too. Thank you.

See response below.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I wondered, they used to have people who went around and checked that properties were cutting the grass, keeping up with things. On my block, both sides of me, neither one thinks they need to cut the grass. One is a renter who they don't think it's a problem to just let the yard go. The house looks atrocious. The landlord will not be taking care of it; obviously he just takes the rent in. I wonder why they can just let it go. It happens every summer and I'm tired of looking at it. The other side is just a mess, too, but the rest of the block is beautiful, so why is it we don't have anyone checking this out anymore? Years ago they would come by the house, check your yard, check your everything. I really think we need to get back to that because this is really a mess over here.

Your inquiry was forwarded to Village of Lombard officials, who responded: "The village’s Code Enforcement Division processed over 900 cases in 2017. The primary focus is always on working to process cases the residents and businesses contact the village about. With the new Code Enforcement Hotline (630-620-5757) and the online Report a Concern (www.villageoflombard.org/reportaconcern), there has been a large increase in residents reaching directly out. These great ways to reach out to the Code Enforcement Division are the best way to get properties such as these addressed as fast as possible. There is a process of notifying the resident of the issues, working with the resident to resolve the issues, and then as a very last resort enforcement action if needed. Please call the Code Enforcement Hotline (630-620-5757) or visit the www.villageoflombard.org/reportaconcern to report any Code Enforcement/Property Maintenance issues or questions you may have."—JAC

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Hi, happy Lombard here. Listening is a skill, people. Number one, God bless our police and military. God bless America. Can I still say that? Oh yeah, our president allows that now. OK and yes, things are going really well with the economy and our president is largely to "blame" for the great economy, as you CNN people might misunderstand. Yes, the two Koreas are talking, even if only Mr. Trump confused them. It's a lot better than what we had the last eight years with that seemingly America-hating apologist in office. I guess you know who I mean; not that hard to figure out. Regarding the police officer, police officers are trained to stop dangerous, life-threatening or murderous behavior.

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I was behind a woman at 7-11 today who bought three Slurpees with her Link card. This outraged me beyond belief. When I inquired with the cashier she told me you can buy energy drinks too with Link. This is wrong on every level. Energy drinks, Slurpees, etc. are luxury items that we the taxpayers should not be paying for. I encourage everyone to contact your state rep to get this changed.

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I love the parade but with the parking bans, it would be nice to have shuttle buses like the village used to for the Taste of Lombard. School parking lots were designated for the shuttle buses. That would also help alleviate some of the post-parade traffic nightmares as well. Since the Taste is no more, why not consider using some of the hotel/motel funds for that? I feel bad for people who are having company whose guests can't even park nearby.

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There is too much hatred in our country. Violence after violence. Venomous words toward others and even our president. The rule of law and even fairness mean absolutely nothing. What about our leaders, can they help? No. Our leaders precipitate the angry and divisive words. Again, we must bring sanity to our world or we won't have one.

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Good morning, Lombard. I'm calling in response to the person who pointed out that President Trump plays more golf than Obama did. May I point out that historic golf outing Obama had minutes after hearing about the beheading of an American journalist by ISIS? Pictures of him laughing and playing golf. How shameful.

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This is Villa Park. I'm wondering what is wrong at the Villa Park Post Office. I went to mail a letter at 9 p.m. the other day and all the parking lot lights were off. Both sides. When I went inside the building, half the hallway lights were out. This is obviously a very unsafe and dangerous situation. Don't they have a janitor or someone to replace these lights? And who is the postmaster and why doesn't he or she do something about this very unsafe condition? Thank you.

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I have attended the annual Lilac Parade for many years, but this year’s was a big disappointment, weather notwithstanding. Big gaps between floats and other participants; one not so big gap had two different participants too close together playing different kinds of music while one group in front of the other was trying to dance. Maybe it’s the economy, but other than the marching bands, tumblers, Shriner groups and Lilac Court, it seemed pretty sparse and not very interesting. What a disappointment. Fewer floats and not very imaginative based on the movie/musical theme, at least in my opinion.

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I happened to be reading through the coming events section of the Lombardian (May 17 issue) and noticed that the Villa Park Public Library was hosting high school exam study nights. I think that’s a good thing, but then I had to do a double-take when I saw the study nights include a visit from a therapy dog. I’m a dog lover, and I certainly understand that final exams can be stressful, but a therapy dog? Really? Do we have to coddle these kids at every turn nowadays? When these kids start working for a living, is every company or business going to have to provide a therapy dog at their workplace, too?