As for the multi-million-dollar homes and the auto storage project, I can’t help but feel some sympathy for the York Center Cooperative residents who live nearby. They are just trying to protect the integrity of their little “subdivision,” the homes built after World War II, well before Roosevelt Road was the busy thoroughfare it is today. In fact, the “old-timers’ I have talked to remember it as being a dirt road! I have no issue with the developments per se, but I agree with the trustee who said last week the Butterfield Road area would be a more appropriate location. I am all for filling in spaces for businesses along Roosevelt Road but it is getting so crammed that the traffic is becoming a nightmare. And we have empty spaces like at High Point Centre, where Cub Foods used to be and now the empty fabric and bridal shops. I hope the village promotes those places to repurpose that space.
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I read that Indiana’s governor first suspended the 7 percent sales tax on gas, then the excise gas tax from April 8 to June 7. But then, their tax was 36 cents a gallon, well below our 48-plus cents and going up in July. So, Gov. Pritzker, you could take a page from Mike Braun’s playbook. Put politics aside and do what’s right for our residents.
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Well, Illinois can claim one good thing, so to speak. We are ranked 29th in road rage incidents!
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Hoping everyone will join in to share what they see as the great and not so great things Trump has done so far. I'll start. He pardoned 1,600 individuals who vandalized our Capitol building. He also pardoned a number of criminals who swindled U.S. citizens in exchange for contributions to his campaign. Without the approval of Congress, he dismantled programs and services put in place for U.S. and international citizens. He had a whole wing of the White House torn down with no approval, and has plastered his name and face all over D.C. at taxpayer expense. He’s blowing up ships in the Caribbean. Oh, but the price of eggs is down. There's a win for you.
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I read the obituaries for the husband and wife who died after a teenager who was allegedly driving 100-plus miles per hour struck their vehicle in Downers Grove. What a senseless tragedy. The man who died was an engineer and a pilot. His wife was an accountant and artist who fought multiple bouts with cancer. They had two children. I'm sure they were wonderful people, and they are both dead because a teenager wanted to drive over 100 miles per hour on Highland Avenue in Downers Grove, near Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. This kid's foolish actions killed two people, and he wasn't even detained pre-trial. What a disgrace.
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Can someone explain all the cement work at the Villa Park Library? We also have already replaced the inside staircase in a building a couple years old. Did we have poor construction inside and out? Why are we still paying for work that should have been completed with the original construction, not to mention the fact it has caused traffic and pedestrian confusion.
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To the “77-year-old grandmom” who complained without any merit or facts against our president in the May14 issue of Speak Out. Well, I'm not quite as old as you are, but I'm a 69-year-old grandpa. But that doesn't give me a ticket to rail against anything without having facts to back it up. You mention Trump has destroyed health care, veterans services, Social Security, support for disabled, etc. Why don’t you write a letter to the editor to explain all of these destructive policies so we the readers can digest what you have to say? The paper will give you 400 words to do just that. In perusing your nonsense, I can’t find any evidence to support any of your claims, with the exception of the downsizing of the bloated and useless Department of Education, which is decades overdue. Ruined American farms? Exactly how so? Trump is working on restricting Chinese purchase of U.S. farmland as I write this. Don’t get me started on the national debt. Do your homework. Can we say Obama and Biden? And, yes, past Republicans also. Look up their spending habits. We are rebuilding our previously depleted military with most of this money.
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In the U.S., thousands of men who have committed crimes, from petty theft to the murder and rape of women and children, have claimed to be women, adopting a "trans" identity. In 27 states, these same criminal men are allowed into the women's prisons, housed with women. In Illinois currently 11 men are housed at Logan women's prison - six for homicide, two for child sexual exploitation, one for assault and two for property crimes. At least four only claimed a transgender identity after arrest—I wonder why? Thanks for this, Pritzker family! Most people just can't believe that violent and predatory male convicts are placed in women's prisons, when the transgender political narrative portrays these men (“transwomen”) as vulnerable and victimized. Why are genuinely vulnerable women used as human shields, victimized in favor of some of the worst men in society? It seems unbelievable because it makes no sense. Many consider it "fake news" and look the other way. With hard, verifiable facts, we can break through the transgender fiction and restore common sense policies to protect those who are truly vulnerable—women. Check out the facts at https://notourcrimes.info.
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Calling people idiots for participating in No Kings misses the point. People have a right to protest and speak out when they feel democracy, accountability, or basic rights are at stake. You don’t have to agree with every protest, but dismissing everyone involved as fools, nitwits and morons seems like an overreaction. On the plus side, it does look like No Kings rallies have had a profound impact on you. You seem very interested in the movement. Please feel free to give additional suggestions about how best to participate in our tenuous democracy.
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A Walgreens in Chicago is closing because it was plagued by massive theft and violence. The store reportedly lost over $1 million last year. What do Democrats in the area do? They act like victims and complain about Walgreens, saying its absence will hurt the community. Democrats would be funny if they weren't so pathetic. Do they think Walgreens and other businesses exist simply to be robbed? This same Walgreens location was looted and extensively damaged in 2020. It's a surprise it didn't close earlier. Here's a radical idea—arrest criminals and put them in jail. Maybe that would prevent some businesses from closing.
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For the person asking about credit card use after July 1, 2026. The Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) bans credit card companies from charging "swipe" or interchange fees (2.5 percent or less) on the sales tax and tip portions of debit and credit card transactions. The law aims to save merchants money, but could force consumers to pay taxes and tips via separate transactions or in cash. So if you go to a restaurant the service or swipe fee for a debit or credit card can only be applied to the meal, not tax or tips. The tax and tip have be paid in a separate transaction with cash or a no swipe or service fee terminal for the card used. The banks and the federal government are against it and said it won’t work. It is currently being debated in the Appellate Courts. The argument is that there is no workable technology in place right now that can actually do what the law requires. Because the State of Illinois is pushing this, you know it’s about more money and taxes. Remember Illinois opted out of the “no tax on tip” rule. So they still want taxes on tips, but don’t want the merchants getting any extra.
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I know a few liberals who don't like Speak Out. In my opinion, they don't care for it because they are intolerant of views they disagree with. It's not just that they disagree with certain views. Liberals, who claim to love freedom of speech, generally want to silence people they don't like. How many times have you heard liberals whine about Fox News? Too many to count. If you don't like it, don't watch it. If a conservative speaker comes to a university, do leftists ignore that speaker? No, they try to intimidate the speaker, prevent or disrupt the speech, or harm the speaker. When Democrats were in power, they frequently complained about "misinformation." It sure seemed like they wanted to shut down people with opposing viewpoints. And liberals didn't just want Trump to lose the 2024 election. They wanted to censor him, keep him off the ballot and put him in prison.
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I got a happy birthday message in my email box from Sean Casten. Thanks, Sean, but I’m still voting for your opponent in the November election because I don’t need a radical leftist shill like you in Washington.
