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VOL. 14 • NO. 33
WWW.THEINDEPENDENTNEWSPAPERS.COM
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2018
Congressman Raja holds Town Hall meeting
By Dee Longfellow
FOR THE VILLA PARK INDEPENDENT
On the evening of Monday, July 30, residents packed the Council Chambers of Bensenville Village Hall to attend a Town Hall meeting held by Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the U. S. House of Representatives. One of the people who got up to speak addressed him as Congressman Raja and he assured that it was perfectly all right to call him by his first name and that most people did. “In fact, I was recently introduced as Congressman Raja Christian Murphy,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t know the Irish made it all the way to India!” Clearly disturbed by some of the actions of President Donald Trump, without actually speaking his name, Raja talked quite a while about the immigration situation and the recent separation of children from their parents. “This is completely unacceptable,” he said. “At first, they were going to put all these misplaced children at one of the military bases. I found that unacceptable because our military is expected to defend our country and have nothing whatsoever to do with immigration.” Still, there are children and parents who are not together. “As of Friday, there were a couple dozen children under the age of 5 who were still not united with their parents,” Raja said. “There are 500 kids between the ages of 6 and 17 who are not with their parents. The lack of transparency has been a problem and in fact, it took a court order to compel honesty. All these people fall under the Office of Refugee Resettlement. “This has personally shaken me to my core and I am doing everything I
possibly can about this issue.” Teamsters request help with pension fund During the Q&A session, a group of about 20-25 people crowded the aisle where the microphone was, some carrying signs that read: “Save our pensions.” They were all retired Teamsters who were in the Central State Pension Fund. At one point,
they all called out the number of years they had worked – 25, 28, some as many as 30 years. Apparently, the union is not keeping its promises regarding its retirees. A spokesperson for the group addressed the Congressman, asking him to please intervene on their behalf. “I assure you I’m with you,” Raja said.
O’Hare Airport noise It was no surprise when O’Hare Airport noise came up for discussion. Congressman Raja seemed sympathetic to the cause. He agreed the current flight paths are unacceptable and that flights need to be redistributed. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” the Congressman said. “We can change
flight patterns by using the diagonal runways – and they’re still there – and with the horizontal runways. I have asked the FAA to expedite the environmental studies. I will do my best to advocate for the Fly Quiet initiative.” Raja reminded people there are resources available at the federal level for noise mitigation.
PAUL DELGUIDICE PHOTO Villa Park Independent
Signature moment
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (center, seated) signs a bill into law that protects first responders from liability when administering EpiPen auto-injections to victims of allergic reactions. The ceremony took place on Tuesday, July 31, at Elmhurst City Hall and was attended by elected officials, including bill sponsors Sen. Chris Nybo (left) and Rep. Deb Conroy (behind the governor), as well as friends and family of Annie LeGere (Mom Shelly LeGere is to the left of Gov. Rauner).
Inside:
Police Reports...........6 Sports �������������������� 15 Out & About............3 Classifieds..........16-17
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