Caring Teacher Montauk March 2, 2014 Dear David: Jane Schulte was a friend of mine. But long before our relationship developed into friendship, she was my fifth-grade teacher. When I look back on the 50 years of our interactions together, I see a remarkable person who invariably spoke her mind and let the chips fall where they might. Mrs. Schulte was a dedicated teacher to me and to countless other children at the East Hampton Elementary School, later named after John M. Marshall, our much beloved principal. Many of us entered her class with feelings of trepidation. Before entering Mrs. Schulte’s class, one already knew, through the preteen grapevine, that she was a woman to be respected and one who was fairly strict. Since my sister often recalls that I was a Dennis the Menace at that age, it’s perhaps the reason I was assigned to her class. But I found her to be a devoted, caring, and human teacher from whom I never stopped learning. She asked me once to help her find the home of a former student in my neighborhood whose mother had died. She remembered. She cared. She consoled. I don’t know of any other teacher who ventured into the hidden depths of Freetown on such a mission. And I have never forgotten that. Later, Mrs. Schulte and her husband, Donald, did antiques and yard sales. The first yard sale purchase I ever made was from one of their sales. It was a painting, reminiscent of the work of Raphael Soyer, from the estate of James Monroe Perkins. I still have the painting. Her “red sign” sales were classics and she ran them as she had run her fifth-grade classes — too strict for some, just right for others. But she always put the full value of work into those sales. Mrs. Schulte became Jane to me when she called upon me to research some items for various sales. This enlarged our friendship and I was frequently at her home. We talked about the sale, the past, her love for her family, and our various travels. My last visit with Jane was fitting. I was met at the door by her beloved Jack Russell terrier. Jane greeted me as she always had done. As we sat and talked, her son, Donnie, came in. Then her daughter Betsy came by with the mail. She spoke of doing things and knew that if she really wanted to do them she had her family, and at least one friend, that she could count on to help her do them. I will never forget Jane Schulte. Truly yours, JIM DEVINE She Was an Artist East Hampton March 2, 2014 Dear David, Thank you for printing the detailed obituary for Chip Leaver in last week’s Star. I would like to note for the record that Chip was not only an “illustrator‚” she was an artist, and always considered herself one. Her mediums included illustration in pen and ink, oil painting, and charcoal. She was a remarkable portrait painter. Her early figurative works show a freedom and flair for drama. Through her life, she championed artists and recognized the importance of their works to the quality of our lives. She was also able to encourage a love for art in two of her children. Her daughter Dorian Nissenson has directed her talents into the wallpaper and computer-design world. Her son, Brian Leaver, is internationally recognized for his murals and his remarkable contributions to the field of residential decorative arts. Many thanks, DAVID WILT A Serious Fall Amagansett March 1, 2014 Dear Editor: After being told by several people that a dear friend and excellent artist, Chip Leaver, had on her studio wall a wonderful drawing of my late wife, Phyllis, I decided, several months ago, to see for myself. The portrait was stunning and amazingly captured her in many ways. After I purchased it, Chip and I recalled many good times we had together, the many sketching sessions all over the place that she and Phyllis had, and how proud she was of her remarkable family. “Look at me‚” she said, “93 and still working!” As I left, I was so pleased; she was sharp, witty, and so alive. So it was truly a shock last week to hear of her death, “due to complications from a recent fall.” For almost 20 years I have been a member of RSVP, a national organization that phones seniors every morning to see that they are okay, help them with any problem, and cheer them up. Sadly, we have seen way too many identical obituaries of our clients. We hear from their family of the fall and we collectively hold our breath or pray that it will not eventually be fatal. I have asked several physicians to explain this process, and the closest I get is that when you are a senior and have a serious fall resulting in a prolonged period in bed, in some cases the body seems to slowly shut down, and the cause of death is not the fall or the surgery but something else, like pneumonia. No matter the cause, we seniors must be on guard, be it snow, ice, ladders, curbs, bad shoes, stairs with no railing, and other hazards. The Town of East Hampton Human Services Department, if you are a senior, will survey your house and at little or no charge will install safety hardware. You are urged to take advantage of this service. This of course only deals with potential hazards in the house. It is up to you to avoid a major threat to senior citizens, the fall. IRVING HIRSCHBERG ‘Duck Dynasty’ East Hampton February 25, 2014 To the Editor: I was surprised and offended by Janis Hewitt’s remarks in her “Relay” (Feb. 20) when she wrote sympathetically of Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty,” when he was criticized for racist and homophobic comments in an interview. Wrote Ms. Hewitt of the negative reaction to Robertson, “I actually felt sorry for him.” It would be hoped, while acknowledging her pleasure with “Duck Dynasty” entertainment, that she might make an informed exception to Robertson’s prejudices. Her casual acceptance of what he said, feeling sorry for the criticism that came his way, is to sanction his damaging words. REV. ROBERT STUART Bigoted Rant East Hampton February 27, 2014 To the Editor: I was deeply offended by Janis Hewitt’s “Relay” piece of Feb. 20 about the Robertson family of “Duck Dynasty” fame. Her love letter to the family included “I happen to love the Robertson family . . . when Phil Robertson got in trouble a few weeks back for some racist and homophobic statements he made during an interview, I actually felt sorry for him . . . I’ve fallen for this family.” Really, Ms. Hewitt? Highlights from his infamous interview include his insistence that blacks under white masters “were singing and happy‚” “they were godly‚” “no one was singing the blues.” His intolerance then turned to the LGBT community, where he suggested that homosexuality leads to bestiality and other illegal, immoral behaviors: “Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.” At his most vulgar, he even said he didn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to sleep with a woman: “It seems like, to me, a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus.” The fact that Ms. Hewitt trivializes these racist and bigoted statements is unacceptable in a civilized society. Her complete lack of sensitivity to members of our community who were offended by his remarks is astounding. I think the editors at The Star should have known better, even when Ms. Hewitt did not. Every respectable journalist condemned his remarks. I have to wonder if his bigoted rant included a group or gender to which Ms. Hewitt belongs, would she still find his family just so lovable and darn cute and feel sorry for him. It seems because his remarks were about blacks and gays, Ms. Hewitt felt free to tacitly endorse his ignorance and prejudice by minimizing its incivility and intolerance and actively embraced him. I am astonished that she could be so flippant about Robertson’s demeaning and insulting comments about the African-American and LGBT communities. I believe that Janis Hewitt owes The Star readers an apology for her support for this bigot and her utter lack of sensitivity; in fact, she owes an apology to all people who value inclusiveness, equal rights, and the moral advancement of our society. MATTHEW BELMONT No More Swan Family Springs February 27, 2014 Dear David, In regards to that ghastly photo of the dying swan in the Feb. 27 Star: It was a sock in the gut to everybody — and that’s most of us — who each spring adored that family of mom, dad, and kids on the town pond. What grace! What loyalty! Indeed, what “family values”! Our frantic little town has been overrun by that true invasive species, Us. No more swan family this spring. And, if the D.E.C. has its way, never again. How about a village reward to catch the swan killer? But, then again, probably not. Who could care? It was after all, just a dead bird. BILL HENDERSON Wonderful News East Hampton March 3, 2014 To the Editor: I have been on the East Hampton Disabilities Advisory Board for over 20 years. We were recently informed that the town is proposing, under the Americans With Disabilities Act, to put accessible front doors at Town Hall, the Montauk Playhouse, and the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter. Also, a capital budget proposal for almost $200,000 has been made to improve Indian Wells Beach, making its bathrooms and pathways of travel compliant and accessible for everyone. We are a long way from making our parks and beaches totally accessible, but this is wonderful news for people with disabilities and their families. Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, our new liaison with the town, not only listens but knows how to take action to make things happen. Sincerely, GERRY MOONEY On School Property Springs March 3, 2014 Dear David, As you may recall, a number of years ago the town proposed to build adult sports fields on the Springs School property. As a result, there was widespread opposition (and a large petition drive), and the effort was squashed due to safety concerns and the propriety of building adult fields on the K-8 school property. Apparently, a group at the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee is now eyeing this property, again, on which to build town sports fields. This property is owned by the residents of Springs for the academic and physical education of the students. Shouldn’t this property stay a school for the young kids in our community? It would be disheartening to see families and kids intimidated from using the property by large groups of adults (and their large number of cars). As a neighbor of the school, I am acutely aware that the facilities are intensively used during much of the year and the neighborhood is already impacted by the increased traffic and noise. Sports fields will certainly receive opposition from any neighborhood in which they are proposed. But they should be spread around and built on town property, not where there are young children and families using the same property. And, the neighbors need to be taken into consideration. Let the school stay a school. SUSAN HARDER In Regard to Trash East Hampton February 25, 2014 Dear David, Be advised, community support in East Hampton is still alive and well. Eighty-four volunteers joined in the Shoreline Sweep and together we removed over a ton and a half of trash debris from Montauk Point to Georgica Beach east. That’s 22 miles of clean shoreline. We also removed a couple truckloads of burned wood, moved some of the larger hazards to the dunes’ edge, and eliminated close to 100 piles of dog poop left on the beach by careless and thoughtless dog owners. I only hope that these 84 people will now be more watchful of trash and poop violators on our beaches and know they now have the right to say something because they worked so hard to clean the beach. A film is in production that I hope will spread the message far and wide, well before the summer crews begin to arrive. We need to let our guests and summer residents know, things have changed since last year. Their trash and nonconformance to the rules and regulations in regard to trash and dog poop left on the beach is no longer going to be tolerated. This is our home year round, and we want it kept clean — year round. I want to thank every single person right here, but won’t due to the fear of missing just one. Therefore, I wish to thank all the volunteers from all five groups and their outstanding group leaders. You all have so much to be proud of for being part of such a successful day of making our beaches a safer and cleaner place. One more thank-you to someone who fits into a few of the groups mentioned above. Deb Klughers represents everything good about our environmental awareness. The success of this event had much to do with her participation and I am so pleased she was part of it. A huge thank-you to her for all she did. I’m anxious to announce our next endeavor, but it’s still a couple months away so I will wait. I do want everyone to know that I met many people last Saturday that let me know they frequently do personal beach cleanups along certain stretches of beach. This was sweet music to my ears. Bravo to those year-round folks as well. Keep up the great work. I hope to see more and more volunteers at each annual Shoreline Sweep and other cleanup projects throughout the year. Until then, keep fighting for the beauty of our town, protect the beaches and our wildlife. So very pleased, DELL CULLUM These Cruel Scams East Hampton February 25, 2014 Dear David, Recently, I was a potential victim of a scam and so I am writing a letter to the editor in order to make as many people as possible aware of the possibility to be targeted as I was. The scam involves grandparents being contacted and told that a grandchild is in trouble and needs bail money to get out of jail. Normally I would see right through such a thing but when a child or grandchild is involved, one does not think too clearly. I actually went to Apple Bank and withdrew $2,000 from my account. Before leaving, I had a conversation with Susan Pluchino and she saw through the scheme. I then got to the bottom of the scam and reported everything to our town police. I certainly hope that no one is victimized by any of these cruel scams. Regards, ROBERT BUDD Overzealous Applications East Hampton March 3, 2014 Dear David, I am an avid and loyal reader of The Star and especially of your editorials on how government is supposed to protect our environment and preserve the rural character of our community. Just about every week there is an editorial on this subject, and in the news body of the paper the quest for variances, special permits, pleas of mercy, trickery, and the like, to sidestep the laws that were designed to protect us. While my neighborhood has remained fairly quiet, I am now caught up in the quagmire. I have a new neighbor who has remodeled a home quite tastefully, but is now looking for six variances and a natural resources permit to install a pool and several structures on the edge of Three Mile Harbor and destroy the open space of a side yard. I was the lone neighbor who wrote in against the project. I did so to protect a treasured natural asset and the rural character of my street. Here is what I am up against. New neighbor on the corner wrote in favor. She, last spring, decided to add on to a second story with no building permit. She stated that she did not know that a permit was needed. Her house is also for sale. First adjoining neighbor lives here only a few months of the year. I have to presume that she does not care. Second adjoining neighbor voted in favor for personal reasons. Third adjoining neighbor is the East Hampton Town Trustees. I believe that they are in review of the application. The neighbor at the end of the road raised the property grade during a rebuild, which now causes flooding on adjoining properties. The proper permits were in question during a potential sale. In closing, zoning, planning, and building departments are all supposed to protect from these overzealous applications. Let’s see what they do. Current score on this game: team environment, zero, team overbuild, zero. Respectfully submitted, JEFFREY PLITT Wastefully Uneconomic New York City February 26, 2014 Dear David: It is time to move on. The town should immediately close the 10,000-gallon-per-day transfer station, which is rightly referred to as a “black hole.” This facility is wastefully uneconomic and provides no benefit to the town’s environment. In the spring of 2012, after the “temporary” transfer station had already been running for a few months, the budget and financial advisory committee advised the town board to close it promptly. It was being used mainly by only one carter and the costs were totally uneconomic. Nonetheless it continues to be run, at a cost to taxpayers of almost $700,000 in 2013. On Feb. 18, Lombardo Associates, the town’s consultants on a long-term wastewater management plan, presented to the town board their initial report, an evaluation of the scavenger waste facility. They reported a possible $200,000 annual cost savings from the smarter operation of this transfer station, but only if another $50,000 to $250,000 is invested. Even if the town were to make this investment, taxpayers would still be required to pay about $500,000 per year — so that predominantly one carter could use the facility. Instead, that carter could, like the others, adapt its operations to dump its loads at scavenger waste facilities in Riverhead or Bergen Point‚ and save taxpayers the $500,000. There was some discussion at the board meeting about possible increases in truck traffic on the town’s roads and that some of the larger trucks could not fit down some town streets. This does not add up. Whether a carter transfers its load at the transfer station or takes its load directly UpIsland, the same numbers of gallons are being trucked across the town and over its borders. Also, the larger trucks, that most carters are already using for pumpouts, can fit down any street serviced by a home-heating-oil truck. The most important point is that we should immediately close this transfer station on which we are wasting $500,000 to $700,000 each year of taxpayers’ money. This money can better be used for water quality protection and to start improving our many failing private septic systems‚ which will immediately begin to protect our environment and improve our water. ARTHUR MALMAN Sharing the Minutes Amagansett March 1, 2014 Dear David, I thought I might share the minutes of a fall 2013 meeting at East Hampton Town Hall: R.R (Redundant Republican): Why are we here? I.O.U. (Incompetent outgoing utility): To erect big poles. P.C. (Past caring, long-term official): Hello? I.O.U.: We need them for future electric service requirements. R.R.: They are very big. P.C.: Could you cover them with vines? I.O.U.: They are treated with chemicals. R.R: Can they fall over? I.O.U.: Maybe. P.C.: Bury the lines. I.O.U.: That’s work. That’s expensive. There goes our profit. R.R.: Have you told anybody else? I.O.U.: Are you stupid? P.C.: I don’t have a good feeling about this. What about putting them on the railroad track? R.R.: And kill tourists? We need more electrical capacity. Progress isn’t always pretty. I say meeting adjourned. P.C.: Lunch! I.O.U.: Lunch! R.R.: Lunch! All good things, DIANA WALKER Poles ‘a Real Danger’ East Hampton March 3, 2014 Editor: I have on occasion posted comments on a computer link to local news called the East Hampton Patch. Recently I commented on the scuffle our community and local authorities have been having with the new high-voltage power lines sprouting up around town. I woke Saturday morning with over 30 responses to my comments. First I stated that it is inconceivable that the previous administration had no clue of the upcoming project. Something of this magnitude had to be in the works for, at the very least, a year or more. I also expressed my concerns that winter is the worst possible time of year to set posts or poles for any project, whether it be a deer fence or poles in excess of 40 feet in height. Frozen ground is a deceptive base for top-heavy vertical installments, as it drills easily, creating what appears a solid hole-receptacle for the pole. With spring thaw, that solid interior wall collapses, creating a flaccid, muddy hole, allowing the pole to shift, slide, and begin a sideways shift. The height and weight at the uppermost portion will determine how dramatic and fast a downward trajectory develops. I watched the poles go in along Cedar Street. In concert with the concern this process was impending due to the magnitude of the installations, I was aware that some of these poles did not appear to be set deeply enough and some were set into the side of shallow hills on the sides of the road, virtually guaranteeing they would not hold. At no time did I note any local official presence. I do not know whether the Highway Department or some branch of ordinance enforcement was keeping watch. I never saw any. Someone needs to watch these guys! These poles are a real danger to public safety and especially the families living beneath them. It is imperative the entire project be placed under a moratorium until a valid third party is able to do an engineering analysis and an environmental impact study is completed. The latter may not be a legitimate demand in the letter of the law. It is my belief the physical dangers these poles pose are second to the health concerns transmissions of this magnitude inflict on the well-being of the humans living in their shadows. Money is available to bury these lines. Contact Supervisor Cantwell and help give him the power to protect our community! MICHAEL DICKERSON Butchering the Trees East Hampton February 25, 2014 To the Editor, PSEG Long Island should be required to send representatives to the streets of East Hampton Village to witness the botched-up job they did of butchering rather than trimming the trees. The project has been a disaster from the start. Bury the wires! FREDERICK BUTTI Completely Taking Over East Hampton March 3, 2014 Dear David, We moved into the village from Springs in mid-November. It was a difficult choice moving from the house in which we raised our three children, and our dogs enjoyed the benefits of living in the country for over 22 years. Besides the usual perks of a much lower property tax, free beach passes, and a reported village government that worked hard at maintaining East Hampton’s scenic beauty, we were looking forward to being able to walk into town, enjoy a movie and dinner at Rowdy, and walk back home. While most house purchasers aren’t lined up to buy a house on King Street, it worked for us. A tree-lined street, a short stroll to friends on McGuirk Street, the Jitney, and railroad stops for when the girls come home in the summer to enjoy the beaches, and Mary’s Marvelous for Sunday morning coffee and tea. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving, serving dinner for 19, and afterward a small group walked to the Palm for a nightcap. It was everything we signed up for until we came home after being away skiing for a few days in late January. The beautiful tree in front of our house and three others along the street were chain-sawed down to unsightly 10-foot trunks with no limbs or branches. Next to the existing utility poles (which were hardly noticeable thanks to the aged old trees that lined King Street) were these gigantic pressure-treated (with god knows what type of preservative that will be leaching into the groundwater) poles that reach up 60 feet skyward, completely taking over the view as you look down the road. We attended a meeting with the village officials and the mayor stated that PSEG is a private company that could come into town and do as it pleased. The installation of these reach-to-the-sky poles will carry high-voltage power from the substation on Cove Hollow Road to the substation in Amagansett, which, if you haven’t noticed, has been encircled with shiny chain-link fence and looks like it should be at a used car lot in the Bronx — didn’t see any barbed wire. This project encompasses a six-plus-mile run winding through the village along Town Line Road and finishing up at the beginning of Old Stone Highway. Meanwhile, a study shows that if the lines had run along the railroad siding the distance would have been approximately four miles. These wires could have been run underground (which, after Hurricane Sandy, the state allocated millions of dollars for to upgrade the power grid including money to run new wires underground) to prevent any outages during storms, and, most important, the scenic view that we all enjoy would have remained untouched. Thanks to a group of concerned homeowners who are working hard for all residents in the village and town, over 500 signatures have been attached to a petition asking the governor, state, county, and local officials to stop LIPA and PSEG Long Island from continuing this aboveground project. You can find this petition online at Facebook.com/ SaveEH. Your neighborhood will be next at some point! Get on board and sign the petition. RICHARD JANIS Shortsighted East Hampton March 3, 2014 Dear David: PSEG’s installation of 60-foot poles to accommodate additional high-power lines is appalling and shortsighted. Not only are these eyesores likely to discourage ecotourism, which is so important to our local economy, but our failure to invest in a full-scale program to bury power lines poses serious threats to the safety and well-being of our community. The price of repairing damaged property (often caused by broken pipes), the need to refrigerate some medications, the dependence of some medical devices on electric power are but a few examples of the high cost of power loss. Storms and other weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe. East Hampton was lucky that superstorm Sandy did not hit us directly, but we can’t count on luck to protect us in the future. We must demand that these lines be buried. Some of the costs could be covered by FEMA and state storm-mitigation funds, and additional money could be raised by a reasonable assessment to town residents. Supervisor Cantwell is appealing to PSEG and the governor to abandon the plan for more overhead power lines, and he needs us to come out in force in support of his appeals. Please write to Governor Cuomo and Ralph Suozzi (the new chairman of LIPA/PSEG) expressing your concerns and demanding that power lines be buried. SUE AVEDON Plague of Poles East Hampton March 2, 2014 Dear David, I woke from a bad dream yelling “Stop!” Never in my wildest dreams or worst nightmare did I think that it would be possible that a utility company or corporation would be allowed to destroy the Town of East Hampton. Yet the Plague of Poles continues at a rapid pace, raping our neighborhoods and town while we sit politely at their stop guards as we wait and watch while they swing these huge and dangerous 60-to-70-foot poles high over our cars, causing potential danger to pedestrians and traffic congestion on our roads throughout town. It continues to make me frustrated and downright angry that these deadly poles are being put up at an alarming rate and continue to be jammed down our throats and crammed into the two-foot space between our sidewalks and curbs. Why can’t our town government get a stop-work order or a lawsuit against PSEG to stop? I heard Fred Thiele say that PSEG can do anything they want. Really? This is a travesty, and not unlike pipelines plowing through farming communities or chemical companies poisoning water supplies. Our monthly check to PSEG surely includes a nice profit for them, and what I find ironic is that we are basically funding this harmful and toxic project that not only affects our health, well-being, and property values but also our sense of community preservation. Speaking of preservation, where is our Village Preservation Society on this? We all know our mayor and others were asleep at the wheel when it came time to blow the whistle months ago. Out of our mayor’s mouth and past and present town board members you will hear them say how it is their duty as elected officials to protect us. Sorry, guys, but I am not feeling protected here. And before I point a lynching finger at the highway guy — is it really true that he is in a position of power to give the go-ahead to PSEG on something as serious and consequential as this without the town board getting involved? Desperate times call for desperate measures. Would it be possible for all of the tax- and utility-paying citizens of our town to band together and all agree to stop paying any and all PSEG bills until this nightmare stops once and for all? Please bury the lines and get rid of these toxic poles before it’s too late! BETSY PETROSKI Bury the Lines East Hampton February 21, 2014 Dear David, As a result of the catastrophic events from Hurricane Sandy, one of the outcomes was that Long Island needed more reliable power. The current transmission line project going on in East Hampton Town was the brainchild of LIPA, now being executed by PSEG. Question for PSEG/LIPA: At the meeting on Feb. 4, 2014, at Village Hall in East Hampton, a representative stated that PSEG did not want to put new secondary 33-kilovolt transmission lines following the railroad tracks and the existing transmission lines between the substation at Cove Hollow Road, East Hampton, and the Amagansett substation because that would be redundancy and the opportunity would exist for a catastrophic failure during a hurricane or any other major storm. They also stated that PSEG was following the current route because that was the established route, even though it was done some 50-odd years ago. My question is threefold: 1. Can PSEG please provide me a list that documents any emergency repair work done on the above-mentioned existing transmission lines due to damage caused by the named hurricanes Carol 1954, Donna 1960, Belle 1976, Gloria 1985, Bob 1991, Irene 2011, Sandy 2012, and countless nor’easters from 1954 through present day? 2. Can PSEG please provide me a list that documents any emergency repair work caused by storm damage to any other transmission lines and/or other feeder lines that run between East Hampton Village and Amagansett that occurred during the same time frames as listed in question 1? 3. Can PSEG please provide me a list that documents any emergency repair work caused by storm damage to any underground transmission lines and/or other underground feeder lines that run between East Hampton Village and Amagansett that occurred during the same time frames as listed in question 1? The answer is obvious: Number 3 – none. Bury the lines! Sincerely, RICHARD SHILOWICH More Slowly East Hampton February 23, 2014 Dear Editor, There once was a time when potholes were driving me crazy, for I was continually having to visit my local car repair shop to realign my front end, not to mention replacing damaged tires. Not having much money, given that I am in the building industry, which has been the hardest-hit sector of this disastrous economy, I had no choice but to drive more slowly, not to mention side to side, to avoid more damage to my front end, that I did not have the money to repair. Then I began to see that if I drove more cautiously and slowly, I would no longer damage my front end, since I would be thus better able to anticipate the bad road spots and drive around them. And, by driving more slowly, there was much less of a chance of having an accident. Also, by driving more conservatively, my miles-per-gallon rate would be much better, saving me some money. I am once again back to days in the past, when people drove more slowly. Except for the citiots, I do not have to tell you, for they never learned to leave their impatience back in New York City, calm down, and take a break. They are out here in the realm of nature, like it or not, where one must live by its standards. What I am getting at is, when they are in a car behind me while I am carefully avoiding potholes, going slower than years before, and they think I am stupid or drunk since obviously I am weaving back and forth while trying to go forward, they lean on their horns and thrust a middle finger into the air. Sometimes I slow down more than I need to, just to annoy them a little more, returning their middle-finger salute in mock appreciation. I once told one of these jerks as he passed me on the left (just before his accident up ahead) to just get out of bed a half-hour earlier, and maybe just calm down, so you can still get to your very important meeting on time. So, thank you, East Hampton Town Highway Department, for your modest-pace work ethic, for the longer it takes you folks to fix the potholes the more slow and civilized pace of life, higher miles-to-gallon rates, fewer accidents, uninjured animals, and, of course, just many more opportunities to annoy the anxious citiots tailgating me from behind and late to a very important brunch at the nearby country club. Thank you, RONALD LEWIS Streams of Extreme East Hampton February 25, 2014 Dear Editor, Will there ever be an end to these disgusting, moronic, and disrespectful lies, comments, and antics by conservative Republicans and their supporters? Are we going to be constantly subjected to media reports of the streams of extreme invective emanating from the mouths of those who seek favor with segments of the Republican Party, best described as subnormal (don’t want to call them Neanderthals; that would insult Neanderthals). Will every Tea Party candidate running in a primary election sign on scum like Ted Nugent to help them obtain the votes and curry the favor of these Obama-government haters? Will we ever hear any condemnation of these ignorant creeps, candidates and supporters alike, who make these excrement-filled comments? Will the John McCains, Lindsey Grahams, Eric Cantors, Reince Priebuses et al, ever get backbones and stand up to be counted as opposed to this type of hate speech, which clogs and rots the media and divides the country? I doubt it. They are too involved in trying to bring down Hillary with Benghazi, supporting voter suppression laws, and calling pregnant women “hosts” who, according to Limbaugh, are sex-starved and don’t need any help from the Agency for Health Care Administration to suppress their libidos. Yeah, man, they are all such a homogeneous, wonderful group, making those that still call themselves Republicans proud and scaring the bejeebers out of me! RICHARD P. HIGER
Published 5 years ago
Last updated 5 years ago
Letters to the Editor: 03.06.14
March 5, 2014