Just Sayin': Trees, power lines a scary combination, MLB 'improvements'

Trees, power lines are scary combination

As you ride along Long Island roads, look at the electrical wires above you and notice how many trees will hit them when they are blown over. Now, imagine the electrical outages when the next real hurricane crosses Long Island and flattens tens of thousands of overgrown trees. More than a third of a billion dollars was spent in August when Tropical Storm Isaias created short gusts in some communities. Old, tall trees flopped over, resulting in thousands of outages lasting many days.

Our public electric utility grid has become a critical lifeline for our coastal society, joining with roadways and water, food and fuel sources, and internet and phone services. The stage is set for an unimaginable catastrophic disaster because massive trees have continued to grow to great heights the past 50-plus years. Most storm outages are caused by trees. A sure solution is to draft and pass a "Long Island electric grid infrastructure protection act," which could require removal of 30-foot-high trees within 30 feet of pole lines and service drops. The cost is far less than what the current hurricane blow-over outage losses would be. We absolutely can prevent future storm-caused electricity blackouts.

Thomas R. Muller, Manorville

I’ve heard a lot of talk of the different types of infrastructure work needed, which would provide the American worker with more opportunities. However, what I haven’t heard is talk about burying our ungodly looking utility poles and wires for both safety and aesthetic-looking reasons.

When was the last time you took a good look at the tree trimming being done around these poles? All the trees I see are cut to look like the letter "Y." Does this mean they are all Yankee trees?

The wide open space in the middle of these trees looks ridiculous. It’s time to bury all these utility lines, and here are the best reasons: hurricanes, ice storms and nor’easters.

Let’s beautify Long Island at the same time. After all, we are paying enough in taxes already, so we might as well enhance the safety of our power grid, too.

Dioenis D. Perez, Carle Place

MLB ‘improvements’ are a real strikeout

Thank you, Major League Baseball, for deadening the baseball. It’s so much more fun watching no one score. Apparently, this season’s adjustment in baseball has helped the pitchers. So many pitchers now throw 100 miles per hour and, it seems, can strike out the world. Leave the game alone.

It’s worked with the same dimensions for more than 100 years. Stop messing with it.

Jeff Ward, Medford