Letter: Encouraged by energy-storage progress

“Aiming to power up” [Business, Feb. 27] was an inspiring story about a homegrown innovative battery startup. StorEn Technologies in Stony Brook is pioneering the use of vanadium-flow battery technology for possible home use as storage backup to the power grid.

If these guys are able to bring this technology safely and cost-effectively to the private housing market, what a great step forward in ensuring against blackouts during power outages. Sign me up as interested!

It was refreshing to read about something positive besides train wrecks, local political corruption and Washington scandals.

Michael J. Moonitz, Massapequa

Trouble with multi-party nominees

The Constitution states that “the people of the several states” shall choose who represents them in Washington, not political party leaders. So if the New York State Democratic Party is really concerned about corruption, as State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) is quoted as saying, it should repeal the Wilson Pakula Act of 1947, which forbids a candidate from receiving the nomination of a political party if he or she is not a registered member of that party, unless the candidate gets permission from party officials.

Repealing the Wilson Pakula Act for an “open primary system” would allow a candidate for office to appear on any party’s line, regardless of the candidate’s registration, as long as he or she collects enough signatures from members of that specific party. This would give “the people” real choices.

Jack Coughlin, Deer Park

Editor’s note: The writer is a member of the Suffolk County Conservative Party executive committee.

As a poll worker, I favor limiting a candidate to one line per ballot.

Many voters think they need to fill every circle where their candidate’s name appears, thus invalidating the ballot. When I tell them they can vote for a candidate for an elected office on only one line, the response is inevitably, “But I only voted for one person.”

Limiting the places where a candidate’s name appears would alleviate this situation.

Jeff Cohen, Flushing

Post public-agency records online

Why won’t the Massapequa Water District publish all of its documents and information about the district online instead of hiding behind the Freedom of Information Law [“Effort to stop ‘abusive’ use of law,” News, Feb. 19]?

For that matter, why is it not a state law that all public entities publish all of their information online? This information belongs to the people, not the employees who work for us.

Jerry Romano, Sea Cliff

Local roads more important than parks

Instead of putting $15 million into Nassau County parks, can we please start to do something about the condition of the roads [“$15M makeover for parks,” News, March 6]? They are truly disgraceful.

I recently had relatives visiting from out of state, and it was embarrassing to drive them around town. They could not believe that with what we pay in taxes, our roads could be in such horrible condition. How about first doing something about the roads we need to travel to get to our parks?

Bill Wright, Wantagh

Why wasn’t video from bus seen sooner?

Your story about allegations that a former bus driver and two former aides abused a boy with autism says a surveillance camera was placed in the bus [“DA: Former bus driver, aides charged with abusing child, 9,” News, March 6].

So why wasn’t video from that camera viewed daily? If it had been, this innocent child would seem to have been spared being abused multiple times. How dare someone inflict such pain! I’d like to bend back the toes of the suspects, kick them and slap their faces. And they have the nerve to deny any wrongdoing. Well, cameras do not lie!

Chris Viola-Weiss, Oceanside

No candidate wants pure socialism in U.S.

A letter writer who defined socialism as simply taking from the wealthy and giving to the less wealthy has a serious misconception about certain presidential candidates [“Concerned about socialism in U.S.,” Letters, Feb. 28].

No candidate, including Bernie Sanders, advocates pure socialism, which means government ownership and control of all major industries, replacing private ownership.

Sanders is primarily concerned with overcoming insatiable greed of certain wealthy segments of society, creating a vibrant and democratic economy, providing decent living standards and health care for all, affordable college, and addressing the catastrophic dangers of climate change.

That’s a far cry from pure socialism.

Fred Barnett, Lake Grove