Just Sayin': A day to celebrate people like my daughter, gas drivers, Northern State hazard

Celebrate people who are like my daughter

My daughter is smart. She could read above a 12th-grade level when she was in fourth grade, can do complex math in her head and was one of only 15 students accepted into Binghamton University’s Clean Energy freshman research project. She is majoring in physics and minoring in Japanese.

My daughter is kind, stands up to bullies, fosters friendships with the awkward kids and can’t stand to see others in pain. She even went to her scout troop council to advocate for an autistic peer who became an Eagle Scout.

My daughter is terrible at sports. In soccer, she feared accidentally kicking someone, so she rarely kicked the ball. During a basketball game, she would stop to help up an opposing player. In baseball, she was more interested in watching bugs than catching the ball.

My daughter is transgender. She used to avoid getting her picture taken, would cry when she saw herself in the mirror, and loathed her body.

Now that she is living as female, she is truly happy. Friday, March 31, was Transgender Day. Let us celebrate her and all other transgender people and remember that is only a small part of who they are.

 — Heather Barrett, Riverhead

With fewer gas drivers, who’ll pay for repairs?

As we keep moving to hybrid and electric cars, we also continue to defund our road repair programs. A portion of our gas tax goes to repairing and maintaining our roads. Not just locally but nationally, too.

We continue to see our roads deteriorate. This past winter, with little or no bad freeze or salt on our roads, our roads are still in disrepair.

How will we address the growing lack of funds to make repairs? Will we add a fee to register these new high-efficiency vehicles that use less gas?

The need for emission inspections, another source of state income, will also go away. A low percentage of electric vehicles are on the road today, but as each car manufacturer commits to going all-electric, who will pay the price of our road repairs?

 — Rich Selzer, Franklin Square

Northern State’s eastern part a hazard

It has become increasingly dangerous to travel on the easternmost end of the Northern State Parkway. Crews are constantly doing patchwork, but it is not working.

Why have they apparently redone other major roads and left this one to continue to deteriorate? I consider the area from the easternmost part of the parkway in Hauppauge to Route 110 in Melville a hazard and an embarrassment.

Those responsible must do better. How many accidents from avoiding potholes have to happen before something is done?

 — Ronnie Rubin, Smithtown

We pay the highest taxes in the East. Why our roads look like Swiss cheese still boggles the mind. How busy are highway crews this time of year? Summer is coming. Let’s hope they get repairs done soon.

 — Charley Frey, West Babylon