Utility rate hikes are changing the way we live Kew Gardens Hills: The Kew Gardens Hills Civic Association and Community Foundation has been receiving many complaints from our community on the high cost of their utility bills, increasing by 60-70% or more. Based on the number of complaints and the o verwhelming increases, I believe we are experiencing a utility cost crisis unprecedented in our lifetime. One bill went from $188 on a level billing plan to $310 over the last 12 months when usage has not changed. The owner indicated they are cutting back by shutting off lights, lowering the thermostat, shutting off security lights in the front and back of the house and doing less frequent laundry, etc. This is a three-bedroom, 20-foot-wide home with one occupant. A family’s bill was $975 for a small two-bedroom garden apartment less than half the size of the one above. Yes, they have more people, but how are these sharp increases justified when people’s habits have not changed? People have had to change their usage habits to afford the high costs and try to bring them down, to no avail. The more consumers cut their utility habits, the more the utility companies raise their rates to offset the cutbacks and keep their revenue flow at the same level or higher. Another single-family home with two people had a bill for $668.20, a dramatic increase over the past year. We would appreciate investigations by an independent consultant to get to the bottom of this crisis! Utility companies will justify their billing to enhance their bottom lines. I would not depend on them for a fair assessment and analysis. Stan Norwalk Mapped out Manalapan, N.J.: I turned to page 53 of the Daily News on Thursday and saw a sight to warm all of our hearts. The sports calendar published daily will include for the next seven months the schedules of and how to follow our beloved Yankees and Mets. Baseball, there’s nothing like it. There are 162 games until October baseball, where I hope and expect to see them both. New York, New York. Kevin O’Donnell Poor promotion Woodside: I keep reading about President Trump raising tariffs and creating tariffs on many products Americans buy so that American products will seem cheaper than foreign products. To me, it seems that making better American products is a better solution. “Buy American” should be about pride and value. This tariff gimmick does not mean pride in American products. Richard Tobiassen Display of ineptitude Brooklyn: The behavior of most military leaders involved with the Signal/Atlantic magazine incident reminds me of the contrived, inexperienced boy bands that once attempted to replace The Beatles. Imagine that. “Hey, hey, we’re The Monkees” comes to mind. These vital U.S. defense positions require long-experienced military professionals who lived that life, where respect and honesty is their ethos. The recent hearings and interviews exposed people in power feeling the heat and being dishonest, and being 100% beholden to their singular leader instead of to the people’s democracy and Constitution. Barry Brothers Circle of sycophants Penticton, British Columbia: The White House ambush on Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the classified Signal scandal, among other events, expose Trump’s questionable cabinet devoid of statesman material. Is Trump capable of defining statesman or stateswoman? Rather, his are shallow-thinking, rapidly cheap-talking, obedient toadies, all petrified of offending their grievously mentally and spiritually ill mob don. Where have all of America’s friends gone? Joe Schwarz Aspirational duty Tamarac, Fla.: There are good people who enter our country illegally who desperately want to start a new and better life for themselves and their families. They would be welcomed here with open arms and avoid the trauma of deportation if they had only taken the time to follow the legal process of entry into this new country they have chosen to call their home. And there are those who enter our country illegally who come here to continue their lifestyles of ruthless terrorism by imposing themselves on decent citizens who might turn out to be you or a member of your family. Gang members put no value on life and are not welcome in our country. Deportation is the only option! It’s hard to understand why, as American citizens, Democrats don’t help in the process of cleaning up America. Do they hate the president that much? Roberta Chaleff Historic heroism Brooklyn: “Tuskegee airman, 101, takes aim at prez” (March 24) was accurate. But let’s not forget that these aviators saved the lives of countless bomber crews with their ability to escort and protect the bombers as they bombed Germany. Also, Roscoe Brown was the first pilot in the 15th Air Force to shoot down a German jet fighter at 30,000 feet over Germany. Louie Scarcella Expect regrets Bronx: When all the party followers of the complainer in chief get caught in their world of lies and all the horrors created for the American people regarding health, finances and quality of life, their last words will be “he made me do it.” Remember those words after World War II? Mark Benveniste Salvation for sale Bronx: Oh my God! I thought the crap Trump was selling was pathetic, but compared to Paul White (Trump’s spiritual leader and a government employee), Trump’s hawking fake $2 bills for $20, inane trading cards and overpriced bibles, etc. is child’s play. White’s offer of “seven supernatural blessings” for $1,000 must be the apex of anti-Jesus Christianity. Randall Borra Anonymous antagonists Geneva, N.Y.: So the demonstrators on various campuses cover their faces so they can’t be identified. That is exactly what the Ku Klux Klan did when they were burning crosses up on the hill to intimidate my mother’s family when she was growing up in western New York. Tom Geary Masks off Brooklyn: Now there are some Columbia University students and teachers who disagree with the university’s new rules on handling protesters and protecting Jewish students’ civil rights. It’s everyone’s right to protest, but not to step over the line to violate the civil rights of Jewish students, which is breaking a federal law, or to spread hateful speech as well as praising Hamas terrorists and vandalizing school property, all while wearing masks like common criminals to hide their identities. If these students and teachers disagree with abiding by the law, they should leave the campus. Teachers and students who want to teach and learn will benefit. Joseph Comperchio Public funding Rochdale Village: To Voicer John Squicciarini: The reason Columbia University gets $400 million is because of many scientific research projects. It helps to know about the reason you’re writing before you write! Saul Rothenberg Produced and pilfered Boynton Beach, Fla.: There has been a huge change in public attitudes toward copyright protection. Ever since the days of Pandora distributing music created and copyrighted by artists, people seem to feel they have a right to free access to intellectual property. The practice continues. Microsoft, Google and AI companies want a legal right to abscond with content produced by employees of the news media. Why would newspapers such as the Daily News and The New York Times continue to pay staff to create stories that they effectively give away for free? Who would be left to write the stories? Under this theory, newspapers including The News and the Times could print the code for the software that AI companies use, since the copyrights protecting the software would be as worthless as those meant to protect content producers. Andrew LeWinter Step it up Wallingford, Conn.: Can you explain why you have downsized the print in your paper? If it gets any smaller I’m going to need a magnifying glass to read it. In addition, the printing is getting lighter every day. And regarding your reporters’ writing abilities, didn’t anyone teach them about one-sentence paragraphs in school? Most of the reporters, but not all of them, have the same problem. Tell them or send them back to school to learn how to write properly. It is amazing that a paper as great as the Daily News has to put up with this crap on a daily basis. The writing is slowly taking this once-great paper to the nearest toilet! Ed Gerosa ...read more read less