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Fox News...
New York Power
Company Charges Town Honoring War Hero Flag Fee
By Todd Starnes
Published May 24, 2011
A New York community that displayed American flags on utility poles to
honor a fallen hero is outraged after the Long Island Power Authority
sent them a bill – for using their poles.
“I was pretty shocked,” said Peter Reich, a councilman in the Long
Island community of Shelter Island. “It’s the most ludicrous thing.”
The flags were hung last year for the funeral of Army 1st Lt. Joseph
Theinert. The Shelter Island native was killed while on active duty in
Afghanistan. He sacrificed his life to save his platoon and was
posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his actions.
Last week, Theinert’s platoon gathered in Shelter Island for a reunion.
To welcome the troops, the American Legion, along with the owner of the
local hardware store, decided to once again line the parade route with
American flags.
Local residents donated the $8,000 needed to purchase the flags, and
the town’s superintendent of highways posted them on the utility poles.
But someone from the power company reportedly saw a story about the
flags in a local newspaper and informed town officials of the
$5-per-flag fee.
“This is done by the Legionnaires who have served the country for the
right for us to display Old Glory and here the state wants to make a
profit on it,” Reich told Fox News Radio. “At some point common sense
has to prevail with these people.”
Mike Loriz, the commander of American Legion Post 281, said he, too,
was disturbed by the fee. “It seems like it’s kind of crazy that state
law requires that we pay $5 to stick an American flag on a public
utility phone pole for patriotic purposes,” Loriz said.
A spokesperson for the Long Island Power Authority did not respond to
repeated requests for a comment and instead demanded to know, “Why is
this a story?”
Michael Hervey, LIPA’s chief operating officer, told Newsday that his
company was just following state law. “I don’t think anyone expected
this to apply to flags on poles, but if you read the language there’s
no way around it,” he told the newspaper. “We welcome any amendment to
state legislation that would allow for American flag attachments to our
poles without fees.”
Read the rest of the story at Fox News
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