presstalk 865-671-TALK (8255) or editor@farragutpress.com

• Thank you for the article (in our Jan. 18 issue) about the (First Utility District) rate hike. But it seems to me that would have been an article that should have been published in December. When I got my bill that is due in January, I thought I had a water leak or some other problem. I called and asked about the rate increase, and got a convoluted answer from a woman.

I said, “Well, shouldn’t that have been publicized?” And she very curtly said, “We are not required to do that.” It would just seem to me the better part of public relations to advertise in advance that you are going to have a rate increase.