Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows speaks Monday at a news conference at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, after the Republican-dominated House was unable to establish the quorum of lawmakers required to do business.
Redrawing congressional map for states
Why aren’t Arizonans raising a stink about redistricting? District 6 lost its Democratic Representative in Congress because of remapping, adding Vail to our district. As a result, we gained Representative Juan Ciscomani.
Before the President starts in on remapping Texas and possibly other states, why doesn’t someone inform him that he only received 49% of the electorate’s votes? There is 51% of the electorate, comprised of Democrats, Independents and others who are not seeing eye-to-eye on everything. Leave the maps as they are until the next election. In that way we can see if this administration has satisfied the electorate.
Paula Palotay
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Marana
Firing the messenger
The impact of the president’s firing of the Head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because `he didn’t like the numbers’ means that it will no longer be possible for businesses, banking, and educational institutions to trust federally-reported data on which they rely. The impact is global and the firing has been condemned by the International Statistical Institute. A joke is circulating that George Santos will be appointed as the next head, but the reality is far from being humorous. It sometimes appears that the Trump/GOP overall objective is for the economic collapse of America so that the wealthiest can simply pick up the pieces at bargain basement prices? Their best argument in defense of their big bill on the backs of our children/grandchildren is that it would have otherwise meant tax increases for us — but without mentioning the billionaire class that benefits the most.
Ed Waymire
Midtown
Project Blue and voter referendum
The City of Tucson allows voters to petition the Mayor and Council to demand the reconsideration and repeal of an ordinance and legislative act – including property annexation — before it becomes effective. If adequate petition signatures are secured within 30 days of the Mayor and Council’s action they must reconsider the ordinance and repeal it or seek voters’ approval or rejection.
The groundswell of public outrage opposing Project Blue (PB) requires a strategy to defeat the project should the Mayor and Council approve the property annexation necessary to green light PB. Now is the time to initiate the referendum process so that those of us who elected the Mayor and Council to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with our values can drive the final nail into the PB coffin.
Collectively confronting — and quashing — a decision by our elected officials to annex the land necessary to construct PB through the referendum process is at hand. Let’s make damn sure that when the public leads, our leaders will follow.
Scott Feierabend
Foothills
Citizens can block Project Blue
I just read where the AZ Supreme Court ruled that residents can block projects approved by local governments by putting the projects on the ballot. I submit that the Tucson city and Pima County administrators put the project up for a vote in the November election. The courts say we can even do this after approval. Give the voters a real voice on this project.
Doug Heaberlin
Vail
Support for data centers
Bravo to Mr Godlewski in support of the data centers. Excellent points, as opposed to the proportionally small crowd that is against everything but yells the loudest.
City and county leaders take note. If support fails, it will cast a lasting pall over Tucson as an anti-business center. Leadership must stand up against the nay-sayers of the whining class. Move forward with courage, not withering fear.
Robert Joyner
Midtown
A new solution for Project Blue
Recently, Stephen Fleming’s Daily Star opinion proposed desalination and nuclear plants as expensive and impractical solutions to water and energy for the Project Blue data center. Now, energy entrepreneur Charles Stack’s opinion proposes waterless geothermal cooling. Since my PhD in Geosciences was a long time ago, he needs to explain this new technology to me (and you). The temperature increases 75-85°F each 0.6 mi deep in the earth until 1800°F at the lower crust. How is this thermal energy tapped? How is it converted to cooling? Are there potential water, energy, noise, or pollution issues? How much does it cost, and who would pay for it? How long would it take to develop infrastructure? Who would do the work? Who profits? We need more than a promotional sales pitch to consider geothermal cooling for Project Blue.
Tom Van Devender
North side
Quandary
As an American, I want our president to succeed. My quandary lies in the costs of these benefits.
The president has exceeded all expectations for monetizing the presidency and government. He has directly benefited through airplane gifts (renovated by taxpayer dollars), payments from universities and corporations, and crypto coin contributions.
Waste, fraud and abuse have been rooted out of government. USAID has been shut down, so we will no longer waste money feeding the starving in Africa. Department of Education is to be shuttered so that we no longer pay to educate kids with dubious programs. Our health care system is being reformed to exclude those poor people who can’t pay and will probably die anyway. Experts, judges, lawyers, statisticians, are being replaced by loyalists who will follow the party line.
The costs seem to greatly exceed the benefits, but then I am not in the family.
Ronald Nowicki
Green Valley
Project Blue
It seems that the people pushing Project Blue are also very good at Three-card monte as they have touched on everything but the basic problem. Kuldip Verma does say that water is “a concern.” That will be awarded the understatement of all time. They want to talk about water usage and all their plans for it. They have all kinds of ways to slice the pie, which is fine as long as they realize that “the pie” is going to be smaller and smaller for a long time. Water usage is not water creation, and all the plans in the world do not add an additional drop to the water supply here, which is not going to increase any time soon.
Tim Canny
Oracle
Ruffled feathers
My asking why the gun is always blamed ruffled some feathers and brought condemnation. Consider the following. There are over 20,000 gun laws in the U.S, many resulting in a felony. Will more gun laws fix things when criminals don’t obey the law? Liberal politicians have literally campaigned on taking guns away from everybody, and of course, there’s the crowd that believes the 2nd Amendment should be abolished. Suicides and gang violence make up more than half the gun deaths every year, making the total count a questionable talking point. A 2021 National Firearms Survey found approximately 1.6 million defensive gun uses in a year, with some estimates as high as 2.5 million, but that doesn’t fit the anti-gun narrative. Donna Pierce says a man murdered her sister despite a restraining order, and later murdered a second wife. Why was he not in jail and what laws does she think would have saved them? Last time I checked, murder was already illegal. Just the facts.
Dan Rusciolelli
East side
PB a bad fit for us
As a Ph.D. environmental scientist, I have spent a large part of my career studying river, riparian, and water-related issues, and have served as a consultant to the City of Tucson, Pima County, TEP, and the development community. Everything I have seen has taught me that we live in an area of water scarcity, where every drop is of value to some living being. I have also learned that you can’t drink paper water or money, and that most predictions and promises by the development community are not fulfilled. We have the potential to live within our means, but only if we do not listen to the voices of greed. Project Blue, as currently envisioned, is a terrible fit for this environment. The current plan should be rejected because it will use an inappropriate amount of water and power and cause serious damage to our natural and human community.
Please act wisely and with prudence.
Ken Kingsley
East side
OK then, but not now?
In January 2021 the Democrats in the evenly-split U.S. Senate, with only a VP tiebreaker to give them a majority, discussed and tried to initiate removal of the Senate filibuster so they could then: Add four seats to the Supreme Court, grant statehood to D.C and Puerto Rico, lower the legal voting age to 16 and outlaw voter ID laws — all with the purpose of “saving” our democracy by converting it into an entrenched one-party monopoly. Only Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin among the Democrats showed the courage to stand up to this power grab. Now, in the overwhelmingly Republican state of Texas, leaders look to redistrict congressional districts formed from errors from the 2020 census — and Democrats decry this action as “an assault on democracy”. Where were these voices in 2021?
I also find it ironic that the Texas Democratic legislators “decamped” to Illinois and New York — states with the most gerrymandered districts in the country.
Tom Furlong
East side
Teaching peace
One morning, as I drove past a vacant lot, I saw two elementary school-age boys using sticks to “sword fight.” I sensed this might escalate, so I did a U-turn, driving my squad car back. As I parked, they were now punching each other. I hit my siren, but the boys continued. As I separated the boys, both made accusations about hitting each other too hard with the stick and calling derogatory names. I had them ask each other, “Are you OK?” Then I smiled, “What do you say now?” “Sorry” was their reply. The tears were flowing. I had them shake hands, smile and pat each other on the back. No handcuffs — rather, a teachable moment, peace restored. As I drove them to school, we talked about how important it was that we treat each other with respect and to be friends. I shared my story with their teacher, who gave them both a hug. Share the message of peace with your children. “Peace be with you.”
Richard Harper
Northeast side
3 Marines and their dad, Narciso Barranco
The three sons are U.S. Marines, and Mr. Barranco is their father. He has been in the USA for about 30 years, working and paying into Social Security. He spent almost three weeks in a cage with many others, one toilet. Masked Ice agents with weapons threw him on the ground and punched him. (See the videos) He was targeted due to his race. His suspected crime was a misdemeanor allegedly almost 30 years ago. After he was released, he thanked his community, the elected officials, his priest, family, and his lawyer Lisa Ramirez.
He has always had strong community support and thanked the Rapid Response Team.
His three sons serve with honor for the U.S. Marines.
It is also a huge waste of taxpayer’s money. Billions to chase misdemeanor violations; BS.
I support immigrants who work, study and contribute to our diverse culture. If Trump wants to spend our money, send ICE chasing jay walkers, sidewalk spitters and those urinating in public.
Dan Bannon
Midtown
The false promises of data centers
I am an engineer, and I understand the push for data centers. It’s the way of the future, because people want machines to do all the hard thinking for them. Guess what the machines will never figure out: How to generate water in the desert. But Beale has it figured out. They will trade us cold, hard cash for this limited, life-sustaining resource so they can keep these machines going. Well, you can’t squeeze water from a dollar any more than you squeeze blood from a turnip. Tucson sets the gold standard for water conservation, because the people who live here understand that this resource is scarce and finite. There are plenty of examples where the threat of Day Zero occurs due to mismanaged water utilities. Project Blue is a great example of misguided decisions that would lead to drastic reductions in our life support.
Dan Hunt
Midtown
Back to the drawing board
For the sake of argument, let’s concede that Tucson probably should have one or even more data centers. But let’s recognize that Project Blue is a brazen attempt to take advantage of resources that belong to Tucsonans.
First, the developers should stop trying to take our too-scarce water. The promise to replace all they use is smoke and mirrors: It cannot be done. Data centers can and should be cooled using geothermal heat pumps.
Second, the power to run the heat pumps should come from renewable energy. Let them build solar farms and install batteries. No pollution from coal or gas-fired energy sources. No draining our grid.
Yes, it will cost more. But it will be “done right” and sustainably. Project Blue exploits our low water rates and power infrastructure. It should be rejected and the developers told to revise and resubmit.
Suzanne Ferguson
Midtown
Spoils to billionaires
“This is what it looks like with the end of liberalism”, by Anne Applebaum. Read this, get a real look at what Trump and Musk are doing with their DOGE cuts. How can we, as a people, accept this? Only to give the spoils to billionaires.
What’s up, Republicans? Is death and starvation the new normal, in your prejudice and disgusting world? This male-dominated attraction, to these 2 people, will not be judged kindly by history, and rightly so. As a senior citizen, I would never have guessed, the level of hate for your fellow man. Take heed, Republicans, the shame and stink of these actions, will be with you always.
Mary Bradley
Northeast side
The price for scientific ignorance
Of all the stupid decisions by the DJT Administration, this may be the worst; I read this morning that RFK Jr has decided to terminate HHS research into RNA vaccines. Through his own malfeasance, Trump was greatly responsible for COVID killing ~1M Americans in the first occurrence, more than Hitler in WWII. Originally trained in virology and immunology, I believe that the rapid development of RNA vaccines was a technological achievement as stunning as any in computers or our space program. By their own estimates, HHS concluded that RNA vaccines saved over 14M lives that would have otherwise been lost to COVID. After firing all of their experienced scientific advisors and replacing them with naive sycophants, there is now a total disregard for science and truth in this administration. Our country is already paying a high price for ignorance, sitting by while we are told that obvious facts are not true. What will it take for folks of both parties to finally stand up?
Tim Helentjaris
Northwest side
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