Tucson speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of Oct. 4, 2019
Our weekly round-up of letters published in the Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Teachers deserve to earn more than ballplayers
There was recently an announcement on a professional ballplayer negotiating a contract for seven years at $215 million, or about $2.5 million a month for seven years.
Here in Arizona “we” just can’t find the money to pay our teachers — the people who teach our children to survive in the future world — a wage that they can live on. Many of them earn less than $40,000 a year gross, or about $3,333 dollars a month. Who are we as a people to pay anybody $2.5 million a month and the teachers of their children barely a living wage? Shouldn’t this be just the opposite?
Roger Engels
Northwest side
GOP candidate using dangerous imagery
A Republican candidate seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick has put out a dangerous and disqualifying ad. Brandon Martin says he needs “ammunition” in the form of donations and that he has his “sights trained” on her. The ad contains an image of a bullet with the word “support” on it. This is especially distasteful in a district where our former representative was shot.
Martin needs to find a rock to crawl under and not come out until he can become a civil human being.
Gail Kamaras
East side
Prop. 205 would hurt entire community
Proposition 205 is a do-nothing publicity stunt that is attempting to exploit Tucson in the ongoing national debate around immigration. Not only would Prop. 205 have no effect on immigration policy, it would hurt everyone in our community.
Since Prop. 205 is in violation of state law, the state would withhold tens of millions in shared revenue each year that we desperately need, and the Tucson Police Department would lose the partnerships it now has with federal agencies and databases that help it solve crimes.
We need immigration reform at the national level. We cannot afford this expensive and dangerous local initiative and Tucsonans would be wise to vote “no” on Prop 205.
Judy Sparrow
Foothills
Giuliani, Trump behave like mobsters
Having recently watched a series about how the mafia in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas was eventually understood and busted by an up-and-coming energetic lawyer, is it any wonder why President Trump hired Rudy Giuliani as his personal lawyer?
Here is a man who took on the mob bosses, discovered their weaknesses and exploited that knowledge to bring them to justice.
Understanding how mob bosses work, he can now defend someone who operates under those same guises, threatening without speaking said words, pushing buttons to have corrupt policies enforced and essentially living the life of a mob boss. He is now protected by the one person who knows those ways. If only the ethics Giuliani had as a young lawyer could shine forth now, instead of the lies and bluster he uses today. Wonder why he was in the Ukraine deals? I don’t.
Carl Olson
West side
Feeling nostalgic, Mr. President?
So, Mr. Trump, you remind us that “we used to handle it a little differently than we do now” when referring to what should happen to whistleblowers. Let me remind you that debtors were also handled a little differently. We used to have debtors’ prisons, where people worked off their debt via labor or secured outside funds to pay the balance owed.
Sadly, debtors’ prisons are still likely to appear in states where many people live in poverty and are unable to pay fines and fees. They have no access to lawyers to get them off the hook for, say, six corporate bankruptcies.
Michael Carson
Midtown
How about Grassley instead of Trump in ’20?
As a Republican, I have my candidate for president, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Grassley quite reasonably is defending the whistleblower who reported that President Trump’s telephone call to the president of Ukraine.
Why is he offering this defense? For the same reason that we have a press/media shield privilege allowing a reporter not to disclose confidential sources. If the sources are subject to disclosure and retaliation, evidence of crime and corruption will not come to light.
Grassley strikes me as a decent guy who is the antithesis of Trump and his wild allegations of treason. Anybody for a Draft Grassley movement?
Richard Sipan
Green Valley
Gun control is
a public health issue
Re: the Oct. 1 opinion “International health rankings don’t really tell the whole story.”
The writer is correct on one issue. He seems to admit that bullet holes are a heath issue, or is there another cause of “our high rates of instantaneous death by murder or accidents” that I am missing?
Accidental death by gunshot is not an accident, by the way. Gun control is a public health issue. Regulation and research should be no different than any other medical problem.
Bob Foster, retired doctor
West side
It’s astonishing anyone still supports Trump
I guess the supporters of “Cadet Bone Spurs” are exceedingly overjoyed by the amount of money raised since the impeachment started. It has led me to believe that he could shoot someone in the Rose Garden on national TV and his supporters would call it fake news.
I cannot image how they can be so naive. It also astonishes me that they continue to ignore the lies put forth by him and the members of his Cabinet and his New York attorney.
I am also surprised by the so-called members of the religious right who have no idea as to what Jesus Christ was trying to teach us. Read your Bible!
The New Testament is where Jesus appears, for those of you that need that information. It is not about being a hater, adulterer, liar, racist, womanizer and an all-around jerk.
Be proud when you look at yourself in the mirror.
Kurt Ohlrich
Oro Valley
Both political parties need a good cleaning
There are lots of good reasons to impeach Donald Trump. So far the Democratic Party has not offered one.
Topping the list is Trump’s belief that human-caused global warming — a potentially existential threat to this country and human civilization — is a hoax. The actions Trump has taken to enshrine his ignorance in public policy are in themselves grounds for impeachment.
In contrast, when it comes to exposing the misdeeds of the Biden family, Trump appears to be well informed. All he (or his lawyers) had to do was read the New York Times and Reuters.
When a son profits from his father’s midwifing a change in a foreign government or flies to China with his father on Air Force 2 to conclude a business deal, who can possibly conclude there is “no evidence of wrongdoing?”
For Trump’s impeachment to stand a chance, it will be necessary to clean house in BOTH political parties.
Steven Lesh
East side
- Updated
Resources are key
in mental health
Re: the Sept. 29 twin pieces “Mental illness: Tucson family struggles to get help.”
My praise and gratitude go out to Rose and Jay Tucker, who wrote about their experience with mental illness and the failure of the health-care community to serve them. I am also thankful to the Arizona Daily Star for publishing their stories. Educating the public and policy makers is perhaps the best way to promote awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness.
Medication and psychotherapy are the most effective ways to deal with it. Unfortunately, people often wind up in hospitals or prisons because we fail to provide preventative care for the mentally ill. People can call the Community Wide Crisis Line at 520-622-6000 for an immediate, severe crisis, or the Hope Inc. Warm Line at 520-770-9909 for someone to talk to for emotional support.
Hopefully, from there, individuals will be directed to adequate resources. We’ve got to provide support for people like Jay. His situation is heartbreaking, and I know we can do better.
Melinda Rogers, retired ER nurse
East side
A different kind of party
Re: the Sept. 30 article “Parking crackdown puts damper on daily ‘party’ at Tumamoc Hill.”
“I understand that during the daytime if they have a lot of patients that can’t park trying to go to a doctor’s appointment. But after they close at 5 o’clock, why don’t they allow them to park?” Santamaria said. “That’s when it gets more packed over here. I don’t understand that, they should have some extra parking for people here.”
Private property owners are afforded the same rights as everyone else including this individual. Why does this individual not encourage other people to park at her own home and ride-share? Maybe they can park in her yard after hours? Quid Pro Quo.
Gary Shandale
West side
Some alternatives
to parking at Tumamoc
Re: the Sept. 30 Road Runner column “Parking crackdown puts damper on daily ‘party’ at Tumamoc Hill.”
How many of those thousand people per day who walk Tumamoc Hill arrive there in cars. Ninety-nine percent? Could that percentage be reduced, maybe? There are options besides the use of private motor vehicles, and the need for parking.
Not only are there excellent bike racks at the base of the hill, AND a TuGo yellow bike docking station, but two different SunTran routes stop at Silverbell and St. Mary’s roads, VERY close by. Even walking to and from bus stops is more exercise than getting in and out of a car (and better for the environment). Or, “I need to stretch my legs, let’s drive over to the Hill.”
Leo Mellon
Downtown
Seems legit
My name is Donald Trump. I am a very rich man, just ask me. I want to be your president. Since I am a very rich man, just ask me, you know that I will place the needs of the country before my own. As a very rich man, a fact that you can confirm by asking me, you know that I can be trusted; just ask me if you are not sure.
Other recent presidents had to provide evidence of their wealth and indication that they have no conflicts of interest. I on the other hand, have no need to provide such information as I am a very rich man and can be trusted, just ask me.
You may hear contrary information about me, but the sources will always be by definition, “Fake News.” Just ask me.
Sidney Owsowitz
Northwest side
To gain the world, but lose your soul
Being a U.S. Senator or a member of the House of Representatives must be the greatest job in the world. If it weren’t, why would so many be willing to jettison their principles to keep their job?
As a voter, I send my representatives to Washington to reflect my interests but also to represent the best interests of our country. Certainly, there are risks; furious tweets, angry lobbyists, or even some unhappy constituents. In the face of this, courage is required.
So many have risked their lives to defend the principles on which this country was built; I am asking them to risk only their job. This is not too much to ask. To quote Jeff Flake, “Trust me when I say that you can go elsewhere for a job. But you cannot go elsewhere for a soul.”
John Warshawer
Foothills
Mental health and law enforcement
Re: the Sept. 29 OpEd pieces “Mental illness: Tucson family struggles to get help.”
My son experienced mental-health episodes in his late 20s, and we had a neighbor who decided to start contacting Pima County Sherriff’s Department (PCSD) whenever our son looked odd or stressed. PCSD never corroborated any interaction or contact between my son and these people. The swarm of deputies, asking questions and making inappropriate statements was heartbreaking.
PCSD did not send out mental-health trained deputies because they don’t have many. They also wear no body cameras, do not have dash cameras in their cars, nor is there civilian oversight.
I sought advice from the PCSD Mental Health Team. Two detectives came to our home. They asked why my adult son lived with us. They asked for protected medical information. They told me that every call was a suspicious criminal activity call to them.
Law enforcement needs mental-health guidelines. Budgets and support for mental-health calls should go to a qualified agency whether you are in the city or county. That is not the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
Marlene Hudson
East side
A true young champion
On Sunday, Sept. 29, in Napa, California, a young African American golfer taught us what it truly means to be an American. His grandfather, from whom he learned the game, is battling Stage 4 stomach cancer, so Cameron Champ played in a PGA tournament with a heavy heart.
But he also played with the honor and decency his Papa Mack modeled for him. When he missed a crucial putt, he did not angrily tweet that the pin placement was unfair. When his closest rival drew into a tie with him on the last hole, he did not call him a cheater or a liar. Instead, he dug down deep and persevered just as his grandfather had done when he faced racial prejudice on his return home after nobly serving in Vietnam.
Cameron showed us that a true American is not one who puts his/her tawdry political agenda ahead of human dignity, but one who carries himself/herself with poise and grace. This is what a REAL champ looks like.
Claire and Jerry Drozd
Northwest side
Whistleblower needs protection
The President takes an oath. Federal employees do, too, and have many rules regulating their duties and actions. If a federal employee commits a crime in doing their duties, they can be terminated. They can also be fired if they witness a crime in the federal workplace and fail to report it.
Years ago, when federal employees performed their sworn duty of reporting crimes or deficiencies in the federal service, they were often punished or fired by their supervisors or managers, sometimes going as far as calling them spies, traitors, or accusing them of treason. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, right, we used to handle them a little differently than we do now.”
The Whistleblower Protection Act protects federal workers who report an activity or possible activity constituting a violation of law, rules, regulations or gross waste of funds, abuse of authority or danger to public safety. It was needed then! It’s needed now.
Randall Eshpeter
Northwest side
- Updated
The swamp is growing under Trump
Our president vowed to “drain the swamp” if elected. He was elected and now stands neck deep in the swamp which is expanding daily because of his actions.
The swamp has engulfed his personal lawyers, the attorney general, the leader of the Senate, members of his cabinet and some Republican members of Congress. Other Republicans have the muck lapping at their heels as they rationalize the situation in order to escape the odious mess.
Unfortunately, if the electorate decides to drain the expanding morass, it may result in the demise of the Grand Old Party after many years of venerable service to the country. In order to avoid such a debacle, they must extricate themselves now.
John Kuisti
West side
Sex-ed is vital
to fighting myths
As a former family practice physician, I have heard many misinformed stories from preteens and teens on the subject of sex.
One of the most memorable was a 14-year-old girl brought in by her mother for several months of missed menstrual periods. The girl was adamant that she had never had sex and was a virgin. Mom added that, “She does not even have a boyfriend.“
On physical exam, the girl either had a large uterine tumor or was several months pregnant, but she was truly a virgin. Her hymen was intact. Tests confirmed that she was pregnant. Turns out she “heavy petted” with a boy and he ejaculated outside her virginal hymen. The girl says her friends had told her that as long as there was no penetration she couldn’t get pregnant.
Misinformation leads to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The more information the better!
Violet Juodakis
Downtown
Prop. 205 risks Tucson’s economic viability
Proposition 205 puts the economic well-being of our community at risk. Arizona State Bill 1487 stipulates that the state of Arizona can withhold shared revenue from cities and towns that the Attorney General believes have violated state law.
Several provisions of Prop. 205 conflict with Arizona law. Therefore, if Prop. 205 passes it will set Tucson up to forfeit $126 million a year in state funding. This accounts for approximately 25% of the city’s general fund budget and will force steep cuts in programs that assist our most vulnerable.
The impact of this loss will be devastating and have far-reaching consequences. Because Prop. 205 is an initiative, the only way to undo the negative consequences would be through another initiative, which would be a drawn-out and expensive process. The mayor and council are powerless to amend or repeal provisions of citizen-led initiatives. Our economic survival depends on your “no” vote on Prop. 205.
Fernando Barraza
Northwest side
Proposition 205
is counterproductive
Proposition 205 is a citizen-led initiative with serious unintended and damaging consequences for the city of Tucson and the immigrants who live here. It will hurt the very people it’s supposed to protect and reverse gains that our city achieved when it became an immigrant-friendly and welcoming city.
Under Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus, there are already general orders which stipulate that police may not engage in immigration enforcement. They are supposed to focus their time and resources on enforcing state and local laws and building trust in the community.
Prop. 205 remedies a problem that does not exist. In addition, if passed, Prop. 205 would limit the Police Department’s ability to work collaboratively with federal agencies on all matters. Currently, the department has access to multiple federal databases that help solve a wide variety of police matters. Prop. 205 would take away this tool. Vote no on this counterproductive initiative.
Sarah Smallhouse
East side
Religious freedom or religious intolerance?
The current use of “religious freedom” often is simply an excuse to slap anyone who’s “not one of us.” It’s used to free people from providing business services to “those people.” Is it going to be used as an excuse for not obeying a female police officer because our religion consistently degrades the authority of women?
In Tucson, it’s being used to fight a sex education curriculum that’s allegedly ignoring parental responsibility for birds and bees discussions. As a retired teacher, I see too many former students, with children, telling me they still hope to complete high school.
As for the accusation that accurate education is sexualizing children, I suggest watching TV or seeing how people dress and act in public. Decent education isn’t corrupting our children. Interpreting the Golden Rule as “kill the non-believers” does a better job of twisting our kids.
Dennis Ritchie
Midtown
Trump’s Ukraine call is an impeachable offense
Re: the Sept. 29 letter “Democrats, media must accept Trump’s success.”
I was astonished by my fellow reader’s letter, which asserts the president is a “far more honorable man than any journalist.” He has been caught in over 12,000 lies during his presidency, which he repeats constantly.
My fellow reader goes on to say that we will “NEVER be a socialist country.”
While we are not a “socialist country,” we have enacted and enjoy a few public programs that help those of us who need a boost to reach the promise our country provides: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance.
Finally, the president’s recent confession that he did indeed ask a foreign country to help him win a second term in return for the release of $400 million of military aid appropriated by Congress is a way-over-the-top impeachable offense; one he doesn’t seem to understand is both unlawful and impeachable.
Dorothy Waugaman
East side
The blessings of liberty
I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! This political editorial comes out of my gratitude to Him.
There were days when delegates to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, with strong loyalty to their own states, wondered if they would reach agreement on a new Constitution. Today, people wonder if Congress and the Executive Branch, with strong loyalty to party and special-interest groups, will stand together as one for the cause for which we have our government — to form and preserve a more perfect union.
The framers of our Constitution didn’t do it alone. Neither can we. The blessings of liberty are given to us by the One whose name is on our currency; the One who asks us to show love to our neighbor, not hate. Let us pray for His guidance; vote according to His will, and pray for those we elect. He will do the rest.
Warren Burda
Oro Valley
Wildcat football team deserves more support
I read the article Greg Hansen wrote about a revitalized Arizona football program adding more panels celebrating bowl victories. Maybe if our local citizens would take more of an interest in out team the panels would fill up a lot faster. Who wants to play football and look at a bunch of empty seats. Athletes want to compete in an arena where they can demonstrate their skills. That is not what we have to offer.
I have been to all three home games this year and it is getting worse. Saturday night was especially bad. A well-known school like UCLA comes to town and we can’t event fill the stands. What better way to enjoy the wonderful fall weather, being outside with friends and family and rooting for our team. As parents, we support our children. Why can’t we support a team of young men trying to bring some joy and pride to the city that we care about. Or do we really care?
Michael Perlman
Foothills
- Updated
Trump, supporters
are pseudo-Americans
The Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion, or petitioning the free exercise thereof, or abridging freedom of speech or the press; or the right to assemble and peacefully petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The Pledge of Allegiance has the words “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”
Insisting to exercise your rights at the expense of preventing others from exercising those same rights is an affront to the above-mentioned documents.
The words and actions of President Trump and many of his supporters, including Gov. Doug Ducey, in their approach to people who believe differently than they ignore and offend the very foundation of our nation.
They are, at best, pseudo-Americans.
Dr. Leonard Rudnick, retired
North side
TEP, city helped us after microburst
I would like to thank the city of Tucson and TEP for working with unflagging enthusiasm throughout the last few days and nights to restore power and cleaning up the debris in our neighborhood.
Timothy Wright
East side
McSally just another unelected bureaucrat
Martha McSally should recuse herself from any vote directly related to the impeachment of Donald Trump.
I know most Republicans will agree with this because they so often criticize “unelected bureaucrats” just as we saw with the uproar when the DOT introduced the new $32 public safety fee. It’s a big issue with them like balanced budgets, ethics, private property rights and taxation.
And what is McSally other than Arizona’s highest ranking unelected bureaucrat?
She’s already declared this little misunderstanding as a “kamikaze mission,” and “total distraction” without benefit of facts. As my conservative friends are sure to agree, those unelected bureaucrats could care less what the public thinks and need to be reined in.
Let her know she doesn’t represent you or Arizona.
Kevin Henderson
Foothills
Constitution
well-trampled
Shortly after Donald Trump was elected, with much help from Vladimir Putin and his Russian trolls and hacks, I commented that our national nightmare had begun. That national nightmare has now reached a critical mass.
Donald Trump has been trampling all over our Constitution and this country’s laws since he took office. Those of his staff who have tried to stem his autocratic efforts have been summarily fired. Once he found his “Roy Cohn” — William Barr, ostensibly the U.S. Attorney General, but in practice, just one more of Trump’s flunkies who aid and abet him in his continued abuse of his power — he has been feeling invincible.
Now that he is facing impeachment because of his latest abuse — attempted extortion of Ukraine’s president before releasing the congressionally approved aid that country sorely needs, Trump is striking out psychotically at all those who dare to tell the truth about his many misdemeanors even implying that they be executed for treason.
Perhaps Congress should also be looking at the 25th Amendment.
Gladys Lujan
SaddleBrooke
GOP hypocrisy
on impeachment
Ken Starr opposes impeachment although his attempt to impeach Clinton found only consensual sex with an intern. Lindsay Graham, at that time, stated that it didn’t necessarily need a crime but a person should be removed if morally unfit. Martha McSally says she has been assaulted. I believe her but she doesn’t extend the same to the 17 women accusing Donald Trump. He has on tape bragged about grabbing women by genitalia. He has insulted Gold Star families, John McCain, the handicapped and believes in dictators over our allies. His using the office to get dirt on a rival is despicable. I guess appointing federal judges outweighs the damage Trump is doing to this country.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Classified
for a reason
I am a retired military person. Unfortunately the Republican Party has been denigrated by two elected presidents (Nixon/Trump). I have been honored to have worked in job association with intelligence people from the FBI/NSA/CIA, and understand security control. In my era, any and all data would be declassified by the initiating person. To this day (I am 81), I do not discuss anything I know as classified because I don’t know what the current status is today.
Trump has no reality of the importance of intelligence and should refer all declassification to proper classification authorities. He is totally in his own personal, unknowledgeable bubble and fails to be logical with any level of intelligence. His ignorance shouldn’t be tolerated by our congressional oversight people.
Donald Groner
Benson
- Updated
Democrats, media must accept Trump’s success
President Trump is a far more honorable man than any journalist who spews their daily poison each and every day to the American people with lies and half-truths, in an effort to destroy the most successful man of our lifetime. Why? Solely because poor criminal Hillary Clinton lost her bid to be president.
When will liberal Democrats wake up from their fantasy world and face reality? We will NEVER be a socialist country and no Democrat has a chance of defeating the strongest and most accomplished president in U.S. history. Liberal Democrats are so blinded by hate, they cannot see that they are destroying their own party. Trump will never be impeached and the House will return to a Republican majority in 2020.
Scott R. Hadley
South side
GOP candidates always have the same symptoms
Re: Sept. 26 special edition “SEPTEMBER TIME MACHINE.”
Thanks to the Star’s offering of pages from history, I learned from the issue of Sept.17, 1940, that Wendell Willkie, running to unseat President Roosevelt, claimed in a campaign speech that FDR had “telephoned Hitler and Mussolini and urged them to sell Czechoslovakia down the river at Munich,” in 1938. In another speech, he asserted that if Roosevelt won, “we would all be living under an American totalitarian government before the third term is finished.”
Willkie is usually treated kindly in history books, but this suggests the possibility that some cicada-like virus can erupt among Republican candidates when elections roll around, and they have trouble staying sane. Symptoms may include paranoid, demented accusations and blustering threats: “Treason!” “Socialism!” “Hatred of America!” “We’re drowning in a sea of debt!” and so on.
Herbert Schneidau
Foothills
Consider the dangers of a Pence presidency
With the impeachment drums beating ever more loudly, the drum beaters should pause and consider what would happen if they are successful. You cannot get rid of an administration by removing the president. Mike Pence would become president. Pence has been a lifelong ultra conservative, with ties to evangelical and various conservative groups whose avowed agenda is to roll back women’s rights, gay rights, minority rights, and bring about a return to the culture and social values of the 1950s.
Pence has been Trump’s conduit to these organizations from the get-go and has been the behind-the-scenes promoter of these conservative agendas. Anyone in favor of impeachment should look up and read the Oct. 23, 2017, New Yorker Magazine article “The Danger of President Pence.” Sometimes it’s just better to stay with the devil you know than the devil you don’t, no matter how distasteful.
Alex Rycar
Midtown
Trump, Giuliani, Barr must all be dealt with
I just finished reading the full whistleblower report this morning, and it’s crystal clear that President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Bill Barr are all guilty of serious crimes.
The only rational option going forward is to, 1) impeach Trump as soon as possible, and remove him from office before he does any more damage. 2) remove Barr from office and, 3) prosecute Giuliani.
Thomas Brennan
Southwest side
Coverage on players will boost Wildcats
As a suggestion to help Adia Barnes get all the attention she deserves for her team, it would be great if PJ Brown writes an article on each player, especially the new ones. Then an update article could be done before Pac-12 play starts.
I have personally found that getting to know these young women as people, as well as players, gets the community much more vested in their success.
And this will probably guarantee the best attendance possible, as well as the best readership.
As someone in Adia’s inner circle, I guarantee you that this team is magical, and will get to at least the Sweet 16 during March Madness!
Sharon Corben
Oro Valley
We’ll miss Erik Agard, but good luck!
Thursday was always special due to Erik Agard’s creative and challenging puzzles. We always learned something from them. Best wishes to Erik and the new challenges that await him and his puzzle solvers.
Bud and Brian Dragoo
Sierra Vista
Martin does not speak for my faith community
Re: the Sept. 26 opinion piece “Which truth will prevail in TUSD curriculum showdown?”
After reading Doug Martin’s oped, I puzzled over his claim to speak for “the faith community.” I’ve been a faltering, fallible follower of Jesus all my 80+ years and he doesn’t speak for me, for my family, for my congregation. I’ll speak only for myself, as a human being who has known, loved, played, prayed, rejoiced with and mourned for LGBTQ people.
Some of my good friends are same-gender couples whose unions are surely blessed by God.
I have known transgender people and don’t pretend to understand how a person recognizes and deals with the discrepancy between their biological identity and their sense of who they really are.
But I recognize how little I understand, and I accept them as they are because I believe with Jesus that they are my neighbors to be loved as myself. And so are the folks at TUSD who are struggling with how to teach the facts of life as fully human beings to the kids we entrust to them.
Frank Bergen, priest associate, St. Matthew’s Tucson
Northeast side
- Updated
At least Nixon had the sense to resign
History sure has a funny way of repeating itself. A “summary” of a telephone call is reminiscent of a large amount of missing minutes on a tape recording of a prior liar who served as president. It surprises me how rarely “Cadet Bone Spurs” is compared to “Tricky Dick.” Both tried to manipulate the media with lies and half-truths. Both considered the media as an enemy. At least Tricky Dick had an ego that let him resign prior to getting impeached while knowing full well that he would be pardoned.
Kurt Ohlrich
Oro Valley
Hospital won’t provide an itemized statement
My husband had surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital in May of 2018. In August of this year we received a bill from the surgical assistant for almost $500. Surprise! Apparently, the assistant was not on my husband’s insurance. It seems to me that it would be better patient care to have all members of the surgical team approved by insurance before proceeding on a scheduled, not emergent, surgery. Additionally, after his hospitalization, we requested an itemized statement from the hospital, numerous times. To this date, we have never received one. Surprise!
Leslie Harris
Southwest side
With scooters, anything goes
You can’t drive while on the phone, must wear a seatbelt, and have car seats for kids. Drive the limit and wear a helmet on a bike. Just kidding, rent a scooter left around town in front of anyone’s property.
Mike Allen
Midtown
And Trump is
the guilty one?
Hunter Biden collecting $50,000 a month from a Ukraine energy company when his primary qualification was his dad being vice president. Vice President Joe Biden getting a prosecutor fired for prosecuting the Ukraine energy company, or risk possibly getting their U.S. subsidies withheld. President Trump urging the new Ukraine president to investigate the issue further or possibly get U.S. subsidies withheld. An intelligence person listening into the president’s phone calls with other countries’ presidents and reporting on what was said to an intelligence community that is clearly suspect.
And now a Democratic House spending huge amounts of money and time on an impeachment process that is going nowhere because of a Republican Senate. What is happening to issues that effect the public like immigration, energy, safety? Is this what partisanship accomplishes? How did we get here?
Dave Locey
Foothills
Expanding along with Tucson
Re: the Sept. 15 article “City’s shifting center speaks to Tucson’s story of expansion.”
What a fascinating piece on how Tucson has expanded over the years. I grew up attending the Christian Science Church at Country Club Road and Fifth Street, which was once at the geographic center of Tucson. As noted, that old building has now been replaced by infill condos.
But a church is not its building; and the congregation remains active in its new space a few blocks over, near Speedway and Alvernon Way. The real challenge has been to live up to our deepest values and grow spiritually right along with our town’s expansion, beyond current limits. What church has meant in my own life is learning to love. In the long run, that’s what holds a community together, and it’s what makes churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious communities meaningful in a city.
Diane R. Hanover
Picture Rocks
Trump runs risk of blackmail
What if the Russians recorded the phone call, as is likely? Then, had the hush-up succeeded, and Putin found that the document had been buried in a classified safe? Can you imagine the conversation between Putin and Trump at their next meeting after Trump orders all our interpreters out?
“I want you to find a way to remove U.S. sanctions before the election, or the conversation and your classification of it will be made public, just as I did with the Democratic emails.” Blackmail would have been reversed. The issue is less that Donald Trump defied the constitution, and more that he is so incompetent that he let the country suffer the risk he would be blackmailed. That is why we need to have him removed.
Nevile Woolf
Northeast side
Boxing’s brutality
leaves trail of victims
If we want to do something about violence in our country a good place to start would be to stop human-fighting (boxing, MMA, or a any activity where the point is to hurt somebody). Everyone knows this is wrong. It is cruel, barbaric and should have gone the way of slavery and human sacrifice.
I believe the reason it still goes on is many people have a strong urge to watch people get hurt and a few feel the need to participate. Today we have amazing action movies and video games to help satisfy that thirst for violence. Nobody gets hurt.
Lets quit being gladiators and spectators. Enforce assault laws and stop sending fighters to the Olympics. Then we can tell our kids it is never OK to hurt people. I am an old white guy that grew up with two men in their 20s that died in one week from beatings they took in boxing rings. Yet we call it a “sport” and keep doing it.
Robert McNeil
Midtown
Trump’s smearing of whistleblower
The popular vote loser in the White House has started his latest smear campaign and witness intimidation against the courageous whistleblower who brought to light Trump’s latest abuse of power in trying to extort foreign interference in our presidential election by withholding military aid to Ukraine until Ukraine would produce lies to harm one of Trump’s political opponents, and then hide the records of his corruption on a secret server.
Trump then told reporters on Sept. 20: “I don’t know the identity of the whistleblower, I just hear it’s a partisan person, meaning it comes from another party, but I don’t have any idea.”
Won’t it be nice to soon have a president who will talk about what she knows, rather than a seriously disturbed man who constantly tells us he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?
Grant Winston
Marana
- Updated
Red-light cameras
were extortion racket
Re: the Sept. 17 letter “Red-light cameras made streets safer.”
As a permanent resident of Tucson and a sponsor of Proposition 201, I wish to set the record straight concerning substantially inaccurate statements regarding the now-defunct red-light-camera program in Tucson. Bureaucrats and lawyers played no part in ridding the city of photo radar.
Proposition 201 was a true grass-roots effort supported by thousands of hours of volunteer work and by over 26,000 residents who signed the petition. The people of Tucson, not the bureaucrats, spoke resoundingly in defeating citywide photo radar by a 2-1 ratio. The people declared decisively that a government-sponsored extortion racket has no place in this city. The issue is settled; the cameras are permanently deactivated.
Rather than forcing drivers to come to a screeching halt at yellow lights and causing rear-end collisions, let us now focus our efforts on improving traffic safety through the implementation of proven engineering techniques, such as proper signal timing and road maintenance.
Kirk Wines
Southwest side
Bowers overestimates kids’ sophistication
Re: the Sept. 21 article “AZ House speaker says sex ed radicalizes children.”
There is so much to say, but I will limit my comments to Speaker Russell Bower’s response when asked if schools didn’t need to teach how to prevent pregnancy. “Oh, please!” responded the speaker. This on the heels of suggesting that kids learn what they need to know on their own.
Oh, please, Mr. Bowers! I am a retired high school principal, and I have story after story of how that turns out. I will never forget, for example, the 14-year-old student who came to me for help in telling her parents that she was pregnant. Her friends had convinced her that she could not get pregnant the first time she had sex. The lesson is often learned, all right ... nine months too late.
Barbara Wayne
Foothills
Diamondbacks
are back in season
It was great that a reader reminded us desert dwellers that our legless friends will soon be heading to their dens. The best advice I can give as a longtime (50-plus years) amateur herpetologist is to leave them alone if possible. The majority of snake bites occur when people try to move/catch/kill rattlesnakes. Calling the fire department if needed is still OK.
There are also private individuals that will relocate reptiles for a fee. I have seen literally thousands of western diamondbacks (mostly at night when they are active or in dens) and I don’t believe I have ever seen a 5-foot example let alone one at 6 feet. Length of snakes, like the size of fish, is often exaggerated. The BLM has no jurisdiction over snakes; that would be the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Moving them away from their immediate location probably would have little ill effect on the animals.
Kalvin Smith
Midtown
Environmental radicals, indeed
Re: the Sept. 22 article “Countering environmental ‘radicals’ is on property-rights group’s agenda.”
It’s the same sad story. A bunch of men, six to be exact, think their money and prestige can make things happen, even when they’re wrong. Now they’re calling the Center For Biological Diversity environmental radicals.
They are trying to paint a picture that sound environmental assessments are not needed for their projects. Here’s what we do know, thanks to the Star’s reporting. The man behind the Villages at Vigneto is a huge Trump supporter. So much so, that he feels he deserves to make back his support money, by pushing for this development.
The other men, who are ranchers and part of this group, are also Trump supporters. Just like the border wall is an environmental disaster, so is this development. Don’t be fooled by these projects, and the men who support them. They wouldn’t push their agendas so hard if we didn’t have an anti-environmental president. They would have to accept the defeat of their projects in court.
Mary Bradley
Midtown
Open season
on immigrants
Re: the Sept. 22 Tim Steller column “Tucson police see election as referendum on them.”
Tucson police and their union are opposing the Prop. 205 sanctuary initiative by reassuring us they don’t practice racial profiling anymore but have admitted to turning two people over to ICE this year. Let’s give the police the benefit of the doubt and assume those two were light-skinned. Arizona’s distinguished Legislature has worked long hours to pass draconian laws targeting immigrant residents in our state while holding hostage local governments and communities who fear losing state funding if they approve countermeasures like the sanctuary initiative. No city politician has dared to endorse Prop. 205.
Deportations, raids, and separating families is now as American as apple pie. Creating new ways to block asylum seekers has become a national political sport. The international community may continue to accuse the U.S. of using Nazi tactics against immigrants, but I guess that’s the price to pay to make America great again.
Richard Boren
Southeast side
Sex education
makes kids safer
Re: the Sept. 21 story “AZ House speaker says sex ed radicalizes children.”
I taught a human sexuality course at Pima Community College for many years, and included school sexuality education in my curriculum. Much research has demonstrated that comprehensive sexuality education does not sexualize students. Instead young people are actually more likely to postpone sexual activity if they have had an opportunity to learn about sexuality along with communication and decision-making skills.
If/when they eventually do decide to become sexually active with another person, they are more likely to use birth control, reducing the risk of unwanted pregnancies (and abortions). Conservative groups like Family Watch International use scare tactics and misinformation to needlessly frighten parents and legislators. We value education and information in most aspects of young people’s lives and comprehensive, accurate sexuality education should not be an exception.
Tim Wernette
Foothills
Old Republican Party has been vanquished
Trump’s greed, xenophobia, misogyny, mentally aberrant behavior on the one hand, and his intellectual emptiness and moral decay on the other are neither excusable nor acceptable. Yet we, the American electorate, continue to excuse, accept, and even laud his actions. We ensure his survival by not demanding that the Republican-controlled Senate, ruled by Mitch McConnell (equally amoral but not as intellectually challenged) block Trump’s attempts to throw the U.S. and the world under the bus to satisfy his own ego and avarice.
There was a time when the Republican Party represented its constituents with dignity and stood for conservative fiscal policy, and ethical and moral responsibility. That Republican Party no longer exists. As long as Martha McSally, one of the “new Republicans” who grovel in fear of Trump and McConnell, and others of her ilk, remain in office, it’s “vive le Roi, long live the king.”
Jack Graef
SaddleBrooke
Trump seems unaware
he’s in a fishbowl
Poor Donald, living in a fantasy of his own making, or ignorance, doesn’t seem to realize that the presidency is a glass bubble that he chose in which to live and work. Nothing ... but nothing he’s done, does or contemplates doing will escape public scrutiny.
He has me laughing anew because more and more Americans are getting wise to his machinations which, though not necessarily evil, are just plain dumb. I believe he has no concept of what life after impeachment might be like. Nixon did. This dumb schmuck of a president needs a lesson in U.S. history.
I have respect for the “office” of the president, but none for its present occupant.
Hal Bardach
Southwest side
More like this...
Teachers deserve to earn more than ballplayers
There was recently an announcement on a professional ballplayer negotiating a contract for seven years at $215 million, or about $2.5 million a month for seven years.
Here in Arizona “we” just can’t find the money to pay our teachers — the people who teach our children to survive in the future world — a wage that they can live on. Many of them earn less than $40,000 a year gross, or about $3,333 dollars a month. Who are we as a people to pay anybody $2.5 million a month and the teachers of their children barely a living wage? Shouldn’t this be just the opposite?
Roger Engels
Northwest side
GOP candidate using dangerous imagery
A Republican candidate seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick has put out a dangerous and disqualifying ad. Brandon Martin says he needs “ammunition” in the form of donations and that he has his “sights trained” on her. The ad contains an image of a bullet with the word “support” on it. This is especially distasteful in a district where our former representative was shot.
Martin needs to find a rock to crawl under and not come out until he can become a civil human being.
Gail Kamaras
East side
Prop. 205 would hurt entire community
Proposition 205 is a do-nothing publicity stunt that is attempting to exploit Tucson in the ongoing national debate around immigration. Not only would Prop. 205 have no effect on immigration policy, it would hurt everyone in our community.
Since Prop. 205 is in violation of state law, the state would withhold tens of millions in shared revenue each year that we desperately need, and the Tucson Police Department would lose the partnerships it now has with federal agencies and databases that help it solve crimes.
We need immigration reform at the national level. We cannot afford this expensive and dangerous local initiative and Tucsonans would be wise to vote “no” on Prop 205.
Judy Sparrow
Foothills
Giuliani, Trump behave like mobsters
Having recently watched a series about how the mafia in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas was eventually understood and busted by an up-and-coming energetic lawyer, is it any wonder why President Trump hired Rudy Giuliani as his personal lawyer?
Here is a man who took on the mob bosses, discovered their weaknesses and exploited that knowledge to bring them to justice.
Understanding how mob bosses work, he can now defend someone who operates under those same guises, threatening without speaking said words, pushing buttons to have corrupt policies enforced and essentially living the life of a mob boss. He is now protected by the one person who knows those ways. If only the ethics Giuliani had as a young lawyer could shine forth now, instead of the lies and bluster he uses today. Wonder why he was in the Ukraine deals? I don’t.
Carl Olson
West side
Feeling nostalgic, Mr. President?
So, Mr. Trump, you remind us that “we used to handle it a little differently than we do now” when referring to what should happen to whistleblowers. Let me remind you that debtors were also handled a little differently. We used to have debtors’ prisons, where people worked off their debt via labor or secured outside funds to pay the balance owed.
Sadly, debtors’ prisons are still likely to appear in states where many people live in poverty and are unable to pay fines and fees. They have no access to lawyers to get them off the hook for, say, six corporate bankruptcies.
Michael Carson
Midtown
How about Grassley instead of Trump in ’20?
As a Republican, I have my candidate for president, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Grassley quite reasonably is defending the whistleblower who reported that President Trump’s telephone call to the president of Ukraine.
Why is he offering this defense? For the same reason that we have a press/media shield privilege allowing a reporter not to disclose confidential sources. If the sources are subject to disclosure and retaliation, evidence of crime and corruption will not come to light.
Grassley strikes me as a decent guy who is the antithesis of Trump and his wild allegations of treason. Anybody for a Draft Grassley movement?
Richard Sipan
Green Valley
Gun control is
a public health issue
Re: the Oct. 1 opinion “International health rankings don’t really tell the whole story.”
The writer is correct on one issue. He seems to admit that bullet holes are a heath issue, or is there another cause of “our high rates of instantaneous death by murder or accidents” that I am missing?
Accidental death by gunshot is not an accident, by the way. Gun control is a public health issue. Regulation and research should be no different than any other medical problem.
Bob Foster, retired doctor
West side
It’s astonishing anyone still supports Trump
I guess the supporters of “Cadet Bone Spurs” are exceedingly overjoyed by the amount of money raised since the impeachment started. It has led me to believe that he could shoot someone in the Rose Garden on national TV and his supporters would call it fake news.
I cannot image how they can be so naive. It also astonishes me that they continue to ignore the lies put forth by him and the members of his Cabinet and his New York attorney.
I am also surprised by the so-called members of the religious right who have no idea as to what Jesus Christ was trying to teach us. Read your Bible!
The New Testament is where Jesus appears, for those of you that need that information. It is not about being a hater, adulterer, liar, racist, womanizer and an all-around jerk.
Be proud when you look at yourself in the mirror.
Kurt Ohlrich
Oro Valley
Both political parties need a good cleaning
There are lots of good reasons to impeach Donald Trump. So far the Democratic Party has not offered one.
Topping the list is Trump’s belief that human-caused global warming — a potentially existential threat to this country and human civilization — is a hoax. The actions Trump has taken to enshrine his ignorance in public policy are in themselves grounds for impeachment.
In contrast, when it comes to exposing the misdeeds of the Biden family, Trump appears to be well informed. All he (or his lawyers) had to do was read the New York Times and Reuters.
When a son profits from his father’s midwifing a change in a foreign government or flies to China with his father on Air Force 2 to conclude a business deal, who can possibly conclude there is “no evidence of wrongdoing?”
For Trump’s impeachment to stand a chance, it will be necessary to clean house in BOTH political parties.
Steven Lesh
East side
Resources are key
in mental health
Re: the Sept. 29 twin pieces “Mental illness: Tucson family struggles to get help.”
My praise and gratitude go out to Rose and Jay Tucker, who wrote about their experience with mental illness and the failure of the health-care community to serve them. I am also thankful to the Arizona Daily Star for publishing their stories. Educating the public and policy makers is perhaps the best way to promote awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness.
Medication and psychotherapy are the most effective ways to deal with it. Unfortunately, people often wind up in hospitals or prisons because we fail to provide preventative care for the mentally ill. People can call the Community Wide Crisis Line at 520-622-6000 for an immediate, severe crisis, or the Hope Inc. Warm Line at 520-770-9909 for someone to talk to for emotional support.
Hopefully, from there, individuals will be directed to adequate resources. We’ve got to provide support for people like Jay. His situation is heartbreaking, and I know we can do better.
Melinda Rogers, retired ER nurse
East side
A different kind of party
Re: the Sept. 30 article “Parking crackdown puts damper on daily ‘party’ at Tumamoc Hill.”
“I understand that during the daytime if they have a lot of patients that can’t park trying to go to a doctor’s appointment. But after they close at 5 o’clock, why don’t they allow them to park?” Santamaria said. “That’s when it gets more packed over here. I don’t understand that, they should have some extra parking for people here.”
Private property owners are afforded the same rights as everyone else including this individual. Why does this individual not encourage other people to park at her own home and ride-share? Maybe they can park in her yard after hours? Quid Pro Quo.
Gary Shandale
West side
Some alternatives
to parking at Tumamoc
Re: the Sept. 30 Road Runner column “Parking crackdown puts damper on daily ‘party’ at Tumamoc Hill.”
How many of those thousand people per day who walk Tumamoc Hill arrive there in cars. Ninety-nine percent? Could that percentage be reduced, maybe? There are options besides the use of private motor vehicles, and the need for parking.
Not only are there excellent bike racks at the base of the hill, AND a TuGo yellow bike docking station, but two different SunTran routes stop at Silverbell and St. Mary’s roads, VERY close by. Even walking to and from bus stops is more exercise than getting in and out of a car (and better for the environment). Or, “I need to stretch my legs, let’s drive over to the Hill.”
Leo Mellon
Downtown
Seems legit
My name is Donald Trump. I am a very rich man, just ask me. I want to be your president. Since I am a very rich man, just ask me, you know that I will place the needs of the country before my own. As a very rich man, a fact that you can confirm by asking me, you know that I can be trusted; just ask me if you are not sure.
Other recent presidents had to provide evidence of their wealth and indication that they have no conflicts of interest. I on the other hand, have no need to provide such information as I am a very rich man and can be trusted, just ask me.
You may hear contrary information about me, but the sources will always be by definition, “Fake News.” Just ask me.
Sidney Owsowitz
Northwest side
To gain the world, but lose your soul
Being a U.S. Senator or a member of the House of Representatives must be the greatest job in the world. If it weren’t, why would so many be willing to jettison their principles to keep their job?
As a voter, I send my representatives to Washington to reflect my interests but also to represent the best interests of our country. Certainly, there are risks; furious tweets, angry lobbyists, or even some unhappy constituents. In the face of this, courage is required.
So many have risked their lives to defend the principles on which this country was built; I am asking them to risk only their job. This is not too much to ask. To quote Jeff Flake, “Trust me when I say that you can go elsewhere for a job. But you cannot go elsewhere for a soul.”
John Warshawer
Foothills
Mental health and law enforcement
Re: the Sept. 29 OpEd pieces “Mental illness: Tucson family struggles to get help.”
My son experienced mental-health episodes in his late 20s, and we had a neighbor who decided to start contacting Pima County Sherriff’s Department (PCSD) whenever our son looked odd or stressed. PCSD never corroborated any interaction or contact between my son and these people. The swarm of deputies, asking questions and making inappropriate statements was heartbreaking.
PCSD did not send out mental-health trained deputies because they don’t have many. They also wear no body cameras, do not have dash cameras in their cars, nor is there civilian oversight.
I sought advice from the PCSD Mental Health Team. Two detectives came to our home. They asked why my adult son lived with us. They asked for protected medical information. They told me that every call was a suspicious criminal activity call to them.
Law enforcement needs mental-health guidelines. Budgets and support for mental-health calls should go to a qualified agency whether you are in the city or county. That is not the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
Marlene Hudson
East side
A true young champion
On Sunday, Sept. 29, in Napa, California, a young African American golfer taught us what it truly means to be an American. His grandfather, from whom he learned the game, is battling Stage 4 stomach cancer, so Cameron Champ played in a PGA tournament with a heavy heart.
But he also played with the honor and decency his Papa Mack modeled for him. When he missed a crucial putt, he did not angrily tweet that the pin placement was unfair. When his closest rival drew into a tie with him on the last hole, he did not call him a cheater or a liar. Instead, he dug down deep and persevered just as his grandfather had done when he faced racial prejudice on his return home after nobly serving in Vietnam.
Cameron showed us that a true American is not one who puts his/her tawdry political agenda ahead of human dignity, but one who carries himself/herself with poise and grace. This is what a REAL champ looks like.
Claire and Jerry Drozd
Northwest side
Whistleblower needs protection
The President takes an oath. Federal employees do, too, and have many rules regulating their duties and actions. If a federal employee commits a crime in doing their duties, they can be terminated. They can also be fired if they witness a crime in the federal workplace and fail to report it.
Years ago, when federal employees performed their sworn duty of reporting crimes or deficiencies in the federal service, they were often punished or fired by their supervisors or managers, sometimes going as far as calling them spies, traitors, or accusing them of treason. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, right, we used to handle them a little differently than we do now.”
The Whistleblower Protection Act protects federal workers who report an activity or possible activity constituting a violation of law, rules, regulations or gross waste of funds, abuse of authority or danger to public safety. It was needed then! It’s needed now.
Randall Eshpeter
Northwest side
The swamp is growing under Trump
Our president vowed to “drain the swamp” if elected. He was elected and now stands neck deep in the swamp which is expanding daily because of his actions.
The swamp has engulfed his personal lawyers, the attorney general, the leader of the Senate, members of his cabinet and some Republican members of Congress. Other Republicans have the muck lapping at their heels as they rationalize the situation in order to escape the odious mess.
Unfortunately, if the electorate decides to drain the expanding morass, it may result in the demise of the Grand Old Party after many years of venerable service to the country. In order to avoid such a debacle, they must extricate themselves now.
John Kuisti
West side
Sex-ed is vital
to fighting myths
As a former family practice physician, I have heard many misinformed stories from preteens and teens on the subject of sex.
One of the most memorable was a 14-year-old girl brought in by her mother for several months of missed menstrual periods. The girl was adamant that she had never had sex and was a virgin. Mom added that, “She does not even have a boyfriend.“
On physical exam, the girl either had a large uterine tumor or was several months pregnant, but she was truly a virgin. Her hymen was intact. Tests confirmed that she was pregnant. Turns out she “heavy petted” with a boy and he ejaculated outside her virginal hymen. The girl says her friends had told her that as long as there was no penetration she couldn’t get pregnant.
Misinformation leads to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The more information the better!
Violet Juodakis
Downtown
Prop. 205 risks Tucson’s economic viability
Proposition 205 puts the economic well-being of our community at risk. Arizona State Bill 1487 stipulates that the state of Arizona can withhold shared revenue from cities and towns that the Attorney General believes have violated state law.
Several provisions of Prop. 205 conflict with Arizona law. Therefore, if Prop. 205 passes it will set Tucson up to forfeit $126 million a year in state funding. This accounts for approximately 25% of the city’s general fund budget and will force steep cuts in programs that assist our most vulnerable.
The impact of this loss will be devastating and have far-reaching consequences. Because Prop. 205 is an initiative, the only way to undo the negative consequences would be through another initiative, which would be a drawn-out and expensive process. The mayor and council are powerless to amend or repeal provisions of citizen-led initiatives. Our economic survival depends on your “no” vote on Prop. 205.
Fernando Barraza
Northwest side
Proposition 205
is counterproductive
Proposition 205 is a citizen-led initiative with serious unintended and damaging consequences for the city of Tucson and the immigrants who live here. It will hurt the very people it’s supposed to protect and reverse gains that our city achieved when it became an immigrant-friendly and welcoming city.
Under Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus, there are already general orders which stipulate that police may not engage in immigration enforcement. They are supposed to focus their time and resources on enforcing state and local laws and building trust in the community.
Prop. 205 remedies a problem that does not exist. In addition, if passed, Prop. 205 would limit the Police Department’s ability to work collaboratively with federal agencies on all matters. Currently, the department has access to multiple federal databases that help solve a wide variety of police matters. Prop. 205 would take away this tool. Vote no on this counterproductive initiative.
Sarah Smallhouse
East side
Religious freedom or religious intolerance?
The current use of “religious freedom” often is simply an excuse to slap anyone who’s “not one of us.” It’s used to free people from providing business services to “those people.” Is it going to be used as an excuse for not obeying a female police officer because our religion consistently degrades the authority of women?
In Tucson, it’s being used to fight a sex education curriculum that’s allegedly ignoring parental responsibility for birds and bees discussions. As a retired teacher, I see too many former students, with children, telling me they still hope to complete high school.
As for the accusation that accurate education is sexualizing children, I suggest watching TV or seeing how people dress and act in public. Decent education isn’t corrupting our children. Interpreting the Golden Rule as “kill the non-believers” does a better job of twisting our kids.
Dennis Ritchie
Midtown
Trump’s Ukraine call is an impeachable offense
Re: the Sept. 29 letter “Democrats, media must accept Trump’s success.”
I was astonished by my fellow reader’s letter, which asserts the president is a “far more honorable man than any journalist.” He has been caught in over 12,000 lies during his presidency, which he repeats constantly.
My fellow reader goes on to say that we will “NEVER be a socialist country.”
While we are not a “socialist country,” we have enacted and enjoy a few public programs that help those of us who need a boost to reach the promise our country provides: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance.
Finally, the president’s recent confession that he did indeed ask a foreign country to help him win a second term in return for the release of $400 million of military aid appropriated by Congress is a way-over-the-top impeachable offense; one he doesn’t seem to understand is both unlawful and impeachable.
Dorothy Waugaman
East side
The blessings of liberty
I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! This political editorial comes out of my gratitude to Him.
There were days when delegates to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, with strong loyalty to their own states, wondered if they would reach agreement on a new Constitution. Today, people wonder if Congress and the Executive Branch, with strong loyalty to party and special-interest groups, will stand together as one for the cause for which we have our government — to form and preserve a more perfect union.
The framers of our Constitution didn’t do it alone. Neither can we. The blessings of liberty are given to us by the One whose name is on our currency; the One who asks us to show love to our neighbor, not hate. Let us pray for His guidance; vote according to His will, and pray for those we elect. He will do the rest.
Warren Burda
Oro Valley
Wildcat football team deserves more support
I read the article Greg Hansen wrote about a revitalized Arizona football program adding more panels celebrating bowl victories. Maybe if our local citizens would take more of an interest in out team the panels would fill up a lot faster. Who wants to play football and look at a bunch of empty seats. Athletes want to compete in an arena where they can demonstrate their skills. That is not what we have to offer.
I have been to all three home games this year and it is getting worse. Saturday night was especially bad. A well-known school like UCLA comes to town and we can’t event fill the stands. What better way to enjoy the wonderful fall weather, being outside with friends and family and rooting for our team. As parents, we support our children. Why can’t we support a team of young men trying to bring some joy and pride to the city that we care about. Or do we really care?
Michael Perlman
Foothills
Trump, supporters
are pseudo-Americans
The Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion, or petitioning the free exercise thereof, or abridging freedom of speech or the press; or the right to assemble and peacefully petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The Pledge of Allegiance has the words “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”
Insisting to exercise your rights at the expense of preventing others from exercising those same rights is an affront to the above-mentioned documents.
The words and actions of President Trump and many of his supporters, including Gov. Doug Ducey, in their approach to people who believe differently than they ignore and offend the very foundation of our nation.
They are, at best, pseudo-Americans.
Dr. Leonard Rudnick, retired
North side
TEP, city helped us after microburst
I would like to thank the city of Tucson and TEP for working with unflagging enthusiasm throughout the last few days and nights to restore power and cleaning up the debris in our neighborhood.
Timothy Wright
East side
McSally just another unelected bureaucrat
Martha McSally should recuse herself from any vote directly related to the impeachment of Donald Trump.
I know most Republicans will agree with this because they so often criticize “unelected bureaucrats” just as we saw with the uproar when the DOT introduced the new $32 public safety fee. It’s a big issue with them like balanced budgets, ethics, private property rights and taxation.
And what is McSally other than Arizona’s highest ranking unelected bureaucrat?
She’s already declared this little misunderstanding as a “kamikaze mission,” and “total distraction” without benefit of facts. As my conservative friends are sure to agree, those unelected bureaucrats could care less what the public thinks and need to be reined in.
Let her know she doesn’t represent you or Arizona.
Kevin Henderson
Foothills
Constitution
well-trampled
Shortly after Donald Trump was elected, with much help from Vladimir Putin and his Russian trolls and hacks, I commented that our national nightmare had begun. That national nightmare has now reached a critical mass.
Donald Trump has been trampling all over our Constitution and this country’s laws since he took office. Those of his staff who have tried to stem his autocratic efforts have been summarily fired. Once he found his “Roy Cohn” — William Barr, ostensibly the U.S. Attorney General, but in practice, just one more of Trump’s flunkies who aid and abet him in his continued abuse of his power — he has been feeling invincible.
Now that he is facing impeachment because of his latest abuse — attempted extortion of Ukraine’s president before releasing the congressionally approved aid that country sorely needs, Trump is striking out psychotically at all those who dare to tell the truth about his many misdemeanors even implying that they be executed for treason.
Perhaps Congress should also be looking at the 25th Amendment.
Gladys Lujan
SaddleBrooke
GOP hypocrisy
on impeachment
Ken Starr opposes impeachment although his attempt to impeach Clinton found only consensual sex with an intern. Lindsay Graham, at that time, stated that it didn’t necessarily need a crime but a person should be removed if morally unfit. Martha McSally says she has been assaulted. I believe her but she doesn’t extend the same to the 17 women accusing Donald Trump. He has on tape bragged about grabbing women by genitalia. He has insulted Gold Star families, John McCain, the handicapped and believes in dictators over our allies. His using the office to get dirt on a rival is despicable. I guess appointing federal judges outweighs the damage Trump is doing to this country.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Classified
for a reason
I am a retired military person. Unfortunately the Republican Party has been denigrated by two elected presidents (Nixon/Trump). I have been honored to have worked in job association with intelligence people from the FBI/NSA/CIA, and understand security control. In my era, any and all data would be declassified by the initiating person. To this day (I am 81), I do not discuss anything I know as classified because I don’t know what the current status is today.
Trump has no reality of the importance of intelligence and should refer all declassification to proper classification authorities. He is totally in his own personal, unknowledgeable bubble and fails to be logical with any level of intelligence. His ignorance shouldn’t be tolerated by our congressional oversight people.
Donald Groner
Benson
Democrats, media must accept Trump’s success
President Trump is a far more honorable man than any journalist who spews their daily poison each and every day to the American people with lies and half-truths, in an effort to destroy the most successful man of our lifetime. Why? Solely because poor criminal Hillary Clinton lost her bid to be president.
When will liberal Democrats wake up from their fantasy world and face reality? We will NEVER be a socialist country and no Democrat has a chance of defeating the strongest and most accomplished president in U.S. history. Liberal Democrats are so blinded by hate, they cannot see that they are destroying their own party. Trump will never be impeached and the House will return to a Republican majority in 2020.
Scott R. Hadley
South side
GOP candidates always have the same symptoms
Re: Sept. 26 special edition “SEPTEMBER TIME MACHINE.”
Thanks to the Star’s offering of pages from history, I learned from the issue of Sept.17, 1940, that Wendell Willkie, running to unseat President Roosevelt, claimed in a campaign speech that FDR had “telephoned Hitler and Mussolini and urged them to sell Czechoslovakia down the river at Munich,” in 1938. In another speech, he asserted that if Roosevelt won, “we would all be living under an American totalitarian government before the third term is finished.”
Willkie is usually treated kindly in history books, but this suggests the possibility that some cicada-like virus can erupt among Republican candidates when elections roll around, and they have trouble staying sane. Symptoms may include paranoid, demented accusations and blustering threats: “Treason!” “Socialism!” “Hatred of America!” “We’re drowning in a sea of debt!” and so on.
Herbert Schneidau
Foothills
Consider the dangers of a Pence presidency
With the impeachment drums beating ever more loudly, the drum beaters should pause and consider what would happen if they are successful. You cannot get rid of an administration by removing the president. Mike Pence would become president. Pence has been a lifelong ultra conservative, with ties to evangelical and various conservative groups whose avowed agenda is to roll back women’s rights, gay rights, minority rights, and bring about a return to the culture and social values of the 1950s.
Pence has been Trump’s conduit to these organizations from the get-go and has been the behind-the-scenes promoter of these conservative agendas. Anyone in favor of impeachment should look up and read the Oct. 23, 2017, New Yorker Magazine article “The Danger of President Pence.” Sometimes it’s just better to stay with the devil you know than the devil you don’t, no matter how distasteful.
Alex Rycar
Midtown
Trump, Giuliani, Barr must all be dealt with
I just finished reading the full whistleblower report this morning, and it’s crystal clear that President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Bill Barr are all guilty of serious crimes.
The only rational option going forward is to, 1) impeach Trump as soon as possible, and remove him from office before he does any more damage. 2) remove Barr from office and, 3) prosecute Giuliani.
Thomas Brennan
Southwest side
Coverage on players will boost Wildcats
As a suggestion to help Adia Barnes get all the attention she deserves for her team, it would be great if PJ Brown writes an article on each player, especially the new ones. Then an update article could be done before Pac-12 play starts.
I have personally found that getting to know these young women as people, as well as players, gets the community much more vested in their success.
And this will probably guarantee the best attendance possible, as well as the best readership.
As someone in Adia’s inner circle, I guarantee you that this team is magical, and will get to at least the Sweet 16 during March Madness!
Sharon Corben
Oro Valley
We’ll miss Erik Agard, but good luck!
Thursday was always special due to Erik Agard’s creative and challenging puzzles. We always learned something from them. Best wishes to Erik and the new challenges that await him and his puzzle solvers.
Bud and Brian Dragoo
Sierra Vista
Martin does not speak for my faith community
Re: the Sept. 26 opinion piece “Which truth will prevail in TUSD curriculum showdown?”
After reading Doug Martin’s oped, I puzzled over his claim to speak for “the faith community.” I’ve been a faltering, fallible follower of Jesus all my 80+ years and he doesn’t speak for me, for my family, for my congregation. I’ll speak only for myself, as a human being who has known, loved, played, prayed, rejoiced with and mourned for LGBTQ people.
Some of my good friends are same-gender couples whose unions are surely blessed by God.
I have known transgender people and don’t pretend to understand how a person recognizes and deals with the discrepancy between their biological identity and their sense of who they really are.
But I recognize how little I understand, and I accept them as they are because I believe with Jesus that they are my neighbors to be loved as myself. And so are the folks at TUSD who are struggling with how to teach the facts of life as fully human beings to the kids we entrust to them.
Frank Bergen, priest associate, St. Matthew’s Tucson
Northeast side
At least Nixon had the sense to resign
History sure has a funny way of repeating itself. A “summary” of a telephone call is reminiscent of a large amount of missing minutes on a tape recording of a prior liar who served as president. It surprises me how rarely “Cadet Bone Spurs” is compared to “Tricky Dick.” Both tried to manipulate the media with lies and half-truths. Both considered the media as an enemy. At least Tricky Dick had an ego that let him resign prior to getting impeached while knowing full well that he would be pardoned.
Kurt Ohlrich
Oro Valley
Hospital won’t provide an itemized statement
My husband had surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital in May of 2018. In August of this year we received a bill from the surgical assistant for almost $500. Surprise! Apparently, the assistant was not on my husband’s insurance. It seems to me that it would be better patient care to have all members of the surgical team approved by insurance before proceeding on a scheduled, not emergent, surgery. Additionally, after his hospitalization, we requested an itemized statement from the hospital, numerous times. To this date, we have never received one. Surprise!
Leslie Harris
Southwest side
With scooters, anything goes
You can’t drive while on the phone, must wear a seatbelt, and have car seats for kids. Drive the limit and wear a helmet on a bike. Just kidding, rent a scooter left around town in front of anyone’s property.
Mike Allen
Midtown
And Trump is
the guilty one?
Hunter Biden collecting $50,000 a month from a Ukraine energy company when his primary qualification was his dad being vice president. Vice President Joe Biden getting a prosecutor fired for prosecuting the Ukraine energy company, or risk possibly getting their U.S. subsidies withheld. President Trump urging the new Ukraine president to investigate the issue further or possibly get U.S. subsidies withheld. An intelligence person listening into the president’s phone calls with other countries’ presidents and reporting on what was said to an intelligence community that is clearly suspect.
And now a Democratic House spending huge amounts of money and time on an impeachment process that is going nowhere because of a Republican Senate. What is happening to issues that effect the public like immigration, energy, safety? Is this what partisanship accomplishes? How did we get here?
Dave Locey
Foothills
Expanding along with Tucson
Re: the Sept. 15 article “City’s shifting center speaks to Tucson’s story of expansion.”
What a fascinating piece on how Tucson has expanded over the years. I grew up attending the Christian Science Church at Country Club Road and Fifth Street, which was once at the geographic center of Tucson. As noted, that old building has now been replaced by infill condos.
But a church is not its building; and the congregation remains active in its new space a few blocks over, near Speedway and Alvernon Way. The real challenge has been to live up to our deepest values and grow spiritually right along with our town’s expansion, beyond current limits. What church has meant in my own life is learning to love. In the long run, that’s what holds a community together, and it’s what makes churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious communities meaningful in a city.
Diane R. Hanover
Picture Rocks
Trump runs risk of blackmail
What if the Russians recorded the phone call, as is likely? Then, had the hush-up succeeded, and Putin found that the document had been buried in a classified safe? Can you imagine the conversation between Putin and Trump at their next meeting after Trump orders all our interpreters out?
“I want you to find a way to remove U.S. sanctions before the election, or the conversation and your classification of it will be made public, just as I did with the Democratic emails.” Blackmail would have been reversed. The issue is less that Donald Trump defied the constitution, and more that he is so incompetent that he let the country suffer the risk he would be blackmailed. That is why we need to have him removed.
Nevile Woolf
Northeast side
Boxing’s brutality
leaves trail of victims
If we want to do something about violence in our country a good place to start would be to stop human-fighting (boxing, MMA, or a any activity where the point is to hurt somebody). Everyone knows this is wrong. It is cruel, barbaric and should have gone the way of slavery and human sacrifice.
I believe the reason it still goes on is many people have a strong urge to watch people get hurt and a few feel the need to participate. Today we have amazing action movies and video games to help satisfy that thirst for violence. Nobody gets hurt.
Lets quit being gladiators and spectators. Enforce assault laws and stop sending fighters to the Olympics. Then we can tell our kids it is never OK to hurt people. I am an old white guy that grew up with two men in their 20s that died in one week from beatings they took in boxing rings. Yet we call it a “sport” and keep doing it.
Robert McNeil
Midtown
Trump’s smearing of whistleblower
The popular vote loser in the White House has started his latest smear campaign and witness intimidation against the courageous whistleblower who brought to light Trump’s latest abuse of power in trying to extort foreign interference in our presidential election by withholding military aid to Ukraine until Ukraine would produce lies to harm one of Trump’s political opponents, and then hide the records of his corruption on a secret server.
Trump then told reporters on Sept. 20: “I don’t know the identity of the whistleblower, I just hear it’s a partisan person, meaning it comes from another party, but I don’t have any idea.”
Won’t it be nice to soon have a president who will talk about what she knows, rather than a seriously disturbed man who constantly tells us he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?
Grant Winston
Marana
Red-light cameras
were extortion racket
Re: the Sept. 17 letter “Red-light cameras made streets safer.”
As a permanent resident of Tucson and a sponsor of Proposition 201, I wish to set the record straight concerning substantially inaccurate statements regarding the now-defunct red-light-camera program in Tucson. Bureaucrats and lawyers played no part in ridding the city of photo radar.
Proposition 201 was a true grass-roots effort supported by thousands of hours of volunteer work and by over 26,000 residents who signed the petition. The people of Tucson, not the bureaucrats, spoke resoundingly in defeating citywide photo radar by a 2-1 ratio. The people declared decisively that a government-sponsored extortion racket has no place in this city. The issue is settled; the cameras are permanently deactivated.
Rather than forcing drivers to come to a screeching halt at yellow lights and causing rear-end collisions, let us now focus our efforts on improving traffic safety through the implementation of proven engineering techniques, such as proper signal timing and road maintenance.
Kirk Wines
Southwest side
Bowers overestimates kids’ sophistication
Re: the Sept. 21 article “AZ House speaker says sex ed radicalizes children.”
There is so much to say, but I will limit my comments to Speaker Russell Bower’s response when asked if schools didn’t need to teach how to prevent pregnancy. “Oh, please!” responded the speaker. This on the heels of suggesting that kids learn what they need to know on their own.
Oh, please, Mr. Bowers! I am a retired high school principal, and I have story after story of how that turns out. I will never forget, for example, the 14-year-old student who came to me for help in telling her parents that she was pregnant. Her friends had convinced her that she could not get pregnant the first time she had sex. The lesson is often learned, all right ... nine months too late.
Barbara Wayne
Foothills
Diamondbacks
are back in season
It was great that a reader reminded us desert dwellers that our legless friends will soon be heading to their dens. The best advice I can give as a longtime (50-plus years) amateur herpetologist is to leave them alone if possible. The majority of snake bites occur when people try to move/catch/kill rattlesnakes. Calling the fire department if needed is still OK.
There are also private individuals that will relocate reptiles for a fee. I have seen literally thousands of western diamondbacks (mostly at night when they are active or in dens) and I don’t believe I have ever seen a 5-foot example let alone one at 6 feet. Length of snakes, like the size of fish, is often exaggerated. The BLM has no jurisdiction over snakes; that would be the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Moving them away from their immediate location probably would have little ill effect on the animals.
Kalvin Smith
Midtown
Environmental radicals, indeed
Re: the Sept. 22 article “Countering environmental ‘radicals’ is on property-rights group’s agenda.”
It’s the same sad story. A bunch of men, six to be exact, think their money and prestige can make things happen, even when they’re wrong. Now they’re calling the Center For Biological Diversity environmental radicals.
They are trying to paint a picture that sound environmental assessments are not needed for their projects. Here’s what we do know, thanks to the Star’s reporting. The man behind the Villages at Vigneto is a huge Trump supporter. So much so, that he feels he deserves to make back his support money, by pushing for this development.
The other men, who are ranchers and part of this group, are also Trump supporters. Just like the border wall is an environmental disaster, so is this development. Don’t be fooled by these projects, and the men who support them. They wouldn’t push their agendas so hard if we didn’t have an anti-environmental president. They would have to accept the defeat of their projects in court.
Mary Bradley
Midtown
Open season
on immigrants
Re: the Sept. 22 Tim Steller column “Tucson police see election as referendum on them.”
Tucson police and their union are opposing the Prop. 205 sanctuary initiative by reassuring us they don’t practice racial profiling anymore but have admitted to turning two people over to ICE this year. Let’s give the police the benefit of the doubt and assume those two were light-skinned. Arizona’s distinguished Legislature has worked long hours to pass draconian laws targeting immigrant residents in our state while holding hostage local governments and communities who fear losing state funding if they approve countermeasures like the sanctuary initiative. No city politician has dared to endorse Prop. 205.
Deportations, raids, and separating families is now as American as apple pie. Creating new ways to block asylum seekers has become a national political sport. The international community may continue to accuse the U.S. of using Nazi tactics against immigrants, but I guess that’s the price to pay to make America great again.
Richard Boren
Southeast side
Sex education
makes kids safer
Re: the Sept. 21 story “AZ House speaker says sex ed radicalizes children.”
I taught a human sexuality course at Pima Community College for many years, and included school sexuality education in my curriculum. Much research has demonstrated that comprehensive sexuality education does not sexualize students. Instead young people are actually more likely to postpone sexual activity if they have had an opportunity to learn about sexuality along with communication and decision-making skills.
If/when they eventually do decide to become sexually active with another person, they are more likely to use birth control, reducing the risk of unwanted pregnancies (and abortions). Conservative groups like Family Watch International use scare tactics and misinformation to needlessly frighten parents and legislators. We value education and information in most aspects of young people’s lives and comprehensive, accurate sexuality education should not be an exception.
Tim Wernette
Foothills
Old Republican Party has been vanquished
Trump’s greed, xenophobia, misogyny, mentally aberrant behavior on the one hand, and his intellectual emptiness and moral decay on the other are neither excusable nor acceptable. Yet we, the American electorate, continue to excuse, accept, and even laud his actions. We ensure his survival by not demanding that the Republican-controlled Senate, ruled by Mitch McConnell (equally amoral but not as intellectually challenged) block Trump’s attempts to throw the U.S. and the world under the bus to satisfy his own ego and avarice.
There was a time when the Republican Party represented its constituents with dignity and stood for conservative fiscal policy, and ethical and moral responsibility. That Republican Party no longer exists. As long as Martha McSally, one of the “new Republicans” who grovel in fear of Trump and McConnell, and others of her ilk, remain in office, it’s “vive le Roi, long live the king.”
Jack Graef
SaddleBrooke
Trump seems unaware
he’s in a fishbowl
Poor Donald, living in a fantasy of his own making, or ignorance, doesn’t seem to realize that the presidency is a glass bubble that he chose in which to live and work. Nothing ... but nothing he’s done, does or contemplates doing will escape public scrutiny.
He has me laughing anew because more and more Americans are getting wise to his machinations which, though not necessarily evil, are just plain dumb. I believe he has no concept of what life after impeachment might be like. Nixon did. This dumb schmuck of a president needs a lesson in U.S. history.
I have respect for the “office” of the president, but none for its present occupant.
Hal Bardach
Southwest side
The Mount Rushmore of Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players
