Tucson speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of Aug. 29, 2025
- Updated
Our weekly round-up of letters published in the Arizona Daily Star.
Ward 3 Democratic primary outcome
I respect the Pima County judge’s ruling to uphold the Ward 3 Democratic primary results, denying Sadie Shaw’s request for a new election, though some may see it as potentially unfair. The decision stands, and we must move forward. Sadie Shaw’s strong campaign, finishing just 19 votes behind incumbent Kevin Dahl (pending recount), highlights growing dissatisfaction with Tucson’s Mayor and City Council. Policies like fare-free transit and encampment management, though perhaps well-intentioned, are impacting Tucsonans negatively.
While I respect Kevin Dahl and Sadie Shaw, I disagree with their policy approaches. Tucson’s City Council needs fresh ideas and collaborative solutions. As a Ward 3 candidate, I’m committed to practical, balanced policies for a stronger Tucson.
The Pima County Recorder’s error, affecting 358 voters (76 in Ward 3) with incorrect ballots, undermines trust. This demands a state review and corrective measures for fair, transparent elections.
Janet Wittenbraker
Midtown
Laura’s leadership
I recently concluded my tenure as a prosecuting attorney under Laura Conover at the Pima County Attorney’s Office. While student debt heavily influenced my decision to move to the private sector, leaving was not easy. Working for Laura was the most rewarding job I have ever had. I feel compelled to share my perspective, especially given the unfair LTE criticism Laura receives from former administration members. Her focus is on prosecuting truly dangerous criminals — those who threaten public safety, including violent offenders, drug dealers, and individuals who harm children. She prioritizes justice and community safety over inflating felony statistics. For instance, she does not seek to felonize someone for an honest mistake, like accidentally bouncing a $100 check. I am incredibly grateful for Laura’s leadership and mentorship. I am also deeply thankful to my direct supervisor and my incredible friends and colleagues I had the privilege of working with at the PCAO. It was truly an honor to be part of the team.
Brian Robles
Downtown
Re: ‘For city, compassion is not enough’
Thank you, Louie Christensen, for vocalizing what everyone knows: “Today, buses are less a tool for getting to work or school and operate as diesel-powered air conditioning centers for the homeless.” The fare-free bus system as it stands now is clearly creating a dangerous transit environment. If the system is to remain “free”, some sort of transit police force needs to be established. But wait! Who will pay for that? If not that, then reinstate fares. Either way, it’s going to cost something. Nothing is “free.” Since the mayor and council seem to be indecisive and ineffective, they all need to be replaced, IMHO. Isn’t that why a hefty pay increase was approved for mayor and council? To attract the best and brightest candidates? The present mayor and council appear to be operating at their previous pay grade.
Dewey Bidwell
Northeast side
Not safe from gerrymandering
Our Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) does not keep us safe from political manipulation. Examples:
1. The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments (CACA) controls the selection of AIRC commissioners. In 2020, CACA consisted of 9 Republicans, 4 Independents and no Democrats. Challenged Ducey appointed Democrats to the open seats, however, they were too inexperienced and outnumbered to make a difference. Interestingly, CACA now has 8 Democrats, 6 Independents and only 2 Republicans.
2. The 5-member size of the AIRC gives the chair way too much power. Of the 21 votes on map selection, the Chair sided with the Republicans 8 times and Democrats only once. The final month, she sided with Republicans 62.5% of the time.
3. I live in Marana. My best friend lives 42 miles away in Vail. We are both in LD17. Commissioner Mehl, with behind-the-scenes input from friend politician Vince Leach, successfully gerrymandered to assure a Republican voting majority violating compact and contiguous criteria.
Watch for and support improvements to the AIRC.
Dee Maitland
Marana
A simple clarification
A couple of responses to Mr. Cory’s “Simple answer” LTE (Aug. 26). First, the legality of the National Guard deployment to Los Angeles is still being litigated, with a decision not yet determined. The National Guard is not meant to act as a domestic police force. Trump insists the troops were sent to “protect federal property and personnel,” which is a joke. (When do you suppose Trump will be sending federal troops to the many high-crime red-state cities? Answer: Never.) Second, Trump did not win the popular vote. 48.3% of Americans voted for Kamala Harris, and 1.9% voted for third-party candidates — a total of 50.2%, reflecting that more people voted against Trump than for him. With so much falsity pouring out of the current administration, at least the “Trump won the popular vote” lie should be put to rest.
Hope Gastelum
East side
Execute the laws?
Trump said he was firing Fed Board member Lisa Cook because it was his duty to “faithfully execute the laws of the United States.” The facts of that case are dubious at best.
But what about Trump himself? The record is much less ambiguous.
The U.S. Constitution is law. Appropriations of Congress are law. Due process for migrants is law. To faithfully execute the laws of the United States means to obey those laws.
Yet, in the first months of this Trump administration, at least 39 separate judges have ruled against his lawless actions. They have variously issued temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions preventing Trump from, among many other things, ending constitutional birthright citizenship, targeting opponents with politically motivated investigations, freezing funding that Congress had approved for projects, and cutting off funding due to political disagreements.
Congress needs to faithfully execute the law, too.
The one governing the removal of lawless presidents.
Chuck Barrett
Midtown
Positive ideas?
Per a LTE from a loyal follower, “Hold criminals responsible for their actions.” Agreed. Know any convicted criminals holding high political office? “Actually, account for the taxpayer dollars the government spends.” Agreed. Know why the current administration wants to paint the “wall” black and other boondoggle wastes of your money without taxpayer accountability? Just asking.
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Foreign policy and democratic values
The Trump Administration has abandoned a key democratic value in supporting foreign governments which pursue territorial expansion through military aggression.
At the beginning of WWII, the West failed to vigorously oppose Germany and Japan as they employed military campaigns to seize territories in neighboring countries. The victimized populations did not choose their fates.
Now the Trump Administration supports the efforts of Russia and Israel to seize the homes and territories of neighboring peoples. (Granted the Israel situation is complicated by Hamas’ initial violent attack. But Israel now seems determined to eliminate the population of Gaza and claim the land for itself.)
The attempted seizures our government seems to support will lead to prolonged grievances and more war. They are anti-democratic. Not to mention the death the military aggression will impose.
It is very disturbing that the lessons of WWII and our democratic values are being ignored by this Administration.
Jim Greene
Marana
The joy of barbershop singing
I was first introduced to barbershop singing in 1968 and have been singing ever since. The Tucson Chapter is still going strong and meets weekly to rehearse and learn new songs. The joy of barbershop comes from a unique and tight-knit harmony, created by four voices singing a cappella.
The heart of barbershop is its four-part harmony, made up of the tenor, lead, baritone, and bass. When these four parts are perfectly in tune, a magical phenomenon happens. This barbershop sound creates harmonic overtones that you can literally feel. For singers, it’s a powerful and goosebump-inducing experience that makes you feel part of something bigger than yourself.
You don’t need to be a professional musician to enjoy barbershop. Many people are drawn to it because it is an accessible form of singing, with an emphasis on learning by ear through a shared love of music. The blend of voices, the ringing chords and the shared passion for harmony create a truly joyful and uplifting experience.
Tom McGorray
Northwest side
China sees tariffs as opportunity
Trump campaigned on fighting the U.S.’s biggest enemy, China. But emphasis changed to hardened criminals invading our southern border, masked ICE agents deporting undocumented residents everywhere, and tariffs on world trading partners, not just China. In 1911, during the Mexican Revolution, 300 Chinese were massacred in Torreon, Coahuila, followed by incidents throughout northern Sonora. By 1931, Governor Rodolfo Elías-Calles forced most Chinese from the state. China views the tariff damage to the economies of the U.S. and its trading partners as opportunities. Recently, Chinese Consulate General Fu Xingrong, an attractive young woman fluent in Spanish, visited Sonora and Baja California, with messages of friendship, hope, and potential developments in renewable energy and minerals, leaving the bad history in the past. China is becoming part of the culture of Mexico and many Latin American countries. Will U.S. fear and intimidation or Chinese friendship and progress be more successful?
Tom Van Devender
North side
Military deployment
In Mr O’Brien’s opinion piece, he lays out reasons for the military to be deployed on U.S. soil. His first example of Lincoln confronting a deadly riot during the Civil War has no correlation to anything happening today. In fact, it shows how extreme the deployment was. He then states The Posse Comitatus Act and notes there are exceptions like the Insurrection Act. Again, there is no insurrection taking place and of course the stunning irony/hypocrisy is Trump initiated a failed coup and has yet to be held accountable. He is much more organized this time. The military must not be deployed on U.S. soil.
William Garrity
Foothills
A Nobel Peace Prize for Trump
Dear Mr. President, I honestly and sincerely wish that you earn a Nobel Peace Prize for yourself and our country.
Having said that (and mean it) I think that your efforts in the Russia v Ukraine will prove fruitless unless the US puts up very substantial collateral in which case any thought of a prize would be phony due to a bribe. They both need to put their cards on the table, go to the World Court and state the elements of an agreement that they would accept. And, I am very sure that money/gold can play a big part.
But the clearly golden opportunity for you/U.S. is to stop the killing/starvation of noncombatants in Gaza. Why on earth don’t you do it? The prize would be enormous for the U.S. and the world.
May God Bless you for your good efforts.
President Trump has so much power. In the words of Aesop: “If you are grateful for what you have, it is enough.”
Vincent Allen
Northwest side
Our region’s struggles
Our region’s struggles are not caused by one event but by many. The decline of Tucson really began when IBM decided to downsize, then Motorola was blocked from coming to town. Texas instruments downsized. Each individually is not a dealbreaker, but it started a pattern. Big-name companies with good-paying jobs began to avoid us. We even blocked RTX from expanding here. We then got a bunch of third-rate companies that amounted to nothing, Worldview, Vector Space, Tu Simple. Our local leaders and local activists scream about equity, good-paying jobs and families, but all I’ve seen from them has made life worse. The city and its activist class can easily say no to anything, but when it comes to making a plan for the betterment of our community, they’re conveniently quiet. Since Project Blue died, have any of those activists come up with a real plan yet, or even a suggestion?
Sergio Mendez
North side
Just the facts, ma’am
If Trump supporters say that they want you to back up something you said with facts, they are lying. They want to waste your time explaining a position they will never consider nor accept. If they liked facts, they wouldn’t be Trump supporters. I don’t waste my time with them anymore. I’m so tired of waking up every day to see what fresh hell Trump has thought up.
Terry Louck
East side
Lawsuit
The Proud Boys, who were convicted for crimes committed during the attack on the government, on Jan. 6, 2021, but were later pardoned by President Trump, have sued the government ($100 million) for violating their constitutional rights. The pendulum has now swung all the way back from where it should be. Convicted criminals are now alleging that someone hurt their feelings during their trials. I doubt anyone who watched the videos of these animals desecrating our place of government can truthfully say that they didn’t do it. The pardon was sacrilegious in itself, but only another sign of the depths our president will sink to. I realize many people actually agree with this stupidity and, while I cannot understand how, they certainly are entitled to their points of view. Perhaps common sense, with time, will prevail.
Philip Reinecker
East side
Soldiers in cities
On your Aug. 25 Opinion page, the Republican committeeman, Mr. O’Brien, quotes the U.S. Constitution “The guarantee clause in Article IV, Section 4 obligates the United States to protect states ‘against … domestic violence’”.
Hey, nice ellipsis there! Just for the record, here is the complete, unaltered, text of that Section:
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”
Wouldn’t anyone trying to be honest about this issue consider that those 15 omitted words mean something?
George Timson
Midtown
The real water problem
Politicians need to stop pretending that shorter showers, low-flow faucets and toilets will solve our problem. People are not the problem, it’s agriculture.
Households account for 20% of total water usage, whereas agriculture accounts for 75%. And what are we growing with all that water? Alfalfa hay, cotton, and durum wheat—crops that guzzle water and often leave the state as livestock feed or export commodities. They don’t put food on Arizona tables. Meanwhile, Tucson residents have already cut daily use from 121 gallons per person in the 1990s to 76 today, among the lowest in the Southwest.
If Arizona is serious about securing its water future, the conversation must shift from bathrooms to fields:
— Prioritize food that supports local communities.
— Help farmers modernize irrigation systems rather than subsidize wasteful practices.
— Question the logic of sending scarce desert water abroad embedded in hay bales.
Until those changes happen, household conservation campaigns are little more than a scapegoating distraction.
Lawrence Mazin
SaddleBrooke
Resist
If you too are struggling with the daily onslaught of bad news coming out of DC, there are steps each of us can take to alleviate our anxieties, stem the tide, and resist despair.
Look for community groups and organizations that are already well organized and offer variety of events and activities for everyone. Join one or more of them and participate in the programs they have to offer, from showing up in person at protests, town halls, and voter registration drives to stay-at-home activities, such as making phone calls, writing postcards and letters to the editor, creating informative flyers, and volunteering your unique talents in any number of ways.
Every positive action you take, no matter how small, will help make a difference while keeping your feelings of fear, anxiety and despair at bay.
Jacolyn Marshall
Oro Valley
Coaches’ salaries
I am sure most of your readers are as ‘shocked’ as was I to read about the staff salaries of the U of A football department. This was a good piece of reporting and very informative as to the amount of money being spent. I am sure everyone works hard, but some of these must be dream jobs. Combined coaches’ salaries are >$8m, and the five strength and conditioning coaches total almost $800k. The total budget is over $11m. This seems like a lot of money to me for just a middling college sports program. Oh, and don’t forget to add another 20% for employer-related expenses like retirement, health insurance, and taxes.
Thomas Rothe
Foothills
‘Your hands are full of blood’
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza and Israel’s present military actions, as well as destruction of infrastructure that has reduced the region to rubble, have made U.S. taxpayers complicit with famine and with targeting civilians as war policy. Given these factors, I think that the U.S. must cut off all weapons and aid to Israel, including delivery of “defensive” weapons, until Israel lives inside its boundaries and abides by international standards.
Yes, a vicious atrocity against Israeli settlers occurred Oct. 7, 2023. But Israel has the ability to respond selectively, as it did, albeit illegally, with Mordechai Vanunu in 1986. No need to eradicate civilians and a distinct culture in Gaza, though I fear that is the actual intent.
Almost three millennia ago the prophet Isaiah delivered this warning to Israel: “Though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.”
Ila Abernathy
Midtown
The future of dissent
In a recent executive order, Trump created a specialized National Guard force, nationwide to handle public order issues. Translated from authoritarian-speak into plain English; this means that he is establishing a force to quell dissent/protests in the major cities. His next step as an authoritarian will be to ban dissent completely. This is of course unconstitutional. He has shown that he is following the traditional fascist trajectory of the escalation of power.
Unless there is a coup, fascism is never established suddenly. It is a piecemeal, chipping away at democracy. Trump is constantly sending up trial balloons to see how much he can get away with. He will not stop until he has ultimate power, just as his sociopathic grandiosity demands.
Steve Rasmussen
Foothills
Relatively easy answers
Aug. 25: Bill O’Brien cites the Crime Prevention Research Center for crime statistics to support part of his opinion. Media Bias/Fact Check lists CPRC as ‘right’ but not extreme.
Generally, local authorities should seek help when they deem appropriate, and the federal government should help as constrained by locals. Generally.
Sharon Goodberry wrote of a similar position regarding crime in major cities. The FBI statistics show crime has been in decline since COVID. To reduce crime, the Fed should appropriate resources to all major cities. Inappropriately trained military personnel are not optimal.
The 5th Amendment states, “…nor shall any person…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process…” The text says “any person”, not any citizen or resident alien.
To alter the 5th requires passing an amendment by Congress and ratification by the states, usually. Article V of the Constitution.
James Abels
Midtown
A Tucsonan worth knowing about
I was extremely happy to read Alan Solot’s letter regarding Matthew Riccitello. When Matthew was in middle school, I had the great pleasure to have him in my science classroom in both 7th and 8th grade. He was definitely a driven individual even back then. He was a member of Doolen Middle School’s cross-country team that won a state championship his 8th grade year.
But beyond being a great athlete, I saw him as a superb human being as well. Matthew was always quiet, humble and a top-notch student.
If you are a fan of bicycling or bicycle racing, you should follow him. I hope to see him again in November at this year’s Tour de Tucson.
Ivan Yocum
East side
Martial law and the end of elections
President Trump has stated that he soon will be sending the National Guard to patrol other U.S. cities, including Chicago. Today, by a new Executive Order, he directed that the National Guard troops of every state be “resourced, trained and organized ... in quelling civil disturbances” and to that end, he created “a standing National Guard quick reaction force ... for rapid nationwide deployment.”
Trump has thus laid the groundwork for martial law on a national scale. As Illinois Governor Pritzker warned us in a speech today, Trump’s aim is to end elections and become an authoritarian dictator. Trump is well on the way to accomplishing that unconstitutional and un-American goal.
Stephen Saltonstall
East side
Water proposals
In response to the Aug. 25 front page article on water proposals, there is a possible large-scale solution that is being overlooked. Build desalination plants in California and exchange that fresh water output for Colorado River water allocated to California for allocation to Arizona. No more expensive than building a desalination plant in Mexico and, most importantly, no pipelines to build.
Why not?
Cutler Umbach
Northeast side
Experts needed
Placing unqualified candidates in essential government positions continues to cause great harm to America. The Dragon Bravo wildfire is just one example. Without the best and brightest experts protecting us from both domestic and foreign threats, our country will continue to decline. The top scientists, military personnel, economists, medical professionals, environmentalists, researchers, etc., are critical for our national security. As American citizens, we must demand our elected officials confirm only the most qualified experts for these critical government positions. We must also communicate to them, that if unqualified candidates are confirmed, we the people have the power to vote for better representation in the future.
Maggie Kraft
North side
Sinaloa water cartel
If Tucsonians have misgivings re the Canadian ownership of our electricity company and the foreign ownership of mining & related resource extraction corporations just wait until we have the Sinaloa Cartel deciding how much they will charge us to allow some of our desalination water to flow through the pipes from Rocky Point through their turf. The 1st proposal I heard of was from an Israeli firm so I hoped we would at least have the Mossad protection plan but I fear that is not on offer due to business they are conducting in Gaza.
Mike Judd
East side
Re: water proposals
At this point, I’m not as disturbed by the “secrecy” over these proposals as I am by the fact that none of them seem to allude to purifying wastewater to drinking standards.
This should be a first resort before considering enormous pipelines.
Surely this must be the system used by astronauts on the space station, as water is too heavy to ship there. They seem to be faring fine.
Jan Foiles
West side
Worse than gerrymandering
The City of Tucson voting practice is worse than gerrymandering. Ward candidates are voted on by Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in primary elections. That way Ward citizens are able to vote for the candidate they feel best represents them. Then, for the general election, all wards vote for all ward candidates. What? In a City that is predominantly Democratic, that means a Republican will never be elected to City Council. How did this happen?
Cal Rooker
Oro Valley
Four dead in Ohio
May 4, 1970. About a month before graduation, my senior year of college was at a small liberal arts institution in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was a Monday, and I had already been to class, had eaten lunch, and was on my way somewhere when a crowd started to gather at Stine Lake, an open lot so named for the nearby dorm and the fact that it flooded whenever it rained. Taking a seat on a low wall, I learned with shock that students at Kent State University had been shot and killed.
Fifty-five years later, here we are again. Only it’s not college campuses. The whole country is likely to endure an armed National Guard presence in major cities. One demonstration that the administration doesn’t like, one planted heckler that causes havoc and how many citizens will be killed? Do supporters of this madness not remember that day in May?
Sharon Reinbott
East side
Trump’s mirror
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been trolling Trump on X, using all caps, multiple exclamation points, self-aggrandizement, name-calling, and divisive rhetoric, i.e., mimicking Trump’s style.
Fox News personalities have called this behavior childish, a “performative confrontation style that only earns points with the loony radical base” (Hannity), and acting like a fool.
One wonders if it occurs to these Trump supporters that this is how Trump appears to the non-MAGA world.
Barbara Hall
Midtown
- Barbara Benjamin, Foothills
For all the fact that Trump berates China, he has taken a lesson from Mao. The Trump administration s buying into major American corporations imitating state run economies. What's more, we don't even know if his administration's buy-ins are truly by the government or if he is using the government as a front for himself., With all of his bankruptcies, Trump, the stable genius, endangers our corporations and our economy. Whatever happened to laissez-faire capitalism?
Barbara Benjamin
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
On felons and frauds
Letitia James brought a fraud case against Trump while he ran for a second term in 2024. Now, an Appeals Court decision has upheld Trump’s felony civil fraud finding but has voided the $500 million fine initially imposed. Not surprisingly, Trump’s so-called Justice Department has retaliated by investigating Ms. James.
The question arises: Does the Justice System now favor wealthy and powerful people who commit felonies since Trump is let off with a measly fraud conviction? Does this apply to fraudsters of all stripes, whether rich or poor, male or female, famous or unknown? And please ponder this: while Trump gets off handily from his misdeeds, the person who threw a sandwich at an ICE agent faces a possible eight years in jail.
I recommend if any of you readers plan to falsify your business records and commit insurance fraud, please be sure to run for (and win) the presidency. It will save you lots of money. (And keep your sandwiches to yourself!)
Melody Sears
North side
UA football — playoff bound?
These days, it’s impossible to predict how UA or any other college football team will do, until the season begins. Everything is thrown into a blender in the offseason. Then they start playing again. And you see how it goes. If you’re a fan, or a hometown reporter, just go with it. Be optimistic. We’re going to crush TCU. When basketball starts, we’re gonna blow out the Jayhawks. There’s no way an editor at The Arizona Daily Star should publish a headline right now that says, “Maybe we can go 6-6.” The Big 12 is not a football conference. Come on, Arizona State won the league last year and went to the playoffs. Their stadium is worse than ours! Spencer Tracy: “Give me rewrite” ... The offensive line looks great. We have a lot of good receivers and an experienced QB who’ll find them. The defense has talent and should gel as they play together more. The FG kicker puts ‘em in there. 10-2, probably better.”
Walter Ramsley
East side
In the category of ‘How dumb ...?’
Is there anything that more supports questioning the mental acuity of Trump cultists than imagining they believe the insanity of the Todd Blanche interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell? First and foremost, Blanche is Trump’s servile personal attorney (despite his current cloak of U.S. Deputy Attorney General). Maxwell is a convicted child sex trafficker and a “monster” in the eyes of her and Epstein’s victims. Blanche tosses softball, leading questions designed to get Maxwell (who has everything to gain, and already has gained favors and hope for a pardon) to say whatever nonsense is necessary to whitewash Trump’s involvement with Epstein. Maxwell was a full participant in the hell created by Epstein; she is an unrepentant liar, and her responses in this “interview” are appallingly unbelievable. Trump actually believes that his followers are dumb enough to swallow this perverse manipulation of reality. Why are you folks not offended?
S. Ross Emmanuel
Southeast side
A creative method — data centers
This is what Roswell, N.M., did (From the Roswell Daily Record): “County approves permit for data center, solar facility. Chaves County Commissioners approved the special use permit required for construction of a 1,265 megawatt utility-scale solar facility that would power a 300-acre data center and 250-acre storage system for battery energy.” Why didn’t Pima County and City of Tucson consider this solution, at least as for electricity? They claim this will eliminate using massive amounts of water for cooling, too. Makes sense to me.
Cliff Wagner
Foothills
Matthew Riccitello
Tucson native and pro cyclist Matthew Riccitello has started in La Vuelta a España, The Tour of Spain. This will be his third grand tour. He is only 23 years old. I am a regular reader of the Star and cannot recall any article about him. He is a native Tucsonan, a world-class athlete who is now competing in one of cycling’s three major stage races. Why nothing in the Star about him?
Alan Solot
Midtown
National security
It has been reported in the New York Times that Tulsi Gabbard, on orders from President Trump, fired the scientist Vinh Nguyen, who was a leading government expert on artificial intelligence, cryptology and advanced mathematics. It is reported that there is no evidence Mr. Nguyen mishandled classified data, made poor analytic judgments or politicized his work, and the acting director tried to protect him, to no avail. The N.S.A. is as great a protector of the USA from foreign adversaries as is the US Military. For example, the emergence of quantum computing has the enormous potential to break the security codes that protect the entire financial infrastructure of the USA if not somehow algorithmically mitigated. Natural disasters and military strikes, including 9/11, on the USA are tame by comparison due to their localized impact. The threats that N.S.A. must manage are highly technical and of global proportions. A `great’ America in the eyes of this administration is an extremely vulnerable America. Meanwhile, GOP Congress sleeps.
Ed Waymire
Midtown
A lesson from Mao
For all the fact that Trump berates China, he has taken a lesson from Mao. The Trump administration s buying into major American corporations imitating state run economies. What’s more, we don’t even know if his administration’s buy-ins are truly by the government or if he is using the government as a front for himself., With all of his bankruptcies, Trump, the stable genius, endangers our corporations and our economy. Whatever happened to laissez-faire capitalism?
Barbara Benjamin
Foothills
Painful example of our dysfunction
Amber Smith’s article in a recent Star makes for interesting reading.
She is a former CEO of Tucson Metro Chamber, which represents 1,500 businesses. You’d think someone who once led the Chamber would be mindful of the needs of the entire business community, not just one investment offer.
So do think of this: A massive data center would help deplete the watershed not just in Tucson but in a much larger area. That will lead to flight from the region as those who can run, do; homeowners watching prices drop for their unsaleable homes; small businesses failing because of declining demand.
Ms Smith says the investors were serious and “respectful” in their discussion. Perhaps. But the content of their offer was neither respectful of the environment, nor was it respectful towards the long-term interests of the business community.
Kalyanraman Bharathan
Midtown
Re: A simple question
Dear George Ball: To answer your question based on observation and knowing my acquaintances. MAGA doesn’t read newspapers — (with two local exceptions): Newsmax, Fox News, and TikTok are their only sources of news. So they will not see your question. But I will answer for them — anything Trump says or does is wonderful, and perhaps you should go back to where you came from.
Charlene Brewster
Marana
Trump shamelessly chasing Nobel Prize
Trump claims some of the individual Nobel Prize recipients did not deserve their awards (e.g., former President Obama), thereby making himself worthy of receiving one. He tries to justify this with the specious claim that he has resolved 10 wars.
By orders of moral magnitude, he is different in a way that should completely disqualify him from even superficial consideration. Whatever their flaws, none of the 111 recipients I am aware of are so totally lacking in human virtues and decency as Trump is. Both serious nominees as well as recipients should be, at a minimum, decent human beings. Trump is indecent to his fetid core. Other than himself and his own appetites, he values nothing. To award him a Nobel would debase the Prize, humiliate previous living recipients, and elevate a man who worships only at his own throne.
Just nominating him for the Prize is like entering a hyena in the Westminster Dog Show.
Sam Sherrill
SaddleBrooke
A simple question
In answer to the LTE “a simple question,” my answer is absolutely yes! I would support the same actions by any president, regardless of party. I don’t consider cleaning up our capital and ridding it of crime as anti-democratic. And, I don’t understand why people who enter our country illegally are afforded any due process.
Sharon Goodberry
East side
Centrist economics
“It’s the economy, stupid,” uttered by James Carville about the importance of the expenses of daily living to electoral politics proved true in Trump’s election in 2024. EDLs only go down with increasing production of goods and services at lower cost, something automation and AI will increasingly do, if allowed. So far, the majority of these savings have benefited corporate profits and high-level incomes and have not reduced EDLs. Worse, automation will take incomes away from private and public workers. Trump and his cohort are doing everything to shut down the public sector, including research, education, non-profits, healthcare, and the government to allow the private sector to dominate without limits and reduce incomes of public workers. Increasingly, there will be a need for the public sector to ensure incomes to cover EDLs with programs like Social Security and public sector spending. When Trump Republicans hurl the word “socialist” at opposition candidates they should embrace it if it means supporting a balance between the private and public sectors.
Eric Gormally
Oro Valley
The big rig
To remain in power because of a low approval rating, President Trump demanded Texas Republicans rig congressional district voting maps, admitting that his party cannot win a fair election. If his policies were good for America, there’d be no need for electoral cheating. Texans cannot vote on these redrawn maps that give significantly more power to white voters than black and brown voters.
California’s response to Texas’ assault on citizen rights is to redraw its congressional maps but allow voters to decide to adopt them. California’s actions are fundamentally different from Texas in process and outcome. Further, California’s citizen-led redistricting commission will be restored in 2030.
Trump is terrified of losing his majority in the midterms but instead of ending senseless tariffs or indiscriminate ICE raids, he chooses to undermine the will of the voters so his party can remain in power regardless of majority opinion.
Ignoring radical extremism is no longer an option.
Teresa Jenkins
SaddleBrooke
Copper World’s water-use plans
We note with interest that the Tucson City Council voted unanimously this week to require management plans for current and future businesses that have significant demands on our scarce water resources.
Going forward, a business that will use more than 7.48 million gallons of water a month — just shy of 90 million gallons a year — will need to submit a water-conservation plan to Tucson Water.
Meanwhile, HudBay’s plan for Copper World just south of Tucson says it plans to use up to 4 billion gallons of primarily groundwater a year for 44 years! Seems the Hudbay folks up in Canada don’t see the problem with pumping from our aquifers here in the Sonoran Desert, where we are 25 years into a mega-drought. All for 500 jobs, they say.
Maybe Pima County needs to get a hold on this situation before HudBay decimates our water supplies.
Jeff Herr
North side
A simple question
I submitted a letter on this point a week ago. It was not published for some reason, so I hereby resubmit my question to Star readers.
Trump is doing things that are anti-democratic, such as the use of the National Guard in D.C. and L.A. and denying access to due process for those rounded up by ICE.
If Obama or Biden did the same thing, would you support these actions as valid under presidential authority, or would you consider them illegal and demand impeachment?
Simple question, and it should be a simple answer? What say the MAGA supporters to this point?
George Ball
Midtown
Monsoons
Many have been bemoaning the absence of a good monsoon. Growing up in Arizona, they were called thunderstorms. Monsoon sells better on the weather reports. Being a 77-year-old Arizona native, there have been many changes that I think have reduced the number of monsoons. For example. I notice on the weather forecasts a normal stream of storms flowing up from Mexico into the Arizona-New Mexico border. Many bubbling up through Nogales and bypassing Tucson to the west or east.
I believe one of the causes is the Tucson’s heat island effect. It is five degrees Fahrenheit (I have seen estimates as high as 10 degrees) hotter in the Tucson area compared to the surrounding desert and higher at night. I’m sure the downtown and midtown temperatures are much higher. Many factors contribute to the heat island. Among them are dramatic increase in population, asphalt, concrete, vehicle and air conditioning emissions. This is a common problem with cities around the country. I wonder how this affects climate change?
Cal Rooker
Oro Valley
Intel robbery
Intel has been producing chips in the U.S. longer than anyone. Right here in Chandler, to be specific. Common sense says if grants are to be awarded under the CHIP Act, Intel, as a local company, is a logical recipient. Especially over the like of foreign entities, TWSM and others. Funny politics appear to be in play, as the grant appears tied to Ohio. Huh? Now the Ohio politicians are whining. And now by proclamation, Lutnick says we’ll deliver the money, but we’ll take an equity stake. How is that even conceivable? An equity possession in Intel makes no sense unless one takes an equity in others for the same grants. Wake up, America. Only bad things happen when you fall asleep at the wheel.
Brode Meyer
Midtown
‘For profit,’ for real?
I was immediately drawn to “Reengage with GCU” in Janet Wittenbraker’s Aug. 21 guest opinion. Consequently, I did not read, but skimmed her opinion. Items 2-4 may be acceptable for consideration.
I do have a problem with inviting a for-profit college to come to Tucson that avoided its day in court until a favorable administration came into power. Sounds like the delay, delay playbook of the current POTUS.
A for-profit college exists to maximize profit first and provide an effective education for students, if that provision of education does not materially impact profit.
I earned a BS in accounting from ASU. A coworker earned a BS in accounting from a for-profit college. The depth of knowledge from the for profit was inferior probably because the degree was earned in a shorter time period. That’s my for-profit anecdotal experience. Buyer beware.
James Abels
Midtown
Here’s an update
1. There is no deal in Ukraine and no ceasefire. It was one big $2 million publicity stunt.
2. The Trump-Epstein case has faded away, like Roe vs Wade and Jan 6.
3. Elon Musk has dropped his plans for a 3rd party. Trump and the Republicans have no threat. The Democrats do nothing.
4. Texas will get five new seats in the House.
5. Washington, D.C. is effectively under martial law. This model will be used in other Democratic-run cities.
6. It will get worse.
Terry Louck
East side
Change begins at the local level
Recent “Letters to the Editor” are filled with controversy and anger over national issues. It’s starting to get old, especially when we CAN change the message.
While national issues may seem overwhelming, there are things we can do at the local level to make a difference.
For example, yesterday, a group of people from across the area (yes, they were Democrats with AZ Representative Kevin Volk) collected and delivered six carloads of food and supplies to support Youth On Their Own (YOTO) in Tucson.
YOTO helps homeless students get an education. It serves 1,600 students a year and has an amazing 93% graduation rate — higher than the state average. Remember, these are homeless kids, some in middle school, dealing with issues many of us cannot comprehend. And they desperately want an education.
There are many great organizations in our community that need help. So, let’s turn our anger into action.
When you finish the daily Opinion section, get up, out, and involved!
Carla Ohara
Oro Valley
Testing teachers
The Oklahoma Public Schools superintendent is going to test teachers from “suspect” states to guard against “radical leftist ideology” (Star, Aug. 20). Some of his ideas are not too bad, except that the test is going to be administered and judged by Prager U, which is not known for veracity or impartiality. And then let’s consider: Radical. Leftist. Ideology. Hmmm... Presumably that means those who are ideologically aligned with the Worldwide Communist Conspiracy — right? So, people who admire and adhere to the views of the neo-Communist current brutal dictator of Russia would presumably all be suspect — right? But wait: “Trump echoes Putin stance” (Star, August 17, p.1). Oops! Logically, wouldn’t that mean the superintendent will have to exclude the MAGA devotees of Mr. Trump? How he will get out of this conundrum will be interesting to watch. Not to mention that he is demanding that Trump’s lies about the 2020 election be taught as truth. My, it will be interesting to be in school in Oklahoma.
Abraham R. Byrd III
North side
One-man rule sounds authoritarian
It is becoming apparent that Trump and most of the Republican Party believe in a one-man rule like Hungary and Russia, not in a representative democracy that the country was founded on.
As Ben Franklin said, “We have given you a “republic, if you can keep it.”
Trump is slowly but surely getting control of levers of government by executive orders based on a “national emergency.”
He believes in changing our culture and history to match his wishful view of our country as Hitler tried in the 1930s.
Hitler was changing German history to match his view and burning books etc. Hitler wanted to establish a pure Aryan nation by paying women to produce German babies. They tried coupling of single German women with SS troopers.
Trump wants to give a woman $5,000 for each baby (Trump would prefer white). It costs $300,000 to raise a child.
Trump is establishing a private police force with the FBI, ICE, the National Guard and the military.
Donald Plummer
Northwest side
Border wall hue
You gotta be kidding me. You chose to run your front page lead story about the color of a wall? You couldn’t come up with something more important? Gee, I guess maybe there’s nothing else of importance going on in this country and the world. Come on, Arizona Daily Star, get your act together.
Jim Evans
Foothills
Conservatorship/guardianship exploitation
In 2023, Arizona promised reform after SB1291 — but families are still being robbed. A “soft” or “light” conservatorship meant to protect assets became years of outside control: orders with no preserved hearing record, ex-parte medical reports from unrelated cases, and fee approvals that look more like paychecks to insiders than care for a vulnerable person. Not a single jury trial has vindicated those rights, and I’m one of many still denied justice.
Worse, the Probate Advisory Panel required by law hasn’t even reached quorum nearly two years after enactment, blocking oversight the public was promised. Even Court Accountant’s report in my case shows over-budget spending, missing invoices, unexplained transfers, and large payees — but still approved.
I’m running for Congress to fix this. Federally enforceable reforms when the state fails to protect its vulnerable citizens. If you believe the law should protect people — not enrich insiders — join me in demanding real accountability now.
David Redkey
Downtown
- David Redkey, Downtown
In 2023, Arizona promised reform after SB1291 — but families are still being robbed. A “soft” or "light" conservatorship meant to protect assets became years of outside control: orders with no preserved hearing record, ex-parte medical reports from unrelated cases, and fee approvals that look more like paychecks to insiders than care for a vulnerable person. Not a single jury trial has vindicated those rights, and I’m one of many still denied justice.
Worse, the Probate Advisory Panel required by law hasn’t even reached quorum nearly two years after enactment, blocking oversight the public was promised. Even Court Accountant’s report in my case shows over-budget spending, missing invoices, unexplained transfers, and large payees — but still approved.
I’m running for Congress to fix this. Federally enforceable reforms when the state fails to protect their vulnerable citizens. If you believe the law should protect people — not enrich insiders — join me in demanding real accountability now.
David Redkey
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Craig Miller, Northwest side
Trump stated he wants to end the war in Ukraine so he can get into heaven. His press secretary said he wasn't joking.
He's the least Christian President ever. Maybe start acting like a Christian:
Stop the incessant lies, it is a commandment. Start treating the most vulnerable better. Christ said "what you do to the least of my brothers you do unto me". Compassion and kindness were what Christ taught, not demonizing everyone who you don't like.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Max LaPlante, Southeast side
The length of the Southwest border with Mexico is approximately 1,954 miles. During our POTUS's first term, roughly 400 miles of border wall was erected. Our illustrious former Governor Ducey decided to shore up the wall in Arizona using double stacked shipping containers, which were removed after his term. The Biden Administration decided to halt the construction of the border wall and sell off remaining border wall materials with starting bids as low as $5 for sections of wall panels. Now 47 has resumed erecting the border wall at a total cost estimate of $25 billion-plus. Most recently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the entire wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is going to be painted black to make it hotter and deter illegal immigration. The Commander in Chief has always maintained that Mexico will be paying for all of this. In stark reality, everything mentioned above was and is being paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Gloves are available in Mexico.
Max LaPlante
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Ke Chiang Hsieh, Midtown
Thanks to Gerald Farrington’s recent Op-Ed comparing Trump’s policies with Mao’s Great Cultural Revolution. Earlier, Mao led the Great Leap Forward to increase agricultural and industrial outputs to meet unrealistic production quotas under peasant leaderships while truthful intellectuals and technical experts were banished to labor camps. The GLF ended with tens of millions of deaths. Their economic policy flipped after Mao’s death, but not the Communist Party (CCP). Under Xi, a new cultural revolution advances with latest surveillance technologies, e.g., all lectures are monitored, and professors warned on off-limits, i.e. historical facts, etc., while students are expected to report on strayed professors. All dictators, regardless of nationalities, races and ideologies, live in fear of losing control. To grab more power, they punish those who do honest research and publish their findings. Is anyone surprised that a person without medical training oversees our public health, and an oil tycoon protects our environment? The Chinese are powerless under the CCP; will Americans challenge the GOP?
Ke Chiang Hsieh
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Roger Rutschman, Goodyear
As a senior Arizonan, I urge continued investment in mRNA vaccine research. Billions have benefited from these safe, effective vaccines, which can be quickly updated for new health threats. Cutting funding now would leave our nation — including Arizona —vulnerable in future pandemics and cause us to lose medical innovation leadership.
We need decisions based on science, not politics. I encourage policymakers and fellow citizens to support strong investment in public health and biomedical research. It’s critical for protecting our communities and economy now and for the future.
Roger Rutschman
Goodyear
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Michelle Brislance, Oro Valley
President Donald Trump likes to brag that he has done more in the short time he has been in office than all other presidents combined. Countless letters to the editor have chronicled the many executive orders he has signed and the demands he has made to public schools, colleges and universities, as well as other public and private entities which have dramatically undermined this country’s core values and cherished ideals.
His policies have contributed to the dumbing down of America by restricting what students can read and say, by squelching healthy debate of controversial subjects, and by promoting the rewriting of history to ignore parts of America’s shameful past.
The president’s cruel immigration policies; his disdain for truth, science, and the rule of law; and his arrogant abuse of power for personal gain are unprecedented.
Yes, President Trump has done a lot in a short period of time. We can only hope the damage is not irreparable.
Michelle Brislance
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Bruce Hilpert, North side
Laura Conover's predicament with the US Attorney charging an alleged murderer with lesser crimes and facing deportation is part of a larger trend of the politicization of the Department of Justice. Deportation will bring headlines for ICE deporting a “dangerous criminal” instead of his being tried for a capital offense.
Meanwhile, the man charged with the recent murder of the Minnesota State House Representative had a “hit list” of over 45 progressive politicians and abortion providers. This was clearly “domestic terrorism,” a federal crime requiring political, racial or religious motivation. Yet his federal charges include only murder and stalking.
These decisions come from the Dept. of Justice that has dropped prosecution against January 6 defendants and a President who has pardoned those convicted and termed them “patriots.”
Is this the state of American justice now, an instrument of political power? Sadly, the answer is “yes.”
Bruce Hilpert
North side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Deb Klumpp, Oro Valley
The Norwegian press reported that Donald Trump, in a call to the Norwegian Finance Minister, told him he wanted to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Probably there was some attempted transactional wheeling and dealing over tariffs tied to his quest for the prize. Four of Trump's predecessors, including Barack Obama, have received the award. No wonder Donald's nose is out of joint. Do you think any previous award candidates or prize hopefuls ever called a member of the nominating committee to lobby for the prize? How incredibly vulgar and tawdry - but consider the askee. Trump seeing himself as Nobel Prize material is absurd - but it seems absurdity rules the day. This supremely unqualified individual managed to be elected President again. Should he receive a Nobel nomination or, God forbid, actually be awarded the Nobel Prize, it will forever be tarnished and rendered meaningless, as was the Presidential Medal of Freedom when awarded to Rush Limbaugh by Donald Trump.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Dr. JB Marshall, Oro Valley
Since the beginning of Trump’s presidency, our court system has been working overtime to protect our constitutional rights and freedoms.
From January through July, 23 Attorneys General across the country, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, filed 25 joint lawsuits against his administration to protect our lives and livelihoods and safeguard $1.5 billion for Arizona alone.
The ACLU filed more than 150 federal lawsuits from protecting birthright citizenship on day one to protecting immigrants' rights, defending free speech, and demanding legal counsel for detainees in Alligator Alcatraz.
Consequently, federal judges, including those appointed by Trump, have ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and blocked the enforcement of his decrees on grounds they imperil the lives and well-being of American citizens, exceed his presidential powers, and violate our constitution.
If you appreciate their fight to protect your rights and preserve our democracy, please consider showing your support by donating to AG Kris Mayes and the ACLU. It’s a small price to pay for our future.
Dr. JB Marshall
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
More like this...
Ward 3 Democratic primary outcome
I respect the Pima County judge’s ruling to uphold the Ward 3 Democratic primary results, denying Sadie Shaw’s request for a new election, though some may see it as potentially unfair. The decision stands, and we must move forward. Sadie Shaw’s strong campaign, finishing just 19 votes behind incumbent Kevin Dahl (pending recount), highlights growing dissatisfaction with Tucson’s Mayor and City Council. Policies like fare-free transit and encampment management, though perhaps well-intentioned, are impacting Tucsonans negatively.
While I respect Kevin Dahl and Sadie Shaw, I disagree with their policy approaches. Tucson’s City Council needs fresh ideas and collaborative solutions. As a Ward 3 candidate, I’m committed to practical, balanced policies for a stronger Tucson.
The Pima County Recorder’s error, affecting 358 voters (76 in Ward 3) with incorrect ballots, undermines trust. This demands a state review and corrective measures for fair, transparent elections.
Janet Wittenbraker
Midtown
Laura’s leadership
I recently concluded my tenure as a prosecuting attorney under Laura Conover at the Pima County Attorney’s Office. While student debt heavily influenced my decision to move to the private sector, leaving was not easy. Working for Laura was the most rewarding job I have ever had. I feel compelled to share my perspective, especially given the unfair LTE criticism Laura receives from former administration members. Her focus is on prosecuting truly dangerous criminals — those who threaten public safety, including violent offenders, drug dealers, and individuals who harm children. She prioritizes justice and community safety over inflating felony statistics. For instance, she does not seek to felonize someone for an honest mistake, like accidentally bouncing a $100 check. I am incredibly grateful for Laura’s leadership and mentorship. I am also deeply thankful to my direct supervisor and my incredible friends and colleagues I had the privilege of working with at the PCAO. It was truly an honor to be part of the team.
Brian Robles
Downtown
Re: ‘For city, compassion is not enough’
Thank you, Louie Christensen, for vocalizing what everyone knows: “Today, buses are less a tool for getting to work or school and operate as diesel-powered air conditioning centers for the homeless.” The fare-free bus system as it stands now is clearly creating a dangerous transit environment. If the system is to remain “free”, some sort of transit police force needs to be established. But wait! Who will pay for that? If not that, then reinstate fares. Either way, it’s going to cost something. Nothing is “free.” Since the mayor and council seem to be indecisive and ineffective, they all need to be replaced, IMHO. Isn’t that why a hefty pay increase was approved for mayor and council? To attract the best and brightest candidates? The present mayor and council appear to be operating at their previous pay grade.
Dewey Bidwell
Northeast side
Not safe from gerrymandering
Our Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) does not keep us safe from political manipulation. Examples:
1. The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments (CACA) controls the selection of AIRC commissioners. In 2020, CACA consisted of 9 Republicans, 4 Independents and no Democrats. Challenged Ducey appointed Democrats to the open seats, however, they were too inexperienced and outnumbered to make a difference. Interestingly, CACA now has 8 Democrats, 6 Independents and only 2 Republicans.
2. The 5-member size of the AIRC gives the chair way too much power. Of the 21 votes on map selection, the Chair sided with the Republicans 8 times and Democrats only once. The final month, she sided with Republicans 62.5% of the time.
3. I live in Marana. My best friend lives 42 miles away in Vail. We are both in LD17. Commissioner Mehl, with behind-the-scenes input from friend politician Vince Leach, successfully gerrymandered to assure a Republican voting majority violating compact and contiguous criteria.
Watch for and support improvements to the AIRC.
Dee Maitland
Marana
A simple clarification
A couple of responses to Mr. Cory’s “Simple answer” LTE (Aug. 26). First, the legality of the National Guard deployment to Los Angeles is still being litigated, with a decision not yet determined. The National Guard is not meant to act as a domestic police force. Trump insists the troops were sent to “protect federal property and personnel,” which is a joke. (When do you suppose Trump will be sending federal troops to the many high-crime red-state cities? Answer: Never.) Second, Trump did not win the popular vote. 48.3% of Americans voted for Kamala Harris, and 1.9% voted for third-party candidates — a total of 50.2%, reflecting that more people voted against Trump than for him. With so much falsity pouring out of the current administration, at least the “Trump won the popular vote” lie should be put to rest.
Hope Gastelum
East side
Execute the laws?
Trump said he was firing Fed Board member Lisa Cook because it was his duty to “faithfully execute the laws of the United States.” The facts of that case are dubious at best.
But what about Trump himself? The record is much less ambiguous.
The U.S. Constitution is law. Appropriations of Congress are law. Due process for migrants is law. To faithfully execute the laws of the United States means to obey those laws.
Yet, in the first months of this Trump administration, at least 39 separate judges have ruled against his lawless actions. They have variously issued temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions preventing Trump from, among many other things, ending constitutional birthright citizenship, targeting opponents with politically motivated investigations, freezing funding that Congress had approved for projects, and cutting off funding due to political disagreements.
Congress needs to faithfully execute the law, too.
The one governing the removal of lawless presidents.
Chuck Barrett
Midtown
Positive ideas?
Per a LTE from a loyal follower, “Hold criminals responsible for their actions.” Agreed. Know any convicted criminals holding high political office? “Actually, account for the taxpayer dollars the government spends.” Agreed. Know why the current administration wants to paint the “wall” black and other boondoggle wastes of your money without taxpayer accountability? Just asking.
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Foreign policy and democratic values
The Trump Administration has abandoned a key democratic value in supporting foreign governments which pursue territorial expansion through military aggression.
At the beginning of WWII, the West failed to vigorously oppose Germany and Japan as they employed military campaigns to seize territories in neighboring countries. The victimized populations did not choose their fates.
Now the Trump Administration supports the efforts of Russia and Israel to seize the homes and territories of neighboring peoples. (Granted the Israel situation is complicated by Hamas’ initial violent attack. But Israel now seems determined to eliminate the population of Gaza and claim the land for itself.)
The attempted seizures our government seems to support will lead to prolonged grievances and more war. They are anti-democratic. Not to mention the death the military aggression will impose.
It is very disturbing that the lessons of WWII and our democratic values are being ignored by this Administration.
Jim Greene
Marana
The joy of barbershop singing
I was first introduced to barbershop singing in 1968 and have been singing ever since. The Tucson Chapter is still going strong and meets weekly to rehearse and learn new songs. The joy of barbershop comes from a unique and tight-knit harmony, created by four voices singing a cappella.
The heart of barbershop is its four-part harmony, made up of the tenor, lead, baritone, and bass. When these four parts are perfectly in tune, a magical phenomenon happens. This barbershop sound creates harmonic overtones that you can literally feel. For singers, it’s a powerful and goosebump-inducing experience that makes you feel part of something bigger than yourself.
You don’t need to be a professional musician to enjoy barbershop. Many people are drawn to it because it is an accessible form of singing, with an emphasis on learning by ear through a shared love of music. The blend of voices, the ringing chords and the shared passion for harmony create a truly joyful and uplifting experience.
Tom McGorray
Northwest side
China sees tariffs as opportunity
Trump campaigned on fighting the U.S.’s biggest enemy, China. But emphasis changed to hardened criminals invading our southern border, masked ICE agents deporting undocumented residents everywhere, and tariffs on world trading partners, not just China. In 1911, during the Mexican Revolution, 300 Chinese were massacred in Torreon, Coahuila, followed by incidents throughout northern Sonora. By 1931, Governor Rodolfo Elías-Calles forced most Chinese from the state. China views the tariff damage to the economies of the U.S. and its trading partners as opportunities. Recently, Chinese Consulate General Fu Xingrong, an attractive young woman fluent in Spanish, visited Sonora and Baja California, with messages of friendship, hope, and potential developments in renewable energy and minerals, leaving the bad history in the past. China is becoming part of the culture of Mexico and many Latin American countries. Will U.S. fear and intimidation or Chinese friendship and progress be more successful?
Tom Van Devender
North side
Military deployment
In Mr O’Brien’s opinion piece, he lays out reasons for the military to be deployed on U.S. soil. His first example of Lincoln confronting a deadly riot during the Civil War has no correlation to anything happening today. In fact, it shows how extreme the deployment was. He then states The Posse Comitatus Act and notes there are exceptions like the Insurrection Act. Again, there is no insurrection taking place and of course the stunning irony/hypocrisy is Trump initiated a failed coup and has yet to be held accountable. He is much more organized this time. The military must not be deployed on U.S. soil.
William Garrity
Foothills
A Nobel Peace Prize for Trump
Dear Mr. President, I honestly and sincerely wish that you earn a Nobel Peace Prize for yourself and our country.
Having said that (and mean it) I think that your efforts in the Russia v Ukraine will prove fruitless unless the US puts up very substantial collateral in which case any thought of a prize would be phony due to a bribe. They both need to put their cards on the table, go to the World Court and state the elements of an agreement that they would accept. And, I am very sure that money/gold can play a big part.
But the clearly golden opportunity for you/U.S. is to stop the killing/starvation of noncombatants in Gaza. Why on earth don’t you do it? The prize would be enormous for the U.S. and the world.
May God Bless you for your good efforts.
President Trump has so much power. In the words of Aesop: “If you are grateful for what you have, it is enough.”
Vincent Allen
Northwest side
Our region’s struggles
Our region’s struggles are not caused by one event but by many. The decline of Tucson really began when IBM decided to downsize, then Motorola was blocked from coming to town. Texas instruments downsized. Each individually is not a dealbreaker, but it started a pattern. Big-name companies with good-paying jobs began to avoid us. We even blocked RTX from expanding here. We then got a bunch of third-rate companies that amounted to nothing, Worldview, Vector Space, Tu Simple. Our local leaders and local activists scream about equity, good-paying jobs and families, but all I’ve seen from them has made life worse. The city and its activist class can easily say no to anything, but when it comes to making a plan for the betterment of our community, they’re conveniently quiet. Since Project Blue died, have any of those activists come up with a real plan yet, or even a suggestion?
Sergio Mendez
North side
Just the facts, ma’am
If Trump supporters say that they want you to back up something you said with facts, they are lying. They want to waste your time explaining a position they will never consider nor accept. If they liked facts, they wouldn’t be Trump supporters. I don’t waste my time with them anymore. I’m so tired of waking up every day to see what fresh hell Trump has thought up.
Terry Louck
East side
Lawsuit
The Proud Boys, who were convicted for crimes committed during the attack on the government, on Jan. 6, 2021, but were later pardoned by President Trump, have sued the government ($100 million) for violating their constitutional rights. The pendulum has now swung all the way back from where it should be. Convicted criminals are now alleging that someone hurt their feelings during their trials. I doubt anyone who watched the videos of these animals desecrating our place of government can truthfully say that they didn’t do it. The pardon was sacrilegious in itself, but only another sign of the depths our president will sink to. I realize many people actually agree with this stupidity and, while I cannot understand how, they certainly are entitled to their points of view. Perhaps common sense, with time, will prevail.
Philip Reinecker
East side
Soldiers in cities
On your Aug. 25 Opinion page, the Republican committeeman, Mr. O’Brien, quotes the U.S. Constitution “The guarantee clause in Article IV, Section 4 obligates the United States to protect states ‘against … domestic violence’”.
Hey, nice ellipsis there! Just for the record, here is the complete, unaltered, text of that Section:
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”
Wouldn’t anyone trying to be honest about this issue consider that those 15 omitted words mean something?
George Timson
Midtown
The real water problem
Politicians need to stop pretending that shorter showers, low-flow faucets and toilets will solve our problem. People are not the problem, it’s agriculture.
Households account for 20% of total water usage, whereas agriculture accounts for 75%. And what are we growing with all that water? Alfalfa hay, cotton, and durum wheat—crops that guzzle water and often leave the state as livestock feed or export commodities. They don’t put food on Arizona tables. Meanwhile, Tucson residents have already cut daily use from 121 gallons per person in the 1990s to 76 today, among the lowest in the Southwest.
If Arizona is serious about securing its water future, the conversation must shift from bathrooms to fields:
— Prioritize food that supports local communities.
— Help farmers modernize irrigation systems rather than subsidize wasteful practices.
— Question the logic of sending scarce desert water abroad embedded in hay bales.
Until those changes happen, household conservation campaigns are little more than a scapegoating distraction.
Lawrence Mazin
SaddleBrooke
Resist
If you too are struggling with the daily onslaught of bad news coming out of DC, there are steps each of us can take to alleviate our anxieties, stem the tide, and resist despair.
Look for community groups and organizations that are already well organized and offer variety of events and activities for everyone. Join one or more of them and participate in the programs they have to offer, from showing up in person at protests, town halls, and voter registration drives to stay-at-home activities, such as making phone calls, writing postcards and letters to the editor, creating informative flyers, and volunteering your unique talents in any number of ways.
Every positive action you take, no matter how small, will help make a difference while keeping your feelings of fear, anxiety and despair at bay.
Jacolyn Marshall
Oro Valley
Coaches’ salaries
I am sure most of your readers are as ‘shocked’ as was I to read about the staff salaries of the U of A football department. This was a good piece of reporting and very informative as to the amount of money being spent. I am sure everyone works hard, but some of these must be dream jobs. Combined coaches’ salaries are >$8m, and the five strength and conditioning coaches total almost $800k. The total budget is over $11m. This seems like a lot of money to me for just a middling college sports program. Oh, and don’t forget to add another 20% for employer-related expenses like retirement, health insurance, and taxes.
Thomas Rothe
Foothills
‘Your hands are full of blood’
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza and Israel’s present military actions, as well as destruction of infrastructure that has reduced the region to rubble, have made U.S. taxpayers complicit with famine and with targeting civilians as war policy. Given these factors, I think that the U.S. must cut off all weapons and aid to Israel, including delivery of “defensive” weapons, until Israel lives inside its boundaries and abides by international standards.
Yes, a vicious atrocity against Israeli settlers occurred Oct. 7, 2023. But Israel has the ability to respond selectively, as it did, albeit illegally, with Mordechai Vanunu in 1986. No need to eradicate civilians and a distinct culture in Gaza, though I fear that is the actual intent.
Almost three millennia ago the prophet Isaiah delivered this warning to Israel: “Though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.”
Ila Abernathy
Midtown
The future of dissent
In a recent executive order, Trump created a specialized National Guard force, nationwide to handle public order issues. Translated from authoritarian-speak into plain English; this means that he is establishing a force to quell dissent/protests in the major cities. His next step as an authoritarian will be to ban dissent completely. This is of course unconstitutional. He has shown that he is following the traditional fascist trajectory of the escalation of power.
Unless there is a coup, fascism is never established suddenly. It is a piecemeal, chipping away at democracy. Trump is constantly sending up trial balloons to see how much he can get away with. He will not stop until he has ultimate power, just as his sociopathic grandiosity demands.
Steve Rasmussen
Foothills
Relatively easy answers
Aug. 25: Bill O’Brien cites the Crime Prevention Research Center for crime statistics to support part of his opinion. Media Bias/Fact Check lists CPRC as ‘right’ but not extreme.
Generally, local authorities should seek help when they deem appropriate, and the federal government should help as constrained by locals. Generally.
Sharon Goodberry wrote of a similar position regarding crime in major cities. The FBI statistics show crime has been in decline since COVID. To reduce crime, the Fed should appropriate resources to all major cities. Inappropriately trained military personnel are not optimal.
The 5th Amendment states, “…nor shall any person…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process…” The text says “any person”, not any citizen or resident alien.
To alter the 5th requires passing an amendment by Congress and ratification by the states, usually. Article V of the Constitution.
James Abels
Midtown
A Tucsonan worth knowing about
I was extremely happy to read Alan Solot’s letter regarding Matthew Riccitello. When Matthew was in middle school, I had the great pleasure to have him in my science classroom in both 7th and 8th grade. He was definitely a driven individual even back then. He was a member of Doolen Middle School’s cross-country team that won a state championship his 8th grade year.
But beyond being a great athlete, I saw him as a superb human being as well. Matthew was always quiet, humble and a top-notch student.
If you are a fan of bicycling or bicycle racing, you should follow him. I hope to see him again in November at this year’s Tour de Tucson.
Ivan Yocum
East side
Martial law and the end of elections
President Trump has stated that he soon will be sending the National Guard to patrol other U.S. cities, including Chicago. Today, by a new Executive Order, he directed that the National Guard troops of every state be “resourced, trained and organized ... in quelling civil disturbances” and to that end, he created “a standing National Guard quick reaction force ... for rapid nationwide deployment.”
Trump has thus laid the groundwork for martial law on a national scale. As Illinois Governor Pritzker warned us in a speech today, Trump’s aim is to end elections and become an authoritarian dictator. Trump is well on the way to accomplishing that unconstitutional and un-American goal.
Stephen Saltonstall
East side
Water proposals
In response to the Aug. 25 front page article on water proposals, there is a possible large-scale solution that is being overlooked. Build desalination plants in California and exchange that fresh water output for Colorado River water allocated to California for allocation to Arizona. No more expensive than building a desalination plant in Mexico and, most importantly, no pipelines to build.
Why not?
Cutler Umbach
Northeast side
Experts needed
Placing unqualified candidates in essential government positions continues to cause great harm to America. The Dragon Bravo wildfire is just one example. Without the best and brightest experts protecting us from both domestic and foreign threats, our country will continue to decline. The top scientists, military personnel, economists, medical professionals, environmentalists, researchers, etc., are critical for our national security. As American citizens, we must demand our elected officials confirm only the most qualified experts for these critical government positions. We must also communicate to them, that if unqualified candidates are confirmed, we the people have the power to vote for better representation in the future.
Maggie Kraft
North side
Sinaloa water cartel
If Tucsonians have misgivings re the Canadian ownership of our electricity company and the foreign ownership of mining & related resource extraction corporations just wait until we have the Sinaloa Cartel deciding how much they will charge us to allow some of our desalination water to flow through the pipes from Rocky Point through their turf. The 1st proposal I heard of was from an Israeli firm so I hoped we would at least have the Mossad protection plan but I fear that is not on offer due to business they are conducting in Gaza.
Mike Judd
East side
Re: water proposals
At this point, I’m not as disturbed by the “secrecy” over these proposals as I am by the fact that none of them seem to allude to purifying wastewater to drinking standards.
This should be a first resort before considering enormous pipelines.
Surely this must be the system used by astronauts on the space station, as water is too heavy to ship there. They seem to be faring fine.
Jan Foiles
West side
Worse than gerrymandering
The City of Tucson voting practice is worse than gerrymandering. Ward candidates are voted on by Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in primary elections. That way Ward citizens are able to vote for the candidate they feel best represents them. Then, for the general election, all wards vote for all ward candidates. What? In a City that is predominantly Democratic, that means a Republican will never be elected to City Council. How did this happen?
Cal Rooker
Oro Valley
Four dead in Ohio
May 4, 1970. About a month before graduation, my senior year of college was at a small liberal arts institution in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was a Monday, and I had already been to class, had eaten lunch, and was on my way somewhere when a crowd started to gather at Stine Lake, an open lot so named for the nearby dorm and the fact that it flooded whenever it rained. Taking a seat on a low wall, I learned with shock that students at Kent State University had been shot and killed.
Fifty-five years later, here we are again. Only it’s not college campuses. The whole country is likely to endure an armed National Guard presence in major cities. One demonstration that the administration doesn’t like, one planted heckler that causes havoc and how many citizens will be killed? Do supporters of this madness not remember that day in May?
Sharon Reinbott
East side
Trump’s mirror
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been trolling Trump on X, using all caps, multiple exclamation points, self-aggrandizement, name-calling, and divisive rhetoric, i.e., mimicking Trump’s style.
Fox News personalities have called this behavior childish, a “performative confrontation style that only earns points with the loony radical base” (Hannity), and acting like a fool.
One wonders if it occurs to these Trump supporters that this is how Trump appears to the non-MAGA world.
Barbara Hall
Midtown
- Barbara Benjamin, Foothills
For all the fact that Trump berates China, he has taken a lesson from Mao. The Trump administration s buying into major American corporations imitating state run economies. What's more, we don't even know if his administration's buy-ins are truly by the government or if he is using the government as a front for himself., With all of his bankruptcies, Trump, the stable genius, endangers our corporations and our economy. Whatever happened to laissez-faire capitalism?
Barbara Benjamin
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
On felons and frauds
Letitia James brought a fraud case against Trump while he ran for a second term in 2024. Now, an Appeals Court decision has upheld Trump’s felony civil fraud finding but has voided the $500 million fine initially imposed. Not surprisingly, Trump’s so-called Justice Department has retaliated by investigating Ms. James.
The question arises: Does the Justice System now favor wealthy and powerful people who commit felonies since Trump is let off with a measly fraud conviction? Does this apply to fraudsters of all stripes, whether rich or poor, male or female, famous or unknown? And please ponder this: while Trump gets off handily from his misdeeds, the person who threw a sandwich at an ICE agent faces a possible eight years in jail.
I recommend if any of you readers plan to falsify your business records and commit insurance fraud, please be sure to run for (and win) the presidency. It will save you lots of money. (And keep your sandwiches to yourself!)
Melody Sears
North side
UA football — playoff bound?
These days, it’s impossible to predict how UA or any other college football team will do, until the season begins. Everything is thrown into a blender in the offseason. Then they start playing again. And you see how it goes. If you’re a fan, or a hometown reporter, just go with it. Be optimistic. We’re going to crush TCU. When basketball starts, we’re gonna blow out the Jayhawks. There’s no way an editor at The Arizona Daily Star should publish a headline right now that says, “Maybe we can go 6-6.” The Big 12 is not a football conference. Come on, Arizona State won the league last year and went to the playoffs. Their stadium is worse than ours! Spencer Tracy: “Give me rewrite” ... The offensive line looks great. We have a lot of good receivers and an experienced QB who’ll find them. The defense has talent and should gel as they play together more. The FG kicker puts ‘em in there. 10-2, probably better.”
Walter Ramsley
East side
In the category of ‘How dumb ...?’
Is there anything that more supports questioning the mental acuity of Trump cultists than imagining they believe the insanity of the Todd Blanche interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell? First and foremost, Blanche is Trump’s servile personal attorney (despite his current cloak of U.S. Deputy Attorney General). Maxwell is a convicted child sex trafficker and a “monster” in the eyes of her and Epstein’s victims. Blanche tosses softball, leading questions designed to get Maxwell (who has everything to gain, and already has gained favors and hope for a pardon) to say whatever nonsense is necessary to whitewash Trump’s involvement with Epstein. Maxwell was a full participant in the hell created by Epstein; she is an unrepentant liar, and her responses in this “interview” are appallingly unbelievable. Trump actually believes that his followers are dumb enough to swallow this perverse manipulation of reality. Why are you folks not offended?
S. Ross Emmanuel
Southeast side
A creative method — data centers
This is what Roswell, N.M., did (From the Roswell Daily Record): “County approves permit for data center, solar facility. Chaves County Commissioners approved the special use permit required for construction of a 1,265 megawatt utility-scale solar facility that would power a 300-acre data center and 250-acre storage system for battery energy.” Why didn’t Pima County and City of Tucson consider this solution, at least as for electricity? They claim this will eliminate using massive amounts of water for cooling, too. Makes sense to me.
Cliff Wagner
Foothills
Matthew Riccitello
Tucson native and pro cyclist Matthew Riccitello has started in La Vuelta a España, The Tour of Spain. This will be his third grand tour. He is only 23 years old. I am a regular reader of the Star and cannot recall any article about him. He is a native Tucsonan, a world-class athlete who is now competing in one of cycling’s three major stage races. Why nothing in the Star about him?
Alan Solot
Midtown
National security
It has been reported in the New York Times that Tulsi Gabbard, on orders from President Trump, fired the scientist Vinh Nguyen, who was a leading government expert on artificial intelligence, cryptology and advanced mathematics. It is reported that there is no evidence Mr. Nguyen mishandled classified data, made poor analytic judgments or politicized his work, and the acting director tried to protect him, to no avail. The N.S.A. is as great a protector of the USA from foreign adversaries as is the US Military. For example, the emergence of quantum computing has the enormous potential to break the security codes that protect the entire financial infrastructure of the USA if not somehow algorithmically mitigated. Natural disasters and military strikes, including 9/11, on the USA are tame by comparison due to their localized impact. The threats that N.S.A. must manage are highly technical and of global proportions. A `great’ America in the eyes of this administration is an extremely vulnerable America. Meanwhile, GOP Congress sleeps.
Ed Waymire
Midtown
A lesson from Mao
For all the fact that Trump berates China, he has taken a lesson from Mao. The Trump administration s buying into major American corporations imitating state run economies. What’s more, we don’t even know if his administration’s buy-ins are truly by the government or if he is using the government as a front for himself., With all of his bankruptcies, Trump, the stable genius, endangers our corporations and our economy. Whatever happened to laissez-faire capitalism?
Barbara Benjamin
Foothills
Painful example of our dysfunction
Amber Smith’s article in a recent Star makes for interesting reading.
She is a former CEO of Tucson Metro Chamber, which represents 1,500 businesses. You’d think someone who once led the Chamber would be mindful of the needs of the entire business community, not just one investment offer.
So do think of this: A massive data center would help deplete the watershed not just in Tucson but in a much larger area. That will lead to flight from the region as those who can run, do; homeowners watching prices drop for their unsaleable homes; small businesses failing because of declining demand.
Ms Smith says the investors were serious and “respectful” in their discussion. Perhaps. But the content of their offer was neither respectful of the environment, nor was it respectful towards the long-term interests of the business community.
Kalyanraman Bharathan
Midtown
Re: A simple question
Dear George Ball: To answer your question based on observation and knowing my acquaintances. MAGA doesn’t read newspapers — (with two local exceptions): Newsmax, Fox News, and TikTok are their only sources of news. So they will not see your question. But I will answer for them — anything Trump says or does is wonderful, and perhaps you should go back to where you came from.
Charlene Brewster
Marana
Trump shamelessly chasing Nobel Prize
Trump claims some of the individual Nobel Prize recipients did not deserve their awards (e.g., former President Obama), thereby making himself worthy of receiving one. He tries to justify this with the specious claim that he has resolved 10 wars.
By orders of moral magnitude, he is different in a way that should completely disqualify him from even superficial consideration. Whatever their flaws, none of the 111 recipients I am aware of are so totally lacking in human virtues and decency as Trump is. Both serious nominees as well as recipients should be, at a minimum, decent human beings. Trump is indecent to his fetid core. Other than himself and his own appetites, he values nothing. To award him a Nobel would debase the Prize, humiliate previous living recipients, and elevate a man who worships only at his own throne.
Just nominating him for the Prize is like entering a hyena in the Westminster Dog Show.
Sam Sherrill
SaddleBrooke
A simple question
In answer to the LTE “a simple question,” my answer is absolutely yes! I would support the same actions by any president, regardless of party. I don’t consider cleaning up our capital and ridding it of crime as anti-democratic. And, I don’t understand why people who enter our country illegally are afforded any due process.
Sharon Goodberry
East side
Centrist economics
“It’s the economy, stupid,” uttered by James Carville about the importance of the expenses of daily living to electoral politics proved true in Trump’s election in 2024. EDLs only go down with increasing production of goods and services at lower cost, something automation and AI will increasingly do, if allowed. So far, the majority of these savings have benefited corporate profits and high-level incomes and have not reduced EDLs. Worse, automation will take incomes away from private and public workers. Trump and his cohort are doing everything to shut down the public sector, including research, education, non-profits, healthcare, and the government to allow the private sector to dominate without limits and reduce incomes of public workers. Increasingly, there will be a need for the public sector to ensure incomes to cover EDLs with programs like Social Security and public sector spending. When Trump Republicans hurl the word “socialist” at opposition candidates they should embrace it if it means supporting a balance between the private and public sectors.
Eric Gormally
Oro Valley
The big rig
To remain in power because of a low approval rating, President Trump demanded Texas Republicans rig congressional district voting maps, admitting that his party cannot win a fair election. If his policies were good for America, there’d be no need for electoral cheating. Texans cannot vote on these redrawn maps that give significantly more power to white voters than black and brown voters.
California’s response to Texas’ assault on citizen rights is to redraw its congressional maps but allow voters to decide to adopt them. California’s actions are fundamentally different from Texas in process and outcome. Further, California’s citizen-led redistricting commission will be restored in 2030.
Trump is terrified of losing his majority in the midterms but instead of ending senseless tariffs or indiscriminate ICE raids, he chooses to undermine the will of the voters so his party can remain in power regardless of majority opinion.
Ignoring radical extremism is no longer an option.
Teresa Jenkins
SaddleBrooke
Copper World’s water-use plans
We note with interest that the Tucson City Council voted unanimously this week to require management plans for current and future businesses that have significant demands on our scarce water resources.
Going forward, a business that will use more than 7.48 million gallons of water a month — just shy of 90 million gallons a year — will need to submit a water-conservation plan to Tucson Water.
Meanwhile, HudBay’s plan for Copper World just south of Tucson says it plans to use up to 4 billion gallons of primarily groundwater a year for 44 years! Seems the Hudbay folks up in Canada don’t see the problem with pumping from our aquifers here in the Sonoran Desert, where we are 25 years into a mega-drought. All for 500 jobs, they say.
Maybe Pima County needs to get a hold on this situation before HudBay decimates our water supplies.
Jeff Herr
North side
A simple question
I submitted a letter on this point a week ago. It was not published for some reason, so I hereby resubmit my question to Star readers.
Trump is doing things that are anti-democratic, such as the use of the National Guard in D.C. and L.A. and denying access to due process for those rounded up by ICE.
If Obama or Biden did the same thing, would you support these actions as valid under presidential authority, or would you consider them illegal and demand impeachment?
Simple question, and it should be a simple answer? What say the MAGA supporters to this point?
George Ball
Midtown
Monsoons
Many have been bemoaning the absence of a good monsoon. Growing up in Arizona, they were called thunderstorms. Monsoon sells better on the weather reports. Being a 77-year-old Arizona native, there have been many changes that I think have reduced the number of monsoons. For example. I notice on the weather forecasts a normal stream of storms flowing up from Mexico into the Arizona-New Mexico border. Many bubbling up through Nogales and bypassing Tucson to the west or east.
I believe one of the causes is the Tucson’s heat island effect. It is five degrees Fahrenheit (I have seen estimates as high as 10 degrees) hotter in the Tucson area compared to the surrounding desert and higher at night. I’m sure the downtown and midtown temperatures are much higher. Many factors contribute to the heat island. Among them are dramatic increase in population, asphalt, concrete, vehicle and air conditioning emissions. This is a common problem with cities around the country. I wonder how this affects climate change?
Cal Rooker
Oro Valley
Intel robbery
Intel has been producing chips in the U.S. longer than anyone. Right here in Chandler, to be specific. Common sense says if grants are to be awarded under the CHIP Act, Intel, as a local company, is a logical recipient. Especially over the like of foreign entities, TWSM and others. Funny politics appear to be in play, as the grant appears tied to Ohio. Huh? Now the Ohio politicians are whining. And now by proclamation, Lutnick says we’ll deliver the money, but we’ll take an equity stake. How is that even conceivable? An equity possession in Intel makes no sense unless one takes an equity in others for the same grants. Wake up, America. Only bad things happen when you fall asleep at the wheel.
Brode Meyer
Midtown
‘For profit,’ for real?
I was immediately drawn to “Reengage with GCU” in Janet Wittenbraker’s Aug. 21 guest opinion. Consequently, I did not read, but skimmed her opinion. Items 2-4 may be acceptable for consideration.
I do have a problem with inviting a for-profit college to come to Tucson that avoided its day in court until a favorable administration came into power. Sounds like the delay, delay playbook of the current POTUS.
A for-profit college exists to maximize profit first and provide an effective education for students, if that provision of education does not materially impact profit.
I earned a BS in accounting from ASU. A coworker earned a BS in accounting from a for-profit college. The depth of knowledge from the for profit was inferior probably because the degree was earned in a shorter time period. That’s my for-profit anecdotal experience. Buyer beware.
James Abels
Midtown
Here’s an update
1. There is no deal in Ukraine and no ceasefire. It was one big $2 million publicity stunt.
2. The Trump-Epstein case has faded away, like Roe vs Wade and Jan 6.
3. Elon Musk has dropped his plans for a 3rd party. Trump and the Republicans have no threat. The Democrats do nothing.
4. Texas will get five new seats in the House.
5. Washington, D.C. is effectively under martial law. This model will be used in other Democratic-run cities.
6. It will get worse.
Terry Louck
East side
Change begins at the local level
Recent “Letters to the Editor” are filled with controversy and anger over national issues. It’s starting to get old, especially when we CAN change the message.
While national issues may seem overwhelming, there are things we can do at the local level to make a difference.
For example, yesterday, a group of people from across the area (yes, they were Democrats with AZ Representative Kevin Volk) collected and delivered six carloads of food and supplies to support Youth On Their Own (YOTO) in Tucson.
YOTO helps homeless students get an education. It serves 1,600 students a year and has an amazing 93% graduation rate — higher than the state average. Remember, these are homeless kids, some in middle school, dealing with issues many of us cannot comprehend. And they desperately want an education.
There are many great organizations in our community that need help. So, let’s turn our anger into action.
When you finish the daily Opinion section, get up, out, and involved!
Carla Ohara
Oro Valley
Testing teachers
The Oklahoma Public Schools superintendent is going to test teachers from “suspect” states to guard against “radical leftist ideology” (Star, Aug. 20). Some of his ideas are not too bad, except that the test is going to be administered and judged by Prager U, which is not known for veracity or impartiality. And then let’s consider: Radical. Leftist. Ideology. Hmmm... Presumably that means those who are ideologically aligned with the Worldwide Communist Conspiracy — right? So, people who admire and adhere to the views of the neo-Communist current brutal dictator of Russia would presumably all be suspect — right? But wait: “Trump echoes Putin stance” (Star, August 17, p.1). Oops! Logically, wouldn’t that mean the superintendent will have to exclude the MAGA devotees of Mr. Trump? How he will get out of this conundrum will be interesting to watch. Not to mention that he is demanding that Trump’s lies about the 2020 election be taught as truth. My, it will be interesting to be in school in Oklahoma.
Abraham R. Byrd III
North side
One-man rule sounds authoritarian
It is becoming apparent that Trump and most of the Republican Party believe in a one-man rule like Hungary and Russia, not in a representative democracy that the country was founded on.
As Ben Franklin said, “We have given you a “republic, if you can keep it.”
Trump is slowly but surely getting control of levers of government by executive orders based on a “national emergency.”
He believes in changing our culture and history to match his wishful view of our country as Hitler tried in the 1930s.
Hitler was changing German history to match his view and burning books etc. Hitler wanted to establish a pure Aryan nation by paying women to produce German babies. They tried coupling of single German women with SS troopers.
Trump wants to give a woman $5,000 for each baby (Trump would prefer white). It costs $300,000 to raise a child.
Trump is establishing a private police force with the FBI, ICE, the National Guard and the military.
Donald Plummer
Northwest side
Border wall hue
You gotta be kidding me. You chose to run your front page lead story about the color of a wall? You couldn’t come up with something more important? Gee, I guess maybe there’s nothing else of importance going on in this country and the world. Come on, Arizona Daily Star, get your act together.
Jim Evans
Foothills
Conservatorship/guardianship exploitation
In 2023, Arizona promised reform after SB1291 — but families are still being robbed. A “soft” or “light” conservatorship meant to protect assets became years of outside control: orders with no preserved hearing record, ex-parte medical reports from unrelated cases, and fee approvals that look more like paychecks to insiders than care for a vulnerable person. Not a single jury trial has vindicated those rights, and I’m one of many still denied justice.
Worse, the Probate Advisory Panel required by law hasn’t even reached quorum nearly two years after enactment, blocking oversight the public was promised. Even Court Accountant’s report in my case shows over-budget spending, missing invoices, unexplained transfers, and large payees — but still approved.
I’m running for Congress to fix this. Federally enforceable reforms when the state fails to protect its vulnerable citizens. If you believe the law should protect people — not enrich insiders — join me in demanding real accountability now.
David Redkey
Downtown
- David Redkey, Downtown
In 2023, Arizona promised reform after SB1291 — but families are still being robbed. A “soft” or "light" conservatorship meant to protect assets became years of outside control: orders with no preserved hearing record, ex-parte medical reports from unrelated cases, and fee approvals that look more like paychecks to insiders than care for a vulnerable person. Not a single jury trial has vindicated those rights, and I’m one of many still denied justice.
Worse, the Probate Advisory Panel required by law hasn’t even reached quorum nearly two years after enactment, blocking oversight the public was promised. Even Court Accountant’s report in my case shows over-budget spending, missing invoices, unexplained transfers, and large payees — but still approved.
I’m running for Congress to fix this. Federally enforceable reforms when the state fails to protect their vulnerable citizens. If you believe the law should protect people — not enrich insiders — join me in demanding real accountability now.
David Redkey
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Craig Miller, Northwest side
Trump stated he wants to end the war in Ukraine so he can get into heaven. His press secretary said he wasn't joking.
He's the least Christian President ever. Maybe start acting like a Christian:
Stop the incessant lies, it is a commandment. Start treating the most vulnerable better. Christ said "what you do to the least of my brothers you do unto me". Compassion and kindness were what Christ taught, not demonizing everyone who you don't like.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Max LaPlante, Southeast side
The length of the Southwest border with Mexico is approximately 1,954 miles. During our POTUS's first term, roughly 400 miles of border wall was erected. Our illustrious former Governor Ducey decided to shore up the wall in Arizona using double stacked shipping containers, which were removed after his term. The Biden Administration decided to halt the construction of the border wall and sell off remaining border wall materials with starting bids as low as $5 for sections of wall panels. Now 47 has resumed erecting the border wall at a total cost estimate of $25 billion-plus. Most recently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the entire wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is going to be painted black to make it hotter and deter illegal immigration. The Commander in Chief has always maintained that Mexico will be paying for all of this. In stark reality, everything mentioned above was and is being paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Gloves are available in Mexico.
Max LaPlante
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Ke Chiang Hsieh, Midtown
Thanks to Gerald Farrington’s recent Op-Ed comparing Trump’s policies with Mao’s Great Cultural Revolution. Earlier, Mao led the Great Leap Forward to increase agricultural and industrial outputs to meet unrealistic production quotas under peasant leaderships while truthful intellectuals and technical experts were banished to labor camps. The GLF ended with tens of millions of deaths. Their economic policy flipped after Mao’s death, but not the Communist Party (CCP). Under Xi, a new cultural revolution advances with latest surveillance technologies, e.g., all lectures are monitored, and professors warned on off-limits, i.e. historical facts, etc., while students are expected to report on strayed professors. All dictators, regardless of nationalities, races and ideologies, live in fear of losing control. To grab more power, they punish those who do honest research and publish their findings. Is anyone surprised that a person without medical training oversees our public health, and an oil tycoon protects our environment? The Chinese are powerless under the CCP; will Americans challenge the GOP?
Ke Chiang Hsieh
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Roger Rutschman, Goodyear
As a senior Arizonan, I urge continued investment in mRNA vaccine research. Billions have benefited from these safe, effective vaccines, which can be quickly updated for new health threats. Cutting funding now would leave our nation — including Arizona —vulnerable in future pandemics and cause us to lose medical innovation leadership.
We need decisions based on science, not politics. I encourage policymakers and fellow citizens to support strong investment in public health and biomedical research. It’s critical for protecting our communities and economy now and for the future.
Roger Rutschman
Goodyear
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Michelle Brislance, Oro Valley
President Donald Trump likes to brag that he has done more in the short time he has been in office than all other presidents combined. Countless letters to the editor have chronicled the many executive orders he has signed and the demands he has made to public schools, colleges and universities, as well as other public and private entities which have dramatically undermined this country’s core values and cherished ideals.
His policies have contributed to the dumbing down of America by restricting what students can read and say, by squelching healthy debate of controversial subjects, and by promoting the rewriting of history to ignore parts of America’s shameful past.
The president’s cruel immigration policies; his disdain for truth, science, and the rule of law; and his arrogant abuse of power for personal gain are unprecedented.
Yes, President Trump has done a lot in a short period of time. We can only hope the damage is not irreparable.
Michelle Brislance
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Bruce Hilpert, North side
Laura Conover's predicament with the US Attorney charging an alleged murderer with lesser crimes and facing deportation is part of a larger trend of the politicization of the Department of Justice. Deportation will bring headlines for ICE deporting a “dangerous criminal” instead of his being tried for a capital offense.
Meanwhile, the man charged with the recent murder of the Minnesota State House Representative had a “hit list” of over 45 progressive politicians and abortion providers. This was clearly “domestic terrorism,” a federal crime requiring political, racial or religious motivation. Yet his federal charges include only murder and stalking.
These decisions come from the Dept. of Justice that has dropped prosecution against January 6 defendants and a President who has pardoned those convicted and termed them “patriots.”
Is this the state of American justice now, an instrument of political power? Sadly, the answer is “yes.”
Bruce Hilpert
North side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Deb Klumpp, Oro Valley
The Norwegian press reported that Donald Trump, in a call to the Norwegian Finance Minister, told him he wanted to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Probably there was some attempted transactional wheeling and dealing over tariffs tied to his quest for the prize. Four of Trump's predecessors, including Barack Obama, have received the award. No wonder Donald's nose is out of joint. Do you think any previous award candidates or prize hopefuls ever called a member of the nominating committee to lobby for the prize? How incredibly vulgar and tawdry - but consider the askee. Trump seeing himself as Nobel Prize material is absurd - but it seems absurdity rules the day. This supremely unqualified individual managed to be elected President again. Should he receive a Nobel nomination or, God forbid, actually be awarded the Nobel Prize, it will forever be tarnished and rendered meaningless, as was the Presidential Medal of Freedom when awarded to Rush Limbaugh by Donald Trump.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Dr. JB Marshall, Oro Valley
Since the beginning of Trump’s presidency, our court system has been working overtime to protect our constitutional rights and freedoms.
From January through July, 23 Attorneys General across the country, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, filed 25 joint lawsuits against his administration to protect our lives and livelihoods and safeguard $1.5 billion for Arizona alone.
The ACLU filed more than 150 federal lawsuits from protecting birthright citizenship on day one to protecting immigrants' rights, defending free speech, and demanding legal counsel for detainees in Alligator Alcatraz.
Consequently, federal judges, including those appointed by Trump, have ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and blocked the enforcement of his decrees on grounds they imperil the lives and well-being of American citizens, exceed his presidential powers, and violate our constitution.
If you appreciate their fight to protect your rights and preserve our democracy, please consider showing your support by donating to AG Kris Mayes and the ACLU. It’s a small price to pay for our future.
Dr. JB Marshall
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
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