Landfill getting full
Go to Los Reales Landfill and take a look. Filling up fast. I agree that the city makes it harder to recycle and I have seen the sign at Eastside City Hall about it may close due to illegal dumping. But then again, what person thinks that site can take old furniture or mattresses? There are places that recycle, reuse, repurpose items that are not allowed in the city’s blue bins and the large ones at drop off centers. As far as glass goes, if it gets in your bin it still gets processed and hopefully recycled.
Bill Brooks
Northeast side
Republican obstruction
In 2021, President Joe Biden successfully promoted and congressional Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan, which put cash money into nearly everyone’s bank account. While stores, offices, and factories were shutting down due to COVID-19, Biden’s plan covered our lack of paychecks. Unfortunately, boosting consumer demand while production was down has caused inflation. But the alternative of people having no money for food and losing their homes would have been far worse.
People are also reading…
Yes, the cost of gasoline is too high, thanks in part to price gouging by oil companies and Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Americans should stop whining about inflation and appreciate how Biden saved us from a COVID-19 disaster that would have been far worse without his rescue plan.
Republicans continue to criticize without offering a positive alternative, while Democrats are working to solve our problems despite Republican obstruction.
Bruce Joffe
South Tucson
The real ‘grooming’
The latest Republican vile lie spewing from its party’s leadership is that Democrats and independent voting Americans are “grooming” our children to become sexual assault victims. What slime! The only “grooming” I witness is being done by Republicans in order to establish a new authoritarian party; membership requires the following initiation steps:
Express your unwavering allegiance to Donald Trump, even if it means the subversion of our constitutional democracy.
Declare your personal relationship with Jesus, while you personally exhibit the most un-Christian-like behavior.
Express a willingness to engage in violence, while claiming that you are pro-life.
Marginalize and bully immigrants, gay and transgender people, Black and Native American citizens and extol the principle of white-male privilege, even if you are not white, male or privileged.
Be willing to lie and destroy the reputation of those who speak the truth, even if it means destroying your honor, integrity and personal relationships.
Sadly, I am encountering too many “well groomed” Republicans today. Abraham Lincoln would be so ashamed.
Edward Heller
Northwest side
Help Ukraine locally
Here’s how to help Ukraine. Make your way over to the European Market on Speedway, west of Swan Road (in the shopping mall with all the horse sculptures). It’s owned by Ukrainians and any donation goes directly to help. Better yet, also buy something from their vast array of goods. Foods include gyros, sausages, pierogies — even blue and yellow cookies! You will be supporting a local business while striking a blow for freedom!
Karen Christian
Vail
Steller wrong about Title 42
Re: the April 23 article “Title 42 a poor stand-in.”
Star columnist Tim Steller decried the use of Title 42 as being a poor stand-in for immigration policy. Title 42 has allowed for removal of about 50% of those apprehended illegally crossing the border. We had immigration policies under Donald Trump other than Title 42 that secured the border and reduced illegal entry. I think the border wall in Arizona has kept our state from looking like Texas with massive illegal entry. People are however crossing into Arizona at Yuma, through an unfinished gap in the border wall that Biden quickly terminated. Trump did asylum agreements with Central American countries and “Remain in Mexico,” all of which Biden rescinded or tried to rescind. Under Biden, I think migrants have felt emboldened to come here. They know, if claiming asylum, that they will be allowed entry and released. Steller lays no blame for any of this mess on Biden, nor has he any apparent problem with the record numbers of people coming here. Title 42 is the only remaining vestige for 50% border security because Biden cancelled everything else.
Paula Martin
Vail
Hot car concerns
Re: the May 8 article “New to Tucson? Here are a few tips.”
In this article on how to beat the Tucson summer heat, Rosie Romero suggests several common sense things to do when going outdoors: take plenty of cold water along, use sunscreen, wear a wide-brimmed hat and more. Romero reminds us, “In the summer our cars are hotter than Mount Vesuvius.”
Why, then, with the exception of a few shopping malls, is there practically no covered parking on any lot in Tucson for customers, vulnerable patients visiting doctors’ offices and those such as myself, who can quickly get sick in a car that’s 140 degrees? Our only recourse is to turn on the car and AC when leaving and wait, usually outside under a spindly tree, until the car cools down.
I’m asking, actually pleading, with anyone in charge of a parking lot to create a few spaces of covered parking for the customers and patients who need them most.
By the way, shopping malls, want more customers? Open earlier during the summer and see the results.
Barbara Russek
North side
Ask an expert
Re: the May 14 article “Teachers aren’t ‘brainwashing’ students.”
Finally, someone wrote something sensible about what is really being taught to our kids. In all the crazy conspiracy theories I have read, nobody thought to actually speak to an expert: a teacher! Certainly not our legislators, who would rather get themselves headlines about how they are protecting our children from the evils of being taught history and civics, rather than actually funding our schools so that kids might learn the basics that Mr. Rodarte described. Those basics will be fundamental to the basics they will hopefully learn later: how to separate fact from fiction and how to think for themselves.
Nancy Atherton
Foothills
Remove politician names
Re: the May 14 letter “Remove his name.”
I agree completely with the letter writer: Huckelberry’s name should be removed from the Loop trail.
In fact, the names of politicians should be removed from all of our public parks and buildings. Let the Murphy-Wilmot Library be the Wilmot Library, let the Eckstrom-Columbus Library be the Columbus Library.
If politicians want to ‘honor’ their fellow politicians, let them authorize a statue. They could create a park for all these statues and call it the Petty Politician Park.
Carol Kerchenfaut
East side
Budget surplus, unfilled jobs
Arizona has thousands of unfilled government jobs. All of Arizona’s departments and agencies are understaffed. According to AZ ED News, in 2020, 27% of teacher vacancies remain unfilled. In 2019, the Department of Corrections reported a vacancy rate of about 19%.
Each open position saves the government money. It is a salary not paid. Savings from thousands of open positions are part of the budget surplus.
I think these government positions are not being filled because jobs in the private sector are more attractive. They pay more and are less stressful. If the state does not do something, the understaffing will only grow and the stress causing people to leave will only increase.
There is only one solution. Government jobs must become as attractive as jobs in the private sector. The current budget surplus needs to be used to raise salaries so that government agencies can be fully staffed.
Jonpaul Barrabee
Oro Valley
Republicans pro-life?
Are Republicans really pro-life? You decide.
For decades, Republicans have been trying to overturn Roe v. Wade. It is hard to believe these attempts to rob women of autonomy over their body are happening when the majority of Americans want Roe v. Wade to remain federal law.
Without access to a safe abortion, women will die. Women will attempt unsafe and unmonitored abortions at home, bleed to death, commit suicide or seek back-alley abortions.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if Republicans take the Senate this midterm election, he will bring forth a bill to make abortion illegal nationwide no matter the circumstances and if you think he is kidding, think again.
Who suffers the most by overturning Roe v. Wade? Poor women and women of color. We must vote for candidates in Pima County and Arizona who are committed to defending a woman’s autonomy over her body. Abortion is a choice between a woman and her doctor, not the U.S. Congress.
Bonnie Heidler,
Chair of the Pima County Democratic Party
North side
Baby formula shortage
I am confused about what is being explained as the cause for the baby formula shortage. Supply chain issues have been reported as a large part of the issue. However, soda, chips and other junk foods don’t seem to be experiencing the same supply chain issues. In fact, they are taking up larger footprints in the grocery stores than they did before the supply chain issues started. Are we supposed to believe that trucks can’t deliver baby formula, but there are trucks to deliver Coca-Cola? The next reason provided is that an Abbott manufacturing facility had a recall of baby formula. Are we to believe that the American baby formula industry is run so close to the vest that an issue in a single facility causes a shortage of this magnitude for the entire country? And if the answer to that is yes, how has this been allowed to happen? If “investigative reporting” existed in today’s media, I would think this would be a story they might consider.
Kevin Marschke
Oro Valley
AZ Fire District Safety Act
Re: the May 16 article “Arizona’s fire districts need help during crisis.”
State Sen. Paul Boyer recently wrote an op-ed asking for support for SCR1049, which would put on the ballot in November an “Arizona Fire District Safety Act,” calling for a temporary sales tax to support state fire districts. This sales tax increase would supposedly raise $150 million for fire districts throughout the state.
Excuse my suspicion, but why, when the state is awash in a budget surplus of over $5 billion, are we being asked to voluntarily raise our taxes even more to give $150 million to fire districts throughout the state? How about some of that surplus go to them and then there’s no need for the ballot measure and no need for a “temporary” increase in sales tax (which we all know will never ever go away)!
Robert Hansen
West side
Where does each dollar in rent go?
Re: the May 13 article “Where does each dollar in rent go?”
Hats off to Courtney Gilstrap Levinus for her article about what a landlord (me) retains from every dollar in rent collected. I think some tenants feel their landlord is a Scrooge, especially when it’s time to raise the rent. One fact I would add to her nice piece is that the 9 cents (per dollar) left after expenses is then subject to federal and state income taxes. Wow!
Richard Aufmuth
Foothills
Racist replacement theory
Recently, an 18-year-old white male, fueled by white supremacist dogma, chose as his target a grocery store in Buffalo. Left in his racist wake were 10 innocent dead African Americans who had the misfortune to pick Saturday as their shopping day. His rifle had the “n” word written on the stock.
The underlying concept responsible for this heinous attack is a right-wing deadly conspiratorial idea commonly known as replacement theory. Non-whites are allegedly “replacing” whites and thus changing the electorate to a liberal majority. This belief has been a galvanizing force promoted by Tucker Carlson, Fox Network, 4chan, Reddit and white supremacist sites that are normalizing hate.
It seems to me the false rhetoric and conspiratorial machine is getting crazier. Wendy Rogers, an Arizona Republican lawmaker with ties to white supremacists, claims that this incident was a “false flag” operation carried out by government officials.
Welcome to Arizona!
Rex Witherspoon
SaddleBrooke
