Republicans have short memories
For four long years we were subjected to presidential prattle about how Democratic-led states didn’t deserve federal assistance because they were so wasteful and improperly managed.
Well, looky here; Texas (a strong, Republican-led state) was just subjected to an extraordinary natural event. Due to their wastefulness and poor management, most of the state was without power for days, experienced over 50 deaths, and will have nonpotable water for a yet indeterminate period. Sounds similar to the fires in California.
So I guess to be consistent and fair President Biden ought to have shut off federal funds from helping them recover. But what did he do? He declared a major emergency providing assistance to all those Republicans.
I wonder how long it will take before they forget this humanitarian gesture and start blabbing about poorly run Democratic states again. Will they ever figure out that we are one country, not a confederation of individual, selfish fiefdoms?
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John Evert
Oro Valley
Verizon will do as it pleases with 5G poles
Re: the Feb. 21 article “New 5G poles don’t belong in front of Tucsonans’ homes.”
Thank you, Tim Steller, for bringing to everyone’s attention the issue of Verizon and their 5G poles. Verizon has proposed to plant one in my front yard; we only know this because of a curious neighbor’s questions.
We have not received any notification from Verizon, the city, county or state. I know that the plan is to put it on the street corner where there is a street sign, in the right of way.
There are already lots of poles in the neighborhood; our house was built in 1947 before communities could have buried utilities. I agree with Steve Kozachik that these utilities should work out a better solution than just another shiny 30-foot pole and accompanying electrical box.
We use Verizon, but their customer service seems to be lacking; they will do what they want regardless of their communities’ desires.
Janet Chumbley
Midtown
Brush and Bulky collection a real plus
Our area had Brush and Bulky collection the week of Feb. 8. We trimmed our yard and piled large amounts of yard waste in our alley. When I checked the alley at the end of the week, every bit of it was gone, and it looked like the workers had even raked the area.
I’ve lived in other cities with this type of service, but never had such a thorough cleanup. Thank you and kudos to the city of Tucson and the diligent workers.
Trish Kimminau
Midtown
Rebel Republicans
haven’t changed much
Re: the March 1 article “Street Smarts: Subdivision developer would go on to be Tucson mayor.”
Richard Bilby and I managed Lew’s last mayoral campaign in the late ’60s. This was a time when there really were “moderate” Republicans.
But a virulent “conservative” crew — mostly younger participants — of Tucson Republicans put up a primary candidate, and we had a fight.
Shortly before the election, I was standing in front of the Daily Star building on Stone Avenue, talking to “Skip” Inskeep, the political reporter, when one of the rebel leaders walked by and hooted that their man would win this one.
I bristled and said, “You’re wrong. It’ll be ‘Lew by two.’”
Lew won by 2,022 votes, and Skip wrote a short article complimenting my political acumen. Lew was a fine mayor.
Oh well, the rebel Republicans haven’t changed that much.
Paul Rees
Northwest side
Nomination process
for Cabinet jobs is nuts
As the Democrats try to have their team nominees appointed, with the GOP able to vote to reject/block individuals, should not this process be applied to sports? As an example, the Chicago Bears management and team players would be able to reject selected Green Bay Packer players at a forthcoming game!
Peter Askew
Foothills
Alarmed that the Star gave Morgan a platform
Re: the March 2 article “Effort to recall Tucson mayor fails to collect the necessary signatures.”
I read with elation that the recall effort for Mayor Regina Romero has failed. From everything I have heard and read about her, she is a good mayor and is doing great things for our city.
In the same article I read with horror and dismay that the recall effort was instigated by Joseph Morgan, and that he was present at the Capitol insurrection and called it “a great day.”
This is appalling, if not outright treason. In the past I have read articles by Morgan and found them to be off-kilter at best, rubbish at worst. I sincerely hope that the Daily Star would no longer publish any of his writings.
He does not deserve to have his anarchistic views disseminated, and we readers do not deserve to be subjected to his warped views. And we certainly do not need to give a forum to anyone who takes part in criminal activities.
Klara Cserny
Southwest side
Charities welcome food donations
Re: the March 3 article “Now’s the time squeezing every ounce of tangerine tree can be fruitful for all.”
Many thanks to Tim Steller for reminding us not to let our extra tree fruit and garden produce go to waste when there are destitute Tucsonans hungry for fresh fruits and vegetables, especially now that people are scraping by because of the pandemic. I am glad he also featured Iskashita Refugee Network who will come to your house to harvest your unwanted produce for distribution to refugee families.
Another group always in need of donated fresh produce is Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, Tucson’s largest soup kitchen, serving soup and packed lunches to 400 to 500 hungry and homeless people every single day, as well as larger food bags to over 100 families.
Casa Maria depends on cash and food donations from the community to continue its mission of feeding Tucson’s poor and homeless. Fruits like tangerines or apples that can be included in lunch bags are particularly valued.
Anne Stericker
East side
Zoo expansion ‘pause’ a troubling precedent
Mayor Regina Romero seems to believe that it is possible to please everyone and as such unilaterally decided to put a major project within the city (the zoo expansion) on “pause” so that all sides can come to an agreement. By essentially allowing a small group to put a halt to a community effort, this lays the groundwork to put all future development within the city in peril.
Let’s stop the glass recycling effort since it was not adequately conveyed to the public prior to implementation. Nobody came by and talked to me about that before it was implemented. That certainly qualifies as a lack of communication to the public.
Romero has just opened a major can of worms that could bring every city project to a halt and cost millions of taxpayer dollars to hold discussions. The real question is what happens when you can’t get both sides to agree? Someone really didn’t think this through.
George Ball
Midtown
Drinking the Kool-Aid throughout history
It is so easy to seduce others to your way of belief if you have the golden tongue of selling untruths or using non sequitur syllogisms.
If a person has been seduced into the world of fantasy and false prophets, then they are at risk of being controlled, especially if that someone seems to be rich or has some other personality trait that seems to magically mesmerize crowds or individuals with a forked tongue i.e. the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair, Richard Nixon, Bernie Madoff, Ponzi, Hitler or any other teller of untruths over and over until their followers blindly trail along this pied piper seeking to steal undeserved power.
Initially, Trump had a 400-word vocabulary until he got a good speechwriter. We were all starved for a great leader and we got Trump instead, and I hope not again.
Charles Blackstock
Southwest side
Don’t patronize
this Hispanic voter
Two letter writers in the March 3 Daily Star complained about Arizona trying to straighten out this voting mess. One complains he’s too old and can’t find his ballot and needs 27 days to vote. Senate Bill 1593 changes this to 22 days. I’m probably in the same age group and I can fill out and mail my ballot in less than two days.
The other writer, Mr. Classen, states minority groups need special privileges in order to properly vote. Being an old Hispanic Christian man who served 27 years in the Marine Corps, I find this both offensive and humorous that he thinks brown and black people are too incompetent to vote without special help.
They don’t vote because they either don’t care or it’s inconvenient. How hard is it to go to the polling place or mail an absentee ballot? Just register with proper ID and you’re good to go. I did long ago. I even voted while deployed overseas all by myself.
Marvin Montez
Oro Valley
Let the rigging begin
With zero evidence of widespread voter fraud, Republicans — who can’t win national elections based on their ideas alone — are now using the “big lie” as a springboard to restrict the voting rights of American citizens. Naturally, their stacked Supreme Court will uphold these blatantly anti-democratic laws. Remind me again who is rigging elections?
Eric Flohr
Midtown
Is the GOP serious
with COVID approach?
Re: the Feb. 4 article “House votes to let businesses make their own call on masks.”
Oh my god, I’m blown away. That was a mess of the most ignorant and stupid statements coming from the Arizona House Republicans that I have ever heard. It’s astounding and embarrassing, too. You can’t compromise with irrationally.
Gloria McLeod
Northwest side
Free hiking didn’t cause June 5 lightning strike
Re: the March 3 letter “For some a win, for many a loss.” When the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, in 2012, that Coronado National Forest’s practice of collecting fees for basic access to Mount Lemmon was illegal, Coronado lost a revenue source for its recreation budget.
The notion that this led to “poor forest management” which led to the “destructive fires” that burned down Mount Lemmon is quite a stretch.
I agree with the writer that the federal government should provide more support for our land management agencies. The Adams decision simply upheld existing law.
It should also be noted that the phrase “poor forest management” has been used for the past four years, by our former president, as an alternative explanation for the fact that global climate change is wreaking havoc on forests all over the planet.
Greg Lewis, co-plaintiff in Adams v. USFS
Midtown
Slavery, wage labor are not the same
Re: the March 4 editorial cartoon by David Fitzsimmons.
I am deeply disturbed by the David Fitzsimmons cartoon in Thursday’s Star. This is exactly the argument slaveholders used to justify their use of slavery. Slavery as an institution is abhorrent and cannot be compared to wage labor, even in the worst of circumstance.
Wage laborers own their bodies. Slaves did not. This kind of comparison trivializes slavery and is part of the whole “slavery wasn’t so bad,” argument that the South used to justify the practice and to say that was not what the Civil War was about.
Rebecca Orozco
Bisbee
