Tucson Speaks Out: August 11

An Open Letter to Alma Hernandez

Representative Hernandez, as one of your LD20 constituents, I believe the results of the 2026 primary election should be a wake-up call for you. Your opponent came within approximately 600 votes of upsetting you, even though your campaign vastly outspent his. Perhaps you should begin to listen to the people you are paid to represent. It is obvious that almost half of the people in your district no longer believe that you stand up for the things that matter most to them.

Kathleen Dubbs

West side

Tucson is in a doom loop

The AZ Daily Star is as disconnected about the necessity for ICE (BooHoo!), and illegals from Equatorial Guinea (more BooHoo!), as you are about Arizona’s 40+ year water denial syndrome (std. answer: more govt control & deprivation). Seriously, what planet do you people live on? Lack of water for Arizona is the #1 state government policy failure since statehood in 1912. And your #1 culprit is the state’s Land Grant University, i.e. UA, who went off the Woke diving board after the Cold War ended, focusing on liberal bilge and nonsense like “shared governance,” instead of finding us more water. Shame on both of you.

Bill Sellers

Oro Valley

UA enrollment down

It appears the the University of Arizona is scratching it head about this issue and evaluating options like smaller class size, instead of facing the real problems defined by Oro valley's Bill Dowdall in his letter "Rethinking College education" and offering students relevant majors. Then local businesses would not be "devastated" but would benefit from well rounded graduates.

Ihor Kunasz

Northwest side

Let's give Equatorial Guinea a dose of Tucson

I am very grateful to the Arizona Daily Star, and particularly reporter Emily Bregel, for continuously keeping us aware of, and informed about, the variety and degree of inhumane and torturous treatments our own federal government continues to inflict upon immigrant human beings they deem unfit to be in our country. And shame on Representative Ciscomani for his silence on this.

Bregel’s recent articles about deportees sent to Equatorial Guinea are scary and heartbreaking. Since our own government won’t take responsibility for its actions, let us Tucsonans make our anger known to Equatorial Guinea. Their webpage www.egembassydc.com/contact contains ways to contact their USA embassy.

Let’s give them a massive dose of our Tucson anger about their complicity with our government and about their own human rights violations against those individuals imprisoned at their Hotel Bamy. They need to hear from us for the sake of everyone sent there against their will!

Roy Goodman

Midtown

Fair is fair

Wait, let me get this straight: Thanks now to Blanche being confirmed by the Republicans in Congress, Trump and family will get immunity for not paying taxes? But he is spending OUR tax dollars without our say, our representation, thanks to a silent Congress about all his illegal actions. We send people to Congress to represent us, not the President! THEY are supposed to direct funds to programs as promised. It's our tax money, which for most of us was hard earned before we paid the government. Well, Congress, do we get immunity for ourselves for not paying our taxes? Seems only fair to me, doesn’t it to you?

Nancy Jacques

Northeast side

Where are we going?

Some Republicans are using scare tactics to distract us from becoming aware of the disaster Trump is bringing upon our national monuments. What is already happening to the ‘The White House’ is a disaster, but that is only the beginning! The ‘Triumphant Arch’ Trump wants to build on the Mall will block views from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery, a combination that recognizes the tragedy of the Civil War. And there is the Reflecting Pool fiasco, which is just one more example of how Trump does not take responsibility for his own actions. But it does not end with architecture. Trump also wants to rewrite history by removing mentions of slavery from the Smithsonian Institution! And there is the covering of statures on the Mall in gold leaf, an expensive and utterly ugly undertaking, something that King’s would do, but not people living in a democracy. Who knows where it will all end, but wherever that is it is unlikely to be somewhere that American's will treasure.

Gerry Maggiora

Foothills

Republican trans terror

The new terror, trans boys and men invading female sports and locker rooms for some sort of lascivious excitement is just some made up B.S. to scare you. Trans people are who they are because their brain tells them they are in the wrong body. They are finally comfortable where they are in a female domain. Any wiseass boy who tries to impress his friends by invading a female domain with lewd intent runs the risk of arrest and being labeled for life as a sexual predator. Everywhere he lives for the rest of his life he will have to register as a sexual pervert. Not a very good idea on his part just to impress his friends. Some people say trans people are just "faking it " and God doesn't make mistakes. God makes people different so he can see how we treat them.

Daniel Poryanda

Southeast side