Build, build and save water?
Every day we see articles about saving water when we brush our teeth, take a bath, wash our dishes, clean our clothes, etc. They urge all householders to save water, but ignore the fact that agriculture and business use tons more water than households do. At the same time, we see laws about making it easier to build new houses, more apartments, more businesses and grow, grow, grow. I have a doctorate. I read the news every day. I read scientific articles regularly and do research online. But I just can’t figure out how we are going to put in more houses and businesses and still save water. We need agriculture to provide us with food. We need cotton so we don’t have to wear polyester clothes made from oil. However, constant growth just does not save water. Enough already. Don’t encourage new growth and building. Save water.
Bette Richards
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Northwest side
EPA red tape threatens trucking industry
America relies on the trucking industry to deliver the products that keep our country moving. Truckers move over 70% of the nation’s freight, supporting 8 million jobs nationwide. Without trucks, our economy would halt.
So, you should know the EPA recently proposed a rule change that would tighten air quality standards for a pollutant called PM2.5. Everyone supports clean air, but the U.S. already has some of the world’s strongest environmental regulations. More regulation means higher costs. Additionally, states that fail the new standard face penalties, including loss of federal funding for highways and other infrastructure.
That’s a threat to the entire supply chain, risking jobs and the economy.
The proposed EPA standards are unnecessary given significant progress already made to reduce pollution. Vehicle and transportation-related emissions are down 90% in recent decades.
The Arizona Trucking Association supports sensible regulation that balances the need for a strong economy and clean environment. We ask the EPA to abandon its job-killing proposal for PM2.5.
Tony Bradley, President & CEO of Arizona Trucking Association
Downtown
Keep transit fare-free forever
I use Sun Tran everyday — it’s my primary mode of transportation. I also have used pay-to-ride systems in many other cities. Not only does fare-free transit benefit some of the most vulnerable members of our community, but I’ve personally seen how it makes our system more efficient, convenient, and accessible to new users. Currently, there’s no need to worry about fare cards, transfer tickets, or exact change. There’s no longer delays caused by people not having their payment prepared when they board. You just hop on and ride. Tucson was just ranked the 5th most dangerous driving city in the country and we saw an increase in pedestrian fatalities last year. We should be doing everything in our power to encourage and entice residents into safer, cleaner modes of transportation, and eliminating fares permanently does exactly that. I implore Mayor and Council to make this policy permanent.
Thomas Stellini
Downtown
Gun violence
An ABC news headline on March 27, 2023, read “More than 9,800 people killed in gun violence so far in 2023.” Meanwhile Arizona Republican legislators sponsored SB 1331, “billed as a method of protecting parents from being charged with a crime if they forgot they were carrying a loaded weapon onto school grounds.” Rather than providing gun owners who “forgot” they are carrying a weapon with a loophole, Republican legislators should consider the 9,800 deaths from gun violence and draft common-sense legislation for gun violence prevention.
Roger Shanley
East side
Crosby/Stevens vs. Crosby recall
Regarding the recent dust-up between David Stevens and the Crosby Recall volunteers, I’m inclined to suspect that the confrontation may not have been as spontaneous as Stevens would have us believe. Given that Stevens owes whatever authority he has as interim Elections Director largely to Crosby, the whole episode appears to have a kind of foxy-chicken-coopy stench to it. Crosby himself is richly deserving of this recall, and I applaud those brave volunteers for working so hard to make it happen. By refusing, for no good reason, to certify the last election, he put all of the votes in Cochise County in jeopardy, while simultaneously attempting to cast doubt on the whole electoral process. Nothing could be worse for democracy than that. I also applaud the judge for ruling that Crosby and Judd pay the legal fees, and I hope that they, not the taxpayers actually do.
Elizabeth Horning
Sierra Vista
Gun violence and airplane crashes
Every day approximately 310 people in the United States are shot via gun violence, 200 survive and 110 die — every day. Mass shootings are becoming more and more a daily occurrence as are school shootings.
Now suppose for a moment that an airline in the U.S. existed (thank God it doesn’t) and had a plane crash every day and each time (crash) 110 people are killed. How long do you suppose the federal, state, county, and city governments would allow this airline to continue to fly? One day? Two days? Three maybe? Certainly something would be done! The public would demand it. Yet here we are, with every day bringing another 110 deaths from guns, and nobody is doing anything. Where are our leaders in Congress? The NRA? The GOP? With gun rights also comes gun responsibility — I hear nothing from gun owners. We as a people are better than this. We put men on the moon but we can’t solve gun violence? Come on!
Thomas Schell
North side
Let it hit home
Another day, another picture of grieving individuals hugging each other in front of a grassy knoll, pictures of smiling, innocent victims mounted on gleaming white crosses surrounded by flowers, balloons and teddy bears. Thoughts (and sometimes prayers) evoked from city, state, and national “leaders.” Quite a sanitized version of the carnage that had occurred. Maybe it’s time to do an Emmitt Till modern-day depiction. An open casket opened eyes and hearts. Let’s use artificial intelligence and insist that all who think assault rifles with huge magazines should be available to the average citizen upload a picture of their child, spouse, loved one, or family Christmas card and have it depict what the results would be if assaulted by that weapon or weapons. People don’t listen until it hits home. This way they can vicariously feel the emotions of those who have experienced the real results of gun trauma. What do ya say? Should we give it a shot?
Dianne Lethaby
East side
LD17 reps opposed Harris expulsion
As a citizen in LD17, I was disappointed and embarrassed that our state legislators Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr were some of the 13 representatives who opposed the expulsion of Liz Harris. It looks that they thought that the disruptive unethical lying about QAnon criminal election and corruption conspiracies by Ms. Harris was not bad enough to have her removed from that important office or maybe they actually believe all those conspiracies.
John Higgins
Southeast side
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