Tucson Speaks Out: Jan. 28 letters of the day

Coach Fisch

Re: the Jan. 7 article “DC Nansen headed to Texas.”

When a top-tier football team wants to hire Arizona’s assistant coaches, that is more proof that Coach Fisch is building correctly, along with this year’s 10 wins. The good head coaches hire the best assistants and other coaches come a’ calling to hire them.

Duane Barbour

Midtown

Deaths in Gaza

There is a saying, attributed to Joseph Stalin, that “one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.” It would appear that President Biden goes along with the spirit of this, for he has declared that 1,100 Israeli deaths was a tragedy (which it certainly was), but his only concrete reaction to 23,000 Palestinian deaths is to send Israel more weapons so they can keep killing more Palestinians.

Greg Evans

West side

Trump threatens SCOTUS

Here he goes again, just like Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, his words tell his supporters what he wants them to do, without exactly do to it. He has threatened the Supreme Court with ‘chaos and bedlam’ if they bar him from ballot. Like the thug Tony Soprano, he threatens chaos and his supporters take that as an order, just like Jan. 6, which enraged an assault on the Capitol. This time it is the Supreme Court. His hands appear to be clean because he doesn’t directly tell them exactly what to do, rather his words encourage.

Jerry Lujan

Oro Valley

Major topics: refugees, transgender, water

Readers of the Star have been recipients of several excellent and comprehensive articles recently: Tim Steller’s excellent description of how law enforcement authorities quietly worked with Casa Alitas to plan successfully for the expected major increase in refugees; the expose of misinformation surrounding transgender issues in schools, and most recently the remarkably thorough article by Tony Davis on the future of Arizona’s water supply (the elephant in the room of our future in the desert). Unfortunately, much of the public gets their information only from national news media — or worse, from slanted social media sources. Twenty-second soundbites by talking heads are hardly likely to result in understanding of complex issues. But such understanding is crucial to being able to solve them. The calling of journalism is to inform and educate, and these and other articles are examples of this at its best.

Abraham R. Byrd III

North side

Jaguar tops public safety, national security

The AZ Daily Star used the spotting of a jaguar in the Huachuca mountains to do another hit piece on the border wall and border barriers. I lost count of the number of anti-border wall stories the Star has done over the years. The Star loves to get perspectives on border barriers from left-wing environmentalists and animal rights folks, but never from line Border Patrol agents. Aren’t they the border security experts? Ah, but the Star could care less about border security. Its disingenuous for the Star and others to say that the border wall has not worked and is a costly failure by Trump. Just where are the floods of foreign nationals entering illegally into Arizona? They are polluting through the Tohono O’Odham reservation that spans 70 miles along the border with no border wall and through wall gaps, i.e., at Yuma. Open borders left-wing Democrats apparently care more about protecting one jaguar than protecting the public safety and national security of 300 million Americans.

Michael Wayne

Midtown

Immigration

In 2013 the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” negotiated an immigration reform bill which was subsequently passed by the Senate. Since that time the House has not taken up the bill. Instead, Republicans are now blaming Biden in 2024 for the “crisis at the border.” Really? House Republicans blatantly admit that they will not entertain immigration reform because they do not want Biden to have a “win.” All the while states, including Arizona, are begging for relief.

Meanwhile, Republicans content themselves with egregious screeds about immigrants smuggling fentanyl into the country killing our citizens and poisoning our blood. Note: 4 of Trump’s children have immigrant poisoned blood.

I understand Republicans no longer revere Ronald Reagan; however, I would recommend they revive Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” program. If there weren’t an American market, there wouldn’t be an economic incentive to import fentanyl. As supporters of unregulated capitalism, they should understand this as a simple supply and demand issue not an immigration issue.

Dee Maitland

Marana

Let us not forget

Editor,

Due to misinformation, too many think that crossing the border and seeking asylum is illegal. They are dangerously misinformed.

As a result of the world turning its back on Jewish people fleeing for their lives, the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights enshrined the right to seek asylum. International and U.S. laws affirm the right to seek asylum.

Some don’t believe asylum seekers. That is their right. However, it is a matter for the Immigration Courts to decide. Those courts, due to inadequate funding, are backed up with over 800,000 cases waiting to be heard. Both Adelita Grijalva and Regina Romero are to be commended for asking Congress to assist in the sheltering of asylum seekers while they wait for their cases to be heard.

Congress should do their job and adequately fund the Immigration Courts. Let us not forget why the right to seek asylum came about.

Dave Gallagher

Foothills

$95 million grant funds 26-mile stretch of I-10

Re: the Jan. 24 article “Feds send Arizona $95M for I-10 widening.”

On behalf of my and other victim families, I wish to thank the local, state and national leaders — who working together, recently obtained a $95 million federal grant for Interstate 10 improvements. This grant, along with other state and local financial support completes the necessary funding to improve the safety of the 26-mile stretch of I-10, which runs through the Gila River Indian Community. This stretch of I-10 is very dangerous and has seen scores of persons killed and injured in vehicle crashes. I look forward to the completion of this project, which will significantly improve this roadway and by so doing protect the health and safety of motorists.

Mike Humphrey

Foothills

Advice to all Trump supporters

To all those who choose to support Donald Trump once again for president: I agree that it is your right to do so and I respect that right. However, since it’s my right not to support Trump, there are certain things that I don’t ever want to hear you state in your defense of him:

First, complain that the southern border allows criminals, rapists and drugs to enter this country.

Second, openly claim that you are an adamant supporter of the Constitution and its mandate for law and order.

Third, agree that all women should be treated equally and with respect.

Fourth, agree that the U.S. intelligence community can set strict guidelines on protecting National Security papers.

Finally, in light of the above, I don’t ever want to hear that the re-election of Donald Trump will “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” because in my humble opinion it absolutely will not do so.

Chuck Cabrera

Northwest side

Right to vote on citizen-generated initiatives

The Arizona for Abortion Access Act petition is a citizen-generated ballot initiative for our November election. While gathering signatures for the initiative at the library a group calling themselves “It Goes too Far” is telling people NOT to sign the petition. They want to deny the citizens of Arizona their right to VOTE on an initiative that would decide whether women can make their own decisions on abortion or whether the government can. Since this issue touches all our lives, we think the voters should decide.

Mary Lisa

Oro Valley

Education funding

After watching TV news about how to better fund education, I had a thought. Instead of giving aid to some 300 countries around the world how about cutting some of that out and use that for education and better health care here at home, just a thought.

Thomas R Crawford

Foothills

Proposed Senate deal codifies open borders

Re: the Jan. 23 article “Senators try to get deal.”

This article is thin on details when he writes that the “The proposal would toughen the asylum process with a goal of cutting the number of migrants …” The Senate’s “proposal” would cap illegal entrants to 5000 per day (1.86M per year). Reasonable legislators should reject any proposal that codifies breaking those same immigration laws which historically enabled many millions of legal immigrants to achieve citizenship. This administration campaigned on reversing Trump’s attempt to seal the border. However, under lazy or encouraging eyes, Biden has operated his own open border policy for three years. I thought he swore an oath to do the opposite.

Bruce M. Prior

West side

Ban illegal, flavored vapes

As a mother, I worry about how media and advertising can influence my children’s behavior and lead to them developing addictive habits.

That’s precisely why the federal government spent years to stop tobacco advertising targeting kids and teens. Unfortunately, the newest fad, flavored vapes, are clearly designed with kids and teens as targets. They resort to kid-friendly flavors, like bubblegum and watermelon, and they come in shiny packaging.

Yet despite the FDA — whose job it is to regulate these products — already declaring them illegal, these flavored vapes are still readily available for those who want to buy them.

Some Arizona leaders like Attorney General Kris Mayes have called for the FDA to ban these products, but we need more leadership to get FDA to do its job.

I urge our leaders in Congress, from Senators Sinema and Kelly to Congressman Ciscomani to urge the FDA to crack down on illegal, flavored vapes.

Nancy Iriye

Foothills

Brilliant predictions

If the match-up is between Biden and Trump — Trump will lose. He will not even garner 200 electoral college votes. If the match-up is between Biden and a Republican other than Trump, Biden will lose, not even collecting 250 electoral college votes. In a match-up between Trump and a Democrat other than Biden, Trump will lose, not even gathering 200 electoral college votes. In a matchup between a Democrat other than Biden and a Republican other than Trump, the Democrat will lose. This letter will be resubmitted one week before the election.

David ben Avram

Marana

Horne strikes out

As State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne has struck out. As early as 2010, he crusaded against Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) program. Refusing to observe an actual class, he condemned MAS, ignoring claims that these students earned higher grades and standardized test scores than peers outside the program. Strike one. Next, Horne championed school vouchers, originally designed for limited school populations but presently available to all students, many of whom were already attending private school. Arizona State Department of Education predicted school vouchers costs could rise as high as $900 million in 2024. Strike two. Horne’s latest debacle is his “schools’ hotline” for parents to report teachers not following academic standards. In the year of its existence and at the cost of $70,000 to supervise the site, about two dozen reports are “real complaints.” Strike three. Hopefully, Arizona voters will send Mr. Horne a clear message. You’re out!

Roger Shanley

East side

Executions

If state governments are hard-pressed to find a suitable lethal drug to use in the executions of convicted murderers, perhaps they need look no further than their local high schools where, apparently, young, innocent teenagers are able to buy fentanyl easily enough and unwittingly end their own lives. The question remains if medical science research can solve health problems like malaria, polio, measles and COVID, why can’t American government stop the flow of deadly illegal drugs from reaching our towns, our schools, our children?

John E. Irby

Southeast side

A cell to lie in

History will remind our heirs of the Trump Era, one so fraught with fear that our country was in danger of being snapped in chains by a man with an ironclad heart, a Hitler redo.

No despot in waiting has ever made his intentions so accessible to his victims. To do this Donald Trump has to toot on his own horn and lead a befuddled swarm of lemmings toward the abyss. They think they will be flying, not falling. But they will fall for it and are falling for it now.

For sure, our distant offspring will note that most of us finally paused long enough to stare down in the pit where Trump lies, and the danger awaiting our country and our way of life. So, together we woke up to the threat and voted him a cell to lie in.

That is what history will say.

Ron Lancaster

North side