Tucson Speaks Out: Aug. 26 letters of the day

Energy source competition

Re: the Aug. 19 article “Localizing power: Response to TEP foreign profit drain.”

Bravo! for taking on the sacred cow of TEP’s rate of return and smashing the issue right back into Susan Grey and TEP’s court. Loved the comparison to ordinary businesses who would give up eye teeth to have the kind of return that TEP has. That guaranteed rate is insidious and holds TEP back from any real investment into solar. Why spend $10 million on solar when you can spend $50 million on a gas plant and quintuple your rate of return!

Problem is that a co-op is a non starter. It’s way too expensive to purchase all that infrastructure that TEP built on our backs. They’ll charge an arm and a leg for their outdated system and you’ll be in court for years hammering that out. Community Choice Energy is the only answer where TEP becomes a partner and continues to provide a stable grid and send you bills — but you don’t pay through the nose for their dividends. Lower your bills and see real energy source competition.

Rick Rappaport

Oro Valley

No jail deaths

What is the proposal before the Commission meant to address? Specifically, please detail which adjustment to programming and infrastructure will address which articulable issue within the jail.

Why, in your understanding, did the Sheriff bring this proposal to the County? What events precipitated this proposal?

Can you talk about the three surveys that were done in 2021 that said there were no structural issues but rather a lack of maintenance and upkeep by the sheriff’s department?

The Commission has been meeting privately for the past six months to receive information and reports, and to deliberate over essential questions. It then convenes once a month to read out the top-line takeaways of those sessions in public meetings. Why did the County Administrator decide to keep the majority of the Commission’s work private, with no option for public access?

The Sheriff’s Department exploited a loophole in state and federal reporting requirements to underreport the number of jail-related deaths under Sheriff Nanos’s watch. Initially, the Department reported 12.

Corrina Echerivel

Downtown

Blood on their hands

This morning (Aug. 23) I woke up to news that a mother of nine in Arrowhead, California, was shot down in front of her clothing shop because she was displaying a Pride flag. Not only is this senseless crime incredibly sad; it was a likely avoidable. The far-right agenda of the Freedom Caucus, DeSantis, MAGA Republicans, and many other right-wing groups have blood on their hands for promoting agendas that target the LGBTQ community with such vitriol that a sick man with a gun took their words to heart and acted upon them. While these people didn’t pull the trigger, they definitely “loaded the gun.” Inclusiveness doesn’t mean anyone loses their rights, it means everyone has access to those same rights; how that is a threat to anyone is beyond me. Please vote these dangerous people out of office, and don’t vote them in if they are running. There is no place in America for this kind of rhetoric. Ask yourself, “is this the America we want?” Vote your answer.

Terri Hicks

Northwest side

Empathy

The city of Lahaina, Maui, was wiped out by the incredible wildfire that swept through their community two weeks ago. Over 100 people are dead and more than 800 are still missing. DNA is being requested by authorities to try and make final identifications. I’m sure the residents of this community appreciated President Joe Biden’s comment that he and Jill Biden could relate to what they experienced because they had suffered a kitchen fire in their home 15 years ago. He almost lost, “my wife, my ‘67 corvette, and my cat.” According to the local fire fighters, the “blaze” was brought under control in less that 20 minutes. Thank you for your empathy, Joe Biden.

Lois Boehl

Southwest side

Why don’t they get it?

Women have been subjugated since the beginning of time. Step by step they have gained ground except for primitive governments like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan where women are being denied education, employment and their rights as human beings.

In America one party is doing all it can to dictate to women whether they have children. Can they not see that regardless of political philosophy the people resent this interference in what should be a family decision? What next if this control succeeds?

Aborting a child is wrong and should only be done as a last resort. Government could provide counseling and financial assistance but not criminalize doctors and women.

There are ways to prevent pregnancies such as vasectomies, condoms, implants and drugs. Common sense and decency might help.

All those who care about our country should vote for this party and hope for the best. Abortion alone will assure this doesn’t happen.

Jack Walters

Northeast side

Trump’s indictments

I can’t figure out how the Republicans keep blaming President Biden, the DOJ, Jack Smith and the Democratic party for Trump’s indictments. There have been hundreds of people testifying as to the crimes Trump has committed in New York, Mar-a-Lago and in Georgia. What is a telling factor is that the great majority of those testifying are Republicans, and many that worked with Trump because of their political persuasion. I don’t know of any high ranking Democrat that has testified. I am sure there have been a few people that have testified that are not Republicans but they are in the minority. So please, stop saying this is a witch hunt, admit that Trump lost to Joe Biden, and that the grand jury did its job, and now it’s time for Trump to be tried by a jury of his peers.

Neil Norton

Oro Valley

Debate

I just watched the Republican debates and I have one thing I would like to say. Tonight when Chris Christie went and stated Americans should be proud of former vice president Mike Pence for doing his “duty” by acknowledging who had actually won the election. Plus then Nikki Haley did the same! YES. All Americans owe Pence a grateful and thankful acknowledgement of his actions. It’s time to move on to true patriots. It’s time to talk about the problems that confront our country and work towards solutions. An interesting idea.

Mary beth Schneider

East side

Oppenheimer and the bomb, Tucson and Raytheon

After seeing Oppenheimer and reading the guest opinions here about the bomb, I went to Raytheon’s website to learn more about the new Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) missiles they’re building in Tucson. But there was absolutely nothing to be found about this controversial nuclear-armed, air-launched cruise missile.

Instead, I found war porn and fulsome corporate zeal for “Air, Land, Sea, Space, [and] Cyber” “products,” celebrating the missiles, bombs, directed energy weapons, interceptors, radar, surveillance and cyber miracles rolling out of Raytheon.

It’s hardly a secret — an April 2020 Raytheon press release had been quoted in the Star to announce the multi-billion dollar contract. But now even that press release has been scrubbed from the corporate website’s media archive.

Why? Why this silence when Raytheon is so proud of everything else they do in Tucson? Is building nuclear missiles nothing to tell the neighbors or write home about?

Jack Cohen-Joppa

Midtown

It’s not confusing

Re: the Aug. 24 letter “Confused.”

The letter writer can’t understand why 60% of Star letters vilify Trump. I can explain it to him. We all witnessed his attempted coup for ourselves. Now he is running for president again. He has the stated goals of consolidating all independent agencies under his personal control. He has stated he will use the Justice Department to go after his enemies. He thinks climate change is a hoax-you know it’s a perceived problem, not real. He would end the war in Ukraine by giving Putin everything he demands. Beating a dead horse? One has to wonder how intelligent informed people can continue to dismiss Trump’s blatant attempt to end constitutional law and install himself as an autocrat.

William Garrity

Foothills