Thank you, Fitz
Re: the Sept. 17 article “Queen Elizabeth’s passing and the conflicted Irish.”
As an Irish descendent (second generation), I too feel conflicted when viewing Queen Elizabeth’s burial. My grandfather, Patrick McGoldrick, was taken prisoner at age 16 from Galway and after three brutal years in a British prison he was unshackled as they kicked him onboard a ship for Ellis Island. Patrick had no formal education, could not own land, but was handed a rifle at age 15 by the IRA. He fought till captured. He rode the rails to San Francisco. Patrick prospered after the 1906 earthquake as a hod carrier rebuilding San Francisco! His son a member of SFPD, his granddaughter a California teacher, and his great grandchildren all college-educated. A good ending for a man who spoke to many San Francisco organizations about freeing Ireland. He would end his speeches with a wink saying: “They couldn’t kill me”. Patrick died in 1959 at age 87. To quote George Harrison, I’ll end with his song: “And That’s The Way It Goes”. Amen.
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Patricia O’Neill
Southeast side
National Clean Energy Week
As chair of National Clean Energy Week, I thank Gov. Doug Ducey for once again declaring Sept. 26-30 as Clean Energy Week in Arizona.
As clean energy technologies and clean energy jobs will be critical to getting our economy back on track and prepared for a low carbon future, I view Arizona’s participation in this sixth-annual event as an important occasion. In his proclamation, Gov. Ducey stated that solar energy produced more electricity for the state than all other renewable energy sources combined — ranking Arizona fifth in the nation in solar energy generation last year.
He also highlighted the state’s nuclear energy, which emits zero emissions: “With a net summer capacity of 3,937 megawatts, Arizona’s Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is the largest nuclear power plant, the largest net generator of electricity, and the second-largest power plant by capacity of any kind in the nation.”
I hope Arizonans take the opportunity to join us in the nationwide celebration.
Heather Reams
Downtown
Destroying Ukraine to develop Tucson?
Re: the Sept. 25 article “Weapons from Tucson’s Raytheon unit aid Ukraine.”
What a jolly roundup, wrangling Raytheon press releases into a glowing tribute to our local merchant of death! All Hail Saint Javelin, Apostate to the Prince of Peace!
But is arming Ukraine to the teeth and dancing the nuclear tango with Russia really worth a few trickle-down blood bucks for our local economy?
Has making sure more things will get broken and more people killed and generations will seek revenge become some sort of community development project, the consequences for other communities be damned?
Has helping allies and sometimes their enemies, too, pile up dead civilians and soldiers become the way we honor our veterans, educate our children, care for our neighbors and elevate local culture?
And why all the casual punditry about nuclear war but nothing about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, with 91 signatory nations so far showing the way out of this mess?
Jack Cohen-Joppa
Midtown
Star dumps local theatre
Seeing the enormous space given twice recently to The Lion King preview and review, why is this paper dumping on local theatre and all their local fans (think newspaper subscribers)? You did not even cover the disastrous change of Artistic leadership at Arizona Theatre Company which was just becoming a National theatre and international success story thanks to Sean Daniels. You did not cover the Pulitzer Prize play and extraordinary ensemble performance at The Rogue recently. You are not covering other extraordinary theatre gifts to our local culture like Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre (notice world premieres this year) and other theatres. Do they have to Pay for ads like Broadway In Tucson?
Howard Allen
Midtown
Equality: An American value
Equality for all people before the law is a founding value of the United States of America. The State enacting laws to dictate what a woman can do with her body and no laws restricting what a man can do with his violates that value. Come on, people, let’s live the values our Founders envisioned!
Daniel White
Green Valley
Who are MAGA Republicans
MAGA people are from both parties and independents. It is time to stop calling them MAGA Republicans and just say MAGA.
They are true patriots. They proudly display our flag and stand at attention when the national anthem is played. They love our country and over the centuries have fought and died to defend.
Donald Trump’s philosophy was more in tune with the FDR-type of Democrat. His goal was to restore the vanishing middle class and provide good paying manufacturing and service jobs.
When President Biden gives inflammatory speeches about how they are a threat to America, what he means is that they are a threat to the establishment. By that I mean both parties. He is right.
We cringed, as did you, over Trump’s crudity. We voted for him in spite of that, as we were tired of voting for decades without positive results. He was our last hope.
Jack Walters
Northeast side
Support for public education
Our schools are not failing, we are failing them. The theory that we should abandon over 100 years of support for a robust public education system for a free-market one that rewards those who can navigate it is patently unfair and foolish. The public school teachers and counselors I have known and worked with over the years struggle not just with pay issues, but with lack of supplies, building infrastructure, fewer extra-curricular and career training opportunities, and more. No wonder they are leaving and outcomes have fallen. Poll after poll, including a recent one by Education Forward Arizona show that Arizonans support putting a qualified teacher in every classroom, giving teachers a raise, investing in our public schools, and giving students more opportunities for career and technical education. It’s time our elected officials make this happen. Know where your candidate stands on these issues and please vote as if our future depends on it, because it does!
Mark Hanna, Former TUSD counselor and PCC Board Member
Foothills
Affordable housing
Why should Gov. Ducey proclaim a state of emergency on affordable housing?
Technically, affordable housing means rent plus utilities cost up to 30% of your income. But nearly half of Arizonans pay more than this, and three in four very low-income families can’t find affordable and available units. With increased financial stress, renters are forced to choose between paying rent and buying food, fixing that flat tire, or going to the doctor, increasing their risk of preventable illnesses. Rental hikes disproportionately affect our most vulnerable neighbors: low-income individuals, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and communities of color.
Declaring a state of emergency on affordable housing will do three things: it will make federal funds available to build more rental units, push legislators to pass rental price cap policies and incentivize landlords who adhere to them.
This is an emergency. Let’s start calling it that.
Kerry Johnson
North side
Pride in Tucson
Re: the Sept. 29 article in Caliente “Tucson Pride makes big return.”
I so appreciate that someone on the Star team is covering the fact that Pride is happening at all, and curious if there’s any interest in your team digging deeper into the masterclass Pride is putting on on how to fail with basic event communication and management. Especially as they’ve started to lose the conversation with the BIPOC community who has recently called them to task to speak to their relationships with local police. I’ve watched other Pride groups do it right, and I can tell you that what our local Pride group is doing is all the wrong. It is beyond simple to put together a plan that incorporates necessary police requirements, and message it. But none of that is happening.
Lee Collenberg
Midtown
