Kozachik newsletter
is a must-read
I have been impressed with my city councilman, Steve Kozachik, for years. He has done so much good work for our city especially his efforts to keep the Benedictine Monastery from being demolished. And now, when we need him more than ever, he has stepped up to the plate and is challenging Gov. Doug Ducey on his response to the COVID pandemic.
I commend him and his staff for the excellent email newsletter that I read religiously. He is the voice of reason, intelligence and compassion. We have our own Andrew Cuomo right here in the Old Pueblo. Keep up the good work, Steve and staff.
Sharon Winderl
Midtown
Environmental review process rightly updated
People are also reading…
Given the COVID-19 lockdown, I had time to read 73 pages of the Federal Register describing the Council on Environmental Quality’s new guidelines implementing the Nixon-era National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA itself is not being changed; the procedures for approval of major federal actions are being simplified. CEQ rules became so onerous that project go/no-go decisions now take up to eight years.
The new guidelines limit report length, restrict the projects subject to arduous environmental impact studies, refine the public comment process, and generally shorten the precarious procedural tightrope from project vision to final decision making. These rules are imperfect, yet they will continue to implement NEPA while allowing projects with federal involvement to move forward with some semblance of determination.
Major objections to the revisions will come from self-anointed environmental activists who have used the old rules to further their overtly narrow interests. As a proud Democrat and previous environmental professional, I’m pleasantly surprised to see that the Trump administration finally got one right.
Curtis Lueck
West side
Trump seems willing
to sacrifice our future
Last year, Donald Trump gutted the Endangered Species Act. Recently, despite expert advice to the contrary, he promotes reopening the economy. Then he wants schools to open in the fall. Now, he does away with environmental policies that were implemented in order to protect future generations from the long term effects of pollution and climate change.
All this in the middle of a pandemic that is killing thousands! This man is losing in the polls and is becoming desperate. He is willing to sacrifice not just the elderly and vulnerable but future generations of Americans. He believes his only hope for reelection is to produce a booming economy in short order, regardless of consequences. This country cannot afford another four years of horror.
Ed Espinoza
Southwest side
Superintendents deserve appreciation
If you want to know what it is like to be a school district superintendent during the COVID-19 pandemic, think about the movie “Groundhog Day” and instead of the alarm clock radio playing Sonny and Cher singing “I Got You Babe,” superintendents are waking to an opened Pandora’s box. I am making an assumption that the superintendents are getting any sleep, which might be a huge leap.
If you didn’t know, my former colleagues continue to dedicate every waking hour to planning learning environments that are safe for all students, teachers and staff. This work is done while conditions continue to change creating the need for multiple plans and constant communication with parents and students.
Let’s help our superintendents get a little more sleep. Take some time to contact your district superintendent and let them know they are appreciated.
Nicholas Clement
Northwest side
Snowbirds aren’t sure it’s safe to return
Dear Gov. Doug Ducey,
My husband and I bought a home in Oro Valley back in 2014. We are one snowbird couple out of many who enjoy winter in Arizona. Due to the pandemic and the anti-mask campaign going on in your state, we wonder if we dare travel to Arizona this late October? What are you going to do to reverse the pandemic in Arizona?
We will not be going back until there is a mask effort and the numbers go down. Do you have any idea how much we snowbirds help Arizona’s economy? Please write back stating that you will move to reverse the coronavirus numbers in Arizona.
Connie Omdahl
Northwest side
Separation of church,
state includes schools
Re: the July 13 opinion piece “Court approval doesn’t make AZ school tax credit right.”
Thank you for printing Darian Qureshi’s article. Separation of church and state protects not only citizens’ resources like public schools but also freedom of religion. If governments continue to fund religious schools and institutions, even peripherally through programs like tax credits or vouchers, it is only a matter of time before a single religion or a small group of religions receives favored treatment. Eventually a political climate will emerge enabling various lawmakers to feel invulnerable enough to pass even more insidious legislation destabilizing the religious freedom we enjoy.
If you love your country and your church, you should insist that your elected representatives enforce the principle that our founders had the good sense to institute.
Lisa Turner
West side
Skeptical of these
‘accomplishments’
Re: the July 18 letter “A rundown of Trump’s many accomplishments.”
In response to the letter writer, respectfully: First, an accomplishment is not in of itself a good thing, especially in Donald Trump’s case. Second, appointing Supreme Court justices was not an accomplishment it was an opportunity and required. Trump didn’t create the opportunity and botched it in any case. Third, there is no straight line between Trump and the unemployment rate, Trump and ISIS, Trump and a rebuilt military, especially without demonstrating any real cause and effect with actual facts.
Simply writing/saying something doesn’t make it true. They’re merely words.
Gavin Kayner
Northwest side
Steller exposes
wall’s uselessness
Re: the July 19 article “Border wall, promoted as protection, useless as COVID-19 surged in region.”
Thanks to Tim Steller and the Arizona Daily Star for Tim’s timely and well-researched column about the misinformation campaign by the Trump administration regarding Mexico and COVID-19. They want us to believe that the virus is coming from Mexico and that the wall will keep it out. This is part of an ongoing anti-immigrant propaganda campaign fueled by bigotry and racism.
That Steller’s article was accompanied by a companion article about the shoddy construction of Arizona border wall segments by Trump’s chosen contractor amplifies the reality that this is the most corrupt and hateful president this nation has ever suffered.
Gail Kamaras
East side
Rubber bullets kill and maim
As a cop, I had rocks and bottles thrown at me and some hit me, causing pain and minor injury, but I never took out my handgun and fired indiscriminately into a crowd in response. Police use of rubber bullets should end now. A rubber bullet is designed to keep separation between a crowd and the officers or to disable a violent individual.
But using a rubber bullet for crowd control is dangerous and should be prohibited. A pitched fastball can get up to 150 feet per second, and rubber bullets are fired at from 200 to 300 feet per second. Police no longer use K-9s or water jets from fire hoses for crowd control, and rubber bullets should be in this same category.
About 3% of people shot with a rubber bullet die and about 15% suffer real disabling permanent injury. Umpires eject pitchers who throw at batters, and all chiefs should ban and fire any officer who fires a rubber bullet in a crowd control situation.
Richard Harper
Northeast side
Secret police may come for you next
Mostly at night, unmarked cars, no specific charges, no identification. Sounds like the Gestapo tactics of 1930s Germany. Note that the early Gestapo was formed from three separate federal police forces and charged with stifling opposing political factions and the free press, just like Trump is trying to do now. This is being assisted by Attorney General Barr, several police unions including their recent Trump for President endorsements and of course our Arizona enabler, Martha McSally.
Wake up! The secret police may pay a visit to you, your friends, your neighbors, your family some fine night.
Dean Miller
East side
Let’s get Mundell, Tovar and Stanfield on ACC
Please join me in voting for Bill Mundell, Shea Stanfield and Anna Tovar for the Arizona Corporate Commission in the upcoming elections. As commissioners, Mundell, Stanfield and Tovar will serve the people of Arizona, not the corporate interests. The very utilities the Corporation Commission regulates have an inordinate influence on the elections that choose the makeup of the commission.
This situation harms Arizona ratepayers, harms our environment and must not be allowed to continue. It’s not complicated. Arizona is blessed with the most days of sunshine in America. And that’s why we need to continue expanding our use of solar energy, not to mention all forms of renewable energy.
We can reduce our carbon emissions, create jobs, deliver reliable and affordable electricity to consumers, and build an energy infrastructure using the latest innovations to accommodate our state’s growing energy needs by electing Bill Mundell, Shea Stanfield and Anna Tovar to the Arizona Corporate Commission.
Karl Schaeffer
Northwest side
Test results were
emailed to me in 2 days
Last Saturday I made an appointment online for COVD-19 testing. I received a time slot for Monday afternoon at a local CVS.
As instructed, I remained in my car as the polite attendant walked me through the self-administered test. By early Wednesday morning, my results were emailed to me. On Saturday, I received a follow-up call to ensure that I had received and understood my results.
There has been so much negativity lately that I just wanted to share a bit of sunshine. From: a faithful mask wearer.
Linnea Bass
Northeast side
Portland protesters
need to reset their focus
Portland NAACP President E. D. Mondainé recently suggested that protesters in Portland have shifted away from their original focus, which was to protest against police brutality toward people of color. I agree with him that fighting federal police at the courthouse night after night is not advancing this cause. Instead they are playing right into Trump’s hands by creating a spectacle.
I suggest they boycott the federal police presence by protesting somewhere else, and that they learn from the civil rights leaders in the 1960s who taught us that nonviolent protest is the way to get results. I wholeheartedly support the protests against systemic racism, let’s drop the violence and focus on the message, Black Lives Matter.
Tom Anderson
Midtown
No rebuke, notably,
for Mission San Xavier
Saturday’s paper raises an interesting question: On the front page, a photo of a statue of Columbus being removed from Chicago’s Grant Park. On the editorial page, a photo of Mission San Xavier, and a plea to sustain preservation efforts.
Who is the arbiter of which symbols of European incursion in the New World are oppressive, and which are part of a “fragile and irreplaceable cultural heritage?”
Jefferson Chambers
West side
Outdoor teaching
could open some minds
As a retired teacher, I am about to commit heresy; you do not need a classroom, you only need children. The greatest teacher in history, Socrates, taught with nothing more than perhaps a walking stick to point out observations to his students to think about and discuss. The greatest teaching tool is a mind willing to share its insights and knowledge with a mind that is questioning and open.
A classroom is a means to contain and control students; but in containing them, you may also contain the virus and its contamination. If you think your classroom has enough ventilation, try putting 10 or 12 helium balloons in your classroom and see how they move in your classroom. If you aren’t satisfied with their movement, very likely other classrooms are the same.
Taking your students outdoors to a tent or under a tree will be a new experience. You do not need the electronics we have grown used to; all you need is an open and questioning mind.
Richard Rebl
East side
