Will miss Reid Park
ducks and turtles
Don’t build on Reid Park please.
I used to live in Tucson and I would take my two kids to Reid Park and watch the ducks and turtles. It was the one place that didn’t charge a fee. A place where I could breathe the fresh air, hear the birds sing and escape the stress of work in life. It would be heartbreaking to see Reid Park gone.
Please don’t turn Reid Park into a zoo.
Raquel Torres
Downtown
GOP is following the biggest loser
I really don’t get the GOP now. We just had an election, in which the GOP candidate for president of the United States lost by over 7 million votes, and lost the Senate. Why are they so determined to follow in lockstep behind such an enormous loser?
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He lost the popular vote in both of his elections, he has been impeached twice, he cost the GOP the House and the Senate, and the majority of the American people really hate him and all the horrible things he says and supports.
The GOP must have a political death wish to voluntarily and blindly follow a leader who so consistently and regularly loses at everything he has ever done.
On the other hand, I guess it is a great gift to the Democrats to have the other party march off a cliff playing follow the loser.
Graeme Williams
Southeast side
Does anyone have anything good to say?
I have been reading the Daily Star for over 25 years. After reading todays Letters To The Editor page, it occurred to me that with all the negative and divisive comments that the page reads more like “Letters To Twitter!” Can’t we do more to bring our country back together rather than driving us further apart?
Frank Brown
East side
Tucson Medical Center vaccine process smooth
I got my first COVID vaccination shot on Tuesday morning in the Marshall Auditorium of Tucson Medical Center.
I had a 7:15 a.m. appointment. I arrived at 7 a.m., got my shot at 7:15 a.m., sat for the mandated 15 minutes to assure that there were no major side effects, and was out the door at 7:30 a.m. The entire operation was very efficient. The staff are to be commended.
Dale Schrage
Northeast side
Preserve bird habitats; feral cats are part of life
Re: the Jan. 23 article “County pause in trap-and-neuter effort shifts burdens.”
I read with interest the letters condemning trap-neuter-release programs for feral cats. I agree completely with the authors that cats are a menace to birds and should be housed strictly indoors. Where I differ is in the solution.
Feral cats exist in almost all available environments in this country and have done so for quite some time. The ecological niche that they occupy will not disappear should we manage to decrease their numbers. As has been amply demonstrated by our misguided war on coyotes, they will increase their reproductive rate to fill that niche.
The choice is between killing huge numbers of feral cats and watching the population wax and wane with little effect, or allowing that niche to be exploited by a non-reproducing population, achieved by increasing TNR efforts, not reducing them. A focus on habitat preservation will do more to halt plummeting songbird populations than any war on feral cats could hope to achieve.
W. Daniel Horton, DVM
Rio Rico
Vaccine service
at TMC was excellent
On Tuesday, I went to my appointment to get the first vaccine shot at TMC, and I was stunned at how well the process went. From driving into TMC until leaving took less than 40 minutes and part of that was a required wait of 15 minutes after I received my shot to make sure I had no immediate reaction to the vaccine.
This was one of the most efficient, well-run and friendly undertakings I’ve ever seen. Even though I was there at 4 p.m., toward the end of the day, everyone was fresh and cheerful and went out of their way to be helpful and make sure I understood everything. My compliments and gratitude to everyone involved and especially to whoever set up, planned, and trained everyone involved at TMC.
Mike Greenbaum
Midtown
Save our park
and green space
We have been zoo members since we moved here 18 years ago. We love and support our zoo. However, we don’t support the expansion for a new tiger enclosure.
We have had countless hours of enjoyment at Reid Park, a free place to expose our grandkids to nature and enjoy green space in the middle of the city. Many cannot afford the zoo — can we steal their oasis for tigers? I think not.
Please save our duck pond and relaxing green space.
Judi Bach
Northwest side
Arizona Republicans in a bizarro world
Arizona Republicans took the low road censuring members of their party who determined, as the majority of Arizonans did, that the actions and inactions of the former president and their party are not worthy of respect or allegiance.
The Republican loss is just what it is, a loss. Almost 60 court cases and the Supreme Court all found no basis in fact of any election irregularities. Ignore facts and the voters’ ability to see the truth and the party is doomed to failure once again.
As a result of the former Republican president’s lack of planning to combat the virus and his administration’s ostrichlike approach to the pandemic, hundreds of more deaths took place. Holding the former president accountable would be the right thing to do. However, the correct thing to do seems to elude the Arizona Republican Party.
Remain on this path and the Arizona Republican Party will disappear.
Lee Olitzky
Foothills
After a week of Biden, I’m missing Trump
Joe Biden has been in office for a little more than a week and has already signed innumerable executive orders and not one leftist is calling this a theocracy or monarchy as they did when President Donald Trump signed a few. Biden’s administration, along with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have made numerous statements that smell of socialism!
I for one, along with the 74 million or so that voted for Trump don’t approve. Do we now have democratic socialism? Is this what the 81 or so million people that voted for Biden wanted? If so, this nation of ours is in deep trouble!
Conservatives are being censored, canceled and blacklisted by the openly leftist-supporting media. There are talks of deprogramming Trump supporters — sounds like communist China!
This is unity? What is happening to our country? Does this president really know what he is doing, happening and allowing?
Ron Furtak
East side
Insurrection attempt
a wake-up call for media
Re: the Jan. 26 article “Studies on how we process info are eye-opening.”
Gil Shapiro summarizes the results of studies showing that many people are incapable of disciplined critical analysis, and therefore are susceptible to lies and misinformation.
I am concerned when these people become belligerent and threaten to take over the country. Since lies are what fuel these extremists, we need to cut out lies on broadcast media. There will no doubt be a cry of censorship, but let’s remember the First Amendment has its limitations: You can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater.
Nor can we allow lies that could incite an insurrection.
Why not set up a regulatory agency similar to the one Canada has? It keeps Fox News from broadcasting there. Contact your U.S. senators and let them know our democracy is in danger and we need to act now.
Robert Mann
Northwest side
‘Essential’ designation casts too wide a net
I have an unpopular opinion. Arizona’s vaccine distribution plan is problematic, regardless of the lack of doses and all the distribution bottlenecks.
The plan seems simple. First, we give it to the health-care providers, then to essential workers, then to populations at risk, including people with preexisting conditions. The issue with this plan is that the group defined as “essential workers” is misleading. Just look at the list:
Education sector, power/utility sector, food/agriculture sector (including packers, grocery store employees, etc.), transportation sector (drivers, gas station, truck drivers, etc.), government workers, manufacturing industry, financial services, supply chain, critical trade, etc. The list goes on.
Who lobbied for this? That’s almost half the population. Meanwhile people with preexisting conditions, who are at much greater risk, who are used to the vaccination process and would do it much more efficiently, must wait. Some say until the summer.
As a Type 1 diabetic I am angry that no one in the media points it out.
Ofer Greenberg
Midtown
How about trying Trump in federal court?
The Republican U.S. senators in Congress say that you cannot impeach a president who has left office. But, the crimes were committed while he was in office and makes impeachment justified. Just because you lose your job does not absolve your guilt in committing those crimes.
OK, if you cannot impeach Donald Trump because he is a civilian now, then try him in a federal court as a civilian.
Daniel Poryanda
Southeast side
Biden needs support
of Arizona’s delegation
I urge Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly to support President Joe Biden in all of his efforts to right the wrongs perpetrated by Mr. Donald Trump and his administration. As Trump continues to make it as difficult as possible for Joe to successfully step into the role of president, please reach out to Republicans in the House and Senate to persuade them that helping Joe is in the interests of their constituents as well. All Americans are hurting, with only a few exceptions.
We all worked hard to relieve Mitch McConnell of his obstructionist position in order to free them to vote their conscience instead of being browbeaten into acquiescence. Now is the time for all of Congress to show that they really do have the best interests of all of the American people in the forefront. Let Biden build a strong team, and then use compromising skills to pass legislation that works for everyone.
Julie Becker
Southwest side
Cries of ‘fake news’ have echoes of Stalin
In a recent book about the presidency of Harry Truman, the author noted: “Dismissing media outlets as ‘fake news’ or vilifying journalists as ‘enemies of the people’ was not an option in a time when such autocratic ravings were reserved for tyrants like Joseph Stalin.’”
Of course, those same accusations are challenging our democracy today. Those accusations have been generated internally by a now-defeated president. They have been mimicked by his base and they have gone substantially unchallenged by the Republican Party.
That party is counting on that base for political support and is condoning an atmosphere that puts our democracy in peril. Shame on them!
Donald Gerlach
Northwest side
