Smoke and flames rise Thursday from the site of Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon.
Israel's proxy
If you're searching for a justification for our waging war on Iran, look no farther than Israel's long-standing determination to force regime change and the emasculation of Iran's military capabilities. The United States has allowed itself to become Israel's proxy in the furtherance of the latter's priorities. Unfortunately, that process has accelerated under the current administration. Despite Israel's well-documented devastation of Gaza, the administration has continued to provide offensive weapons to Israel. The reality is that Iran posed no significant military threat to the United States' security. Iran has no ICBMs nor is it likely to develop that capability in the near future. If you believe the administration's claim that we destroyed Iran's nuclear program last year, then we should not be concerned about nuclear weapons from Iran either. The administration's ill-informed decision to wage war on Iran has not only squandered American lives and wasted our limited military resources but also threatens to destabilize the entire Middle East: the folly of unanticipated consequences.
James Dolian
SaddleBrooke
Concentration camp
Residents of Marana, I urge you to speak out against the proposed conversion of a local warehouse into a 775‑bed federal detention facility. With border crossings reported at historic lows, community members question the necessity of expanding large‑scale detention sites anywhere in the United States. Our town should not be used for facilities that raise serious concerns about civil liberties, government overreach, and the humane treatment of those in custody. Marana deserves development that strengthens our community, not projects that risk long‑term harm. Please contact local officials and demand transparency, accountability, and alternatives that reflect our values.
Dale Pelton
Northwest side
Response to 'Protecting American citizens'
I applaud Senator Kelly's actions during the State of the Union address. When President Trump states that "The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens," it is but yet another Trump LIE. Have you not seen the videos of Trump's ICE gestapo killing and injuring American citizens on American soil? Let's face it, Trump only protects who he wants to protect. As an American citizen, I will not feel safe until he is out of office.
Tanya Glover
Marana
House moves to end school mental health mandate
I read Howard Fischer's article of February 27th with dismay. As a retired consultant to public school teachers, I taught/consulted in a variety of classrooms during my 25 years in the system. One of the most important services schools offered, in addition to usual academic subjects, was the inclusion of the mental health component in school health programs. To insinuate such an inclusion interferes with parental rights (as Rep. Lisa Fink, R-Glendale apparently argued) ignores the health and individual rights of children.
Parents are not always aware of the problems their children are facing. Children do not always share negative situations and feelings with their parents. Some depend on friends. Some feel alone and lost. Some resort to desperate measures: suicide or school shootings to express their anger, grief or sadness. No parent in such a situation ever expects such an event to occur. Mental health education is giving a child additional resources.
Karen Mirochna
Southeast side
Real voting issue
The overlooked problem with voting in America is Tuesdays. The polls are open 6am to 7pm. Most Americans work on Tuesdays. That means that a working-class American, who works 8 hours a day, has 5 of 13 hours to vote. Working folks are at work for 8 of 13 hours. The greatest number of voters will be in long lines with little time to vote. Also: to vote in person, people may have to drive and will require parking spaces. Everything that needs to be completed to verify a person's ability to vote legally should be done when a voter registers, not at the polling places. Mail in voting, with proper proof of eligibility to vote, is the best method to vote. People also need to get over knowing who won an election a hours after the polls close. It takes time to count votes accurately. What's the rush?
Richard Bechtold
West side
Astronomy lesson
"And when you're a star they let you do it." No. No, women do not let you do that. Trump physically forced that on his victims. As for being a star, Trump is a black hole of vile, disgusting, egocentric ignorance and immorality.
Andy Biggs' campaign ads proclaim that he has "The complete and total endorsement of Donald Trump." Why would he crow about that? Birds of a feather?
Surely, Republicans can choose someone better than Mr. Biggs. And they should. For the sake of Arizona's future, they must.
James Cohn
West side
ESA mismanagement
The article “Audit finds unallowable Arizona ESA spending” magnifies the egregious misuse of Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) funds and the program's flawed guidelines. A recent risk-based audit of ESA spending highlighted that over 20% of purchases could be rejected under its current guidelines. A follow-up full audit found 46% of ESA purchases were unallowable.
Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction, has supported the policy of automatically allowing purchases and auditing later. With a growing litany of misuses like $7,500 to buy video gaming equipment, parents paying themselves as educators, $2,000 in Visa gift cards, and $1,700 for a diamond necklace, ESA is clearly a program that should be drastically modified or stopped. I support Attorney General Kris Mayes in her efforts to refer those defrauding the system for criminal investigation and urge Arizona voters to reject Republican candidates Tom Horne and Kimberley Yee, defenders of this ill-conceived debacle, in favor of Democrat Teresa Leyba Ruiz.
Roger Shanley
East side
No Juan
Who currently represents CD6 with a commitment to all constituents? No Juan.
Who is publicly available to constituents for questioning and information? No Juan.
Who shows a sense of true public service to their district rather than fealty to DJT? No Juan.
Whose voting record demonstrates an understanding of the complex nature of these voting decisions rather than complicity to party? No Juan. Which Juan? Juan Ciscomani.
Fran McNeely
Northeast side
Pete Hegseth: Christian Nationalist Secretary
Former Fox News employee, Pete Hegseth, is now Secretary of War or Peace or Defense or whatever Trump tells him it is. He is also a hard core Christian Nationalist who could be a lead character in the Handmaid’s Tale. Is this the man any Christian should follow and emulate? Let’s check.
Hegseth married his childhood sweetheart and over the course of their marriage cheated on her five times (that he admitted to), before divorcing her and marrying his lover, Samantha Deering. Then he impregnated Jennifer Rauchet, a FOX employee, while still married to Deering. He then divorced Deering to marry Rauchet, but two months before the baby was born, he admitted to consensual sex with yet another woman. This guy was busy. I have no idea how he had time to read the Bible, although he did get the part about “spreading his seed” right.
Gary Haslett
SaddleBrooke
No drama
I remember fondly Obama's presidency. He was called no drama Obama for a reason. He finally killed Bin Laden, passed the Affordable Care Act, helped the country recover from the great recession of Bush's last years, and was respected globally. Now every day brings unpredictable chaos.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Drop in bird, insect populations
March 4 article on decline in bird and insect populations in North America carefully omitted any reference to the largest factor in this frightening decline: geoengineering or chemtrails. The dispersion for decades of coal fly ash filled with nanoparticles of toxic materials is not only poisoning the air, water, soil and us but it is causing the severe drought in the west drying up the Colorado River. It is unfathomable to me why conservation organizations are not screaming loudly to Congress to stop this assault that will soon destroy all of us. Tucson, if you haven't seen the extreme amount of chemtrails and their spread-out aftermath over our skies since Christmas, you haven't looked. I have actually seen the planes dragging these poison tails over our skies and heard them all hours of the night. Go to geoengineeringwatch.org and sign up for the weekly report Dane Wigington produces. It will educate and terrify you.
Donna Byers
Northeast side
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