Visitors walk past the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Monday in Washington.
MLK speech right on in 2026
Our bigoted dictator did not honor MLK.
I believe this speech fits for what's going on now: "Somewhere I read of the Freedom of Assembly, Somewhere I read the Freedom of speech, Somewhere I read the Freedom of the Press, Somewhere I read that the Greatness of America is the right to protest for Rights." This is so up to date for what is going on now. Why is it happening in Minnesota, Illinois, California and other blue states? Crime is higher in Missouri, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Alaska, most all red states. Oh yeah — they voted in America's first dictator. Not even half the country voted. You deserve what you get. A dictator stealing our rights, with taxpayer money and now Venezuela's oil money into his offshore accounts.
David E. Leon
Vail
Masked agents, shattered lives
As a retired journalist, I was trained to document truth. But today, a horrifying scene paralyzed my reporter’s instinct.
Dining near Speedway/Pantano, my partner and I saw three black SUVs swarm a white car. Masked ICE agents forced a petite, non-white female driver into the parking lot. Operating with chilling anonymity, they were armed with the power to kill.
I reached for my camera, but Renee Good’s death stopped me.
When we told a couple at the door about the event, the man spewed, “Good! Hope they get what they deserve!”
Later, we saw the detainee’s car abandoned in the lot — the ghost of another life shattered.
Seeing this under bright Tucson skies felt surreal. Witnessing masked agents snatch a human is traumatizing; seeing a citizen cheer the cruel act is disheartening.
Still, we must not succumb to silence. Please urge representatives via House.gov to support ICE accountability and pro-immigrant policies. We CAN make a difference without endangering ourselves.
Victoria Colette
East side
Proposition for bike routes
In response to Tom Clark on Jan. 18: Transportation propositions have merit, but the devil is in the details, as the Loma Verde Neighborhood understands. Stemming from Prop 407, the City of Tucson is determined to put a bike path through the small buffer park of Loma Verde that separates our neighborhood from the traffic and commerce of Park Place Mall. Collin Chesston with the transportation department thinks it would be a nice opportunity for cyclists to have a path bulldozed through this small midtown park where local walkers, dog walkers, schools play and disc golf is played. This narrow park is the only green space between Craycroft and Wilmot. We have quiet roads through our neighborhood where the city is invited to create the bike path. We don't need our park torn up for an expeditious transportation route.
Beverley Tidwell
Midtown
Normalizing federal force
Through the distorted reasoning of our ruler, we are now finding that his actions are creating a hardened federal force that he freely uses for otherwise domestic issues throughout the United States. While it's bad enough that he uses federal forces to respond to areas of responsibility that belong to the states, he is additionally creating a dangerous atmosphere where local people are beginning to distrust all police forces. It also misleads personnel within the federal forces to believe this is normal policing of citizens, that it's normal within a democracy.
Don Gerlach
East side
Don't sleep well
The New Yorker's The Political Scene, “A Stark Warning About the 2026 Election,” with Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, shook me. Kagan asserted, “I don't want anyone to sleep well,” a fitting conclusion to a well-reasoned review of Trump and his advisers' efforts to sustain what Kagan suggests is the nearly completed Trump dictatorship. Mentioning the architects of Trump scripts, Russell Vought and Stephen Miller, Kagan posits their plan to overturn the “founders' liberalism” with no intention of free and fair elections. He criticizes Congress and the “cowardice of the American elite” for their unwillingness to defund ICE and its blanket immunity, adding that Minnesota is a dress rehearsal for the use of the Insurrection Act and more egregious misuse of power. He urges ordinary citizens to follow their instinct of outrage by steadily contacting politicians by email, mail, phone, or personal office visits. After hearing Kagan, my sleep may suffer, but I'm more intent than ever on resisting the insidious virus infecting American democracy.
Roger Shanley
East side
Do protests do anything?
Yes. History demonstrates that protests do have an impact and can lead to meaningful change.
Those from lower economic classes are taught, “Keep your heads down.” Avoid becoming targets for those who might do harm. That's hard to ignore and to overcome.
When core rights are under attack, let's lift our gaze, face our attackers directly and stand up. Not cower and hide but stand up and demonstrate to all that which we hold as right and just.
Many may say, “I can vote and that's my voice.” But our right to vote and to
have it be counted and meaningful is under extreme attack throughout the US.
When we demonstrate, in support of Y or against X, we demonstrate our conviction to the world. Cowering neighbors may realize they are not alone.
As citizens, most of us do not have great power or influence. We have our bodies and voices. If we fail to use those towards the defense of democracy, then we submit to the whims of bullies.
Gary Townsend
Sahuarita
Vote informed in RTA special election
The March 10 special election for RTA's transportation plan and one-half cent sales tax (Propositions 418 and 419, respectively) is fast approaching. This election is very important. If you are not tuned in, now's the time to do so. Pima County will mail an informational pamphlet to all registered voters ahead of the election on Feb. 11, at the same time early ballots are mailed. The pamphlet is 283 pages long and is critically important because the plan is described in detail. Importantly, the pamphlet includes "for" and "against" arguments for both propositions submitted by fellow voters. You don't have to wait for the pamphlet to arrive in your mailbox because a digital version is available now from the Elections Division at www.pima.gov/810/Upcoming-Elections-and-Events. A peer-reviewed AI-generated 20-page summary is available at www.friendsoftmr.com. Please don't vote uninformed or wait until the last minute to get informed. Tune in. Study the plan and the arguments now.
Maureen McCarty Lueck
West side
Just say no
This all ends when enough of us say “no.”
Say “no” to ICE cruelty, brutality and terrorism.
Say “no” to increased funding for DHS.
Say “no” to concentration camps and mass deportation.
Say “no” to the weaponization of the DOJ to silence dissent.
Say “no” to this administration’s lies, hypocrisy and gaslighting.
Say “no” to the militarization of our borders and cities.
Say “no” to illegal tariffs.
Say “no” to the continued cover-up of the Epstein files
Say “no” to the Grifter in Chief who is building monuments to himself and enriching himself, his family and his oligarch friends.
Say “no” to the Mad King who calls himself the “Acting President of Venezuela” and is threatening to take over Greenland.
Contact your Senators and Representative and tell them to say “no” to this craziness.
Celeste Rogers
East side
LTE response
Saturday's LTE’s “Submit your application” and “ICE/immigration”. The “Submit” letter cynically portrays George Floyd and Renee Good and ends “And Yes folks, this is satire.” No, it is not, it is mocking the death of these people and is mean-spirited. The letter implies Renee Good deserved to be killed because of her “agitator training.” Both LTEs demonstrate ways of thinking to justify ICE viciousness. First, dehumanize others who are different. Human beings become labels. Renee Good is not a young mother of three children; she is an “aggressor,” or an “agitator,” and therefore should be killed. Second, believe what you are told rather than trust your own eyes and judgment. In multiple videos of Renee Good, she is not chanting or trying to run over the ICE agent. ICE rendered no aid and denied physician’s care because ICE dehumanized her and every “other” as they have been told to do by Steven Miller.
Richard Wood
Midtown
How stupid can you get?
How much more unhinged can things get? The most powerful man in the world with his 3 year-old infantile mind is he having a hissy fit about not getting his Nobel prize, and the rest of us are left to suffer. Maybe this will be the final straw for some Republicans who still remember what sanity is supposed to look like and stop Agent Orange. He’s given China every justification for taking Taiwan. He’s doing his best to break up NATO. He’s making hundreds of millions of dollars off of Venezuela’s oil. What part of all of this don’t you guys get?
Steven Gorenstein
Northeast side
A smart investment
Supporting Propositions 418 and 419 is an easy choice. Our roads need improvements, and these measures are an investment in our community’s future.
The first RTA was one of the most successful things our region has ever done. By taking a regional approach to transportation, we saw real results. Just look at downtown Tucson and our Sun Link streetcar. Since it launched, the streetcar corridor has attracted billions in private investment, boosted local businesses, increased property value and given people more ways to get around.
That kind of success doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when we plan ahead and invest wisely.
If these measures don’t pass, roads will continue to deteriorate, and important projects will be delayed for years.
The good news is this isn’t an additional tax increase. We’ll keep paying what we already pay, with a clear plan for how the money is used.
Vote yes on 418 and 419 to continue the smart investment of bettering our roads and infrastructure.
Edmund Marquez
Midtown
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