Santa Rita Road, shown here, has been identified as the most likely access route for heavy-duty truck traffic to and from the planned Copper World mine site, Pima County's administrator said in a memo.
The mining dust-up
Steve Christy was surely correct in suggesting that opposition to Hudbay was the "driving force" behind the ill-fated truck-dust proposal (The Star, Dec. 28). I'm puzzled, though, by assumptions underlying the story. First, is there any rule or law requiring mines to be served by dirt roads? Would the prospect of paving a 7-mile stretch deter this project? Second, does anyone seriously believe that this administration would allow the Clean Air Act to override its priorities? (Due process concerns — and their accompanying delays — have been challenged on many fronts in 2025.) I drive nearly every day on the paved portion of S. Santa Rita Road, which ends 500 feet south of the Sahuarita Highlands neighborhood. It seems likely that this 4-mile stretch will have to be improved to accommodate a high volume of heavy truck traffic.
Robert Laux-Bachand
Green Valley
Who speaks for children lost to cancer?
In the past year alone, nine children in Southern Arizona have died from cancer, yet there has been little public acknowledgement of the impact childhood cancer has on families in our community. Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease among children in Arizona.
February 15, 2026 is International Childhood Cancer Day. At 9 a.m., four childhood cancer organizations will gather at Brandi Fenton Park for an awareness walk to honor the children we have lost and support families currently facing this diagnosis.
As the parent of a child who died from a brain tumor at age 11, I know this heartbreak firsthand. No family should feel invisible. Our children deserve to be seen, remembered, and supported.
Beverley Tidwell
Midtown
Bravo!
Concerning both Sister Karen Berry's Dec. 28th opinion titled "Science and religion are different but not opposed" and Mr. Thomas Kovach's Dec. 28th LTE titled "Religion, science in the classroom," I only have one thing to say: Bravo!
Hector Guzman
South side
What about Trump?
I’ve written zingers about the idiocy of the Democratic Party but turning the mirror around, what’s wrong with Trump? These four immediately come to mind:
• He’s a living president who attempts to name government facilities after himself as if he was branding his hotels. We have an ego issue to accept or deplore.
• He’s excluded advanced nursing programs from "professional degrees" that qualify for maximum federal student loans. Methinks cost cutting has gone too far.
• He needs to release 100% of the Epstein files instantly. Skip the redaction process and let the lawsuits begin.
• He wants to distribute $2.000 dividend checks to each taxpayer with tariff dividends rather than using this windfall to reduce the national debt. This smacks of Democrat-style vote buying.
Jeffrey McConnell
West side
Keep buses free
Re: Dec. 29 LTE “Reinstate bus fares.” Let me see if I’ve got this straight: If we again force the mostly lower-income and otherwise disadvantaged Tucson bus riders to pay fares, then we won’t have as many random stabbings and vandalism right?
Sorry. That makes no sense. There is no direct correlation between charging bus fares and reducing crime. One thing that is for sure: Charging bus fares will significantly slow the buses and clog traffic.
There is a direct correlation in reducing mass-transit risk by voting “Yes” March 10 on Props. 418 and 419. By extending the existing half-cent sales tax (no new taxes), a “Yes” vote raises more than $250,000 for transportation safety, including traffic signal upgrades, Safe Routes to Schools, and projects required under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).
(Go to: rtanext.com for the $2.67 billion in projects.)
Stephen Yozwiak
Northwest side
WISeR shysters
Healthcare pilot program WISeR begins Jan 1 in 6 states, including Arizona. Private for-profit contractors will use AI to decide whether Traditional Medicare (TM) patients get treatments their doctors recommend. Contractor profits are based on denying care.
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) proposed WISeR (Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction). Yet, it uses the same private for-profit contractors that Medicare Advantage (MA) programs use to help them get higher government payments by adding medical codes to make patients appear sicker than they are (the notorious fraudulent "upcoding") resulting in overpayments to MA since 2008 (predicted to be about $1 trillion from 2025 to 2034).
The AZ contractor is Virtix Health. Its website discloses no physical address, phone, names of executives, or board members. There are strong ties between CMMI leadership and the health insurance and venture capital industries that profit from this program. Demand Congress stop WISeR by passing HR 5940, HR 6361, and S 3480.
Lee Stanfield
East side
Sales tax for recycled water
Back in the 1960s there was hope that the Central Arizona Project would provide water to Arizona for centuries. The need for continued growth was real in order to gain economic and political power, especially vis-a-vis California. Water quality could be engineered.
All seemed fine, until it wasn't.
Now with over a million people in the Tucson valley, there is no way there can be a 100-year guarantee of water with future massive cuts in CAP water allotment.
The City has planned for a recycled water treatment plant costing $86 million for 56,000 acre feet (af) in 10 years or 5600 af per year. Instead of a sales tax for RTANext, Pima County should combine with the city to build another 10-15 recycled water treatment plants in the next 10 years at a cost of a billion dollars, providing about half of the present Tucson Water CAP allocation in potable water.
Why expand future roads when you don't have the water for future population expansion?
Matt Somers
Midtown
Continue speaking out
Re: Letter, "Wa Wa Bla Bla," 27 December 2025:
This LTE says letters about Donald Trump's continual follies should be relegated to a special section instead of the opinion pages because Trump is our "drunken uncle" for three more years. Should Trump walk all over us without resistance when our Founders did not allow King George III to do so? Trump is supposed to be president of our nation and not some dysfunctional uncle. Perhaps the writer should avoid the opinion pages and submit his "Wa Wa" to the comics section.
I have to laugh at the LTE of 4 December that said the Star "sold its soul to the left." Truly liberal publications like Mother Jones would never publish George Will as the Star does. Such complainers would go into shock if exposed to Mother Jones. Do they seek to push the Star to become like Fox News, Trump regime state media? They must not succeed. Speak out.
Ronald Pelech
Midtown
When you wish upon a Star
Local newspapers have seen their numbers precipitously drop since the onset of the digital age — about 2005. Over 3,200 papers have closed since then, leaving black holes of local news coverage along with staff losses of over 60% — as advertising shifts to the tech giants and print revenues are hammered. So local papers, our AZ Star no exception, do whatever they can to stay afloat — cut staff, cut frequency, cut coverages.
But there may be hope. The Star reported Tuesday that there might be a billionaire out there (David Hoffmann) who actually might give a damn about local news and even about gun violence in America — who is leading negotiations with Lee Enterprises (Star's owner) to inject sorely needed capital in return for a leading role.
Personally I love this paper. It feels the way a local paper should feel, full of people who care about their community and an exemplary staff who feel the same way. A sparkling turn of events. Good luck to us all.
Rick Rappaport
Oro Valley
Priorities
Arizona is to receive about $200 million for rural health care. Building the White House ballroom is to cost about $400 million. It is obvious where this government's priorities are.
Bette Bunker Richards
Midtown
What our children learn from Trump
Never apologize to anyone ever.
Science is stupid.
Anyone different is bad.
Don't be nice, nice is for losers.
Cheating is for winners.
America is the only country in the world.
Women are less important than men.
Be afraid of anyone non-white.
Facts and truth are not important.
Low-paid people are idiots.
Lying is fine now.
It's ok if your father cheats on your mother.
Never take responsibility for your actions, just blame others.
You can hurt other people as long as it benefits yourself.
Terry Louck
East side
Shame on Goodwill
On December 26, two Goodwill employees were gunned down in a random burst of violence while working at a southeast side donation center. They remain in critical condition. The community and local churches have rallied to raise money for medical expenses through gofundme donations, church offerings and a planned benefit concert. Has Goodwill offered financial help? Nope. The top Goodwill CEO in Arizona raked in $1.2 million dollars plus expenses in 2023. By comparison Goodwill employees are paid $14.50 an hour. Thrift shoppers, there are plenty of local resale stores that support our community and don't pad the pockets of millionaire CEOs. It's time to boycott Goodwill and shop at legitimate nonprofit thrift stores.
Allison Bradford
Marana
The thirty-nine percent
A sampling of various polls shows that an average of 39% of adults responding favor Trump. Thirty-nine percent is a large number considering these are people in agreement with:
• Trump and his family engaging in massive corruption schemes
• Taking health care and food assistance from millions of people
• Targeting legislators and judges with violent rhetoric and threats
• Running up the national debt by trillions of dollars to benefit billionaires
• Starting a war with Venezuela
• Voting with Russia, North Korea and China in all matters, and so on.
These things are ultimately harmful to Americans. So, who are the 39%? They are among our friends, family members, and neighbors who wish us harm.
Our answer? Join a local Democratic group, participate in Democratic actions, support and vote for Democrats.
Gretchen Winters
Oro Valley
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