Letters to the editor - Friday, Sept. 1
- Updated
Arizona Daily Star readers share their views. For more opinions, go to tucson.com/opinion
Valley fever in dogs is very treatable
Updated
Dr. Marc Orbach, with student researcher Jesse Lewis, examined a culture plate at his UA lab in February 2015. Orbach is the fungal geneticist who invented the delta-CPS1 vaccine that may one day be able to prevent valley fever.
Ron Medvescek / Arizona Daily Star 2015/Re: the Aug. 25 article “UA gets $4.8M to develop valley fever shot for dogs.”
Thank you for the exciting article about a valley fever vaccine. I am concerned however that the overstatement of costs and prognosis might cause some owners to opt to euthanize a dog with a very treatable disease. My experience as a veterinarian treating valley fever in dogs for 20-plus years is that while there certainly are fatalities and some dogs need treatment for life, the majority of dogs can get off of medication within a year or two.
Anti-fungal medications are available with careful pharmacy choice for far less than the $4 to $6 per day cited. While blood testing for diagnosis and monitoring of treatment can indeed be costly, these costs are typically concentrated around the beginning and end of treatment and use of local laboratories rather than national chains can reduce costs. The key to avoiding prolonged treatment is early diagnosis, before the fungus has spread, so test early if your dog is ill or has had a recent cough!
W. Daniel Horton
Rio Rico
Visitors seem pleased with our city golf courses
UpdatedThe city-owned golf courses’ combined revenue was positive. Since a couple of them aren’t making money, get rid of them and make parks. I have played golf in this city for many years and I have played with people from all over the country. Some of them are snowbirds, some visitors, some just passing through. They come here for the weather, the scenery, the food, and they come to play golf. All of them have been impressed with the city courses.
They don’t want to pay resort prices or drive 30, 40, 50 miles to play. They spend their money here and as a taxpayer I would like to keep them here. I don’t want to send them to another community. In retail sales you have what is called a loss leader and its purpose is to bring people into the store. If our golf courses are the city’s loss leader, so be it. How many golfers would come here to see a neighborhood park?
Dave Shepherd
East side
Stegeman’s ‘no’ votes proved to be on target
UpdatedRe: the Aug. 25 column “TUSD’s Stegeman finds another reason to vote ‘no.’”
Thanks to columnist Tim Steller for explaining why we should continue to support Mark Stegeman on the TUSD board. Steller explains that Stegeman voted against Sanchez because his résumé was not strong enough for the job; that turned out to be right. He writes that Stegeman voted against Pedicone’s contract extension because the timing was bad, just before the election. Two months later Pedicone’s favored candidates lost and he decided to terminate his contract prior to the extension taking effect. Stegeman was right again. Steller’s tortured explanation is that Stegeman repeatedly votes “no” to establish deniability later. How about the more obvious explanation: Stegeman has been right when it comes to TUSD superintendents.
Sami Hamed
West side
Unwavering history of opposing Nazis
UpdatedRecently, President Trump used the term “alt-left.” Most people say it doesn’t exist, but I discovered an old photo of them. Looking at it, you can’t make out any faces but the people are wearing military-style helmets. The photo seems to show a group of heavily armed demonstrators attacking some Nazis.They appear to be on a landing craft headed for Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944.
Larry Bodine
Foothills
Ballot initiatives good for democracy
UpdatedRe: the Aug. 27 column “Why I changed my mind on ballot initiatives.”
Columnist Jonathan Hoffman claims that ballot propositions are intrusions on the authority of the Legislature. A strong democracy depends on citizens that care about public institutions that support our most vulnerable. A strong democracy depends on citizens being allowed to voice their opinions and having an avenue to make policy changes happen.
The Save Our School organization may have support from some Democratic groups. The organization also has incredible support from citizens not affiliated with any group. I myself am not active in any political party. I am retired. I spent hours out in the hot sun this summer getting signatures to save public education. It is not an easy thing to do to get the required signatures.
Hoffman failed to mention all of the dark money being infused by the Koch brothers’ PAC, the Goldwater Institute, the DeVos PAC and other organizations to stop citizens from simply putting the initiative on the ballot for the voters to decide.
Ann Richards
Northwest side
Mindless brand of civic engagement
UpdatedRe: the Aug. 27 guest column “Civic engagement lights a candle in the darkness.”
Guest columnist Lynn Lujan fashions herself an accidental activist. Then, after paragraphs of ad hominem diatribe, accidental no more. According to her, Donald Trump spews hate-filled rhetoric, is incompetent, a poisonous bully, a shameful narcissist, and lacks regard for facts, honesty, or truthfulness.
Apparently, policies to reinvigorate business, grow jobs and GDP, to enforce immigration law and pursue trade agreements that benefit America, are not worthy of discussion and debate. No. Marching and carrying signs of mindless dissent are the way to heal our divisions. Way to go! All of our fears are gone! Yeah, gimme a sign to carry! Who elected this guy Trump, anyway?
Brad Adair
SaddleBrooke
The people voted, all right
UpdatedRe: the Aug. 21 letter to the editor “Trump is president; it’s time to move on.”
The letter writer said cartoonist David Fitzsimmons “forgets that Donald Trump was elected. The people voted. The man won.” News flash: Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2,864,974.
Judith Hubbard
East side
View this profile on Instagram#ThisIsTucson 🌵 (@this_is_tucson) • Instagram photos and videos
Most viewed stories
-
27 exciting events to check out this weekend, January 16-18 💎
-
New eats! 10 new restaurants that opened in Tucson this fall
-
Tucson's twin winter music festivals kick off this weekend 🎵
-
Looking ahead to Tucson's new and cool for '26
-
Horchata lattes and breakfast burritos: Tucson's Barista del Barrio opens 2nd location
-
Nearly 50 fun events happening in the month of January! ✨
-
Glitter and boas: Dress up '70s style for ABBA tribute show at the Rialto 🪩✨
-
Get ready to eat all the spicy tuna rolls you can at this viral sushi spot 🍣
-
What a delicious year: the best meals I ate in Tucson in 2025 💖
-
Presta's newest location is bringing coffee culture to the foothills ☕



