A green energy money pit
The Democrats are at it again. They are subsidizing their rich donors with taxpayer money in the name of green energy. I don’t know how many people remember the government program that was nicknamed “cash for clunkers.” It started out as a $3 billion dollar rebate program back in 2009 where the government gave a $3,000 to $4,000 rebate on new cars by trading in gas guzzlers.
Who got the rebates? The poor people, living paycheck to paycheck driving a gas guzzler, or someone who could afford a new car? Remember Solindra? This was a company that made solar panels. More than 650 million dollars and six months later the company went bankrupt and sold to China for pennies on the dollar.
Now the president-elect wants to put in 50,000 charging stations for electric vehicles. How many people can afford $70,000 to $100,000 for a Tesla? Even a cheap electric car will cost over $30,000. Again, will the people living paycheck to paycheck be able to afford one?
Thomas Wenzel
East side
Keep on rockin’ up there, Ron
Re: the Dec. 4 article “Local rock shop owner remembered for his brush with fossilized fame.”
My name is Parker, and I am 9 years old. I was really sad to hear about Mr. Ron Radkevich’s death. He was always nice and welcoming to me, a kid, in he and his brother Richard’s Tucson Mineral Gem World Shop.
I am interested in quartz and amethyst. Both brothers spent a lot of time talking to me about how these rocks formed and where to find them. They also told me about other rocks that I am now interested in.
I am really going to miss him. (Written with the help of Grandma Kathy)
Kathy McChesney
West side
Steller sees windmills for what they are
Re: the Dec. 9 article “Incendiary tweets and doomed suits aside, GOP fight generates donations.”
Thank you Tim Steller for shinning a light on the unnecessary and absurd lengths that Kelli Ward and others are taking our fellow Arizonans and their money on a ride toward a Don Quixote-like mission of righting an election that has already been found to be sound.
Then, on the other side of the front page of the section, we learn that our fellow Arizonans need help paying their electric bills. Wouldn’t it be great if we help people that genuinely need help to pay their electric bill and support democracy rather than fight imaginary windmills?
Saul Ostroff
Midtown
Who should get the vaccine first?
Well it’s started. People jockeying for position to receive the COVID vaccine. At least four guest editorials have appeared in the Daily Star recently. Some say it should be the physically and mentally impaired, some say people of color, some say teachers, others say persons in nursing homes. I’d like to give another perspective.
The vaccine should be given to those who make our country run properly. First, the health-care professionals who put their lives on the line daily. Second, our police and firemen. Third, elected national, state and local officials. Fourth, essential jobs that interact with the public on a daily basis.
Only then should we consider persons that suffer most. Fifth, persons in nursing homes. Sixth, the aged, in reverse order of age, 90s first, 60s last. Lastly, regular professions such as teachers and restaurant workers, because these occupations can remain shut down as long as necessary.
Al Westerfield
Southwest side
Filling the political swamp back up
Re: the Dec. 12 article “Biden expects ‘bold’ thinking from Obama-era picks.”
Really? Is this the same Susan Rice that along with Hillary Clinton told us that the Benghazi travesty was the work caused by a video? Get ready for many more lies out of Joe Biden should his group become in charge. The Washington Swamp will quickly be filled with egotistical politicians.
Walt Johnson
Foothills
Let’s fix both COVID and hunger
COVID has brought one of the most divisive, chaotic and out-of-character years America has seen in a while. Homelessness is on the rise at an alarming rate, and one of the biggest struggles contributing to the increased homelessness rate is forced evictions due to landlords trying to squeeze the last dime out of their renters in the midst of a pandemic. New reports predict a possible increase of homelessness by 16% to 29% in Arizona alone.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in March, 98% of food banks have seen an increase in demand for food assistance and 59% of food banks reporting less inventory than normal. One of our goals for Student PIRGs “Hunger and Homelessness” campaign was to fundraise $5,000 for local shelters and food pantries, as well as engage some volunteers to increase assistance at the UA campus pantry and other local pantries.
Anthony Campbell
Downtown
Pacific Ocean has plenty of water
Instead of all the talk about a current and future water shortage, how about talking about what we can do about it? First build a large desalinization plant off the coast of California. Then build a pipeline to the Southwest where the need is greatest.
This is not rocket science. We know how to desalinate, and we know how to build pipelines. Yes, it will cost money, and the price of water will increase, but we will have water. Why not take action now to avoid a crisis?
Marshal Lederer
Northwest side
A better democracy, without ‘college’ route
Re: the Dec. 11 article “A practical defense of the Electoral College.”
The author, Tom Hruska, writes “we would prefer to have the candidate with the most votes win the election. But … the Electoral College reduces the cost of elections … and almost always gives us the President with the most votes.”
With all due respect to Dr. Hruska, his nearsightedness seems to be blinding him to a better solution. What we need to do is eliminate the Electoral College. Have the election process handled by a non-political agency of superior honor and credibility. Limit the amount of money spent campaigning for each candidate.
The Founding Fathers did not trust the masses and used the Electoral College as “training wheels.” We need to get the Electoral College and politicians out of the election process. This way leads to a more perfect democracy.
Robert Mann
Northwest side
No mask, no treatment
If you are brazen enough to deny you need protection against this virus, then you should expect nothing from anyone to help you. No one should have to save you if you make no attempt to save yourself. Obviously, you have no regard for the hospital workers who would ordinarily struggle to save your life.
Tell them you don’t need the help, and give your bed to someone else.
Gina Buconocore
Northwest side
Students are not failing
Re: the Dec. 13 article “ ‘Lost year’ feared as students here fail their classes at alarming rate.”
I am struck by how abysmally we are describing students during the pandemic. A Sunday Daily Star article enumerated many reasons that students are “failing” in their classes, including involuntary housing transitions, caring for siblings, parents without work and parents with work who can’t be present to help with online school. Why are we talking about all of this in terms of “failure” and a “lost year”?
Actually, if you are one of these children this year, you are doing some really hard mental and emotional work of facing this pandemic and getting through it, while the grownups around you are closing their eyes and praying. And the children can tell that those same public officials and politicians are the ones describing how students are failing. They have effectively taken a leave of absence during a year when creative and collaborative leadership was more important than ever.
So let’s deal with our failures, grownups, and stop putting it on the kids!
Robert McLane
Downtown
The colonization of Reid Park
As Tim Stellar correctly observes in his article on the expansion of the Reid Park Zoo, this constitutes a form of mean colonization and represents an utter disrespect of the citizens of Tucson. Moreover, as I would like to add, the zoo thereby contradicts its own premises of promoting nature and wildlife. It is deceptive of the zoo to claim that the take-over of the duck pond and Barnum Hill was voter-approved when most of us never learned about that crucial detail.
Further, it is very hypocritical when a zoo deliberately destroys a crucial natural habitat for ducks, turtles and fish, dearly loved by all Tucson children and their parents, in order to expand its acreage for exotic animals you can see only when you pay the high entrance fee and enter an artificial, unnatural, environment.
The duck pond is soothing for the soul of heat-parched Tucsonans, and to take it away, cutting the trees as well, is a cruel stab into our hearts.
Albrecht Classen
Midtown
Reid Park preservation needed now
Re: the Dec. 13 article “Zoo expansion at Reid Park wrests away a cherished spot.”
Thank you, Tim Steller, for your article about the plan to destroy the south pond in Reid Park to accommodate the zoo expansion. I’ve lived in Tucson for more than thirty years, and I’ve visited Reid Park hundreds of times, but I’ve never once visited the zoo. What attracts me to the park is its central location, its water features and wildlife, but most importantly, free access and space to stroll around the ponds and wander among the trees.
It is one of the few places within the city where people, especially those with low incomes, can find respite and enjoy a little bit of nature. To enclose a large portion of our precious commons and force people to pay for admission is a travesty.
Thomas H. Greco
East side
AZ senators must have made Republicans happy
Re: the Dec. 11 article “Brnovich aligns himself with Trump voters as suit seeks to throw out votes.”
That “liberal lefty” Mark Kelly, along with his politically ambiguous counterpart Kyrsten Sinema, sided with Republicans to vote in favor of selling arms to the United Arab Emirates, all in aid of worshipping at the shrine of St. Raytheon. Happy now?
Patricia Olkiewicz
Northwest side
