Anger cannot let us lose sight of injustice
There is injustice in our society and that creates anger. The anger becomes a distraction as we try to alleviate the anger instead of placing our focus on the injustice. We cannot solve the anger plus the injustice and right now the anger is taking up too much of our attention.
Anger is cured through maturity and acceptance and that is difficult since a lot of the anger stems from the problem of injustice lasting so long. The excuse given is that there are bad apples that cause the problems, so our focus should be on removing those bad apples. The bad apples in the police and the bad apples in the judicial system need to be removed so we can focus on the injustice that they have caused.
Anger starts the conversation, then we need to move onto working toward the solution. We can work on our problems together.
Dan Smith
East side
Police bring peace
to schools, classrooms
I am a 13-year-old Boy Scout looking to earn my Eagle. One of the requirements for a merit badge is to write to a newspaper on an issue you choose. I have chosen to write about police in schools.
I think having police in schools is a good idea. They provide protection in case of disasters and shootings. They allow you to feel a certain peace in your classroom knowing they are protecting you. The police have as much as a psychological presence as they do a physical one. That peace and protection is what would make schools safer. In conclusion, I think officers are a good thing in schools to have to keep the peace.
Grant Mellen
Midtown
Medical house calls are here to stay
We have heard that “house calls are coming back.” With the pandemic upon us, this preference for at-home care delivery is really gaining steam.
Why the momentum for care at home? A couple reasons. First, social distancing. Patients are avoiding certain care settings that treat sick people. The spread of germs can be lessened in a home setting without other sick patients nearby. Of course, medical providers have to be extra careful not to bring germs into a home.
Second, improved technology and service offerings. Many tests can be done in a mobile way. As an example, many numerous radiology studies and lab tests can be done by a mobile provider. More tests get added annually.
Further, electronic medical records are becoming more advanced. Often house call providers have all required patient history to make an informed clinical decision. Finally, tele-health continues to make advancements. Medical providers can now more easily connect by video/audio with their patients.
Dan Peterson,
CEO of Valor Health
Midtown
See no COVID, hear no COVID
Donald Trump suggests that testing for COVID-19 should slow down, apparently thinking the less we acknowledge, the better (at least for his reelection effort, if not for the public). Using this out of sight, out of mind logic, why not just stop all testing and deny that there is such a thing as COVID-19? Instead Trump could blame all the suffering and death on Joe Biden.
Scott Lukomski
Northeast side
County recorder could use new blood
We hear a lot of discussion about voting these days. And we should hear about voting. Voting is the essential link that supports our democracy and if it is corrupted or diminished, we all lose.
Gabriella Cazares-Kelly is running for the office of county recorder. The current office holder is retiring and I think we need to elect not only a new person as recorder, but a new person with new ideas.
Cazares-Kelly says we need to “think outside the box” and she is certainly able to do that. Some ideas — like drive-thru early voting, ballot drop-off boxes and many others, are ways to make voting more accessible for all of us.
Let’s focus on the changes that will improve access to the ballot and that starts with electing a new county recorder. Pima County needs Gabriella Cazares-Kelly.
Judith McDaniel
Midtown
Feeling honored
just to be considered
Re: the June 23 article “Cats’ Ring of Honor needs to include McCray.”
I’d like to thank Greg Hansen for advocating for me joining the University of Arizona’s Ring of Honor. Just playing basketball for my hometown school was, for me, an honor in and of itself. I’ve followed Arizona sports since before I could walk and “Bear Down” is a notion that has carried me through the varied ups and downs of my life.
But I would have to say that being alongside so many great UA players in the Ring of Honor would be just that, an honor of a lifetime. A smile takes up the space on my 82-year-old face and my feet feel like those of “Bojangles” and I hear strains of “All hail Arizona, thy colors red and blue,” just thinking about it. And I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately — hint-hint (smile).
Ernie McCray
North side
Arizona is in danger
with Ducey in office
It is important to recognize that Gov. Doug Ducey is willing to sacrifice lives in order to obey President Trump and hopefully enhance his political future. Ducey opened the economy prematurely and without clear enforceable guidelines.
Now, in the context of a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases, Ducey refuses to take consequent action to remedy the problems he created.
Instead, he throws the ball into the laps of local leaders just as Trump did months ago. His removal from office is essential if we are to be successful in our struggle with the virus. Ducey is incapable of effective leadership in this time of crisis.
Stuart Sellinger
West side
Ducey should sing mail-in voting praise
I strongly urge Gov. Doug Ducey to stand up and proudly proclaim to all his Republican colleagues, from the president on down to senators, other governors, et al., that the red, Republican-led state of Arizona has been using mail-in ballots for decades and we have had no problems. We need to support mail-in voting for the November election to insure everyone can vote in safety.
Dr. B. Vivante
North side
Enough with the rioting
Looking back over the past several weeks/days, I say enough is enough. Civil people do not have to sit back and watch looters and rioters, under the guise of “protesters,” loot and burn our great country. It is time for local authorities to step in and curtail the mob rule that has taken over.
As citizens we are going to have to replace all of the damaged store fronts, clean the buildings of graffiti, excrement and trash. If the protesters want to fundamentally change this great country there are ways to do it constitutionally, not through looting and rioting.
Burton John
Foothills
Let the Tucson city gov’t manage the virus crisis
City Councilman Steve Kozachik is spot-on about urging our governor to reclose bars and limit restaurants to takeout, and about giving our mayor and City Council the authority to manage our way through this preventable crisis. Closing the state too late, reopening the state too soon and taking forever to mandate masks! Gov. Ducey, people you’re responsible for are getting sick and dying on your watch!
And Arizona Department of Health Services Director Cara Christ, your job is to protect Arizonans’ health. Your truly baffling support for the governor’s incomprehensible decisions is unforgivable. The only explanation is that you must have received your public health degree from Trump University.
Richard White
Northeast side
Republicans’ futures
are at stake
It may be too late, but your future is at stake. As the current president’s ratings plummet, besieged by bad news all over his doorstep and worldwide criticisms rampant, as a Republican officeholder, your chances of being reelected diminish significantly. Crushing losses to your party are likely. A prudent politician would seriously consider nominating, at your convention, someone more capable than Trump to be elected.
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Destroying monuments
won’t change history
Apparently we need to do a better job of teaching history in our educational institutions. There is no regard for historical monuments in the continuing wanton destruction and vandalism occurring across the country. Monuments represent what was done in the context of their times. You can’t change history by tearing them down.
Georgianna Murphy
Foothills
Mayor should suffer same restrictions we do
Re: the June 23 op-ed piece “Reclose bars and limit restaurants to takeout-only.”
This letter is not meant to downplay the obviously highly contagious coronavirus. But to see a guest opinion piece by Councilman Steve Kozachik urging the closure of bars and restaurants once again is more than disturbing. If the mayor and council had it their way, the whole city would be shut down and stay that way for a long time.
Their contention is that safety is being compromised for economics. But economics is hard to ignore. It’s easy for them to say while they continue to collect their paychecks on a regular basis. I propose that the mayor and council forgo their paychecks for however long any business is mandated closed.
Until they are willing to suffer the same restrictions and consequences of their actions, their words mean nothing. If they are not willing to suffer as well, don’t expect the workers of Tucson to do the same. Not being willing to accept the same restrictions and consequences you wish to impose on the people is called tyranny!
Tim Robertson
Foothills
Trump is Pied Piper of the ignorant
I am a grandmother. I have been very careful. I always wear a mask. I stay away from crowds. I have not gone to a restaurant, a mall or a theater. I have not seen my dearest friends in many months.
I spend a lot of my time at home. I am furious that the supporters of the president think it is their right as well as his to risk my health in order to attend a propaganda celebration. How is it that they have the right to endanger my life, my friend who is suffering from cancer or my young grandchildren? How can decent people behave with such reckless behavior? How can they follow such a man who gets to have his despicable and cavalier attitude bring them together?
Shame on Trump and his sycophants, Sen. Martha McSally and Gov. Doug Ducey. Shame on the public followers of their ignorant leadership.
G Keith
Northeast side
Mother Nature has something to say
Watching the Bighorn fire from its inception, initiated by a lightning strike, to its spread across the Catalina Mountains, one thing is abundantly clear: In spite of the heroic efforts on the men and women on the fire line and from the air, only Mother Nature can save the mountain ecosystem from further destruction. That savior being the monsoon rains.
My concern is that as the long drought continues and the fires become ever more frequent, we are at risk of losing the Sonoran desert that defines much of Southern Arizona. We are witnessing climate change on steroids right in our back yard. Make no mistake, Mother Nature will have the last word.
Tony Banks
Oro Valley
Support the Great American Outdoors Act
Last week was a historic victory for the Great American Outdoors Act. We’d like to extend our deepest thanks to the U.S. Senate for their overwhelming, bipartisan support to fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, or LWCF, one of our nation’s most important conservation programs.
With funding provided solely from existing revenue sources such as gas and oil receipts (non-taxpayer dollars), the fund supports the protection of critical water resources, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities and key public landscapes throughout the country.
Arizona Land and Water Trust previously secured $1.7 million from the program to incorporate an additional 960 acres into Ironwood Forest National Monument with more local the LWCF projects underway.
However, there is one more step to permanently fund the LWCF. Please ask your U.S. House of Representatives members to cosponsor the GAOA (HR 7092), creating a historic win for the American public, the places we care about and our local economies.
Liz Petterson,
executive director,
Arizona Land and Water Trust
Midtown
