Copper World mine
As a retired public health nurse, I believe all Tucsonans should be concerned about the long-term catastrophic impacts to the environment, health and property values posed by Copper World in the Santa Ritas south of town. Tucson is downhill and downwind. We have only to look to Salt Lake City and the damage done by the Bingham Canyon mine to see what we could become in a few years. Salt Lake City is 28 miles from its mine. Tucson will be about the same from Copper World.
Once this mine is approved, the only recourse for Tucson, Pima County and concerned citizens is lawsuits for failure to comply with regulations. Just the cost to monitor air and water quality will be astronomical. Health care costs could soar. Property values could plummet. The mine may suffer fines, but the damage will have been done and will continue. There will be no stopping it.
Elaine Wolter
SaddleBrooke
Death penalty bias
Re: the Jan. 25 article “AZ should study biases in death penalty use.”
County Attorney Laura Conover is right to urge that Gov. Katie Hobbs’ study of Arizona’s death penalty should be expanded to evaluate biases and inequities within the justice system. These biases and inequities include racial and ethnic disparities, which is why the NAACP has called for elimination of the death penalty.
The book entitled “Arbitrary Death: A Prosecutor’s Perspective on the Death Penalty,” by distinguished former Pima County homicide prosecutor Rick Unklesbay, details the evidentiary facts and procedural processes and outcomes of many capital cases in Arizona and concludes — based upon the evidence and outcomes — that the death penalty has been applied arbitrarily. Arbitrary application of a law is unjust; it violates the guarantees of substantive due process and equal protection of the laws and is therefore unconstitutional.
The evidence presented in Unklesbay’s book should be considered by the governor’s team assessing the death penalty in Arizona. (Unklesbay has donated all book proceeds to the nonprofit organization Homicide Survivors, Inc., which assists families of murder victims.)
Amelia Craig Cramer, NAACP Tucson Branch Vice President, retired Chief Deputy Pima County Attorney
Downtown
Growth vs. quality of life
Recent press about groundwater scarcity limiting homebuilding, mining and farming begins to address what should be obvious. Arizona’s capacity for sustainable and desirable growth is becoming severely limited not only by water but by negative impacts on our quality of life. With unregulated growth we can expect the value of living here to diminish with increasingly crowded recreation areas, longer commutes, more pollution, urban heat islands, scenery loss, etc. (like California, Colorado Front Range, Phoenix metro). Developers, chambers of commerce, foreign mining and farming companies want to profit from our inaction. We should debate and legislate sustainable growth limitations to consider quality of living here as well as water, with a balance of employment and affordability, and not simply keep seeking more water to facilitate endless expansion.
Brian McCarthy
Midtown
Trump’s missing sensitive documents
Trump’s latest claim is that the records seized from Mar-a-Lago last year were empty folders marked “classified” or “confidential” and he kept the folders because they were “cool.” Allegedly, this is to deflect why he does not now possess the documents once housed within the folders. His reason for not now possessing the documents might be more believable if he claimed that the dog ate the sensitive documents while ignoring the folders.
Larry Gray
SaddleBrooke
The need for attention
After a human being has adequate food, clothing and shelter, the next primary need that they will try to obtain is the attention of other humans. If they cannot obtain attention for positive behavior, they will obtain attention by exhibiting negative behavior. These principles are basic tenets of Abraham Maslow and Behavioral Learning Theory. Given these concepts, take a look at our society. Competition for attention increases as the population grows. Attention gratifying opportunities are everywhere. Tik Tok, Facebook, QAnon type sites, questionable “reality” television and constant texting are but a few. In politics it seems that Americans are drawn to “reality show politics.” We respond to attention seeking behavior, not proficient representation of working for our society. We are entertained by attention seeking behavior, instead of demanding politicians perform the duties we elected them to perform. We need to stop being entertained by incivility, lying, and obvious mental disorders.
Richard Bechtold
West side
Motive
Headlines are crying to learn the motive for the latest mass slaughter of Americans, this time the unusual target is 11 senior citizens. But isn’t the motive clear, whether the perpetrator be age 6, 72, or the prevailing 20ish. It is simply anger, and killing multiple unsuspecting people has become the American method to vent that anger. But why is this a common American tragedy, rarely occurring in any other developed and civilized society? The question should be answered by those supporting the unfettered access to the weapons of choice. Yes, guns don’t kill Americans, people with guns do. A shame and stain on our society.
Robert Hutchens
Northwest side
Represent all
Re: the Jan. 24 letter “Redistricting failed LD 17.”
I agree with this letter regarding the failed redistricting of LD 17. The failure to elect reasonably minded local representation in this new gerrymandered district was due to the personal agenda of a few individuals in local government. The people who are responsible for this thought a narrower base would fulfill their wish to elect a conservative Republican candidate. I and others in LD 17 can only wish that State Sen. Justine Wadsack and state Reps. Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr stop the embarrassing grandstanding they demonstrated during Gov. Katie Hobbs’ State of the State address and find it within themselves to focus on the many important needs of those in the district they represent.
Robin Carter
Marana
Sports on TV/Radio
Thank you, thank you for returning the Sports on TV/radio to its original location and format.
James Stehn
Southwest side
Controversial sportscaster, Bill Walton
Howard Cosell’s provocative style and refusal to conform made him a controversial sports broadcaster during his years on Monday Night Football.
Now there’s Bill Walton. Viewers either like or really dislike him. He can be – is – grating on one’s psyche. He makes the sports event all about Bill Walton. He should get his own TV travel show a la Rick Steves and/or his own late-night comedy show. He pontificates throughout a basketball game, and his pomposity and condescension (towards his colleague announcer) are mind-boggling.
When Walton is on, I turn off. A fickle fan after 40-plus years of being a devoted one? Perhaps, but my serenity and blood pressure remain intact.
The Arizona Daily Star or ESPN or the UA Athletic Department should conduct a poll/survey. Would it make a difference in who announces a UA basketball game? Probably not, but...
And don’t get me started on the UA games that begin at 9 p.m.
Camille Gannon
West side
Biden can strengthen democracy through executive ordersDear Editor,
The integrity of our democracy is under threat due to the influence of big money in politics, barriers to voting, and gerrymandered congressional districts. Despite broad support for pro-voter measures, Senate Republicans have repeatedly blocked legislation to address these issues. As a result, faith in our election system is plummeting and billionaires are using their money to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.
President Biden must use his executive power to combat corruption, increase transparency, and advance voting rights. The 2022 political cycle was the most expensive midterm election on record, with secret money groups spending big to influence lawmakers. We must also demand that our elected officials take action to restore the promise of American democracy.
Sarah Bihms
Northwest side
‘Tis a puzzlement
Finchem, Lake, and Hamedeh puzzle me. Why do they think the public would vote for them when they don’t obey simple law? In short, they refuse to accept the verdict of the voting public: They lost; fellow Republicans won. Can they not accept the people’s not voting for them? How do they explain the fact that fellow Republicans were elected? Where was the fraud in the election? Was it only with their ballots? In the meantime, Lake and Hamedeh have left no stone unturned to run up our bill to pay for their recounts and court demand, while disrespecting the democratic process. Do they really believe this will endear them to the voting public?
Barbara Benjamin
Foothills
