Tucson Speaks Out: May 1 letters of the day

Elector deflectors

Arizona has an unlikely new hero, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. Unlikely because as a Republican in a state crammed with election deniers and joined by a crazy crew of assorted manipulators, Richer has played a pivotal role in Arizona’s indictment of fake 2020 Trump electors, one of only four states to do so. Kelli Ward and husband Michael Ward, Senators Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern, along with others joined a cast of seven Trump attorneys, former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Rudy Guiliani as some of the names on the indictment filed by Arizona’s Attorney General, Kris Mayes.

Richer, along with Rusty Bowers who refused to accept the fake electors and election nonsense, enabled Mayes to highlight the hypocrisy and idiocy of certain Republicans. Most importantly, the indictments demonstrate that Arizona can become a positive, sensible state when everyone follows the rules of law and democratic principles. Well done.

Roger Shanley

East side

Star discriminating
against conservatives 

As a conservative, I have been submitting Letters to the Editor (LTE) to the AZ Daily Star for a couple years. It has been a frustrating experience. More than not, my letters are delayed by up to 2 weeks or not published at all. Sometimes they are published only after sending a follow up email to the Star’s Opinion Coordinator Sara Brown that usually goes unanswered. The modus operandi for the Star’s treatment of conservatives’ letters is to delay them, then if published, quickly within a couple days, publish negating responding letters from liberals. There is about a 9 to 1 ratio of liberal letters to conservative letters published daily by the Star. There is no affirmative action or DEI for minority conservative letter writers. I am not the only conservative letter writer being discriminated against by the Star. It predates Ms. Brown, going back to previous Star Editors Curt Prendergast and Sarah Gassen. I believe it is their institutional practice due to having a liberal political bias.

Marsella Mavis

North side

After-hours pet care options in AZ expand

UrgentVet announced it is expanding its footprint in Arizona. The company will open a new clinic in Oro Valley and begin serving pets and pet parents on May 2nd.

UrgentVet emphasizes compassion, affordability and convenience within its business model. The groundbreaking concept offers a new solution by bridging the gap between primary practices and 24-hour emergency vets.

Located at 10556 N. Oracle Road, Suite 182, UrgentVet- Oro Valley sits along one of the city’s most heavily trafficked routes and is easily accessible via North Oracle Road. The clinic is 2,400 square feet with 2 exam rooms exclusively for small dogs, 2 for large dogs and 1 for cats.

“The pet parents of Arizona welcomed us in the community the moment we opened our doors in Scottsdale last year and Tucson last month” said Dr. Jim Dobies, DVM and Founder of UrgentVet.

UrgentVet is also in the Cave Creek and Mesa markets with a total of 5 locations throughout Arizona.

Luisa Garcia

Oro Valley

Traffic lights

Re: the April 29 article “Tucson changes left-turn rules.”

The city’s traffic engineers’ decision to stop all left turns except with the green arrow at our busiest intersections has been done purportedly to improve safety. Unfortunately, they did not simultaneously increase the time allowed for left turns. The result is that sometimes now one has to wait through four or more light changes to finally get to make a left turn. The result is long lines in the heat, more traffic, more pollution and longer commutes for working people who have to use those streets. It is especially frustrating when there is no oncoming traffic, as often occurs even during peak usage. I would urge the traffic engineers to re-evaluate the time allotted for left turns at those intersections, and also to monitor the effect of their changes: does this actually decrease the number of accidents, or does it just shift them elsewhere as frustrated drivers try desperately to get through. Count the number of accidents overall, the pollution levels, and the number of ‘road rage’ incidents.

Abraham R. Byrd III

North side

The reds are coming for us

Re: the April 29 article “Tucson changes left-turn rules.”

Just what Tucson needs, more red lights! Red-light running is a prevalent complaint here, so our brilliant city is giving us more red lights to run. Meaning you will stop at every red light. And then we get outraged that people get frustrated and run them; I saw a school bus run a red light recently! Other cities flow traffic in pods so once in a pod you will drive with all greens, think of getting on Oracle at Drachman and having all greens to Oracle Junction. I’ve also been sitting at a left turn red with oncoming green, and empty, and seen people run the left turn red, made sense to me. There will always be morons until we switch 100% to automated cars; we learn to avoid the morons. It’s called a ‘licensed’ driver! But no, we must get our money’s worth out of every red light!

Thad Appelman

Northwest side

Why watch college sports anymore?

The news that Reggie Bush receiving his Heisman back just floored me.

While the Heisman Trust says they are not part of the NCAA, would the Heisman Trust even exist if not for the NCAA? Of course not. It’s a symbiotic relationship.

Now the Heisman Trophy and the NCAA are sullied by this decision. The question then becomes who else will be exonerated?

Why do I think that the Heisman Trust didn’t want to be sued by Reggie Bush, who, according to Doug Robinson of the Deseret News, allowed agents to pay for a home for him and his family? As Robinson points out, an agent sued Bush for $300,000 in cash payments, but the suit was settled. Was this the Heisman Trust’s way of settling?

Bush said he did nothing wrong even though he was caught. Maybe he should be Trump’s vice presidential pick.

The Heisman Trust has tainted college sports. Why watch or even care about college sports anymore?

Matt Somers

Midtown

Utility bill rate shock

Do you suffer from UBRS, Utility Bill Rate Shock? Do you get a sinking feeling just before (or after) opening your latest utility bill?

There’s a cure and it’s as easy as marking a ballot. Way down your election ballot you’ll find listings for the Arizona Corporation Commission. The ACC regulates our public utilities. It approves rates hikes, and Arizona’s fossil fuel utilities request frequent rate hikes. Our current ACC almost always approves them. Clean energy? Not in Arizona, says the majority of ACC commissioners. Global warming? Not a problem.

On this year’s ballot, please vote for the clean energy candidates: Ylenia Aguilar, Jonathon Hill, and Joshua Polacheck. Help them lift us into the 21st century and deal with our 21st century problems like climate change.

They’ll save us money too. Clean energy is cheaper. Cure your UBRS at the ballot box.

Jerry Borchardt

East side

Democracy

Thank you University of Arizona administrators and public safety departments for using the utmost constraint in dealing with freedom of speech demonstrations on the University of Arizona campus. I encourage University leadership to invite demonstrator leadership into open dialogue and conversation. That my friends is how my University works, how democracy works, and how civility works.

John (Jay) Van Echo, PE

West side

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Help Wanted-Alternate Electors

Help Wanted

Eleven openings for future alternate (formerly fake) electors need to be filled by Nov. 5, 2024.

Requirements:

1. Must be able to recite the Fifth Amendment with a straight face. Role playing training will be provided via Zoom.

2. Must be bold in the face of possible indictments and have a “spit in their eye” approach to the law.

3. Adherence to the MAGA version of the US Constitution is mandatory.

4. Must be able to fake passing a lie detector test without perspiring.

Additional Attributes Preferred:

1. Being camera shy

2. Ability to think ahead (highly desired)

3. Can carry a tune (Attendance at choir practice desirable but not mandatory)

Specifics and location of clandestine interviews can be found on our website SubversionRus.ugh.

Anyone squeamish about disenfranchisement or anyone possessing a conscience need not apply.

Melvina Strijdonk

Oro Valley

Trail access destroyed

On September 20, 1976, the Pima County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a Trail Access Plan (TAP) for the Tucson Metro Area. It was completed after 1 1/2 years of work by representatives of 14 different outdoor organizations, government land agencies and homeowners’ groups. On page 3, the TAP states that its first objective is to “develop an access plan that ensures permanent public access to existing trails.” Six trailheads were chosen for the quickest attention “before development increases the cost of acquiring access” (p. 17, TAP). The trailhead at the end of Campbell Ave. was one of these. County residents voted to tax themselves to buy the necessary land.

So, by what authority does Victor Pereira, Director of Natural Resources, violate this long-standing compact? In overseeing the destruction of the parking area for the Campbell Ave. trailhead, he used taxpayer money to destroy a facility paid for by our taxes! What say you, Board of Supervisors?

Barbara Coon

Midtown

Campus protests

Have any of you scratched the surface, on this? Do you realize, these are not all students, but outside agitators, as well. Do you see the behavior, it reminds me of January 6th.

All colleges have rules, and if they are broken, there are consequences. It’s Not Free Speech, to chant death to Jews. It’s not acceptable, that Jewish students, are afraid. The rise in antisemitism is staggering! And the protesters' lack of knowledge, concerning Gaza, runs a close 2nd.

College Presidents should enforce their college rules, No exceptions! And No masks allowed, so we can see who you are!

Mary Bradley

Northeast side

Vote with eyes wide open

In April, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the 1864 Arizona territorial ban on abortions could be enforced. According to the Arizona Republic, four justices voted in favor, two voted against, and one abstained.

Does judicial independence mean that women lose theirs, returning us to 1864, when the territory had less than 10,000 residents, women couldn’t vote, serve on juries, or control property?

Two of the justices voting in favor, Clint Bolick and Kathryn King, are up for retention in November.

We receive voter guides prior to the election. In 52 years, only 6 judges have not been retained. Most of us are too complacent, rubber stamping our “yes” votes for retention. We should read that section of our ballot with the rigor we reserve for presidents and legislators.

Remember the actions of Bolick and King. Justice should be blind, but we must vote with our eyes wide open.

Margaret Scott

Midtown

College antiwar protests

In all the commentary about college antiwar protests, we have failed to notice that young people are able to see unjust war, unconscionable violence, and political evil much more clearly than their parents and grandparents can.

Those elders have gone silent in the face of Netanyahu’s astonishingly un-proportional response to Israel’s loss of 1,200 civilians on October 7th.

Young people have figured out that 34,000 dead Palestinians is less about antisemitism and more about a larger and more pervasive form of hate. That slow-burning hate comes from the emotional indifference and intellectual light-headedness of average Americans and their Republican and Democratic leaders. It isn’t helped by the greed of the war-industries that fund elections either.

Netanyahu is clearly a malevolent influence in Israel, Gaza, and the entire world, just as the underground leaders of Hamas and their puppet-masters in Tehran are.

Kimball Shinkoskey

Downtown

Trump is responsible for his actions

Re: the April 30 letter “Trump is denied the right to campaign.”

A recent letter writer said that Trump’s criminal trial denies him the right to campaign and state his case.

Set aside that Trump has used his time off from the trial to go golfing, that Trump owns his own social media outlet where he spews “his case” repeatedly, that Trump’s legal ploys have delayed the trial until now, that Trump is constantly appearing in all media, and that he was president for four years. He’s not exactly an “unknown”.

The more salient point is this: This trial is not responsible for keeping Trump from campaigning. He is. He chose to commit election fraud in 2016 by colluding with a national publisher to keep his extra-marital affairs out of the public eye. Trump could have easily avoided this criminal trial simply by being honest.

Steve Godwin

Midtown