Aerial view of the proposed Rosemont Mine/Copper World site planned by Hudbay Minerals Inc. in the Santa Rita Mountains, southeast of Tucson, on May 11. The flight was coordinated by the Center for Biological Diversity and carried out by EcoFlight. Hudbay is doing grading and land clearing on private lands it owns there and eventually plans four open pits. The site also includes roads that existed before Hudbay’s work began.
Teaching reading
Re: the Nov. 5 article "Reading education restrictions worry Tucson teachers."
At the conclusion of this article I was moved to tears. I'm a retired primary school teacher, having taught in California and in Arizona for a total of 27 years. The majority of those years were in first grade classrooms. Arizona's adopted Science of Reading program as the only tool for teaching reading really saddened me. Yes, phonics is a core ingredient and essential. But Marivel Yanez and the U of A education professors know that many tools are required in building successful readers. Children who learn other strategies learn to experience the real joy of reading.
Ellen Hartline
Foothills
Facts regarding the Hamas Israel war
Hamas attacked knowing that it would provoke a counterattack.
If Hamas wanted to just bargain with Israel it could have kidnapped 1,000+ hostages instead of grotesquely murdering 1,400 Israelis.
Hamas shields its military underground beneath civilians.
Gaza civilians do not have food or water; the Hamas military has both.
I think I would have heard if anyone from Gaza, even with their identity protected, said that Hamas does not represent them or that Hamas should not have attacked.
Israel made Gaza an open air prison with no plan for that to ever end.
Israel’s goal of getting rid of Hamas is not practical and does not include any plan for afterwards.
Hamas’s slaughter happened on Oct. 7. Almost all the deaths after that, around 10,000, have been caused by Israel.
If the deaths continue to be one sided, U.S. support for Israel will decrease and sympathy for the civilians in Gaza will increase.
Jonpaul Barrabee
Northwest side
2024 Election
Just a short note to the MAGAs out there. So you want Donald Trump to win the presidency in 2024? First you'll have to concede that he did NOT win the 2020 election. You see, just an FYI. If you feel the election was rigged, and he is the rightful president, he legally CANNOT run again. A president is only allowed TWO terms. So what is it? You can't butter your bread on both sides.
Robert Ulsrud
East side
Antisemitism
The on-going Israeli protests are the result of the indoctrination of the ignorant and bigoted of all those involved — including professional protestors from around the world. The venom and hatred seen and heard are absolutely frightening and I am sickened by the inhumane atrocities committed by Hamas that I cannot unsee, unread nor unhear. “Go hide in the attic” is one of the cruelest statements I have ever heard. The only “solution” desired by Hamas, Hezbollah and their ATM machine — Iran, is the one that was favored by Hitler — the complete annihilation of all Jews. Israel wants to live in peace with its’ neighbors but a pause/ceasefire in the offensive by Israel would be a surrender to Hamas and the hostages would remain imprisoned. Hamas places their munitions under or within hospitals, schools and any other areas occupied by the civilians who they use as shields and bargaining chips. Their leaders obviously can’t/won’t be trusted.
Lindsey Smith
Northwest side
Most pressing issues
George Bernard Shaw famously said that you could spell "fish" in English as ghoti; gh as in enough, o as in women and ti as in any of the words ending in tion such as motion. There are 44 sounds in English, which could be represented by our current alphabet with a few hybrid additions. Words could then be spelled phonetically (feneticaly) and phonics would rule. Of course, we would need the political will to do this (Congress could not even adopt the simpler metric system used by the rest of the world), and we know that the most pressing political issue is whether Biden stole the 2020 election from Trump.
Sean Bruner
West side
As ye sow so shall ye reap
Following the horrific attack on Israelis by Hamas in October there have been several opinion pieces and letters supporting the actions of Israel.
I noticed that the writers are innocent victims who are not capable of perceiving the harm done to Palestinians for the last 75 years nor capable of feeling empathy for Palestinians who have suffered or even for the children who are being murdered every day.
I am not a person of faith. I don't believe in God. As a child I went to Sunday school to learn the Good News or Gospels sent from God. I learned that as you sow so shall ye reap. Perhaps there is a similar statement in Jewish religious text. Until this is embraced by Israelis the repression, anger, hatred, vengeance, murder and war will go on and on and on.
One might start by noting five grievances Palestinians have against Israelis.
Susie Morris
Midtown
Ciscomani's problem
Juan Ciscomani has aligned himself with election deniers who say that Biden is not our president. That’s a problem. If the system is so broken and corrupt, how is Ciscomani’s election valid? Is he really our representative or were sinister forces at work to put him in office? Did the cabal that pulled the levers and raised the dead for Biden look at his candidacy and say, “let’s let Juan slide through.” If that’s the case, how can he look at himself in the mirror and not realize he must do the right thing and resign immediately?
He can’t have it both ways, he is either a student of irony or a colossal hypocrite putting our democracy in jeopardy. I suspect the latter.
They say if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Ciscomani is the problem and Kirsten Engel is clearly the solution!
Jim Lombardo
Oro Valley
Police pay raises
Now that the mayor and council members have succeeded in getting themselves a very generous pay raise let's hope they can find a way to get a pay raise for the Tucson police officers. Maybe those organizations that worked so hard in getting the politicians a pay raise will now help bring the salaries of the cops up to a competitive level. A $1 an hour would raise the pay for one officer $2,080 a year. Very modest compared to the mayor and council pay increases.
Al Kackley
East side
Democrats and their "reasonable" gun control
The mass shooter in Maine used a semi-automatic rifle commonly referred to by Democrats as an "assault weapon." The state of Maine has a Democrat governor and Democrat controlled state legislature. Yet they have no bans on assault weapons or high capacity magazines. Why? Joe Biden and the Democrats want bans not just on "assault weapons" but on all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. And not just on high capacity magazines for rifles, but semi-automatic pistols too. They want fee-based registration of owners' firearms with the ATF, mandatory storage in safes so you cannot access them quickly if you are burglarized or involved in a home invasion. Psychological tests, classroom instruction courses and firearm qualifications, all paid for by the owners. Non-compliance would make you a criminal. Democrats seek to reverse the bipartisan passed Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that shielded gun manufacturers from frivolous lawsuits, but not defects in their products. Reversing this would eventually put firearms manufacturers out of business.
Shaki Johnson
East side
The science of reading
Re: the Nov. 5 article "Reading education restrictions worry Tucson teachers."
I've read several angry letters about teachers using phonics instruction, which mischaracterize a science based reading program as solely phonics based. Learning a sound symbol relationship is only one aspect of a science based reading program. The others are phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency (reading smoothly and accurately). One writer correctly stated that some words are not decodable. That's true. Science based reading programs teach those words as sight words. Another writer expressed worry that learning a sound/symbol relationship would stifle a child's love of reading. On the contrary, one cannot foster a love of reading if one can't decode words.
The arguments against the scientific research on using phonics are disingenuous, and the proof is in the data. Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama invested heavily in training teachers to use science based reading methods and have raised reading scores significantly, and that is because it works.
Patricia Hale
Northwest side
Copper World exporting to China
Hudbay spent 2022 telling us they were a mine designed to reduce energy consumption and emissions. They were committed to reducing their environmental impact on Tucson and surrounding communities. Excerpts from their 2022 PEA:
“Copper World will produce copper cathode expected to be sold entirely to domestic US customers”
“Reduces the operation’s total energy consumption, GHG emissions and sulfur emissions by eliminating overseas shipping, smelting and refining”
“Many local benefits, including 3.3B in US taxes, more than 500 direct jobs and up to 3000 indirect”
But now, in their September 2023 Pre-Feasibility study, this happened:
“Simplified project flow sheet includes a 60,000 ton per day sulfide concentrator that will produce copper concentrate as a final product until the addition of a concentrate leach facility and solvent extraction and electrowinning plant in year 5 that will allow the project to produce copper cathodes … $850M in US federal and state taxes and…400 direct and 3000 indirect jobs”
So, they will be a Canadian truck and shovel operation for 5 years (or longer?), ravaging our mountains and selling our copper to China for profit. Then, China will sell our copper back to us. “We are not like other mines” was a big lie!
Cathy McGrath
Vail
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