Hardest working band in basketball
I had the opportunity to sit in floor seats in front of the band at the men’s game against USC this week. What I was not aware of even though I have been attending games for over 40 years is that the band is constantly working. It’s hard to hear when you are not in front of them but they don’t just play music. They are constantly leading cheers, not just the familiar “nice shot, buddy” when the opposing team misses a free throw. They truly are the heart of McKale. Thank you to all of them and their director. To echo Gene Simmons of Kiss, I think the U of A band is the hardest working band in the basketball business.
Marcy Tigerman
Midtown
National politics
Dear still former 45 supporters,
Please get your head out of the sky and feet onto the ground. The earth is not flat. The emperor has no clothes. He is a criminal who set upon the most despicable plan to steal your and my democracy. Science and education and the facts and your and my faith in law and order have undeniably proved the earth’s geography and bad political actors. He and his band of cronies are and were a most dangerous crew of individuals. Democracy is awkward and fragile at best. We may disagree on politics and that is OK. We should not and can not disagree on its application. Happy Holidays and let’s look to good politics and intelligent discourse in 2023.
John (Jay) Van Echo
West side
Thanks to Tony Davis
Re: the “Colorado River reckoning” series on water
Tony has produced an outstanding series of articles on Arizona’s water issues and the background.
Barbara Tellman
Downtown
Water management
I enjoyed the Star’s recent articles about our water challenges and in particular the recent one that included former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbit’s opinion on the subject. Additionally, friends and family from the East Coast send me articles about water shortages here in the Southwest they are seeing in their publications.
My question: why is the Saudi use of our land and water to grow alfalfa for their dairy cattle never mentioned? Since the Saudis are leasing our land (and water) at a low rate from the state, why is nothing being done at the state level about this, in light of our serious water problems?
I would like to see more of this explained in future articles.
Anne Groth
Oro Valley
Make Arizona Great Again
It is reassuring to know that our Arizona legislators are striving to Make Arizona Great Again. As Arizona is one of the lowest ranked states for education and teachers’ salaries and one of the highest ranked for COVID cases and crime, it is incumbent on our legislators to concentrate on the major issues of our state, not taking the time to ban pronouns and gender-defying nicknames in schools (Senate Bill 1001). Thank you, Rep. John Kavanagh, for your brilliant insight in making this your first proposal for the new session. When the opposition brought up the fear that notifying parents of gender-identity issues with their children could provoke abuse or being thrown out of the house, Kavanagh said she was being “cynical about the American family.” Is Kavanagh aware of the huge numbers of domestic violence and child abuse cases in this country? When will the voters elect representatives who truly want to make Arizona great?
Sandra Katz, M.D., J.D.
Foothills
Redistricting failed LD 17
Commissioner David Mehl, assisted by the mayor of Marana and various business interests, succeeded in convincing the Redistricting Commission to create LD 17 in an apparent effort to make Republican Sen. Leach’s re-election “safe.” LD 17 is a poster child for what a gerrymandered district looks like. It stretches from Marana in the west, across the Catalina Mountains, to Mescal in the east. Because MAGA voters turned out heavily, Leach lost in the Republican primary. Because the district was created to be a “safe” Republican district all three “Freedom Team” MAGA candidates now represent LD 17. During Gov. Hobb’s State of the State address, state Sen. Wadsack turned her back and the other two representatives walked out. Not a good sign for residents of LD 17 who face looming water shortages, infrastructure needs and potentially disastrous cuts to public school budgets. We can only hope that the “Freedom Team” recognizes their obligation to all of the residents of LD 17 not just their MAGA base.
Eileen Hollowell
Oro Valley
WWIII is here
When Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 to steal Crimea, it was the start of WWIII. When Putin invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, he was just following Hitler’s playbook. Instead of surrender like the nations did under Hitler’s heel, the Ukrainians actually gave Putin the finger!
The world is lucky that the Ukrainians are tough, but they are at a disadvantage in terms of equipment. So we don’t have to commit our troops to this war, NATO needs to send any military equipment that the Ukrainians say they need. No difference in my mind than Lend Lease was to Great Britain. If they need tanks, send them tanks. Don’t play games like Germany. Tell Congress that we need to support Ukraine in every way we can as fast as we can. If not, which nation will be the next to be invaded by Russia or its minions, maybe Poland or Estonia?
William Hewes
Benson
Men’s basketball announcers
Saturday’s U of A men’s basketball game against UCLA was fabulous, both the outcome, and specifically the announcers... Jay Bilas and Dan Shulman. They were easily understood, and they actually talked basketball; they didn’t go off into some rambling tirade that isn’t relevant. My vote is keep them and send Bill Walton back to San Diego.
Go Cats and Bear Down!
Dina Marshall
Northeast side
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