Letters to the Editor

The truth about power costs

Mr. Johnson on Dec. 2 showed his reliably conservative take on news, but, unfortunately, his facts are not as reliable.

Noam Chomsky once said that “... it takes one minute to tell a lie and one hour to refute it.”

I took that hour and found the 10% 2023 rate increase request from TEP cited three factors: Investments in the grid, inflation, and the need for increased reliability due to increasing demand and (ironically) extreme weather.

TEP's 2026 proposed increase reflects transmission and distribution upgrades, existing generation and facility upgrades, and the Roadrunner Reserve battery facility. Additional increases are claimed for higher materials and labor costs, and modifications to rate mechanisms.

I might add that the Roadrunner Reserve facility has already proven its worth just this last summer, playing a crucial role in maintaining service during the record hourly demand peak of 2,502 MW that occurred on Aug. 6 (there's that demand and severe weather ...)

Edward Beshore

North side

GOP dodge

It has become clear to me that the most favored dodge of responsibility for anything is personal ignorance. My ex-friend would not watch any coverage of the Jan. 6 riots or congressional hearings, so that he could have total ignorance on the subject, while maintaining his strong opinion that nothing was wrong with what the rioters did. I asked how can he form an opinion without knowing the facts? He changed the subject.

Kavanaugh, the AZ Senate majority leader, was quoted by this paper in the Monday edition as saying, "I do not know how these elections are run." This in support of his proposed bill to provide cover for County Commissioners who refuse to certify results of elections. Being a Commissioner requires the certification of elections. Time to lean on personal ignorance. This childish excuse is very transparent, however popular it is for the GOP. Many of the U.S. Reps. use it to evade stating a position. Seems odd to me that ignorance is an asset to them.

Jeff Rayner

SaddleBrooke

What is Trump doing in the Caribbean?

Why has Secretary of Defense Hegseth ordered our largest, most lethal aircraft carrier with supporting destroyers and guided missile ships to sail near Venezuela? Trump says it's to stop drug traffickers, yet, at the same time, he released from prison the Honduran ex-president, who was convicted of massive cocaine trafficking into our country.

The aircraft carrier was moved from the Eastern Mediterranean, near the Ukraine conflict. Trump seems to be abandoning our allies in Europe, giving Russia the opportunity to expand its war-stolen territory in Ukraine, while at the same time, he's picking a fight in our hemisphere with fishermen in small boats. Admiral Alvin Holsey resigned in protest.

Is the "emperor" crazy? Are his loyalties truly toward aggressive dictators like Putin? Americans need to know.

China is watching us closely and assessing whether we would defend Taiwan, Japan, and Korea if they pulled a "Putin" in the Western Pacific.

Bruce Joffe

South Tucson

Smoke and mirrors

Amazon has pulled out of Project Blue in Tucson, but Beale is stepping into their shoes. Amazon says they left because of the water situation. It doesn't seem to bother Beale, although there are no agreements set on energy or water. Given their propensity for secrecy and chicanery, the growing alarm at the spread of data centers in other states and a looming scarcity of water and power, we need to shut it down while we can. With TEP already requesting an outrageous increase in rates, it can only get worse.

Bea Manderscheid

Northeast side

Food for thought

So, the gloves are off; the precedent has been set by the federal government. We now have another more lethal way to deal with criminal drug suppliers and dealers, just kill them all. Previously when the police and or DEA were in a drug bust and a gun fight broke out, any wounded criminals were attended to, and emergency services were rendered. These drug criminals were later tried and sent to prison. Their constitutional rights upheld. Now that our government has decided to kill any survivors, the gloves are off. After all, if we are “at war” with the drug cartels, there should be no distinction between a drug supplier, dealer here in the states and those out in the open sea. After all, enemies while “at war” are still enemies, no matter where they are located. Just a thought to ponder.

Peter Morales

Midtown

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Re: Dec. 2 letter

Mr. Johnson’s LTE about TEP’s pricing fits nicely into the old saying that, “there’s a simple solution for every complex problem — and it’s wrong.” He tells us that TEP has two basic goals: providing power 100% of the time and making money. Not quite.

While executives believed for decades that their only job was to grow stockholder wealth, modern managers understand that they have a responsibility to all their stakeholders: owners, employees, customers, suppliers and their communities.

Public utility regulation is hardly cut and dried. Accounting is a political art, enforced by elected officials with their own views of how the rules should be applied. Costs are not ever what they seem, and environmental damage from fossil fuels can be calculated in a myriad of ways, as can labor costs and depreciation, among other things. Johnson posits a simple answer to this political arbitrage. He’s just wrong.

Shelly Fishman

Midtown

Unalienable 'life' right

Thank you, Ray Lindstrom, for your well-reasoned editorial stating that our constitutional unalienable right to life should include healthcare for all citizens. (Arizona Daily Star, Dec. 2)

In the early 2000s, on a trip to Spain, I needed medical care. Spain has universal health insurance.

Upon entering the hospital, the staff collected minimal demographic data about me and asked no questions about how I would pay for my care. I simply was immediately whisked to the treatment area, where treatment was begun. Upon discharge, I inquired about what I owed. The answer was "nothing." I was amazed. There was no ER copay, no deductible, no request for an insurance company to bill, no prior authorization needed. The hospital's total focus was on my medical treatment. How refreshing!

As Mr. Lindstrom states, the U.S is the only modern, developed nation that "does not provide some form of universal healthcare for its citizens." It is time for a change. Healthcare should be an unalienable right, not a corporate enterprise.

Dale Gehring

Midtown

Human garbage

So, I heard our inglorious leader call the Somali people garbage. He went on to say he did not want them in our country.

My mother taught me that all people were special and I should not call them derogatory nicknames. Thanks to my mom, I learned early on in life that all cultures had value, and all people should be treated with respect. Obviously, Trump's parents did not teach him the golden rule. Nor did they study the bible ... but then we knew that, since he was holding it upside down. For all you self-righteous evangelicals, who call yourselves Christians, yet you want all immigrants, except white ones, deported: You might want to check out the following scriptures: Deuteronomy 10,18-19, Leviticus 19,33-34, Mathew 25,31-40, Hebrews 25, 31-40, Hebrews 13, 2-25. Check it out ... obviously, you skipped that part.

Proud Baptist preacher's kid.

Jane Merrifield-Beecher

North side

Amphi families deserve better

The closure of Holaway is hard to accept. We have put so much into our community school. My kids are the third generation to go to Holaway and would have been the fourth to graduate from Amphi High School. However, now I will be looking outside the Amphi District to school my children. We are not looking elsewhere simply because Holaway is closing, but because of how the district handled the situation- with secrecy and poor communication. The district took a long time to go public with its need to close schools, but secretly worked on a plan for months without input and transparency from the community. While I can understand a school district can’t be bleeding money year after year, public school is a public service. The families that the Amphi District serves deserved better. We deserved transparency. We deserved a voice. I never pictured a world where we left the Amphi District, but now the trust has been broken. It may be time to move on.

Caitlin Howard

Midtown

Nothing but the truth

President Trump apparently told contractors building his White House project to disregard traditional permitting, zoning and codes because he is the President and he allows it. Meanwhile, Trump's henchmen threatened Senator Mark Kelly with trial for sedition for informing the US troops to follow all legal orders but not illegal ones. Can you see any hint of congruity in these two facts, because I certainly cannot. The truth to Trump is just like an itch or irritation that he prefers to do without. What a wonderful man to lead this fine nation.

Philip Reinecker

East side