Gov Hobbs and I-11
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs recently declared that she will not intercede in ADOT’s planning process to locate a future I-11 through Avra Valley.
That isn’t what I expect of a progressive governor.
The proposed route is flawed in so many ways and opposed by the City of Tucson, Pima County, the Tohono O’Odham Nation, and Town of Sahuarita. As well, several conservation agencies, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, Tucson Audubon Society and Friends of Ironwood Forest are engaged in a lawsuit to oppose this location. Our future here in this delicate ecosystem demands that we do better with critical decisions of this magnitude.
I encourage my peers to make their concerns clear to Ms. Hobbs. Now is the time for the Governor to use the power of her office to require the ADOT to engage in planning that not only addresses the needs of future transportation, but also protects the unique and fragile assets of our Sonoran Desert.
David Barker
Marana
Arizona budgeting
“AZ deal cuts funds for universities, roads, more.” I read this summary of the state budget and the process by which a deal was reached between Gov. Hobbs and Republican legislative leaders with incredulity. Budget surpluses in previous years must have made us all giddy. Now, projected deficits will mean deep cuts to important social programs, planned infrastructure projects, agency programs and support for our three public universities. Some cuts may jeopardize legal settlements. How could this have happened?
Deep reductions in income taxes were enacted during the surplus years. This means a dramatic and continuing reduction in state revenue. What were our legislators thinking? In addition, some obvious expenditure cuts have been declared off-limits by the Republicans. Namely, the exploding school voucher program which may cost around one billion this fiscal year. Please join me in voting for Democratic legislative candidates to untangle this fiscal mess.
Dale Keyes
Northwest side
False statements by Conover again
Laura Conover, her campaign team and even some local Democratic party leaders are reaching out directly to voters to spread lies and divisive statements about Mike Jette. This is very concerning since they have access to a proprietary Democratic database that reports Mike Jette registered as a Democrat since Sept. 17, 2002. Once again, Laura Conover is demonstrating her ongoing lack of integrity and ethics by disseminating false and inflammatory statements about Mike Jette. She recently negotiated, at Pima County taxpayers’ expense, a Diversion Agreement with the Arizona State Bar requiring her to take a mandatory training entitled: Ten Deadly Sins of Ethics. Clearly, the training has had no impact on her as a candidate and, more importantly, as the County Attorney. As a lifelong Democrat, native Tucsonan, and Hispanic, I will be supporting Mike Jette for Pima County Attorney as he is committed to providing safety and prosperity with compassion and integrity.
Isabel Burruel
Southwest side
Border crossings still exceed 2,500 daily
President Biden’s Executive Order on the border went into effect on June 5.
It was meant to halt anyone entering illegally from claiming asylum if the daily average of Border Patrol encounters surpassed 2,500 for seven consecutive days.
Well, as of June 14, the encounters are at about 3,100 a day. Yet people are still being allowed entry, claiming asylum and being released from custody. A new internal memo from CBP stated that anyone entering from 100 Eastern hemisphere countries are to be allowed entry, excluding just seven countries. The ACLU has filed a federal civil suit against the EO and will likely win based on previous federal court rulings. I am sure Biden foresaw that coming, knowing rulings would likely come after the election.
Instead of targeting asylum seekers, Biden’s EO should have instead shut down the border to all entering illegally to preclude asylum claims. He has the federal statutory authority to “exclude any classes of aliens” from entering, but not specifically halting asylum claims.
Paula Martin
Vail
Climate change is real
Re: the May 25 letter ‘The climate change hoax.’
Climate change waits for no man (or woman). All the slick talk in the world will not keep Florida houses from filling with water.
The good news is that a strong majority of citizens in every state, Red and Blue and Purple have come to accept the science: Climate change is real, human-caused and a threat to our health and economy. The dismissive, the denier, the delayer is now an endangered species, at last.
And there are bills in Congress that would effectively limit our emissions, the key to reversing the ever increasing billion catastrophes and the millions of pollution-related deaths due to fossil fuels.
So, then, what is the problem? Too many of us would risk the one planet known to support life to avoid putting ‘the other guy’ into office. And too many politicians are terrified of the wrath of “Agent Orange” who prides himself on ignorance.
Pride goeth before a fall.
Jan Freed
Downtown
Gallego’s commercials
I will probably vote for Gallego in the Senate race, in part because his opponent is a disgrace, but I’m really tired of footage showing his heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Most Arizonans are interested in positions he might take relative to social security, inflation, the price of gas and border problems rather than watching the feats of a warrior in a war long since over. Pay attention to the concerns of everyday Arizonans, Ruben, less touting of your war record.
David Tamme
Midtown
Why I won’t be voting for Wadsack
As a public-school-educated taxpayer, I have chosen to not vote for Justine Wadsack for AZ Senate.
She has shown she is incompetent and is only capable of legislating emotionally versus pragmatically. As a senator, she is to represent all of her constituents including their children. This means you support students of all parties, not vote to defund their schools.
Another reason to withhold the vote from Mrs. Wadsack is her utter ignorance and disregard for Constitutional principles she claims to champion. You would think she would understand the First Amendment protects speech you agree AND disagree with.
She apparently has too thin of skin to hold elected office since she cannot take criticism. She surely can dish it out though with her use of lawfare. It’s time to put someone in the Senate who understands the Constitution and can work with people you disagree with. Vote Vince Leach! I write this as a Civics Instructor and perpetual student of our founding documents.
Noah Webster
East side
Response to ‘Antisemitism on UA Campus’Re: the June 18 article “Antisemitism on UA campus.”
Seek truth and report it — ethical journalism should be accurate and fair, provide context, and take care not to misrepresent or oversimplify. These are a few of the principles of ethical journalism.
The reporter who wrote this article provided the public with unbalanced and inaccurate coverage. In the article, reporter Ellie Wolfe does not provide background or context about why the peaceful encampments happened, nor does she provide information on the demands of the peaceful protesters — which include divestment by the UA from projects and companies that support the ongoing genocide by the state of Israel in Gaza.
She does not address the peaceful protesters’ right to freedom of speech and expression. The facts about the genocide are well documented by human rights organizations, and yet this reporter chose not to provide balance and accuracy in her reporting. Shame! Surely you can do better.
Sarah Roberts
West side
SCOTUS
Americans, open your eyes!
Three of our Supreme Court justices have out and out lied at their confirmation hearings, as well as not reporting perks they received from persons or companies, some with cases before them. These judges have not been censured and should have been impeached. We all must be very careful in the upcoming elections to make sure that this cannot happen again.
Perhaps if we put the right people into office we can get some proper laws past for all Americans, other than have felons in office passing laws that only benefit them.
Hal Brown
Northeast side
U.S. federal debt
Two recent letters published on the Opinion Page extolling the accomplishments of President Biden included statements that he had reduced the national debt.
While this may be the author’s opinion, it is absolutely untrue. An article from the Washington Post stated that the federal deficit for this year will grow to $1.9 trillion. Last year, the deficit was $1.2 trillion. The national debt was $16.8 trillion at the end of 2019 and $33 trillion at the end of 2023. The interest on the national debt last year was greater than the total Department of Defense budget.
Today’s (June 18) Washington Post article forecasts that the national debt will grow to $50 trillion by 2034. Such news should be on the front page of all the nation’s newspapers and foremost in all national media!
John Schmitz
Marana
Fascism: The fight continuesI am a naturalized American citizen.
In September 1939, my uncle joined the British Army within days of the Nazi invasion of Poland, serving until his demobilization in 1945, my father, at age 17, joined the Royal Marines, serving from 1945-47, my father-in-law was an RAF fighter pilot, flying Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. All three survived, played their part, like millions of others, and democracy survived and prospered — until now.
In Russia, Putin has crushed domestic dissent and launched a murderous military campaign against Ukraine. But here in the United States, the Republican candidate for president, Trump, is a longtime admirer of Putin, an opponent of aid to Ukraine, an avowed NATO skeptic, and a man who checks many of the boxes that define fascism: nationalism, the cult of the leader, the cult of violence, racism and xenophobia. Trump is a disgrace, a traitor, and the antithesis of what this country is supposed to stand for. We are better than this.
Dr. Michael P.P. Simon
Foothills
U of A president
Re: the June 16 paid ad on page A8.
I really appreciate the paid advertisement in support of Robert Robbins. The list of people that paid for the advertisement is very useful for me to determine who not to vote for, and which businesses not to support. Thanks again.
Gerald Lavallee
Southeast side
Econ 101
Re: the June 19 letter “Campaign rhetoric.”
The letter writer states “I remember when Biden took office the price of gas was half the price it is today.” That is correct. If you remember that was during the pandemic. People stayed home. Few took long driving trips. The demand for gas dropped to record-low numbers. As such, the oil companies had a glut of gas supply. They dropped their prices to encourage people to drive and purchase gas. Simple as that.
When the pandemic ended, people got back to driving. Oil companies continued to raise prices (as did other companies who lost business during the pandemic), thus causing inflation. It’s as simple as that. Biden didn’t cause prices to rise or inflation to happen. Capitalism did. Biden didn’t release “directives” that caused inflation. Corporate greed did that.
Robert Diedrich
Northeast side
Justice prevails with Conover
Prosecutors are very powerful people who have the ability to completely alter a person’s life. Many of them before Laura took office forgot the meaning of justice. It is not the job of a prosecutor to just make sure he has the most convictions and sends the most people to prison. Those hard liners who think that there should be no mercy for criminals should consider how they would feel if it were their son or daughter who was being prosecuted. Justice should not just be the way we punish people but also the way we try to save them. Laura is the right choice for county attorney.
Robert Murray, attorney
Midtown
Ten Commandments in classrooms
Do the Louisiana legislators actually understand the Ten Commandments they insist on displaying to students? The first four are most certainly not “foundational documents of our national government” — see the First Amendment to the Constitution. And students must be very conflicted by the fourth commandment — “Remember the Sabbath day ... On it you shall not do any work ...”, which is obviously being largely violated every Sunday. The remaining commandments are indeed the basis of a good moral code but are not unique to the Bible — many such codes predate the Bible. In any case, so students can get the whole picture, the display should include the penalties mandated by the Bible for disobedience of the Ten Commandments, including death by stoning for cursing God’s name, for working on Sunday, for cursing one’s father or mother, or for committing adultery (see Leviticus 20 and 24, Numbers 15, and Deuteronomy 22).
Brian Horn
North side
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