Former Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Defense Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Findlay Toyota Center on Oct. 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images/TNS)
No on Patel
As a former FBI Supervisor at FBIHQ for four years, as the head of the FBI office in Tucson for four years, and as the person who ran the xgboys net (Former Agents network) for 20 years, I believe Kash Patel will destroy the FBI.
Patel sees enemies everywhere. He is an an opportunist who feels constantly aggrieved.
Driven by ambition, an uncanny survival instinct, he wants to separate the counterterrorism and counterintelligence side of the FBI from the side that investigates criminal violations. Wray, Abate, and the corrupt DOJ are gone. Revenge is not reform. Patel will politicize his Assistant Directors.
He will weaponize his agents. He will change the FBI motto of Fraternity, Bravery and Integrity to Loyalty, Loyalty, Loyalty. He will decimate the relationship of agent with supervisor, destroy the trust between the field and FBIHQ.
Do not confirm this man as Director of the FBI, a proven organization, for he will destroy the FBI as we know it.
Senators: Vote no on Patel.
Tom McGorray
Northwest side
Irrational, damaging move
The Trump administration has stopped payments for ongoing grants government agencies have awarded. It seems they stop, disrupt, then try to figure out what they want to do long-term. This is no way to run the government, much less any business. It impacts small businesses, like mine, and the University of Arizona and ASU — big time. It is not just health research, but also agricultural, air and space, Department of Defense funding the next generation of weapons, medicines, crop and animal protection (read bird flu, price of eggs), etc. My company, the University, etc., have all committed to contracts and hired staff, a huge economic driver for Arizona. These are competitive grants. Only 10-20% submitted, the best, most transformative, get funded. The U.S. government has the best grant system in the world, which has made the U.S. No. 1 in science, space, computers, defense, but the Trump administration has put all this in jeopardy. Our representatives in Congress need to speak out now, decisively, to change the pattern.
Bruce Seligmann
Foothills
Trump’s silence is deadly
Wouldn’t you agree it’s the government’s job to inform the public during a health crisis? Just kidding — Trump thinks otherwise.
As Kansas battles its largest tuberculosis outbreak — 67 active cases and counting — federal health agencies like the CDC are gagged by Trump’s directive. Why? Because controlling the narrative matters more to him than saving lives. Tuberculosis is airborne, deadly, and contagious, but the CDC is silent under Trump’s orders.
Public health crises don’t wait for political convenience. This gag order isn’t just incompetence; it’s reckless negligence again. Remember Trump’s COVID solution? Test less. We can’t afford leaders who silence experts and gamble with public safety.
This is unacceptable. We must demand accountability. Because when leaders prioritize optics over lives, it’s our job to fight back.
Kim Miklofsky Bayne
Foothills
Anyone asked the locals?
The Democratic Party is unified in opposing the Trump administration’s efforts to make the country safer by arresting and deporting criminal illegal aliens. Whether it is NYC, Boston, Denver, LA or even Tucson the party opposes the deportations. The reasons for opposing making the neighborhoods safer are a mystery. The party elites live nowhere near the crime-ridden neighborhoods and are safe from depredations of the criminal illegal aliens. It is understandable that the party elites are opposed to deporting the criminal illegal aliens, as the elites are more concerned about scoring political points than about public safety. But what about the folks who live in the crime-infested neighborhoods and are preyed upon by the criminal illegal aliens? Has anyone asked them how they might feel about getting the criminals off the streets?
Rick Cunnington
Oro Valley
Outrageous policies
As an immigrant myself, I thank God for this beautiful country. But now that the multimillionaire dictator-in-chief has the power, he is unleashing his hatred and revenge on many fellow Americans and immigrants. Undocumented immigrants perform the jobs with no benefits that no one wants. Trump is totally shameless, cruel and cowardly. It is unconscionable to vent his loathing and contempt on innocent school children by terrifying and denying them a simple meal. It is very obvious by his girth that Trump has never gone hungry. Trump is trying to destroy all that is good in America.
God bless and protect the USA.
Norma Reis
West side
An idea for Mt. Lemmon speeders
I’ve been to the Black Hills. Also the Rockies, the Appalachians and the Cascades. But I’ve never enjoyed a drive more scenic than Mount Lemmon — where you can see massive boulders balanced mysteriously atop rock spires, natural arches and breathtaking views of the Sonoran Desert. Lost in my amazement, I glance to my rear-view and see that I am holding back tailgaters impatiently hoping for me to pull aside. I do. And away they zoom well in excess of my 35-mph pace.
Oh, I get it. You’re here for a thrill ride. Here’s a better idea: Swerve through the perennial construction channelizers on Grant Road. Or play chicken on Houghton Road with the driver next to you — as three lanes narrow unexpectedly to one. The busier times are best. Go as fast as you like. Gotta have those mountain curves? Then get your jollies at night when sightseers and cyclists won’t spoil your pleasure — nor you theirs.
Kevin Wohlford
Northeast side
Homan and Vance’s false indignation
I was a Catholic once. If I was still a Catholic, I would be appalled by Tom Homan and J.D Vance’s version of Catholicism. With all the self-righteous indignation they could muster they have the gall to question the U.S. Catholic Bishops stand against their immoral deportation plans. What’s next, arresting priests and faith-based organizations who stand up for the poor and oppressed? Maybe putting out bounties on those who dare speak out again. Those two men claim to be devout and pious Catholics. In my mind, that is hard to believe. I wonder what the many Catholics who voted for this regime think about what is going on. What to do they tell their undocumented friends and neighbors who are sitting in Church with them? What are they going to tell their children? In my mind all religious organizations have an obligation to speak out against oppression and injustice. We the people also have that obligation.
James Robinett
Southwest side
Freedom of speech
For decades, Donald Trump cloaked thousands of lies, insults, and character assassinations in the First Amendment free speech protection. His GOP supporters in Congress and angry, short-sighted followers joined the howling chorus. Since his re-election, a hailstorm of executive orders attacking climate change initiatives, wind and solar power production, immigrant, minority, and disability rights, threats to cut funds for VA hospital staff, insulin price, infrastructure projects, bank account insurance, cancer research, school lunches, and so much more — to drag America back to 1750! One order protected conspiracy theorists’ blatant misinformation posts on social media platforms. The Trump 2.0 presidency is about retribution and punishment of truthful opponents. Republicans are free to say anything, but woe be to anyone who fact-checks them. Any day, I expect to hear jack-booted “truth patriots” outside the door yelling my name and demanding the names of my family and friends.
Tom Van Devender
North side
It’s back ...
The Trump administration’s recent move to pause grant funding in federal agencies until the proposed projects are reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for compatibility with Trump’s agenda is straight out of the pages of Project 2025. Trump disavowed Project 2025 during his campaign when there was a backlash after its proposals became known. However, his nominee to head OMB, Russ Vought, was one of the authors of the chapter in which this maneuver was suggested as a means to consolidate presidential power.
The legality of such a move is being questioned, since the Constitution gives Congress the power to allocate spending. The responsibility of the executive branch is to disperse this money. After abuses in the Nixon Administration, a law was passed that prohibits the president from withholding money allocated by Congress.
Barbara Hall
Midtown
Tucson holds Tucson back
This afternoon, after getting home from a bike ride in which a car ran a stop sign and almost killed me for the third time this year (Limberlost and Mountain intersection), I gave up on Tucson. I saw a city with great potential when I moved here. Unfortunately, the people from and living in Tucson hold it back. I expect the occasional truck driver to roll coal on me to “own the libs” or the occasional water bottle thrown at me to tell me that bikes aren’t allowed on the bike boulevards (Treat Ave). What I didn’t expect is for this to be a weekly, and in some cases, daily event. Never have I seen so many people that care so little about the wellness of other people. These aren’t edge cases; these are embedded in the culture here. And don’t make me laugh by saying, “call the police.” I’ve been jumped by a group of homeless and they said “dang, sorry.” I can’t wait to leave.
Brody Cragg
North side
Can’t move copper to a convenient location
Mother Nature and plate tectonics have created both the beautiful mountain ranges in Arizona and the mineral and rock product resources upon which we rely. Every square inch of Earth is important in some manner to the local plants and wildlife and/or has sacred or community values to the nearby residents. There is no ugly, isolated, and low-value place that can be designated for all mining or extraction uses while allowing the remaining land to be untouched. Industrial projects always entail some impacts to the environment and local communities. With the thorough oversight of our state and federal environmental agencies and input from local stakeholders, however, the cumulative impacts from mining, energy generation, pipelines, roads, and urbanization can be identified and minimized to the best extent possible while still allowing us all to benefit from modern food production, housing communications, transportation, and medicine.
Cori Hoag
Oro Valley
Roundup
Many of your readers are lamenting the fact that illegal immigrants, plus 10 million under the Biden regime, many identified criminals, are being deported and these readers will now have no one to pick their strawberries, process their chickens or clean their houses. Apparently, these liberals believe that it is acceptable to break the law without consequences as long as it benefits them. This entire thought process is un-American, dangerous, and downright foolish. We are a nation of immigrants. All of my family ancestors were immigrants but also entered legally and became citizens. If our country needs more workers, let us do it adhering to the law. Whether it be as a path to citizenship or as guest workers, we must do it legally, where those who enter are vetted and subject to the conditions of their entrance. If you want change, contact your Senators and Representative and express your thoughts. You may even want to run for office. But, please, do not condone criminality.
Loyal M Johnson Jr
Oro Valley
Why did Trump release J6 offenders?
To answer this question, you need to ask why he denied losing the election in 2020. Over the last 10 years of his public life, we have seen how Trump uses distraction to draw attention from his own failures. His biggest failure was how he handled COVID. The U.S.,, which represents 4% of the world’s population, had over 20% of COVID deaths. Initially, he tried to distract us from his responsibility by blaming Dr. Anthony Fauci, but he needed something bigger. He saw he was losing the 2020 so claimed potential election fraud as a much bigger distraction. The distraction worked remarkably well, maybe because the country needed a distraction from the massive number of deaths. He “doubled down” on the claim of election fraud creating the riot on January 6, 2021. He had to release the J6 rioters or admit responsibility for more than 400,000 American deaths. He continues to distract, now with deportations.
Thomas Bolles
Northwest side
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