Thank you Sen. Kelly
I drive the I-10 to Phoenix multiple times a week, and it always makes me nervous. Traffic accidents are a daily occurrence on that stretch of highway, and it is in dangerous need of expansion.
Thanks to Sen. Mark Kelly, the bipartisan infrastructure deal updates and expands I-10 on that busy stretch of road, making it safer for drivers like me who use that road a lot.
The expansion of the I-10 will also support hundreds of local jobs, making a major economic impact here in Pima County.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill is a good deal for folks across Arizona, and I am glad it has passed so that I-10 and other such projects can get started and Arizonans can get right to work.
I’m grateful that Sen. Mark Kelly is fighting for Arizona in the U.S. Senate.
Judy Gillies
Oro Valley
No to Finchem
The Tucson Weekly’s article “Finchem’s Scary Past and Dangerous Future: Why You Should Not Vote Him Secretary of State.” I couldn’t agree more with the article writer, Jake Dean.
Providing the reader with Finchem’s life before moving to Arizona, Dean moves methodically through “Finchem’s behavior, legislative history, and conspiracy consumption.” Nicely phrased. He details involvement with the Oath Keepers and support for the “Unite the Right” Charleston rally in 2017. Noting Finchem’s conspiratorial beliefs about COVID-19 and vaccines, Dean includes financial donors with far-right affiliations.
Looking at legislator Finchem, Mr. Dean cites HB 2002 advocating extreme, mandatory restrictions on educators, and a 2016 bill giving Arizona legislators ability to ignore executive orders and more, just a few of Finchem’s top legislative hits. Ending with the logical extension that Finchem’s record should remove him as a viable choice for Secretary of State for Arizona, Jake Dean delineates the travesty and Arizona embarrassment that is Mark Finchem.
Roger Shanley
East side
Drastic abortion laws unsafe
The abortion controversy makes no sense. Oppressive laws don’t stop abortions. They relegate desperate women to back rooms and alleys to get rid of an invader in their bodies. A fetus is not a baby. Until it’s viable it’s a potential, a cluster of cells that take nutrients from the woman.
Many people who want to forbid a woman to rid herself of those cells think it’s an invasion of privacy to require a vaccine that minimizes risk of passing a deadly virus to others. They want freedom to refuse a mask, but want to force a woman to be an unwilling host to carry this future baby in her womb. They won’t pay her medical bills, or support the child for the 18 years. This is not pro-life, but simply pro-birth. How unfair to force her to carry this fetus, or resort to unsafe butchery to free herself of this burden.
Carol Garr
Southwest side
Debate about districts
Re: the Dec. 8 article “Gerrymandered district prompts divisive debate.”
Tim Steller states that at the recent redistricting meeting in Tucson, he was saddened by the term “nothing in common” used by speakers to support the gerrymandered map of Republican populated District 17. Those protecting a gerrymandered District 17 are not only “sad” but are countering the Arizona Constitution that all districts be “contiguous and compact.” District 17 would not be.
This same map clumps parts of Midtown in with District 21 that extends 70 miles to Nogales. Many Midtowners oppose this because it will defy the constitutional criteria with more gerrymandering.
Interestingly, those Republicans favoring District 17 support a gerrymandered Republican district in violation of the Arizona law. Those opposed to District 21, a more Democratic district, don’t want to be gerrymandered, therefore, supporting the Arizona law. That’s a difference worth noting. Do Democrats respect the Arizona Constitution and democracy more than the Republicans who support District 17?
Linda Dugan
Midtown
Pharmacists are not puppets
Re: the Dec. 9 article “Pharmacists would have to fill certain prescriptions under bill.”
As a long-time pharmacist in Tucson, I feel I should respond to this article. State Sen. Kelly Townsend has no understanding of the duties and responsibilities of pharmacists. Her statement that “if your doctor is willing to write you a prescription for ivermectin or any other drug, a pharmacist has no right to refuse to fill it” is simply preposterous. Pharmacists are health care professionals that are extensively trained to manage patients and their medications. The FDA is in place to protect the public. They have the duty to evaluate safety and effectiveness of medications. Just because the doctor writes it, doesn’t make it right, especially if the FDA hasn’t approved it. Pharmacists should not be bound by any bill that would compromise their professional judgement. Pharmacists have the right to use their knowledge and discretion just as physicians do. Pharmacists are not puppets.
Scott Salerno, RPh
Northeast side
Arizona Daily Star
Good for Lee Enterprises, rejecting Alden’s buyout bid. As a Daily Star reader since I moved to Tucson in 1970, I would miss my normal routine of reading it before I start each day. Although I now subscribe to the electronic rather than the newsprint version, mainly for environmental reasons, I would miss getting real news, especially on local issues.
May Lee’s stock continue to rise!
Ann Tousley
West side
Congress must ‘Build Back Better’ for AZ kids
While families are counting down to the holidays, many are also watching a clock — the one that is running out for Congress to address hunger and poverty here in Arizona.
Unless Congress acts, families will get their last monthly check this month through the enhanced Child Tax Credit, one of the programs of the Build Back Better Act now under consideration in the Senate.
If Congress doesn’t extend the enhanced Child Tax Credit, 27 million kids nationwide will lose out on this full benefit, including 690,000 in Arizona.
Additionally, this legislation will help end child hunger, making school meals available to millions more kids by expanding a program called the Community Eligibility Provision. And, it would take giant strides in tackling summer hunger by making the Summer EBT program available in all 50 states.
With one in five kids in Arizona facing hunger today, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly must pass the Build Back Better Act.
Erica Olmstead, No Kid Hungry Arizona and Angie Rogers, Arizona Food Bank Network
Downtown
The end of local newspapers?
As a longtime “snow-bird” from Portland, I have had the opportunity to compare two local newspapers for years. Since the Portland Oregonian was bought by a large conglomerate years ago, it has steadily become a shell of it’s former self. We only have a print delivery four days a week, and the news it carries has been diminished to the point of laughable. We’ve also had the daily forecast for another city printed by accident more than once. Several years ago, I began keeping the digital subscription to the Daily Star for the eight months we were in the Northwest just so we could get all the news we were missing, and do my part to help support the Star. I’m dismayed to hear that the Daily Star is facing a potential buy-out. I don’t know what the answer is, but feel that it is critical to save what few strong local newspapers still exist.
Joyce Griffey
Oro Valley
