Bowl games on TV
For the first time in my 81 years on this planet, my family and I will not be able to watch most of the college bowl games. Why? Because we refuse to pay the exorbitant and always increasing rates for cable or dish TV and most of the games are on ESPN or other cable outlets.
Sure, the colleges have to make money, but wait a minute — there will be hours of high-priced advertising on during all the games and much of that money will go to the schools. We have a little antenna in our window and we receive, free of charge, all of the major networks that are not exclusively cable oriented. We buy products advertised on those networks so everyone makes a few bucks, and we save a lot.
It’s a budget issue for us. It’s also outrageous that the greed of the cable networks and the colleges prevent us from seeing events we have been watching for decades. Humbug! Happy New Year anyway.
Stephen Franz
Green Valley
Access to ‘A’ Mountain
The first time the City Council attempted making vehicle traffic excluded entirely from “A” Mountain there was an uproar so the council backed off but did limit access. This time, under the cover of the pandemic, the council is limiting access to “A” Mountain after dark by all. Of course, those who can walk will still be able to get to the top to view the lights of Tucson. But elders, those with disabilities, families and tourists will no longer be able to enjoy the lights of Tucson from “A” Mountain. The closing hour for vehicles that will be able to access during days will be limited and unpredictable.
These “trial” hours and vehicle limitations will become permanent if the people of Tucson do not express their dissatisfaction. “A” Mountain has been accessible to the public since 1912. If you want it to remain open to the public let your council people know.
I am a west-side resident since I was a child with “A” Mountain as my backyard.
Beryl Baker
West side
Thank you and a resolution
My wife and I rise every morning looking forward to our hour of reading the newspaper — print edition. While the breaks in delivery over the holidays meant we had to transition our habit online, they also resulted in a reaffirmation of how fortunate we are to live in a country that values evidence-based reporting and freedom of speech.
I hope the breaks allowed the hard-working editors, reporters, photographers and staff a time for family and rest. They deserve it! Thank you for meeting the daily deadlines so that we may remain free and informed. My resolution for 2022? “Don’t argue with someone who doesn’t read.”
John Booth
North side
Condition of Tucson roads
You’ve probably heard it many times before, but here goes on the horrid conditions of Tucson streets. I’m looking for a place to move in my retirement. Seeing the appalling condition of the city streets tells me city government has a big problem. It’s a red flag, just like the crime.
Every driver is replacing their shocks/struts at a rate of, say, $1,200 way too soon, due to the bumpy, torn up, cracking roads. What’s with all the diversions and cones and lane weirdness with no one working at the sites? What a mess!
Hurray for the streetcars, but you can’t neglect the tax-paying driver. Otherwise, I enjoyed your city. Downtown looks wonderful, especially at night.
Gretchen Thometz
San Francisco
Steller is a partisan liberal
Re: the Jan. 2 article “A skeptic’s effort to be positive.”
Star columnist Tim Steller did a New Year’s Day column. In it, he bashed Republicans and for the umpteenth time, attacked Donald Trump. He claimed that voting rights are in jeopardy. Did anyone stop Steller from voting in the last election? Democrats want legislation that essentially federalizes elections with no voting integrity and no voter identification required.
Steller should go back and read our founders’ views and U.S. Supreme Court rulings about protecting state’s authority in elections. Nowhere in Steller’s column did he criticize Biden’s border policies and rhetoric causing historic undocumented immigration, no criticisms of 40-year high inflation or of our reduced respect in the world because of Biden’s blundering withdrawal from Afghanistan. No mentioning of the upheaval among employers and employees that has occurred because of liberals’ vaccine mandates, or of the chaos at school board meetings over critical race theory teachings in classrooms.
Steller is a partisan liberal, and that is reflected in many of his columns.
Pamela Newsome
Northwest side
Record homicides in Dem-run cities
For the end of 2021, statistics show that 12 of 16 cities in America with record numbers of homicides are run by Democrat mayors and city councils. These cities include Tucson, Philadelphia, New York City, Los Angeles, Baton Rouge, Austin, St. Paul, Portland, Albuquerque, etc.
Democrats blame it on gun violence, instead of their enacting of bail reform allowing criminals to walk and commit more crimes, lack of arrests, lack of prosecutions from progressive district attorneys and police resignations caused by calls for defunding of police and police reform.
In 2021, there was a 45% increase in police officer retirements and an 18% increase in officer resignations. Low morale among officers is rampant, and recruitment of new officers is difficult.
None of this should come as a surprise; for the last two years, Democrats have demonized police officers, implemented “no bail” polices, prosecutors not prosecuting criminals or releasing them early from their jail sentences. In Democrat-run San Francisco, shoplifters stealing under $950 of merchandise are not even prosecuted.
Haley Roberts
West side
Mask mandate at McKale farcical
If you are determined to engage in a death-defying activity, forget skydiving, bungee-jumping or swimming with sharks. Attend a UA men’s basketball game and take your life in your hands.
There is the veneer of safety: metal detectors and clear plastic purses so no one carries in an unauthorized sandwich.
But once inside, there is no serious effort to enforce what UA claims is a mandate to wear a mask to stem the spread of COVID-19 — the biggest danger to fans.
UA’s mask enforcement is farcical. A video board recording. People holding up comically small 8.5 x 11-inch signs at timeouts.
If I were to smuggle in a can of beer, security people would pounce and escort me out. But tell someone to abide by the requirement to wear a mask? UA says that is too heavy-handed.
No one should feel safe at a UA men’s basketball game. Despite metal detectors and plastic purses.
Mark Kimble
Midtown
