The Loop
I walk the Loop for my health. However, lately I feel that I am taking my life in my hands because of fast-riding bicyclists.
This past Sunday an incident occurred to me which emphasizes the situation. I was on the path between Craycroft and Swan on the south side. I walk on the designated dirt trail whenever possible.
However, there isn’t always a trail, especially under the bridges and in narrower places. Those congested spots are plainly marked “slow” on the path, which means to me that bicyclists should slow down. In an area where the path makes an “S” curve an older (like me) couple on two bikes had to brake suddenly. He ran into her as she tried to avoid hitting me. A bicyclist tried to pass them when other oncoming bicyclists came rushing from the opposite direction.
The situation begs the question just who is the Loop meant for, do fast-riding bicyclists own it?
Tim Johnson
Midtown
Lee needs to reject Alden buyout offer
Re: the Nov. 28 article “Tucsonans may need to imagine life without Star.”
I read with concern that Alden Global Capital has set its sights on Lee Enterprises, which include the Arizona Daily Star. The record of Alden has been widely recognized with a reputation for slashing cost, layoffs, and lower quality news coverage. It would be a shame to see the Star fall into the same difficulties that other papers like the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, and the Denver Post, among many others. We have been fortunate to have a paper with a good mix of local and national news coverage. All of this will be in jeopardy if the offer is accepted and the Star falls into the control of Alden.
Elias Toubassi
East side
Who’s to blame for opioid crisis
We cannot hold pharmacies responsible for the opioid epidemic. Response was negative to pharmacists who chose to not fill a prescription for birth control due to religious convictions. Now we are asking pharmacists to countermand the orders of a physician for an opioid. Physicians prescribe what they feel is best for their patients, so who has the right to abrogate those orders? Certainly not the pharmacist. I would suggest that everyone watch the limited series DOPESICK. It is an astonishing story of how the opioid epidemic got such a toehold on America, chronicling the repugnant practices of the uber-wealthy Sackler family and Purdue Pharma. They manipulated and coerced not only the FDA but doctors in general with false statistics on how Oxycontin was not habit forming. One of the worst calculated blunders of the 20th century.
We cannot expect pharmacists to be the gatekeepers of addictive drugs. Doctors and prescribers must do a better job of overseeing patients that show the potential for abuse and target them for help.
Maryam Wade
Northeast side
Kids in school and COVID
My children attend school in the Marana Unified School District. Throughout the pandemic, we have taken precautions to avoid COVID. The kids returned to in-person school this year. They have been masked, but many others not. In the “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,” dated Sept 24, 2021, the CDC reported in Maricopa and Pima Counties the odds of a school COVID outbreak were 3.5 times higher with no mask requirement than with the requirement. Yet at a meeting on Sept. 29, the MUSD board would not second a motion to reinstate the mask requirement leaving masks optional. On Nov. 9, my daughter became sick with COVID. I followed the next day with a breakthrough infection. There are many others in the same boat. With the return to in-class schooling, I wish the MUSD board had done the right thing to better protect our kids and many others would quit making this a political issue and do what the data supports.
John Holtrop
Marana
How can Tucsonans help?
Re: the Nov. 28 article “Tucsonans may need to imagine life without Star.”
Surely, Lee can let the citizens of Tucson and Southern Arizona know how we can help. Newspapers provide us with the information we need to be an informed public. I have read newspapers since I was very young, about 4-5 years old, starting with the box scores in the sports section. I was disappointed when the Citizen went out of business, but the Star has stepped up and kept the citizens informed.
How can we help?
Paul Smith
Midtown
Plan now for alternative water sources
Re: the Nov. 28 article “Colorado River compact based on an illusion.”
Tony Davis has done a wonderful job reporting on environmental issues, especially those involving climate change. This insightful article summarizes the implications of declining water in the Colorado River Basin. Past articles documented the precipitous decline in runoff and river flows. This is a crisis! We no longer have the luxury of debate about past allocation agreements. Large reductions in water use are needed in the Lower Basin states, and plans about new uses in the Upper Basin must be abandoned — they are just silly. Responses by Tucson Water to the looming shortage have touted Central Arizona Project water that has been stored underground. How long will the stored water last when we need to start using it again? Serious planning for alternative sources must start now.
Dale Keyes
Downtown
Gruesome future for the Star
Re: the Nov. 28 article “Tucsonans may need to imagine life without Star.”
I just read and was devastated by Star editor Curt Prendergast’s dire prediction for the Star, as it looks as though a hedge fund may very well buy the Star, owned by Lee Enterprises, and gut our only daily newspaper. It’s happening all over the country, with local papers bought and then hollowed out, all for the purpose of profit, only the bottom line mattering. That’s all hedge funds care about and are ruthless and wealthy.
What will news coverage look like without the Star? People will have to rely on blogs from biased sources and of course the local TV news that does little truly investigative reporting. We will miss the kind of local investigative journalism that only fully staffed local newspapers provide, and that the Star does doggedly. This bodes ill for speaking truth to power in our community. If you think newspapers are outdated, think of the alternative.
I hope Curt is wrong, but I fear this is the future for honest and thorough local coverage.
Jeffrey St. Clair
North side
Women vs off-duty cop
Re: the Nov. 28 article “The limits of self-policing.”
Steller’s article regarding an off-duty officer’s confrontation with two women left a sour taste. What possessed the officer to engage two women, one 62 years old, over a parking lot dispute? Maybe the women were in the wrong or the officer was, doesn’t matter. No laws were broken at that point. Why get out of the vehicle and escalate? Let it go! Seems the officer’s ego overwhelmed his judgement. The second part of that fiasco is the Tucson Police Department’s decision to cite one of the women. Seriously? Did they actually find a prosecutor that’s willing to take the case to court? Fat chance! The most troubling aspect of this case is Assistant Police Chief Michael Silva’s response. He seems to go out of his way to disregard evidence and protect his officer. Very unprofessional all around by our department. What sort of tragedy would we be talking about if a father, husband, adult son or concerned citizen with a gun had been present?
Edward Espinoza
Southwest side
Appreciation for an article
Re: the Nov. 19 article “Our new neighbors have paid a high price.”
Thank you for Adele Barker’s beautiful piece on the ordeals of Afghan refugees.
Michael Bruwer
Midtown
Racial equality
Discussions about critical race theory, rather than teaching kids how to spell, speak well, do math, and excel in class, in my view are counterproductive. Kids do not need reasons not to succeed, because finding them will ensure failure. In my opinion, racism allegations and criticisms have become so broadly used that it is not helpful to anyone. Lowering standards to achieve diversity does not make excellence. What happened to being all that we can be? Everyone is challenged in one way or another, be it color, physical or intellectual ability, poverty, or even wealth. We all know someone who has succeeded, not because of excuses but the will to succeed. Usually success is not easy, but has required work, for some more than others. A return to basics, to emphasizing improvement in the things that we do, lead to more productive citizens and personal success.
Dave Locey
Foothills
Disappointment with IRC
I am disappointed that the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) Chair Erika Neuberg allowed Marana Mayor Ed Honea, state Sen. Vince Leach, and Commissioner David Mehl to influence her decision regarding equitable representation for all residents of Marana, Oro Valley, and Saddlebrooke. As a Dove Mountain and Marana resident, I feel especially displeased by the actions of Mayor Honea and Commissioner Mehl (also Master Developer of Dove Mountain) in their agenda of partisanship over ethics and fair representation.
Robin Carter
Marana
COVID mandates
I am vaccinated, but I would not force someone to get it if they were against it. You can still catch it and transmit it. While certain federal employees must become fully vaccinated, Congress isn’t required to comply with the vaccine mandate. What hypocrisy is that! Every time I see a football stadium full of 50,000 people shoulder-to-shoulder and no masks in sight, when thousands of people can attend concerts shoulder-to-shoulder, when nurses, doctors, firemen and policemen worked through the worst of this pandemic and exposed themselves every single day to the disease, but now they are mandated to get the vaccine or lose their jobs, when tens of thousands of people crowd the streets to honor the baseball team that won this year, when millions of undocumented immigrants come across the border and flood our country without mandatory vaccination, I ask myself: What is going on here? Getting vaccinated is a personal decision and one that should not be made by the federal government.
Barbara Boyka
East side
Ideas for better politics
I have a wish list for future elections. Besides eliminating the Electoral College, voting rights bills being passed, and independent election commissions, as in Arizona, I think two items would improve our politics via the quality of political candidates. First, the candidate must pass a civics test, being literate in the U.S. Constitution and congressional codes of ethics. Next, the candidate must pass a complete physical, including an extensive psychiatric evaluation. Realizing your cynical laughter, thoughts that “all politicians are egotistical and likely insane to run for office,” my experience living in D.C. reveals otherwise. Many are mature and ethically dedicated to public service. But with the Supreme Court’s Citizens United and spin doctors like Karl Rove creating the darkest political campaigns, I suspect I’m not alone longing for ways to choose better candidates. Tests would help. I bet we can think of at least four Arizona officials undeserving of the responsibility they have, requiring intelligence and high ethical standards. Can they even define ethical?
Nancy Jacques
Northeast side
Voting for Republicans
Polls show that a majority of people support President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better bill. Polls also show that maybe a majority say they will vote Republican. If people’s gripe is that Biden isn’t rolling out his agenda in a timely enough manner, it is illogical to vote Republican. Few, if any of those types of programs will be enacted by Republicans.
Nancy Ward
East side
Imagining life without the AZ Daily Star
Re: the Nov. 28 article “Tucsonans may need to imagine life without Star.”
Over the weekend, new Opinion Editor Curt Prendergast wrote a story about how the Arizona Daily Star may be out of business within a year. All due to some hedge fund that likes to eliminate local newspapers. The Star is run by Democrat Progressives and that bias is evident in the way they cover issues such as immigration, the environment, Republicans, etc. It is especially evident in their endorsements of political candidates during campaigns. In the last election, the Star’s editorial board endorsed Biden for President and every Democrat running for Congress in southern Arizona, including Sen. Mark Kelly, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, Rep. Raul Grijalva and Rep.Tom O’Halleran. So, would I rather have no local newspaper or one that is staffed with Democrat Progressive activists who inject their political views when reporting on local and national issues? I will take the former and just watch local TV news. If the Star does go defunct, perhaps someone will develop a local digital newspaper that is fair and balanced, and leave their politics at home.
Ryan Bodsworth
East side
Hoffman on Prop. 208
Re: the Nov. 29 article “Dems weaponize the initiative process.”
Jonathan Hoffman, consistent opponent of Arizonans’ constitutional right to the Citizens’ Initiative, delineated a history of Prop. 208. What he breezily floated past was the root cause of this never-ending grudge match. The Republican power structure in Arizona has demonstrated, decade after decade, that they couldn’t care less what the majority want for our schools. They greedily suck up campaign contributions from corporations and the wealthy, run on bogus issues, then unashamedly undermine public school funding. Our state is rock bottom in school funding. Out of the gate, Gov. Doug Ducey proudly refused to fund education according to law, cynically clogged the courts for years, losing at every step, until starving teachers buckled and agreed to let him fund increases with money he stole from the State Land Trust, leaving the root cause of the shortfall remain unaddressed. When Republicans in the Legislature find a conscience and legislate according to the values of the majority citizens they swore to represent, we’ll see fewer citizen initiatives.
Rick Howell
East side
Gov. Ducey putting children at risk
Arizonans are getting vaccinated at a slower rate than other states and when schools can’t require face masks children are left completely vulnerable. Schools have now gone back to in-person learning which has caused pediatric COVID cases to increase exponentially.
The children of Arizona are being put at risk of getting infected with Covid. I worry for parents who are sending their children to school every day, not because of their teachers or classmates, but because of Doug Ducey. He threatened to take away money from schools that require masks to keep students safe. Fortunately, a judge stopped his plan for now, but he is continuing to sue all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court!
Nobody wants young children to catch the COVID variant. Governor Ducey, quit trying to expose Arizona’s children to this deadly disease for your own political games.
Bobbi Zimmer
Midtown
