The kids used
to call it ‘sick’
Trump visited a Phoenix-area church Tuesday night. On Wednesday, I saw a truly surreal picture of him on stage behind a podium, flanked by a church official introducing a speaker from another podium at least 10-12 feet away. The atmosphere of the unmasked, youngish group tightly packed, elbow to elbow, into seating was lighthearted, celebratory and I am sure, infectious!
Hopefully, they will be able to fondly remember this day with the same zeal, two to three weeks down the road.
Alan Barreuther
Foothills
Can’t cook bacon
without scissors
There is a big market among older people for hundreds of products that we struggle to open every day. Cans with pull tabs, bottles with shrink wrap that need a knife to remove, bottles that need to squeeze cap to open, well-sealed plastic bags etc. There is also need to improve operations of appliances for older people.
Surely they can come up with something that is safe for children and easier opening/operating for the rest of us. They also need to color-code or highlight the plus and minus sides of appliances for battery installation.
Donald Plummer
Northwest side
One-note campaign
Apparently Martha McSally’s opponent in her Senate campaign is someone named “China,” because attacking China is pretty much her whole campaign.
Larry DeWitt
Northeast side
Equal access vs. equal outcome
Some of our citizens today are advocating “equal outcomes” for all persons. This will never happen with human beings on planet Earth. The master designer and creator of the universe did not create us for “equal outcomes.” If He had done so, we would all be robots programmed to do good and all capable of being professional athletes and/or theoretical nuclear physicists.
Each of us is unique genetically with different physical and mental capabilities, different aptitudes, talents, interests and motivations. The creator gave us “free choice” to do good or evil and the ability to influence our outcomes. We should be focusing our efforts on “equal access” to education, job markets, medical care and social acceptance. This is an elusive but attainable goal.
C. Gordon Marvik
Northeast side
Star shines bright
with ‘Sports History’
The Daily Star’s sports section page on “Sports History” is a wonderful feature. I hope the Star will continue this page even after sports return to America. This is a daily bright spot when bright spots are sorely needed.
Russ Baker
South side
City Hall banner
is not inclusive
I am disappointed to see the Tucson mayor displaying a Black Lives Matter banner from City Hall. Mayor Regina Romero, are you not the mayor for everyone in Tucson? Do only certain people in your view deserve recognition? How can we expect to bring people together with such divisive displays?
Wayne Rossi
Northwest side
Thanks to Art Martin, senior facility is safe
I would like to sing the praises of Art Martin, the executive director of Brookdale Santa Catalina, an independent and assisted living facility in the Foothills. He and his team have managed to keep the many seniors on the campus COVID-free. Additionally, the site was part of the Bighorn Fire evacuation.
He is now working with the Pima County Health Department to get all residents tested to make sure that as infection rates increase on the outside, his residents are still free from the virus. His care and concern for my 93-year-old mother has meant one less thing for me to stress over. Words cannot express our gratitude for his and the Brookdale team’s care of our most precious being.
Sherry Steele
Foothills
Reasons to oppose Lake Powell Pipeline
The Colorado River is one of Arizona’s most important sources of water. Due to the mega-drought, some of these water deliveries have been reduced and caused economic hardship. Meanwhile, the federal Bureau of Reclamation is pushing for approval of the controversial Lake Powell Pipeline before President Trump may leave office in January. The bureau released a biased environmental statement that fails to analyze water conservation alternatives.
Washington County, Utah, would receive the LPP water, and it refuses to adopt reasonable water conservation measures. This county has an average gallons-per-capita day of 302, nearly three times that of Tucson’s 122. Arizona permits are needed before the LPP could be built.
Arizona should not grant these permits because the LPP would reward water waste, risk billions of public dollars, and possibly violate the Colorado River Compact by transferring upper basin water for lower basin use. The Colorado River’s limited water supplies should be shared equitably among the states, and each state should use their share efficiently.
Richard Spotts
Downtown
Ducey, McSally unmask themselves as hypocrites
Recent photos of Gov. Doug Ducey and his appointed senator show the two at a recent Bighorn Fire meeting. Both were properly masked to protect the public. Right way to be for the two of you.
Next photo-op shows the two at the border wall with the no mask accompanying the president of the USA. All present at that meeting were too weak to wear masks to show the public they care about virus safety. They need to be called out for this lack of stand-up action!
This double standard shows that this duo of weak leaders is not the type we need to lead us in Arizona. The same can be said about the president. We can and must do better at the ballot box when it is time to vote. Find your list of options, check it twice and vote by mail this time.
Kenn Block
Oro Valley
Grim ritual unknown to white families
Imagine having to do this with your family — if you are white, this is something you have never even considered. However, If you are black, a person of color or another nationality, when your children reach a certain age, you sit them down and tell them, “It is time for the talk.”
You tell them, “There are people out there who have never met you but who want to hurt you or even kill you because you don’t look like them. Be very careful what you say and do when you are at school, the grocery store, the bank, the movies, church, walking down the street or parking your car. Even some people who are sworn to protect you in their job could be willing to harm or kill you. Be careful.”
Jacque Ramsey
Oro Valley
Trump should be familiar to Arizonans
Re: the June 24 article “Packed crowd greets Trump at boisterous rally in Phoenix.”
I was feeling a sense of déjà vu as I watched Donald Trump’s Phoenix rally. Make Trump a little shorter and his hairpiece less gawdy and you have our late, former governor, Ev Mecham, delivering racial slurs, divisive rhetoric and a litany of excuses blaming everyone but himself for his myriad failures.
The Ev Mecham wing of the GOP, once on its fringes, is now, under Trump, its only wing. The party of the big tent no longer exists.
Both used vilification of the press, conspiracy theories, intolerance of dissent and alternate facts to turn politics into a divisive, us-versus-them spectacle that undermines our democracy.
Both abused the power of their offices — the difference between the 1988 GOP that put country over party and Trump’s congressional enablers that did the opposite, speaks volumes about the root of our current political dysfunction.
Both are the antithesis of conservatism.
Ron Nason
West side
Voting by mail
is probably safest
President Trump has repeatedly said that voting by mail will result in election fraud, although he hasn’t given any rational reason for his statements. While it is possible that an occasional ballot may not be recorded as a voter meant to vote — the ballot may be unreadable due to erasures, smudges, or rips — it is far more likely that an election strictly by machine risks fraud from Russia or other countries.
Russia did it in the 2016 election, and U.S. security agencies have reported that the Russians and their friends are working on doing it again. Vote-by-mail is probably the safest way for us to vote.
Thomas Fellrath
Sierra Vista
Trump and groupies make us less safe
It was thoroughly disgusting to see the president’s visit to Arizona, during the height of its fight with the pandemic. A political rally with no masks, no social distancing and no other safety measures recommended by medical experts in defiance of orders by local officials. It was even more disgusting to see Gov. Doug Ducey and Sen. Martha McSally get off the plane with him. They are complicit.
Darol Cridlebaugh
East side
Obvious conclusion: Death was covered up
Re: the June 25 article “Chief Magnus offers to resign over handling of man’s death.”
No doubt, Chris Magnus is an honorable man and a good, progressive chief of police. He is not responsible for the tragic April 21 incident. He is responsible for the failure to disclose the incident.
How it could remain unreported to the public, much less city leaders after the May 25 anguishing malfeasance and subsequent national movement is inexcusable.
Whether a cover-up was intended, such is the obvious result and conclusion. Because he failed his duty in leadership by lack of timely and necessary communication and response, his removal from office is necessary and appropriate.
Richard Bacal
Midtown
Love yourself, love others: Mask up
There seems to be a controversy about wearing masks in public. A great spiritual philosopher said, “If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.” Please, protect yourself and everyone else. Whenever you go out in public, wear a mask. We’re all in this together.
Larry Bearden
Vail
