Fire RFK, make America healthy
The current administration talks a lot about meritocracy. However, it appears that the only required "merit" is complete loyalty to Trump. RFK Jr., for example, is absolutely unqualified to be the director of HHS. An anti-vaxxer with no background in health sciences, he is dangerous to America’s health. His recent testimony to Congress was riddled with lies and misleading statements, particularly about vaccines. Vaccines save lives; 1.2 million Americans died from COVID, and many more would have if the vaccine was not used. A study published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases found that nearly 2 million US deaths and nearly 20 million worldwide deaths due to COVID were prevented.
Fire RFK Jr. Reinstate the $500 million in funding for mRNA research.
Melanie Bell, PhD
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Midtown
TEP pep talk for Canada?
"Tucson Electric Power (TEP) doesn't 'own' this utility in a singular sense, as it is a public utility itself." It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UNS Energy Corporation, and in turn is owned by Fortis Inc., (Canada), "a large investor-owned electric and gas utility holding company. Therefore, Fortis owns TEP indirectly through its subsidiaries."
Bea Manderscheid
Northeast side
Patronizing Opinion piece
As a working mom in Tucson, I want to address TEP's Susan Gray’s question: "What kind of life do we want to live here in Tucson?"
I want my family to breathe fresh air. No asthma attacks triggered.
I want my neighbors and community to succeed.
I want to have water available and no zero-day calamity.
I don’t need a data center.
I don’t want to give more money to TEP, whose parent company made $1.6 billion in net revenue in 2024.
I don’t need a $1-2Million/year salaried CEO patronizing opinion piece. We are paying her salary.
TEP’s parent company, Fortis, is on the path for possible $2.4 billion in 2025 net revenue. Project Blue and TEP’s 15% rate increase "request" are both advertised in 2025 Fortis’s investment relations material. This all gets Susan a nice 2025 bonus, right.
We the people need public power to take that net revenue and CEO windfalls back to lower energy costs for us.
Carissa Sipp
Midtown
Crime: No dilemma
Our loyal friend seems to think that only the members of the Cult of Trump care about crime. He elects not to say anything about the crimes his "solemn" leader has committed and been convicted of. Those 34 felony counts.
Why his loyalty supersedes his convictions about crime seems like a conundrum. But he thinks that Democrats don't care about crime. They do, and so do more than half the American public. When I was growing up, even a potential "extramarital affair" were grounds for being voted out of office. Now our loyal friend complains about crime, but only if it's in a Democrat-run city. His rant doesn't say anything about the crime in the red state cities that dwarfs what the liar and chief says about Chicago, N.Y. and L.A. Facts prove what's true and what's not. It's too bad loyalty trumps common sense.
John Bingham
Northwest side
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is dangerous
The public knows this, and the Republican Party will lose more support if they keep Kennedy as the Health Secretary. Putting children and adults in real danger will continue to contribute to the demise of the GOP & Trump. COVID killed over 1,000,000. Stand up and resist.
Dan Bannon
Midtown
Constitution Day
Sept. 17 is Constitution and Citizenship Day. In fact, the whole week from Sept. 17-23 is designated Constitution Week. The Constitution of the United States was signed Sept. 17, 1787, or 238 years ago.
To celebrate Constitution Day, how about the whole extremist Trump administration take a day off? Wouldn't it be nice if for one day if the president wouldn't sign unconstitutional executive orders? Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Justice Department would quit for one day the unconstitutional criminal "investigations " into federal officials like Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook in order to scare federal officeholders out of office? How about a day that ICE doesn't unconstitutionally deprive people of their civil rights?
Here's one: How about for a day, the Republicans in Congress reclaim their status as a co-equal with the Executive Branch and take over tariff and other issues stolen by the Executive?
I can only hope there can be at least one day off from the unconstitutional actions of the Executive Branch.
Matt Somers
Midtown
COVID vaccination
My wife and I are over 65. She is on steroid therapy; hospitalized several months ago for shock.. We are planning to travel for several weeks beginning later this month.
Two days ago, she called several pharmacies regarding COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. She was informed that we needed a prescription for the COVID vaccine. She called Banner Health and was told a prescription would be sent to the pharmacy. Today, the pharmacy informed us that Banner Health is no longer writing prescriptions for COVID-19 vaccines. After several phone calls, I was told that a "committee" made the decision to stop prescribing the COVID vaccine. They are to have a meeting to discuss, according to one source.
CDC guidelines are unchanged on the website. Patients with underlying health problems and/or age over 65 should be vaccinated.
If what I learned today is true, why are prescriptions for those over 65 being held? Is this a medical, financial, or political decision?
Brian Smith
Northwest side
City manager up for review
Tim Steller reported in his column of Sept. 5 that city vice-mayor Lane Santa Cruz informed residents by email that the city manager is up for review. Since the city manager is appointed by mayor and council, sending an email to city residents announcing a "review" in the wake of the Project Blue fiasco comes across as being an attempt to save face. It is difficult to believe that mayor and council had no notion of the city manager's actions and position on this project. I don't recall any reports of any real "discussions" on Project Blue, only the unanimous vote to kill it. No discussion of possibly cleaning up tainted wells on the south side, or concessions on the part of Beale. Nothing. Typical Tucson knee-jerk political reaction to anything controversial. Vote it down and hope it goes away. Sorry council, the future is not going away, and you voted away your place at the table.
Dewey Bidwell
Northeast side
Farcical episodes
Well, here are two farcical items for your day: First, Trump and his puppet Joe Edlow, head of immigration services, want to make the citizenship test harder, even including an essay. They call it “war on fraud.” I wonder if either Trump or Edlow could pass the current test. We know Trump couldn’t write a cogent essay. So, wouldn’t it be nice if we actually had a “war on fraud” in this government?
That might also take care of the clown called “Secretary of Health and Human Services” because of his absolute insanity on vaccines (He’d look cute in smallpox pox, yes?) At 78, I walked right in for a flu vaccine, forced to have an RX for COVID. The catch? Banner won’t write RXs, TMC, yes. CVS won’t give them. Walgreens, yes. A Kafka novel! CDC hasn’t ruled yet? It has! The 2024-2025 shots. I think it’s 2025. And the difference of fall and spring? Political fraud. To what end?
Nancy C. Jacques
Northeast side
The true Trump
Donald Trump is a true RINO: i.e., a Republican In Name Only. He is also a true FINC: a Fascist In Name Certain.
Daniel Shay
Midtown
Who's really running America?
Robert Hur wrote a controversial characterization of Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Trump jumped on it, blasting “his hazy memory,” and his “Sleepy Joe” moniker from 2020 and told a crowd, “I don’t think he knows he’s alive.” Trump and his babysitters began chants of “elder abuse” by Biden’s handlers for putting him in front of a mic.
Kari Lake told Newsmax, “Donald Trump is not an old man. He is a very sharp man. His cognitive abilities are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I talk to him all the time. He is incredible.”
Trump's senior moments aren't worth discussing. Watch his eyes — if he's awake — and listen to his voice as he rambles off in an incoherent rant.
“Who's running the country?” Trump once asked. We now have Stephen Miller, Susie Wiles, James Blair, JD Vance and Robert Gabriel. They are Trump's brain. We are living through the most precarious and perilous time in history due to Miller.
Sheldon Metz
Northeast side
