Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • A15

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ANOTHER VIEW JeffStahler, Andrew McMeel Syndication, Gocomics.com MORE LETTERS ONLINE Find more letters to the editor at tucson.com/opinion where we are sharing many more of the letters we receive each day. They are posted online as submitted to the Star. You can comment on the letters directly. 35 percent. This February, I had a Tesla Powerwall battery system installed to store some of the excess electricity for use at night.

TEP dragged its feet in approving it until the end of June before I was allowed to turn it on. Do the research and you will find that in nearly every case, solar and other renewable energy is much cheaper to generate than burning fossil fuels. Even Saudi Arabia is pushing toward renew- ables, noting that at 2 to 3 cents per kilowatt-hour, solar power is below the cost of fossil fu- el-generated electricity. be confused by the language recently inserted in the ballot. Renewable energy is cheaper and cleaner but the utilities fight it because they want to maintain their strangle- hold on your wallet.

George Cohn South side Green Party candidate: You know where I stand Re: the Sept. 24 letter to the editor for the candidate, not the In a recent letter, Ben Car- mitchel, the Democratic candi- date for state senator in LD16, writes of his frustration about being about the Second Amendment, the pro-life debate, and Supreme Court nominees as if those issues are next on the of the Arizona Legislature. I am a Democrat-supporting Green Party candidate for state representative for one of the two seats in LD16. I ardently support meaningful gun control, strongly favor a right to choose abortion, and oppose the nomi- nation of Brett Kavanaugh. If Ben think the Legislature has a role in gun control or abor- tion rights or the judiciary, he is mistaken.

one candidate not afraid of stating my views in a strongly Republican district. a progressive, a liberal, a democrat- ic socialist, and am proud to say so. Even if I get less than 1 percent of the vote, people will know where I stand. Richard Grayson Apache Junction NYC voters reject Trump, and they know him best With the November elections coming up, we need to know all we can about the people we have up for election. We need more chaos.

The nation is still trying to figure out Trump. He is relatively new to the political arena. There is hope, though. Pay attention to the people who are familiar with the can- didate. Take a look at the voters of New York City.

The voters of NYC know Trump. He has lived there and done business there almost his whole life. He received 19 percent of their votes. Is there anything else that needs to be said? James Galvin Sahuarita Election ads cry out for verification As a longtime voter and follow- er of political ads, I am very dis- appointed in the mudslinging that is taking place. Fact-checking needs to be used more than ever.

Sen. family is upset over the use of his image against Ann Kirkpatrick. This has not stopped the ads. APS has sought huge in- creases in rates without admitting that it bought the members of the Corporation Commission who authorize the rate increases. Martha no longer talks about her time as a propaganda tool when she said that American women are better than Muslims and have to cover their heads.

The governor talks about David Garcia wanting to correct the way immigration is enforced. Trump wants to end Obamacare without a plan to replace it. We have 1,000 pages of work under George W. that he did not see needed executive privilege. Cadet Bone-Spurs says believe me, it is like my tax returns, there is noth- ing to be gleaned that you need to know.

Kurt Ohlrich Oro Valley Self-serving statement from Weisenburger How dare Bishop Weisenburger leverage the safety and security of children in his church to forestall decreased contributions. How disgusting to literally threaten those who withhold money of crippling a Safe Environment program. What nerve, after no longer being able to deny the magnitude of abuse, to shirk that responsibility offhimself! The Roman Catholic Church was forced to make safety a priority by legal and insurance issues from without, not good- ness from within. The Star could be part of healing for victims of the church by giving the stories as much ink and priority as given to the verbose statement. Part of healing is being given a voice.

A safe place to share can be found at the next support meeting of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3 at Nanini Library, 7300 N. Shannon Road. Vickie Jahaske Catalina End to farmer subsidies would save lots of water Re: the Sept.

21 guest column gubernatorial candi- dates: What will you do about our We can solve all our water problems simply by refusing to subsidize Arizona farmers. Without subsidies, cotton, alfalfa and hay be grown here, saving a combined 524,000 acre-feet of water a year. Figuring a dairy cow consumes conserva- tively 30 gallons of water a day and we have 160,000 dairy cows in the state, we could save another 480,000 gallons of water a day by not subsidizing dairy cows. Have farmers pay market rates for water and have plenty of water for commercial and population growth. Water problems solved.

David Pearse Foothills devoted to community service My name is Jerrad Trotter and I am the executive director of a small nonprofit called Strang- ersWeKnow. This November, StrangersWeKnow is hosting its very first value exchange event! We are offering 25 full turkey dinners to local families who help us make bags for displaced chil- dren through our Capes 4 Kiddos program. Right now, we are working to get the word out across Tucson. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Nov.

17 at the Donna Liggins Recreation Center, just offGrant and North Sixth Avenue. Those who wish to participate can find more infor- mation and rsvp at www.strang- ersweknow.org/cve. We hope to continually inspire greatness through service as defined by Dr. Martin Luther King. Jerrad Trotter Catalina Hold GOP responsible for family separations Currently there are approx- imately 400 children, taken forcibly from their parents, still being held by our government.

This despite a court ordering the Trump administration to return them. The fact is the Trump administration has simply lost a number of these children and their parents. They bother to keep track. Gross incompe- tence is no excuse. Each day the psychic trauma to these children increases, but the Republicans in charge of our government refuse to hold Trump accountable or demand their return.

We can still stop this. In November, vote for children and American values. Throw the Republicans out of office and end this abuse. Take America back! Robert and Annie Mackay Foothills Can we make recycling any more complicated? been recycling ever since there was an opportunity to do so with local garbage pickup. I live in the county.

The recent articles about recycling confirm that there are not enough standards to make recycling the easy experience it should be. You can recycle this in the city but not in the county. Yes, you can recycle this but do it because the machines handle it. Waste water cleaning out containers, peel labels off, recycle the cake box but peel off the cellophane window. When in doubt, throw it out.

I now have only enough recycle material to fill my pickup can once every month. not cost-effective for me to continue with the weekly service. Lee Levin Northwest side New Medicare card is a piece of paper I received my new Medicare yesterday. It is not made of plastic it is made of paper! This means that I will have to pay to have it laminated so that I can carry it in my wallet with- out fear of it disintegrating in a couple of To add some gravitas to this letter, I want to argue for a national primary election for president in place of the crazy system we have now. People I may want to vote for may be winnowed out in New Hamp- shire and Iowa before I can vote for them.

Richard Demers Midtown a selfish concept Re: the Sept. 23 letter to the editor wrong with Amer- ica The writer suggests that we as Americans should always consid- er ourselves above the rest of the world, both in words and deeds. Forget our long history as a leader of the free world and focus only on what we want. Sounds rather selfish it? Something like bless America and nobody Kathryn Banks Oro Valley Too many abstentions on judicial review panel As a retired Superior Court judge and former member of the Arizona Commission on Judi- cial Performance Review, I take seriously its role in evaluating the performance of our judges. The work is an import- ant part of the merit selection and judicial retention system of which we can be proud.

After reviewing the results of the public vote on the performance of the 66 Superior Court judges up for retention in the 2018 general election, I am perplexed by an anomalous pattern of voting by many of its members. Fourteen of the judges evalu- ated by the commission received relatively lower scores regarding their judicial temperament and communication skills. In all of these cases, 6-8 commissioners abstained from voting on whether or not these lower performing judges met judicial performance standards. The commission states that abstentions are procedural matters within the My question is what within the commission required so many commissioners to abstain from voting on the performance of so many judges? Charles S. Sabalos Foothills response struck the right tone Re: the Sept.

23 editorial blame abuse on While I blame the Catholic Church for its egregious behavior and cover-ups, the bishop of Tuc- heartfelt grief and pain in his statement was palpable. I think that the editorial missed the es- sence of the words. Point No. 6 in his statement says: response in the past was inadequate, misguided, inept and failed the victims in most every He then says: horri- ble sin of the Catholic Church is not that we dealt with sexual abuse of minors differently from the rest of the world. We should have been better than everyone response.

We were That does not sound like he was skirting the responsibili- ty, nor that he acknowledge the com- I have read letters written by bishops in other states. They capture the anguish and sorrow that Bishop Weisenburg- er has conveyed. He has tried to own up to the grave mistakes the church has made and cited facts, not emotional nonsense. Barbara Fuller SaddleBrooke is messed up Re: the Sept. 21 article start: Sugar Skulls are our new indoor Sugar Skulls? What genius came up with that name to represent the city of Tuc- son? A night of tequila and who knows what other mind-altering substance is the only reason I can think of.

something that reflected the culture of the city, instead of the culture of Horror be more appropriate? Even such boring names as the Gullywashers or Monsoons would at least sound more appealing than some nonsensical name as Sugar Skulls! My favorite would be the Tucson Torinos with a T-shirt image of Clint Eastwood. I wish them good luck though, since we can no longer enjoy baseball at one of the most beau- tiful parks in the minors. David Emery Southwest side Scammer calls have to stop My brother and I live together. paraplegic and I am recov- ering from a broken back. Our phones are very important to us.

We have all phones on the Do Not Call list. We get at least 20 calls a day from scammers and telemar- keters. Many times missed important calls from doctors, labs, etc. because of these nasty shysters. to the point we even answer the phone because we recognize the number, then it turns out to be an im- portant call missed.

a personal invasion. Mary Cartter North side LD11 go wrong with my friend Ralph It is indeed rare to ask people to vote for a candidate that known so well and for so long. Ralph Atchue and I have been close friends for nearly 30 years. Over time, seen commitment to give freely of his own time helping others. I know him as a man of integrity and leadership working with people at times of their greatest need.

personally seen him inspire many to achieve more than they thought possible. Arizona is in need of legislators who know how to bring peo- ple together to solve our tough problems Ralph. He is someone who will put the best interest of working families above any other consideration. I trust him because I know him. Ralph Atchue is running for the state Senate in LD11.

Voters in Marana, Oro Valley and SaddleBrooke, if you want to be represented by a man work hard for you, vote for Atchue. Barry Tabas Midtown to-do list precludes a wall Education, health care, mental health, hunger, living wages, homelessness, opiate crisis, veter- an care, prescription drug prices, attack on the First Amendment see where this is going but $25 billion for a wall? Come on, America, better than this. Robin Gorman South side Science education going strong at Cooper Center Re: the Sept. 17 The Cooper Center for En- vironmental citizen science program to measure air quality is great! Measuring air quality will provide opportunity for the students involved and inspire them to act on environ- mental issues. This highlights the value the Cooper Center provides to region, through the agreement between TUSD and the UA Col- lege of Education.

I am a registered architect volunteer on the Cooper Advisory Group and I know that Cooper is a diamond in the desert. The College of Education has shown that with increased sup- port from the community it can sparkle and enhance the science and environmental learning. Never experienced Cooper Center? Your chance is Oct. 6 at the 3rd Annual Desert Food Fiesta and Mesquite Pancake Breakfast 9 a.m.–1 p.m., 5403 W. Trails End Road.

Attend this event to learn more about the native and historic foods of our desert, view the facility, and see its value to our students. Marcus Jones North side Fox a starchy venue for Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is the best Western swing dance band there is and the show is at the Fox, where you dance? They ha- played in Tucson in around four decades. This show should be at the El Casino Ballroom. Would cost less to put on and be much more fun. Please change the venue.

Sorry, not going to the Fox for a hot dance band. That would be a night of frustration. Abe Gold East side trust utilities on Proposition 127 The utilities claim that this proposition will burden Arizo- nans and especially the elderly. This is a lie. As an elderly resi- dent, I had solar panels installed two years ago.

I immediately saw my electric bill go down by over Submit a to the preferably about a local or state issue, to Arizona Daily Star Monday, October 1, 2018 OPINION A15 Celebrate 30 years of Fitz Pick up David new book of his editorial cartoons. Copies are $15 and are available at Tucson.com/store.