A large group of protestors cheer on the motor parade in front of Reid Park. Protestors were out across Southern Arizona as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protests.
ICE and reasonable suspicion
The police, including ICE, must have “reasonable suspicion” to stop and detain someone thought to be involved in criminal activity. Reasonable suspicion involves “Facts, Circumstances + Experience.” My example, two young men on a bike, one sitting on the handlebars holding a pillowcase full of items and the driver holding a rifle. Seeing my police car, they made an immediate right turn into a residential area. Driving behind them, the rider jumped off, dumped the pillowcase and fled. I detained the driver. The pillowcase, the rifle and the actions of the two suggested a burglary. Double riding gave me a reason for the stop (28-813), their flight, the items they had, and my prior experience gave me reasonable suspicion to stop and detain him. The subsequent investigation (victim interviews, property identification, fingerprint evidence) gave me probable cause to arrest. Comes now ICE stopping and detaining a federal agent at the federal court building. What was ICE’s reasonable suspicion for detaining the agent? Deportation quotas lead to poor police decisions.
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Richard Harper
Northeast side
The No Kings protest in Tucson
Thank you so much for your prominent coverage of the citizens of Tucson turning out in the thousands to stand up for our democracy on No Kings Day.
Barbara Schneidau
Foothills
Re: Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear sites
What kind of world have we become where “exceptional” nations arbitrarily and unilaterally attack other nations, assassinate physicists, bomb nuclear facilities and release radioactive materials into the environment, kill civilians, invade territories and completely disregard international law in the process? What is the utility of the UN?
International law has been replaced by the laws of the jungle (might makes right) as the preferred means to resolve conflicts. The problem is that violence never solves anything. It only provokes for eye-for-an-eye revenge which has, in the case of the Middle East, lasted for millennia. Two wrongs never make a right.
Donald Trump promised Americans that he would not start wars and would focus on fixing broken America. He has betrayed those who elected him. Cooler heads must prevail. We just can’t afford to support another war when we are $36 trillion in debt and are at war with each other — especially as the risk of WWIII grows ever stronger.
Michael Pravica
Downtown
Ciscomani’s lack of civic pride
On June 12, the House of Representatives voted to eliminate the next two years of federal funding for public media outlets. House majority leader Steve Scalise introduced the legislation, calling NPR and PBS “woke.”
Juan Ciscomani endorsed this legislation with his vote, even though Arizona Public Media has garnered 45 Emmy awards between 2014 and 2018. In 2024 alone, AZPM earned 7 Edward R. Murrow awards, 11 Rocky Mountain Emmy awards for 5 projects in 5 categories and first place from the Public Media Journalist Association for The Buzz.
You might think that our Representative would be proud of these achievements. Not Ciscomani. He prefers to blindly follow the MAGA agenda and cut funding for one of our mostly highly regarded and award-winning organizations.
Arizona’s 6th Congressional District needs a Representative who will fight for his constituents and institutions. Isn’t that the definition of Representative?
Ed Doklan
Midtown
AG Mayes addresses elderly fraud
Thanks to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for her visit to Douglas last week to advocate for the prevention of primarily elderly fraud. Although various types of fraudulent schemes primarily target the elderly, AG Mayes pointed out that a person of any age may be victimized. She reported that Arizona has one of the highest rates of abuse and exploitation of any state in the nation. She stressed that people are often too embarrassed to report fraud that can even deplete life savings. Sadly, family members may be the perpetrators. AG Mayes encourages vigilance and reporting of suspected fraudulent behavior to law enforcement or her office. Remember, it can happen to anybody.
Christine Rhodes
Bisbee
FDR’s warning
In 1938, FDR said, “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism.”
While D.J.T. is the elected president, he’s not the one calling the shots; rather it’s Russell Vought, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and a host of others. They have achieved the state of power FDR was warning us about.
The nation has now been turned over to a cabal of oligarchs who seek to dismantle the state and install a unitary leader in its place. In this model, democracy does not exist.
Elon’s DOGE team, Vought, Miller and the gang are working to make this a reality. Time is of the essence. There’s no such thing as being unengaged. Silence is complicity. Stand up and speak out now while there’s still time.
Dwight Swisher
Hereford
Advocates eye I-10 wildlife crossing
Thank you for highlighting the success of the Oracle Road wildlife crossings. It’s inspiring to see Pima County leading with responsible, science-based solutions that protect both drivers and wildlife. These crossings not only reduce collisions but help maintain healthy wildlife populations in our fragmented desert landscape. I fully support expanding crossings along I-10 and other critical corridors — these projects are a smart investment in the future of southern Arizona’s unique ecology and quality of life.
Mireya Ballesteros
Midtown
Hernandez is bold new leader
Like Daniel Hernández, I, too, was proudly born and raised in the Sunnyside community. As a long-time educator, I was at Sunnyside during the era with a corrupt superintendent stealing from our kids. As the youngest elected School Board President, he was the only school board member with the tenacity to speak up and do something about it. Local elected officials remained silent. Daniel’s leadership led us to the recall of this superintendent, steering us toward a new era of transparency, accountability, and progress for Sunnyside. Daniel has repeatedly proven that he is willing to be bold and speak truth to power, regardless of whether it wins him friends or political points. Daniel delivers. He has always shown up, stood up, and delivered. Now it’s time we show up for him this special election. We need someone who knows his constituents and is willing to listen to them. That’s why I’m proud to support Daniel Hernández for Congress.
Danielle Othon
Sahuarita
Road rage in Tucson
It’s lawless on the roads of Tucson.
Our driving culture is unpleasant, and it’s outright unsafe.
Local government and police leadership need to step up and start properly staffing traffic law enforcement for the city and the county.
If the culture is that we as the public can easily break traffic laws without repercussion, the same mentality must be bolstered for those who consider doing more heinous crimes.
Luke Combellick
Northeast side
Defeating Ciscomani
Democrats’ chances to oust Ciscomani in 2028 would improve if we could get someone to run for CD-06 who has both name recognition and a track record of accomplishments as an elected official. Can we convince Steve Kozachik or Karen Uhlich to get in the race? They each already have a core group of supporters who can help create momentum and fundraise on their behalf.
John Shepard
Midtown
Last Saturday’s protest
Protests and demonstrations such as we saw last weekend are mere curiosities to the powers that be. The foresighted authors of the Arizona Constitution 113 years ago included the enablement of initiative, recall, and referendum in Arizona’s Constitution: direct democracy. Presently, we have to rely on the good will and good faith of our representatives and appointed officials, ensconced for years and, for all purposes, immune to the will of the people. Donald Trump has shown that the normal measures that exclude convicted criminals from even serving as janitors at public schools, or truck drivers, certainly bankers, mean nothing in politics. We need to get strict with those who are supposed to serve us. I would like to see our national Constitution enable initiative, recall, and referendum and also get and keep convicted felons out of any government position at any time.
William Winkelman
East side
Data center for Tucson
After what I’ve read on these pages about the needs required to operate a data center, I’d be surprised if the Pima County Board of Supervisors would give serious consideration to such a proposal, either now or in the future.
If that would happen, we would witness organized opposition and demonstrations that would rival the unrest and protests that we are now seeing across America.
This is Tucson, Arizona, and we are not for sale. Move on.
George Newman
Midtown
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