Wall will affect some birds

Re: the Oct. 19 letter to the editor "Border fence won't affect birds."

Although a border wall won't necessarily impact many high-flying migratory birds, there is an extraordinarily high diversity of birds in our region that will be affected.

Ground-dwelling birds such as quail are highly unlikely to cross a 12-foot border wall. Many non-migratory species that inhabit the understory and dense vegetation may not fly across a 100-foot swath of cleared vegetation and then up over a 12-foot wall.

The locally famous cactus ferruginous pygmy owl flies low from perch to perch, usually only a few inches to a couple feet off the ground. We will be risking the extinction of pygmy owls in Arizona if we build a wall across the majority of our border, as has been proposed.

Splitting populations greatly increases risk to a species, which is an especially large concern in Southern Arizona, where many subtropical species are at the edge of their range.

Sky Jacobs

Tucson

Water will not support growth

It's obvious to me that Tucson is living in a wonderland concerning its water use. Snowpack is diminishing, and the Colorado River is becoming a less reliable source of water. And yet, we keep promoting growth, new construction, golf courses, swimming pools and water features of all shapes and sizes. The end is not in sight, but the dire consequences are.

Paul Bookidis

Retired stockbroker, Marana

Resort will hurt 'natural beauty'

Re: the Oct. 18 "The Ritz-Carlton, long rumored, is going up in Marana."

It's official: The Ritz-Carlton is coming to Marana. I guess someone was sold on the idea that the Ritz-Carlton is going to create more jobs, generate more funds and fuel the local economy. It is without vision that the people perish. Creating an egocentric golf course in the desert where water is getting significantly scarce is not very visionary to me.

The great irony in the Ritz-Carlton being drawn to the "natural beauty" of Dove Mountain to obliterate more than 850 acres of land is tremendously disturbing. Is this project for the community, or are we greasing the pockets of the next fat cat? Maybe our friendly neighborhood Ritz-Carlton will generate more capital in the short run, but it's the long-term effect I am concerned about. Our kids are our future. By the time they grow up, this capitalistic effort will run our well dry.

Orrett Todd

Student, Sahuarita

Both cyclists, driver were unsafe

Re: the Oct. 23 letter to the editor "Unruly cyclists."

The letter writer had a terrible experience with some truly rude and violent cyclists. She is correct that by riding three or four abreast the cyclists were violating the law, and they were certainly out of line when they attacked her vehicle. She is also correct that the majority of cyclists are much better behaved.

However, she should not have stayed in the same lane as the cyclists when passing them. This is also a dangerous and illegal act. Cyclists have an equal right to a lane as any car. If a driver cannot pass a cyclist safely in the same lane, she should wait until the other lane is clear, and then pass.

Equal rights, and equal respect, will make all road users safer.

Josh Martin

Cyclist and graduate student, Tucson

Driver had another option

Re: the Oct. 23 letter to the editor "Unruly cyclists."

The letter writer who complained justly about the unruly cyclists overlooked her own contribution to what happened.

She was driving in the right automobile lane when she overtook cyclists riding on and over the line marking the left side of their lane. According to her she had just two choices: swerve into the left automobile lane risking a collision with another automobile, or continue in her own lane risking a collision with human beings not surrounded by steel. Curiously, she feels quite justified in having taken the latter course.

Actually, she had a third choice: slow down, let the car on her left clear, and give the cyclists the space they had wrongly appropriated. This did not occur to her.

The cyclists were wrong to batter her car, but they did not endanger her personal safety as she had deliberately endangered theirs. Those who violate the traffic laws do not deserve to get run over.

Fritz Brace

Retired, Tucson

Subsidy unfair to the co-op

Re: the Oct. 23 editorial "City Council should approve depot deal."

I support efforts to add to the cultural vitality and economic viability of Tucson's Downtown. However, I find one aspect of the city's proposed rent subsidy to the owners of Hotel Congress to encourage them to open an organic market and casual restaurant in the Historic Train Depot to be troubling.

There already is an organic supermarket, the Food Conspiracy Co-op, a few blocks away on Fourth Avenue. Why should the city fund a privately owned business that will directly compete with a cooperatively owned grocery store that has provided the Tucson community with healthy food for more than 30 years?

Steven Wind

Food Conspiracy Co-op member, Tucson

Downtown plans are encouraging

Maybe there is still hope for Downtown? I find three recent developments and ideas encouraging:

● TREO bringing Richard Florida to speak and shake up conventional bureaucratic thinking about urban revitalization.

● Creating a Folk Art Museum in the old Carnegie Library, once the Children's Museum moves into its new building.

● The city actually considering helping Richard Oseran of Hotel Congress fame to develop the Historic Train Depot into a gourmet deli and market.

Think of how fun it would be to have an art and cafe society Downtown instead of another sports arena.

Kerstin Block

President, Buffalo Exchange, Tucson