Metro columnist, Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Email: tsteller@tucson.com Signal: timsteller.87https://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mvotpo7yek2wI hate that we have to care what these self-involved people think or are like. Unfortunately, in the AI world that has become our world, they are important. [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Sep 2026 04:43 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvotpo7yek2whttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mvg4buuttk2rWhen people get angry about proposed data centers, as they have in the Tucson area, it's not just about the projects themselves. It's also about asserting some control over the AI-driven future. https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_ae3fc771-9563-4ddb-86c3-42380f2c6f5f.html13 Sep 2026 17:22 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvg4buuttk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mv3vfje6os2jColumn: Much of Tucson doesn't realize that the streetcar, far from being a downtown plaything, serves as real mass transit for U of A students and employees. It could do better and turn around last year's declines in ridership if it had reliable, reasonable wait times. https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_46548013-9a21-4c8f-9333-013ea84d5fea.html#tracking-source=home-top-story09 Sep 2026 15:52 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3vfje6os2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3muxdncblks2lThis conflict, between a tribe with a huge reservation west of Tucson and the federal government, is poised for a flare-up if and when the feds start border wall construction. [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Sep 2026 20:24 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3muxdncblks2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3muxclvayr22lIt lived up to its nickname, Tilt-A-Hurl, last time I took it. [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Sep 2026 20:05 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3muxclvayr22lhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3muuayevuns2nColumn: Tucson suffers another violent blow, this one not our town's fault. Whose was it? I suspect more key information is yet to be discovered, but for now I see it this way: The Gambia gave him the ammunition, his beliefs, and the United States gave him the gun. https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_24f47b81-354e-4e49-9742-7c43e2b329bf.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest06 Sep 2026 14:58 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3muuayevuns2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mumridaji226Tucson suffered another violent blow this week with the killings of two men outside a gay bar called the Venture-N. It happened about 12:30 a.m. Monday. I heard about it later that morning when working nearby and helped cover it. Later, police said it was a hate crime. https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-courts/article_55d0e264-8087-48d1-95ab-4c1f82864f97.html03 Sep 2026 15:32 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumridaji226https://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mul7qnnx5k2cThis was a crazy global soccer episode yesterday. As the transfer deadline closed, U.S. player Balogun nixed his own transfer because of the way the buying team, Everton, treated him. Kinda cool actually. [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Sep 2026 00:42 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mul7qnnx5k2chttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mucsmjpbss2zColumn: Tucson-area elected officials are fluent in the language of social services and sustainability but not business. So their economic development efforts are focused on social services and sustainability. In Tucson's economic malaise, we can't afford to be so choosy. https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_4fbca8d3-d7ce-4478-a1b0-5f48ac4bee8f.html#tracking-source=home-top-story30 Aug 2026 16:26 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mucsmjpbss2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mu3zyd4ges2eLast week the Tucson City Council was asked to approve a long-planned transfer of land to the Air Force on behalf of Raytheon, a massive employer here that makes Tomahawk missiles and other products. A council member raised awkward questions that usually go unspoken. https://www.youtube.com/live/f_Lv7U116cE?si=_V0SSSgktVjVI5v1&t=2115427 Aug 2026 23:49 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu3zyd4ges2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mtzrsuyfz22sI need someone to tell Florence, as well as the Machine, that the dog days are far from over in Tucson, where it was 110 (43 Celsius) today. The dog days are NOT over even thought their earworm song keeps telling me so.27 Aug 2026 02:17 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtzrsuyfz22shttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mtymqgd4rk2xColumn: It took a while, but the city of Tucson appears to be getting serious about transit security. We need safety if we're going to have a better-used Sun Tran system, and a better used system is a safer system. https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_996e2e5c-aa4b-4b60-9ce6-f50342d0e906.html26 Aug 2026 15:14 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtymqgd4rk2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mtw5chnw2k2yThis is not an unusual scene in most bigger cities, but it’s encouraging for me to see packed city buses in Tucson like the one I rode yesterday. Transit has been fare-free here since the pandemic, which costs the city an additional $10 million per year. It’s controversial, but jury is still out.25 Aug 2026 15:32 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtw5chnw2k2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/timsteller.bsky.social/post/3mtrewrk7l22uColumn: The disproportionate dispute over a $122,000 Pima County contract is about a lot more than the contract. It's about the practice of patronage in the Tucson area and about political rivalry, as networks rise, fall and shift in character. https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_90be4c95-08e4-429d-a247-47fb3a7a248c.html23 Aug 2026 18:06 +0000at://did:plc:dwpkqgpp5yswnmponsntway6/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtrewrk7l22u