3 min read  by Brian Flagg His message resonated deeply with many people, especially younger ones who have significantly less economic opportunity in front of them than their parents or even grandparents had. Look at how many states he won, acting like the Democratic Socialist he really is and has been for decades. As Congressman Raul Grijalva said in an e-mail (Tuesday July 12) “The Democratic Party platform calls for a $15 national hourly minimum wage. It would not have happened if Bernie Sanders had not run such a great presidential race.” Grijalva also said that “the platform can be turned into

4 min readby Brian Flagg In Mayor Rothschild’s opinion piece in Friday’s Star  (7-8-2016) he claims that there is “a new sense of pride, optimism, and excitement in our city because of the City’s economic development efforts.” My question is, according to whom? The Tucsonans that make less than $10 an hour? According to the Star article (7-8-2016) about the $12 an hour minimum wage initiative, a quarter of the workforce in Arizona makes less than $10 an hour. Certainly he is not talking about the 60,000 daily Sun Tran riders, many whom live in poverty, who are facing a large fare increase in

3 min readpor Alicia Nunez Tengo la bendición de haber asistido al Congreso OCDS en San Jose, Cal. del 23-26 Junio, acompañada de mis hermanas en Cristo; Carmen, Toni, y Zulema. Tambien estuvieron en el Congreso P. Godfrey y P. Juan Elias de St. Cruz. Eramos Cerca de 550 personas sin contar los sacerdotes y seminaristas. Hermosa experiencia! Estar en comunidad con mis hermanos en el Carmelo es una paz, una tranquilidad, que solo Dios y nuestra Madre Santísima pueden dar, y no hay palabras para describirla … solo se siente. Estar en oración en comunidad, acompañada de tantos sacerdotes, seminaristas, y

3 min readby Sarah Lanius On Friday, June 24, Bus Rider Union members joined in the celebration at the dia de San Juan fiesta and also spoke with our neighbors about the proposed fare increases. You’ll be seeing us out and about at other public events as we work to raise awareness of the proposed fare increases for Sun Tran. Our message was simple: fare increases now is irresponsible to our climate and to the public; we need to have leadership and vision to increase ridership. As I spoke with people I found that most knew that the fares were being looked

3 min readby Sarah Launius On Tuesday, Bus Riders Union and Tucson’s Rising Tide members spoke before Tucson’s Mayor and Council.  The message was simple: Make Sun Tran Great Again! Increase Ridership Not Fares! Dirk Trachy from Tucson’s Rising Tide shared with Mayor and Council that transit is not only important for people but for our planet. Citing US greenhouse gas emissions from transport at 33% and 34% in Tucson, Dirk informed the council that cities like Munich, Germany have greenhouse gas emissions of 8% largely because of the city’s commitment to viable and affordable mass transit. Dirk urged the Mayor and

2 min readby Brian Flagg Much thanks to Karen Haggar from St. Thomas the Apostle parish. Not only does she give us a donation every month, she passed on to us this tribute to Dan who died on April 30 at the age of 94. It was written by John Nichols in The Nation magazine (May 23, 2016). He talks about how Dan was inspired by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker and how everything Dan stood for in his life has evolved more or less into the economic justice message of Pope Francis, his fellow jesuit. Dan, and his brother Phil’s

2 min readWednesday June 15 at 5:30 p.m. Armory Park Senior Center (225 S. 5th Avenue) Bring your CREATIVITY to this meeting! The City Manager and City Council are hell-bent on raising bus fares. To balance their budget they are taking money from even the Cops and Fire … so they want sacrifices from Transit too. But raising fares is not the way to do it because studies show that fare increases decrease ridership, meaning less revenue for the transit system. The City Manager has said he needs $1.7 million from Transit. The Bus Rider Union has agreed to almost $2 million

5 min readby Brian Flagg It was extremely profound. A main reason was that I had the privilege of doing this with the Guadalupanas from my parish, Santa Cruz. They are an incredibly spiritual group of women with a deep devotion to the Virgen and they are a lot of fun too! We spent two nights in Guadalajara, a night in Puebla, one in Mexico City, one in Mazatlan, Sinaloa and 3 nights sleeping and riding on the bus. It only cost $550 and so it was accessible to barrio people of modest means. Much thanks to Toni Diaz for inviting me.

5 min readYo bus riders, supporters of bus riders, and any other warm and breathing parties interested in transit justice: What do you think of this as a possible Tucson Bus Rider Union proposal to solve the City’s budget woes in regard to transit? They are taking $11 million from the cops, $4 million from Fire, and want $1.7 million from Transit. The city seems hell-bent on raising fares which is in reality balancing their budget on the backs of bus riders, many of whom live in poverty. But they don’t have to. Check this out! Please reply with your ideas and