VOICES: Question: It’s open forum week. What’s on your mind?

• The water department raised the rates because we had a wet spring and no one watered their lawns. If we have a dry summer is the city going to lower our rates? I hope so.

• The city has asked everybody to clean up their property and maintain it. But they have a new fountain downtown right by the train depot with three urns and one has mildew and the other two are ripped up. Can the city do something about that and get them repaired or at least take the urns out of there and clean it up? That is a distraction to that new fountain.

• I can’t believe our city commission raises our water rates to where senior citizens retain shower water to pour back into their toilets so they may flush because they cannot afford the cost of the water. Then they give away $100,000 to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame so they can move into the mall. Seems like to me they should have spent some of that money to help our senior citizens.

• Give me a break! At a time when we’re having to cut back on cable TV, personal cell phones and pizza, you want new recreation facilities in Newton? Carpe diem and remember how farm and city boys nailed hoops to their barns and garages to bring championship basketball to NHS known as “Glory Days.” We are Newton, not Andover/Wichita.

• America cannot achieve its ideals and values unless all citizens have health care. Let’s get up and call those fat cats, all the lobbyists and opposition party politicians. Let’s tell them what we want.