OPINION

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What down-ballot race in the March 2 primaries makes you want to get to the polls?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What question would you like to ask a candidate for the March 2 primary election?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

Since the convention industry is meeting in Dallas this week (yes, a convention for convention planners), we asked our Sounding Off list members what should be a part of their meetings -- what's to see, to know, to experience about North Texas. What they told us is on the next screen.

But, in the meantime, if you'd like to join in the fun, please send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com. Or comment here.

Every week, we poll the members of the editorial board on a timely and divisive topic. This week, the question is:

Should Texas Tech coach Mike Leach be fired?

Here are their responses (which they provided prior to Texas Tech's actual firing of Leach moments ago):

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

It's the giving season. What worthy charity do you hope will benefit from the generosity of your community?

This giving season, the North Texas Food Bank was often mentioned. But we received an inspiring mixture of good suggestions. Read on to see some of the answers our Sounding Off respondents gave. If you'd like to participate, write to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Or review past Sounding Off entries by clicking here.

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

This week, we collected opinions on whom we trust, whether in City Hall, Austin or Washington, D.C.

I didn't make an extensive study of it, but I did notice that a couple of names came up multiple times and not necessarily from people who are represented by the politician in question. These officeholders and retired pols included: (drum roll, please)

1. Laura Miller
2. Florence Shapiro

Continue to see more comments from our Voices columnists and other Sounding Off respondents.

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Do you trust your city hall to prevent the kind of corruption involving developers that was exposed in the federal trial in Dallas?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Should students spend more time in school? At what level of government should the decision be made about lengthening school days or adding more instruction days to the year?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Why don't more students walk to school?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Last week we asked: What classes would you add?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Also, check out past Sounding Off questions.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What class would you like to see added as a requirement for a high school diploma in Texas?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

In Points today, we launch our summer book club, featuring Bryan Burrough's 'The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes.' So we were wondering ...

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If you could change one thing about your city's reputation, what would it be?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...
Special note: This week, we did not ask this question of readers in Plano, Garland, Richardson, McKinney and other cities in those areas.

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

How have high gas prices and the recession affected your vacation plans?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What services should your city eliminate or cut back on to balance the budget in light of decreasing revenues? Or would you prefer tax increases?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

This week, we asked our Sounding Off contributors to name a place to live they would recommend to a newcomer -- not their own town.

We got some duplication (Fort Worth), but there was some interesting reasoning behind the Sounding Off respondents' choices. Maybe there's an idea there for a weekday or weekend jaunt for you.

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members in Dallas:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members outside of Dallas:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert wants to take over DISD. Now State Rep. Yvonne Davis has filed a bill to break it up into smaller districts. What do you think should be done to DISD?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

The North Texas Tollway Authority this week chose to rename the 121 Tollway the Sam Rayburn Tollway to honor the late politician. Do you support that decision?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

Here's our uplifting Sounding Off question to set the tone for the rest of your weekend:

Everywhere you turn, there's bad economic news. But what gives you hope?

People on our Sounding Off list offered varied evidence that, in the midst of what seems to be an endless stream of bad news on the nation's economy, there is hope for recovery.

Click on to receive some of their responses.

This week, we asked our Sounding Off respondents if they would support a 7-cent fee on plastic shopping bags if it would discourage their use and promote recycling programs.

It just so happens that state Rep. Rafael Anchía has made such a proposal. We found opinion split on the question, with many saying that they already eschewed plastic bags and supply their own cloth bags. Or mean to, anyway -- although, as in my case, these good intentions are sometimes thwarted by forgetfulness.

Many who didn't like the idea were mostly against new tax proposals in general, feeling that this one might set a precedent. Still others proposed ways to achieve the same goals without adding a tax.

Whether you drive on them or not, HOV lanes seem to draw controversy. We asked our Sounding Off respondents what they would change to make HOV lanes more effective at improving traffic and cleaning the air.

Many of them thought we shouldn't have HOV lanes at all -- that we should open up those lanes to everyone, either during non-rush hours or all the time. Some were concerned that there isn't enough enforcement on HOV lanes.

Some of the answers may surprise you. Keep reading to check them out.

This week, we reversed course and asked our Sounding Off list folks what questions they would like to ask about the week's news. Here's a good sampling of their responses:

Does Nadya Suleyman hope to solve the economic crisis by quickly creating many more consumers?

Giri Chakravarthi, Plano

Since this isn't China, who should decide how many children an individual is allowed?

Linda Cress Dowdy, Plano

News line: Family of NM man who died from salmonella to testify on Capitol Hill. Why? What possible expert information could they give?

Fred Tschirgi, Dallas

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What should teenagers learn from the scandal involving Michael Phelps smoking pot?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What would you say to persuade qualified candidates to seek local office? What issues would give a newcomer a chance over incumbents on school boards or city councils?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

In this week's Sounding Off, we asked: "What do you expect to change in your life as a result of President Barack Obama's first 100 days in office?"

Many of our volunteer Voices columnists and respondents on the Sounding Off mailing list expect great things, whether they are measurable achievements, like creating jobs, or intangibles, like creating hope. Many others say they expect nothing at all.

Keep reading to see what they wrote -- and to log your own comments as well.

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Would Martin Luther King Jr. be pleasantly surprised or disappointed in what you told him about your community?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Voices columnists and our Sounding Off respondents to name what they hope the Texas Legislature will accomplish this year.

Some themes emerged, from health care to job growth to enhancing education. Please read the rest of the blog entry to see the details and respond with your own push for our Lege.

Today, we are publishing Christmas wishes for the community as our special holiday Sounding Off.

So what's your wish? We have suggestions for bike trails, public transit for Arlington, a town square for Plano and improved DART train cars. That's not counting lofty ideals like peace and the elimination of a need for charities.

Here are some of the wishes our Voices expressed:

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Would you like to see more money spent on expanding highways or on expanding rail in North Texas?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

Are teenagers today more dishonest than teenagers in the past? What should be done about that?

This question came up because of an AP story about a study this week that said, yes, teens seem to be more dishonest than in the past.

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What do we take for granted?

If the spirit moves you, feel free to respond to this question in the comments section here. Or, if you'd like to join the Thursday Sounding Off print respondents, click this link to send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

For some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

We asked our Sounding Off list members:

What should be done to help the U.S. auto industry and the families that rely on it?

To be added to the e-mail list, send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com. To read some of the responses to this week's question, keep reading ...

This week's Community Opinions Sounding Off question was easy to answer for our participants. It appears that everyone on Main Street has been affected by Wall Street's recent series of dives.

Tell us, how are you dealing with the economy? What in your community has been impacted?

Answers from readers, after the jump ...

When we asked our Sounding Off respondents to name a down-ballot race that they hoped would get their neighbors' attention, we found that many were interested in the bond issue for Parkland Hospital. Others mentioned a specific candidate. Still others wanted to promote their favorite party.

So, without further ado, let's leap into the fray.

We asked people on our our Sounding Off list:

What would you change to make voting easier and increase voter turnout?

Responses are printed inside today's Metro and summarized here. To be added to our list, send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

Here's what they said:

Where are the accidents just waiting to happen on the roads of North Texas? We asked our Sounding Off correspondents and our Voices to name the streets, roads and intersections that threaten motorists most.

My own personal favorite nail-biter (oops, gotta keep both hands on the wheel) is the cloverleaf intersection at State Highway 183 and Loop 12 (that's where Texas Stadium is). And reader Bill La Barr of Irving confirms it: "That is the scariest exchange in Dallas," he says. Wonder how many other people are willing to drive through Irving to avoid it?

We heard about intersections in Plano, Grand Prairie, Grapevine and Lake Highlands, among others.

Donna Lackey of Dallas called the U.S. Highway 67/Interstate 35 split south of downtown "the most dangerous stretch of road in this area," where drivers dart to other lanes at the last minute.

Probably the road that was named the most often was North Central Expressway, despite its improvements.

Did we name your own personal pick for most dangerous stretch of pavement? Feel free to comment here. And if you want to be included in future Sounding Offs, send your full contact information to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

North Texans sure are passionate about the State Fair of Texas, so we had no shortage of responses from our regular Sounding-Off-ers and our Community Voices.

(Friendly reminder: Tomorrow is the deadline to submit your application to be a Community Voice! Read more about how to apply here, and if you want to see what people in your community are doing with their voices, check out recent columns from Jeanna Mead of Fate, Greg Silva of Flower Mound and Elouise Plain of Plano.)

This week we asked: What would you change about the great State Fair of Texas?

Wondering what folks said? Check out a few responses after the jump...

In our weekly Sounding Off feature, we asked, "Will you watch Thursday night's vice-presidential debate? If so, what will you be looking for?" With 220 shout-outs from our sounding off-ers, it was plain as day that most were looking forward to getting to know Sarah Palin a little better, though many people acknowledged that their minds are already made up.

Want to know more? Breakdown after the jump ...

In our weekly Sounding Off feature, we asked, "If you could ask one question in a presidential debate on behalf of your community, what would you ask?" We got more than 230 answers. Not one directly related to Iraq. Several related to education. A handful of other issues, too. But by far, these were the four top topics:

Sounding Off, which appears in today's Metro section and on the Web site here, here and here, asks the question: Of all local projects in the works -- new Cowboys stadium, Trinity River park, Dallas Arts District and others -- what will have the most impact?

We received 176 responses to this question from readers on our Sounding Off mailing list (more on how you can join) and from our volunteer Voices columnists.

Of course, several perennial favorites emerged, and Sounding Off respondents didn't hesitate to criticize some public projects:

We asked our Sounding Off mailing list members: Should kids play many sports or focus on just one? At what age should kids specialize or become involved in elite programs? A few major themes from their responses:

Sounding Off, which appears inside the Metro section today, asked: Do you plan to watch John McCain accept the Republican nomination for president on Thursday night? What do you hope to hear in his speech?

Sounding Off, which appears inside the Metro section today, asked: Do you plan to watch Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for president on tonight? What do you hope to hear in his speech?

I swear, this is a completely unedited response to our Sounding Off question this week about how important it is to be bilingual:

I live is a Dallas surburb Mesquite, for me to speak a 2nd language does not impact my comminity at all. If someone speak to me in another language , I would simply say 'speak english hoss this is america'.
Je ne parle pas francais. and if that does not communicate I would simply say no hablo espanol. I was schooled for 12 years to learn my language ,this is America and English is the language pure and simple......

We asked our Sounding Off group what habits they have changed because of the rising gas prices. Here is my least favorite answer:

I quite giving my son's friends rides home after school practices. I also add up the cost to do simple things like going to the gym. At the cost of $6 a day round trip in my Durango, that's $48 a month just going twice a week. I can workout at home. As far as summer vacations, not sacrificing family memories yet.

It really didn't bother me until they changed the price from "your first born" to "an arm and a leg." But seriously, I think it has made me more resourceful. I'll be traveling to Arkansas this summer in a homemade blimp made from 36 helium balloons and an aluminum lawn chair. All I need now is a six-pack and a BB gun (for the descent).
Mike Standefer, McKinney

I posed this same question to our Collin County readers via Sounding Off, but it's soon to be a regional issue. In Collin County, though, three of the four major highways there will be toll roads soon. With that in mind, what would it take to get you to significantly change your driving habits? What gas price? What level of convenience? What workplace changes?

Texans love their cars and trucks, and they are the largest cumulative contributor to air pollution, so what will it take to make us change our bad habits?

I have a few ideas myself:
1. Staggered work hours. We need to eliminate rush hour, and we have the technology to do it. Time-of-day toll pricing would be an incentive, but companies should be given tax breaks if they can show that they have taken cars off the road at rush hour.
2. More hybrids, more alternative fuels, more cleaner vehicles, more incentives to get all of the above.
3. More (and cheaper) cabs and car services. Huh? Well, we really do NEED cars. But if we knew we could take mass transit most of the time and rely on efficient cabs and car services to fill in the gaps in our transportation needs, we might use mass transit more often. Heck, I might sell a car.
4. Higher gas taxes to pay for the above.

We asked our Sounding Off e-mail lists about our reversal on the death penalty, and here are the results. Overall, 50 percent disagree with our stand, 48 percent are strongly opposed, and 2 percent are unsure. I counted anyone who did not say they were unsure or definitely opposed as supporting. That included a lot of people who think the system is badly broken or flawed and may need a moratorium or a lot less use of the death penalty, but, on principle, are OK with it at some level.

This is not scientific. But it may be a better barometer of public opinion than our letters, which have come in about 5-1 on our side (opposed to the death penalty). In this case, at least, people were prompted for a response, as opposed to self-selecting to offer up an unsolicited response.

We have Sounding Off in four zones: East, West, Central and North, all in relation to Dallas itself. The Central zone, which is the newest and had the smallest number of responses, was 63 percent on our side. The North zone, 46 percent. The East and West zones, 44 percent.

Tomorrow's Sounding Off (inside Metro) focuses on the HPV vaccine mandate. I was surprised by how evenly split the responses were, and by how many we got, probably about 40 percent more than other questions. I thought it was interesting to see how this issue made so many people flip-flop politically. One woman said she couldn't believe she was agreeing with the right-wing conservatives, but the government needs to stay out of this! Others (more, really) said they couldn't believe Perry was being so progressive on a public health issue and that they were conflicted, feeling strangely supportive of their governor.

Overall, having read all these responses, here is my ranking, in order, of the valid concerns:

1. Perry had no right to do this without the Legislature's involvement.
2. The vaccine is still very new, and even though mandating it would mean it would be more accessible to poor people, we just don't know enough yet.
3. Parents should opt in, not have to opt out. Just make the vaccine easily available and free for poor people without the mandate.

Now, these are the concerns I think are invalid:

1. This is too young. Girls aren't supposed to have sex at age 11! (This is invalid because the whole idea is to get to girls BEFORE they might even possibly have physical contact with boys, even short of sex. This thing spreads much more easily than people realize.)
2. This tells girls they have a green light to have sex. (Hogwash on the highest degree. It would not be difficult at all to explain that this is a vaccine that guards them against cancer. If the subject of sex comes up at all, it takes two seconds to remind girls of the other dangers associated with sex: herpes, AIDS, the clap, a bad reputation, the loss of self-respect and, most frightening to kids, pregnancy.)
3. Cancer is not a communicable disease like the ones targeted by other vaccines. (No, but we're guarding against one disease that leads to another. And, believe it or not, yes, kids can spread this disease at school or school events. It does not require sexual intercourse. Condoms won't help. This isn't about sex, but contact of a sexual nature. I don't want to get too graphic here, but essentially, the CDC reports that girls can get this from snuggling.)