In their words …
“I realize there’s a horse killed once in a while, but there’s probably a person killed once in a while, too. It’s part of the culture of that area.”
– Union leader Larry Hall, discounting criticism of the Omak Stampede and Suicide Race which the United Food & Commercial Workers Union in Spokane has agreed to sponsor.
“The problem is in everyone’s backyard.”
– Congressman John Mica, a Florida Republican, calling for more federal money and attention to combat a methamphetamine problem that he calls the most out-of-control drug-abuse problem he’s seen in seven terms in the House.
“The Legislature has already immunized farmers from being held accountable for any harm they do to people. Isn’t it the only decent thing left to do, to tell people where these burns are going to happen so they can get out of the way?”
– Patti Gora, executive director of Safe Air For Everyone, objecting to the Idaho Agriculture Department’s decision not to pinpoint where grassfield burning will occur.
“The tragedy of Sept. 11 shook our sense of security. Unfortunately, some believe this renders our Constitution obsolete. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won.”
– U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour, who sentenced foiled plane bomber Ahmed Ressam to 22 years in prison, criticizing the Bush administration’s reliance on secret military tribunals for handling suspected terrorists.
“Being prepared and having it happen are two different things.”
– Crater Lake National Park spokesman Mac Brock, noting that although park rangers rarely get involved in gunplay, they are professional law-enforcement officers, trained to handle the kind of confrontation that resulted in the fatal shooting of a threatening camper last week at the Oregon park.
“The squirrel population is down one today.”
– Avista Utilities spokeswoman Debbie Simock, explaining the cause of an hour-long power outage that left more than 2,000 Avista customers without electricity Thursday night.
“Senator Frist is a good man; he’s simply advocating a bad policy.”
– U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Texas, after Senate Majority leader William Frist, a Tennessee Republican, announced he now supports expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, which Delay and President Bush oppose.