“Had he not been driving a police vehicle, I’m fairly confident it would have been handled differently.”

– Washington State Patrol spokesman Trooper Jeff Sevigney, talking about a trooper’s decision to stop pursuing Spokane Police Lt. Dean Sprague, who had been clocked at 106 mph, because Sprague turned on his official lights.

“If it’s honest and it’s clean money … you take it so you can help people who can’t afford to give.”

– Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris, whose re-election campaign fund already includes more than $41,000, much of it from a $1,000-a-plate breakfast attended by many builders and developers.

“Why are the federal standards so hard to meet? I would have taken my chances with a jury.”

– Former Spokane City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers, after federal authorities announced that an FBI investigation into recalled Mayor Jim West’s conduct did not produce evidence on which to file charges.

“I’ve never had anyone come up and say, ‘Hey, man, I’m tired of there not being any ice space.’ “

– Eastern Washington University student Steve Marriott, who is involved in an effort that questions the inclusion of an ice rink in the recreation center planned for EWU’s Cheney campus.

“It wasn’t a big deal in this community at all. … I’ve gotten some pretty nasty e-mails from around the country.”

– Adams Elementary School Principal Mary Perrizo-Weber, after her no-tag policy at the Spokane school captured national TV attention.

“I tried to put my arms around his mouth, and I said, ‘Please, Bear, let go of me, let go of Momma.’ “

– Dog-owner Trudy Deon of Coeur d’Alene, who was hospitalized after being mauled by three Rottweiler-chow mixes she bought for protection.

“Nine million people have been closed out of our parks. Enough is enough.”

– Washington state Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, arguing on behalf of legislation to repeal the $5 parking fee imposed in state parks beginning three years ago.

“The covey flushed, and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good.”

– Ranch owner Katherine Armstrong, describing the incident in which Vice President Dick Cheney shot hunting companion Harry Whittington.

“You’re standing outside Fort Knox with billions of dollars inside. The only problem is how are you going to get it out.”

– Former Enron executive Kenneth Rice, who once headed the energy company’s broadband unit, testifying in Enron founder Kenneth Lay’s fraud and conspiracy trial, about pending deals he thought might strengthen the failing company financially.

“People are willing to pay the fines. I’ve got $500 in a jar to pay for tickets.”

– Bar operator Patty Breithaupt, who said she rents ashtrays for $2 a night to customers at her establishment, despite a voter-approved Washington state law banning smoking in such places.

“They often run individual drip lines to each plant and are out there fertilizing them. It takes a tremendous amount of work.”

– Lt. Rich Wiley, head of the Washington State Patrol’s narcotics program, talking about the labor intensity of growing marijuana, the state’s No. 8 agricultural commodity, based on quantities confiscated by law enforcement officers in 2005.