“You’ll find more racists on a street corner in Los Angeles than you would in the whole state of Idaho, yet we had the reputation that this was a racist community.”

– Civil rights activist Marshall Mend, of Coeur d’Alene, quoted in an article about the growing number of Jews in a region where anti-Semitism has been an issue.

“These guys make our SWAT guys look humble.”

– Minneapolis police Capt. Mike Martin, commending the Navy divers who plunged into the Mississippi River before dawn to search for victims of his city’s tragic bridge collapse.

“He told me the way his son shows support for our military and our nation is to buy a Winnebago and ride across Iowa and help him get elected.”

– Rachel Griffiths, of Milan, Ill., after asking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney about his five sons’ decision not to enlist in the armed forces to fight in the Iraq war Romney supports.

“We can only Google so much, and librarians are essential to our youth, especially when the teachers don’t have time.”

– Parent Stephen Latoszek, one of the observers at Wednesday’s Spokane School Board meeting where a budget was adopted cutting back librarians in the district’s elementary schools.

“There are two societies here – those who clean up and take care of business and those who come out at night. They don’t work. Their kids run the streets.”

– North Central Community resident Mary Fryback, saying some of her neighbors share her concern about the graffiti in the area and some just contribute to it.

“We no longer need television documentaries about the Stone Age. We are actually living in it.”

– Iraqi clothing merchant Hazim Obeid, complaining about unreliable power and water services in Karbala province where he has a stall.

“But that’s what police officers and firefighters do. They put themselves in danger to save others.”

– Deputy Police Chief Mark Duncan, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., after a man jumped to his death from Spokane’s Monroe Street Bridge in front of police who had been warned that the suicide victim might try to pull an officer over with him.

“I’m listening to the criticism. I’m trying to see the other point of view. I’m trying to put myself in the parents’ shoes. That was one of the reasons I really reformed the camera stuff.”

– Self-described pedophile Jack McClellan, a former Washington resident who now concerns California authorities because, although he’s not known to have molested any children, he talks openly on the Internet about his fascination with watching and photographing little girls.

“Parents have gotten away from the idea that accidents happen and can’t be prevented. They know that child safety seats save lives and bike helmets prevent head injuries. They believe, as parents, that they can protect their kids. And that’s a big deal.”

– University of Washington pediatrics professor Frederick Rivara, commenting on a recent report that childhood deaths have dropped significantly, in part because parents are more attentive to safety precautions.