“I risked my life and came here because I believe our country is in danger.”

– Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, speaking to a rally in Rawalpindi, shortly before she died in an attack by a gun-wielding suicide-bomber.

“Could this bankrupt the city if the program grows by leaps and bounds? I can only wish that so many residents want to go green that that becomes an issue.”

– Vice Mayor Jared Moskowitz of Parkland, Fla., which is expecting to pay residents $100,000 in the first year of a program providing cash rebates for such environmentally friendly household purchases as hybrid automobiles and low-flow toilets.

“We’ve got to make sure the rest of the United States doesn’t believe the only thing going on in Alaska is FBI probes and corruption trials.”

– Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Sandpoint native, explaining why she’s eager to tell the state’s story to a variety of media outlets, including the fashion magazine Vogue, for which she recently posed.

“It is composting at its best.”

– Cynthia Beal, owner of a Portland company that sells biodegradable coffins.

“We think of it like a childhood immunization. We have a vaccine against tobacco addiction. It’s these best practices from the CDC.”

– Executive Director Bill Corr, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, saying that even though teen smoking is relatively low in Idaho, the state spends disappointingly little on prevention programs.

“It’s perfect except for the ice under it.”

– 12-year-old boogie-boarder Lukas Reid, after discovering that the layer of fluffy snow covering the sloping landscape at Chase Middle School concealed a firm underlayer of ice that made itself known when jumps sent sledders airborne.

“He had two heart attacks in 20 minutes; there was nothing we could have done for him.”

– Surgeon Isaias Sandigo, whose 698-pound patient needed a forklift to get him on the operating table in Guatemala City but later died of heart failure following a procedure to remove 80 percent of his stomach.

“People learn of institutions – especially institutions that are not in the Ivy League – through their sports program. And especially revenue sports, whether football or basketball.”

– Washington State University’s first-year president, Elson Floyd, expressing his strong support for the school’s athletic program.