“The animals are victims, and you hate to sentence victims to death.”

– Director Nancy Hill of the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service, explaining why the agency wants to place rather than euthanize as many as possible of the eight pit bulls seized in a dogfighting case.

“I was sleep-deprived. I misspoke.”

– U.S. Sen. and Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, explaining in an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review why she erroneously said she arrived in Bosnia under sniper fire during a 1996 trip.

“If a witness lies, innocent people can go to jail or prison, people can literally get away with murder, civil litigants who deserve money may not get it or may get money they don’t deserve. And lying cannot be tolerated even if a judge or jury sees through it.”

– Wayne County, Mich., Prosecutor Kym Worthy, announcing her decision to charge Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick with perjury for allegedly lying in court about an affair with his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty.

“It has to be a really important element. This doesn’t rise to that.”

– Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Clint Francis, explaining why perjury charges would not be pursued over allegations that Clifford Helm lied during his vehicular homicide trial about how soon he resumed driving after the Nov. 1, 2005, accident that claimed the lives of five children.

“Simply put, there is a shortage of vision and political will within the Legislature to do what needs to be done this year.”

– Idaho Gov. Butch Otter as he threw in the towel on a package of taxes and fees he had backed as a way to fund a statewide road maintenance backlog.

“I’m like an old car; everything starts to break down. I just turned 29.”

– Former Missouri State star Jackie Stiles, who gave a standout performance in Spokane for the 2001 NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional tournament but later suffered a series of injuries that cut short her professional career.

“I’d just rather retire sooner than I should, rather than stick around longer than I should.”

– House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, quoted in the Seattle Times on the eve of her 76th birthday about why she’s stepping down after 36 years in the Washington Legislature.

“You can’t get big in Spokane until you’re big somewhere else.”

– Spokane entrepreneur John Waters, who returned to Spokane after moving to Seattle, where he launched a successful business that now markets a clothing line in large cities across the country.