Declarations
Get it together
“The state and ICF need to get together to get this program working. … Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement.”
— U.S. District Judge James Brady, upon dismissing a class-action lawsuit against ICF International of Virginia that claims the contractor is cheating thousands of Louisiana hurricane victims by mismanaging the state’s Road Home program. Brady said he was reluctantly dismissing the case. He noted that the state should be added as a defendant and that the lawsuit should be filed in state, not federal, court. ICF, which stands to make $756 million over three years giving out $6.2 billion in federal aid, said it has no say in how to administer the program, only the state of Louisiana does. The program already faces a potential deficit estimated as high as $5 billion. (AP)
Totally saturated
“Because storms have saturated much of our state this summer, many of our communities are at risk of dangerous flash flooding. Places where one or two inches of rain normally wouldn’t cause concern could quickly turn into a life-threatening situation.”
— Texas Governor Rick Perry, announcing in late July the positioning of search and rescue teams in San Antonio in anticipation of a continuing flow of devastating rainstorms throughout Texas. The state experienced record-breaking rainfall amounts and flooding during June and July.
A blink of an eye
“In the blink of an eye, he went from going on a vacation to having a serious injury.”
— Attorney Ervin Gonzalez of Coral Gables, Fla., after a jury found in favor of his client and against Ford Motor Co. in a case involving the rollover of a Ford Aerostar van. The jury said Ford should pay $6 million to Julian Felipe, of Hialeah, who was paralyzed when the Ford Aerostar van he was riding in rolled over after a tire blew out. He was 17 at the time; his mother was driving. The lawsuit contended that Ford knew there was a propensity for its vans and trucks to roll over, especially after a tire blew out, and the company failed to provide adequate engineering and safety measures to protect consumers. The six-person jury found that Ford failed to use reasonable care by placing the Aerostar on the market with a defect. (AP)
But she came out smiling
“I had a pit in my stomach. … There was blood all over the place. I don’t know how she was smiling.”
— Golfer Tiger Woods, after a round at the British Open, during which one of his wayward shots beaned a 63-year-old woman. Woods’ approach shot at the 6th hole hit Jennifer Wilson in the head, but she emerged from her ordeal in good spirits. Wilson and a freelance photographer conked the same day by a tee shot of Sergio Garcia both received autographed golf gloves as compensation for their pains. (AP)