Declarations

20%

The percentage of U.S. drivers who admit they have read or sent a text message while behind the wheel, even though nearly all of the respondents considered such action unacceptable, according to an AAA survey.

$500 Million

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine’s revised estimate of the cost of damage caused by heavy flooding in parts of north Georgia. The new figure is twice as much as his original damage estimate of $250 million. Oxendine said the new number is conservative and could still rise. Oxendine said 20,000 homes and other structures suffered major damage, mainly in the area north and west of Atlanta.

2

The number of years in prison given to a South Carolina man for duping mortgage companies and homeowners in Eastern Kentucky. David C. Thomas admitted he falsely portrayed himself as an agent of Lloyd’s of London. Mortgage companies required homeowners to obtain insurance. As a benefit of doing business with them, Citifinancial and American General would pay the homeowner’s first year premium. The companies mailed the check to cover the premium to the insurance provider. Officials said that Thomas, falsely acting on behalf of Lloyd’s of London, admitted that he pocketed these checks, and then issued bogus insurance certificates. Thomas worked at North American Financial Services Inc. but never was an authorized representative of Lloyd’s of London.

10

The number of years federal authorities say two dozen people conducted a sophisticated car theft ring that targeted vehicles at University of Tennessee football home games. Officials finally secured indictments against them in June using federal racketeering laws that were created to pursue organized crime groups like the Mafia.

$1.2 Billion

The dollars figure attached to an Army Corps of Engineers’ recommendation for a post-Katrina coastal restoration plan for the Mississippi coast. So far, Congress has approved $439 million for the program.