Declarations

Wild Bus Ride

“She can’t stay in the lanes, she’s crossing the double lines, and the adults are getting scared.”

—A woman on a Utah school bus called 911 when the driver allegedly began driving erratically. The driver was arrested in mid-October on suspicion of DUI.

Freedom of Speech

“The First Amendment gives people the right to flash their headlights to send a message.”

—Richard Morse, legal director of the ACLU of Delaware, says Smyrna, Del., police have routinely violated individuals’ free speech rights, including ticketing a driver who flashed his headlights to warn fellow motorists of a speed trap.

Road HomeTEXT

“We hope that Sen. Vitter, Sen. Landrieu and the rest of the delegation will work with these federal partners on a solution, so that we can close out the Road Home program in way that makes sense for our citizens nearly 10 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

—Louisiana Office of Community Development Director Pat Forbes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking the return of $522.2 million in home elevation grants to the Louisiana Road Home program, but has no plans to make homeowners who failed to elevate their homes pay back the grants.

Farm Machinery v. Poles

“We’ve got about 20 contacts from farm equipment into our power lines since January first of this year.”

—Terry Ebright, a safety coordinator at Sioux Valley Energy. Increasingly large farm machinery is causing more costly and potentially dangerous collisions with power lines and poles, rural Minnesota electric co-ops say.

Walking and Talking

“It’s walking like government, it’s talking like government, it’s flapping its authority like government, and so it ought to take on some of the responsibilities and transparency of government.”

—Florida Senate President Don Gaetz says private corporations formed by Florida public universities are getting around public records law by overseeing everything from athletic programs and salaries.