Declarations

Poor Job with Opioids

“We do a pretty poor job of putting time into discussing these medications.”

— Michael Crooks with the healthcare consulting firm Alliant Health, speaking on the opioid epidemic. Crooks spoke at the University of Georgia College of Public Health’s annual “State of the Public’s Health” conference in October. Medicaid statistics show an especially high use of opioids in southeast and northwest Georgia, and counties north and east of Athens, Ga.

Highway Racetrack

“If the limit is raised to 75, they will be going 85 to 90 … I’m on the interstate three to four times a week, and it feels like I’m in a NASCAR race.”

— An Arkansas motorist, responding to a request for comment by state highway officials on whether to raise highway speeds to 75 mph. State legislators this year approved raising the speed on interstate highway to 75 mph and said other highways’ speed limits should be raised if it can be done safely.

Pipeline Protest

“I’m not opposing oil and gas … What I’m saying is that you should not go through populated areas when you put in a pipeline.”

— Gerard Neugebauer, mayor of Green, Ohio, wants a natural gas pipeline being built by Calgary, Canada-based Enbridge and Detroit’s DTE Energy moved away from his community of 25,000 residents. The $2 billion, 255-mile-long NEXUS pipeline will go from the shale fields of Appalachia across northern Ohio and into Michigan and Canada. Unless moved, nearly 8 miles will go through Green.

The Worst

“The cases involving contractors defrauding victims, to me, are the worst of the worse. You’ve got people down and out trying to put their lives back together. It’s like getting hit twice.”

— New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino commenting on the more than 200 people charged in New Jersey with

$11 million worth of Hurricane Sandy-related fraud. Most cases involved homeowners filing fraudulent applications for relief funds; others have been contractors. Some have been charged with fraud in New York. Authorities say they scammed federal loan programs after the storm, which occurred five years ago.