Declarations

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Opioid Misuse

“This is unacceptable. Through the Alabama Council on Opioid Misuse and Addiction, we will continue to build on our existing efforts to combat opioid abuse in our state and will return with new innovative ideas to put an end to this deadly epidemic.”

— Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announcing the formation of a state task force to fight opioid abuse. A report from The Associated Press found that Alabama leads the nation in prescription opioid use, with 5.8 million opioid prescriptions written in 2015.

Private Flood Coverage

“Unfortunately, here and in other parts of the country, we’re seeing flooding occurring outside of flood hazard areas, so we want to continue our efforts to encourage the acceptance of private flood insurance by mortgage lenders. That’s something that is certainly going to be important going forward.”

— Ronald Ruman, director of communications at the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, discusses Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller’s plan in 2017 to encourage mortgage lenders to accept private flood insurance. Federal flood zone remapping has resulted in more communities being designated as high-risk flood hazard areas.

No More Hard Core

“Concealed carry used to be mostly hard-core shooters, but it has become increasingly popular with soccer moms and others who want to be safe in their everyday life.”

— Jim Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association says concealed carry has become “mainstream” in Ohio with 574,000 active permits. About about 1 in 16 adults has a concealed-carry permit. Ohio recognizes 12.3 million permits from other states, and the number of permits issued ithis year is expected to far exceed the number Ohio issued in 2015.

Quake-Ortunity

“We were very fortunate that this recent shaking was not more severe and that it was centered in sparsely populated areas.”

— Glenn Pomeroy, CEO of the California Earthquake Authority, used a 5.7 magnitude temblor near the state’s boarder in Nevada in late December as an opportunity to deliver a message about preparedness.

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