Declarations

Possible Silver Lining

“The fact that more homes aren’t being engulfed or being touched by the water, that’s the one silver lining if you can even say there is one.”

—Sgt. 1st Class David Dodds, a spokesman for North Dakota’s National Guard, commenting on flooding by the Souris River in Minot, N.D., which crested June 24 at around 6.5 feet above major flood stage. It had been expected to crest two feet higher. Around 4,000 homes were flooded. AP

Driven to Distraction

“Distraction is becoming the new DUI. … This is going to reach epidemic proportions.”

—National Transportation and Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt. The NTSB said the United States risks a surge in deadly accidents unless it makes distracted driving – talking, texting and surfing the Internet while operating cars, boats and trains – as taboo as drunken driving.

Not Quite Reformed

“To say we’ve reformed the workers’ comp system is a gross overstatement.”

—Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan praised parts of her state’s recently approved workers’ compensation overhaul, but she said it would be a “gross overstatement” to call the system reformed. Even with the overhaul, the standard for proving that taxpayer money should pay for a worker’s injury is still too low, according to Madigan. AP