Who Said That
John Suthers, a former U.S. attorney and Colorado attorney general who is now representing the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Boulder, Colo. Suthers responded to the NonHuman Rights Project’s (NhRP) claim that five elephants in the zoo should be able to dispute their detention. The NhRP unsuccessfully tried to have an elephant at the Bronx Zoo named Happy legally considered a person with the ability to pursue a petition seeking release. The New York ruling said giving such rights to an elephant “would have an enormous destabilizing impact on modern society.” Now, the NhRP is again arguing that the five elephants, Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, are such intelligent and social creatures that they are, essentially, being held prisoner in the zoo. The Colorado court will issue a ruling in the coming weeks or months. (Associated Press — Oct. 24, 2024)
South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Cox, regarding the state’s installation of its first individual statue for an African American on its Statehouse lawn. The statue will honor Robert Smalls, a congressman and ship pilot who helped to rewrite South Carolina’s Constitution to grant civil rights to Black men after the Civil War. (Associated Press — Oct. 22, 2024)
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, responding to tech billionaire Elon Musk, who published false claims about the state’s voter registration on social platform X. (The Hill — Oct. 21, 2024)
Republican Stephen Richer, top official for voting by mail in Maricopa County, Ariz. The state has become an epicenter for threats against election officials leading up to this November's election. The county's election headquarters has become a fortress, adding metal detectors and armed guards. On Election Day, as workers tabulate ballots behind new fencing and concrete barriers, drones will patrol the skies overhead, police snipers will perch on rooftops and mounted patrols will stand ready. Across the state, election workers have gone through active-shooter drills and learned to barricade themselves or wield fire hoses to repel armed mobs. (The Wall Street Journal — Oct. 19, 2024)
McDonald’s Corp., regarding its decision to not officially endorse a candidate in the U.S. presidential election. The statement comes after the fast food chain agreed to allow former President Donald Trump to staff the fry station and answer questions through the drive-thru window at a Pennsylvania store over the weekend. (Associated Press — Oct. 21, 2024)
Emily Lamar, vice president of marketing for the Saluda, N.C., local business association, regarding the massive swelling of the Green River and the impacts the environmental change will have on outdoor adventure tourism. A survey last year estimated that outdoor recreation in Western North Carolina has an annual economic impact of nearly $5 billion. (NPR — Oct. 17, 2024)
Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, regarding the 15 percent decline in drug overdose deaths in the past 12 months as compared to the year prior. North Carolina saw the greatest decrease, with a 48.8 percent decline, while eight other states reported at least a 21 percent decrease in overdose deaths. However, several western states actually reported an increase in deaths. (CQ-Roll Call — Oct. 16, 2024)
A court opinion from Nebraska state Supreme Court Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman, who wrote in the court’s ruling that Secretary of State Bob Evnen did not have the authority to strip voting rights from people convicted of a felony. The last day to register to vote for the 2024 election in Nebraska is Oct. 25 and it must be done in person. (Associated Press — Oct. 16, 2024)
Craig Antico, chief executive and founder of ForgiveCo, regarding the company’s decision to purchase the debt of about 8,800 residents in metro Atlanta. The total debt paid was worth $10,662,432 and the recipients were chosen at random, though they could not be making more than $100,000; the median income of the Atlanta recipients was $29,000. The Fort Collins-based company partners with for-profit companies who supply the cash to pay off the debt. So far, the company has paid off the debts of about 50,000 people across the nation. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Oct. 14, 2024)
The title of a publicity campaign mounted by Blythe, Calif., to try to convince state officials not to close the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, where about 18,000 people live in 27 square miles of desert. The state corrections department has designated Chuckawalla, which employs more than 800 people, as one of the next two institutions to be closed as a result of the steep decline in the state's inmate population. (CalMatters — May 30, 2023)
Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn of Grand Rapids lamenting new state gun policies and referring to the new electric Zamboni the Minnesota Wild will use to clear its ice rink during the NHL season. While the Wild’s two electric Zambonis are new, the use of electric ice cleaners is not; not only is electricity cheaper than propane but it absolves ice arena operators from having to add pricey ventilation systems for air quality checks in the closed rinks. (The Minnesota Star Tribune — Oct. 9, 2024)
Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce Vice President Daniel Fanning, regarding a new Minnesota state law that provides job protections and partial wage replacement to qualifying workers at any size business who may need to take up to 12 weeks of leave to care for themselves or a family member. Small businesses are primarily concerned about how paying for the program may impact their bottom lines in today’s economy. Minnesota will become the 13th state to implement a statewide paid family and medical leave program when the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. (Duluth News Tribune — Oct. 8, 2024)
Micah Kubic, of the ACLU of Kansas, regarding pushback from Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Michael Abbott against providing Spanish-language election materials for fear of potential litigation. About 29 percent of Wyandotte County residents speak a language other than English in the household and Hispanic or Latino residents account for approximately 34 percent of the county’s population. (The Kansas City Star — Oct. 8, 2024)
Geoff Schumacher, historian and vice president of exhibits and programs at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, regarding the elaborate implosion of the Tropicana hotel and casino to make space for the $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland Athletics. The towers of the buildings are expected to crumble in just 22 seconds, but the event will include a fireworks display and a drone show. The city hasn’t blown up a Strip casino since 2016. (Associated Press — Oct. 8, 2024)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on the state's plan to decertify the housing plans of the city of Norwalk, a first-of-its-kind move that forces the southeast Los Angeles County suburb to approve many types of affordable housing projects and allows the state to withhold homelessness and housing funds. Norwalk angered Newsom when it passed an ordinance in August banning new homeless shelters and other low-income housing, an alleged violation of state housing law. (Politico — Oct. 3, 2024)
Former L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, regarding his appointment by Mayor Karen Bass to lead the Los Angeles Police Department. McDonnell will replace Chief Michel Moore, who retired earlier this year. (Associated Press — Oct. 4, 2024)
Jane Newhouse, of Newhouse Wildlife Rescue in Chelmsford, Mass., regarding 2-year-old beaver Nibi. The fate of the beaver has ended up in court, with a hearing set for Friday, Oct. 4, to determine whether Nibi gets to stay with the rescuers or if she must be released into the wild as winter approaches. The case has garnered significant attention from the public and even lawmakers — Gov. Maura Healey even pledged to make sure Nibi is protected. (Associated Press — Oct. 3, 2024)
Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy storm director for the Carolinas on the impact of Helene on the electrical grid. (Duke Energy — Sept. 29, 2024)
Ryan Buchanan, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, regarding a U.S. Justice Department finding that prison officials across the state are “deliberately indifferent” to unchecked deadly violence, widespread drug use, extortion and sexual abuse. (Associated Press — Oct. 1, 2024)
Tauri Bigknife, attorney general for California's Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, responding to suggestions that the tribe's purchase of $60,000 in radio ads was a form of political reciprocation. It is illegal for lawmakers to pledge a vote in exchange for a campaign donation and there's no evidence that happened in this case. However, the ads supported Assemblymember Evan Low's campaign for Congress and Low voted to support legislation allowing casino-owning tribes to sue their competitors. Bigknife noted that the tribe gave money to Low's campaign before he cast his votes.
Broward County, Fla., Circuit Judge Gary Farmer, telling a defendant about the public defense attorney he was being assigned. Judge Farmer has been put on probation after having made a number of offensive statements from the bench. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Sept. 27, 2024)
Paul Pinsky, the director of the Maryland Energy Administration and one of the leading climate advocates in Annapolis during his long tenure in the General Assembly, who recalls protesting against nuclear power plants in the 1970s. Now, he says, nuclear has “become a staple” in the state and nation’s energy portfolio, even if many Americans don’t realize it. Maryland's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, which opened in 1975, generates about 40 percent of the energy produced in Maryland, and more than 80 percent of the carbon-free energy generated in the state comes from the nuclear plant. (Maryland Matters — Sept. 23, 2024)
Jesse Fahnestock of the Global Maritime Forum regarding the ammonia-powered tugboat, NH3 Kraken, which sailed for the first time this week on a tributary of the Hudson River. The tugboat used to run on diesel but has since been switched to ammonia, a new, carbon-free fuel. (Associated Press — Sept. 23, 2024)
Jessica Tisch, the commissioner for the New York City Department of Sanitation, regarding the city’s decision to install trash bins last September. Since the pilot program began, the number of rat complaints have decreased by 66 percent. As of this March, the city has containerized all trash from commercial businesses in the city and, starting in November, will containerize trash for buildings with one to nine units. Once that next step begins, New York City will have containerized 70 percent of all its trash. (NPR — Sept. 24, 2024)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Cassius Cash, regarding the decision to rename the park’s highest peak to its Cherokee name. Clingmans Dome will be reverted back to Kuwohi, which is Cherokee for “mulberry place,” more than 150 years after a surveyor named the mountain for a Confederate general. Kuwohi is a sacred place for the Cherokee people and the highest point within the traditional Cherokee homeland. (Associated Press — Sept. 18, 2024)
Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, regarding an identical replica of the White House’s Oval Office in a new Washington, D.C., tourist stop that opens on Monday, Sept. 23. Admission into The People’s House: A White House Experience is free, but visitors will need to request timed tickets. (Associated Press — Sept. 20, 2024)
Ed Jacobs, the attorney for Atlantic City, N.J., Mayor Marty Small Sr., regarding the indictment of the public official and his wife, La’Quetta, the city’s superintendent of schools, for allegedly beating their teenage daughter on numerous occasions. Small has also been charged with assault and making terroristic threats. (Associated Press — Sept. 18, 2024)
A former cellmate of Patrick Womack, who was found dead in a hot Texas prison cell in August 2023 a day after Womack asked a correctional officer to let him take a cold shower so he could cool down, a request that was denied because there weren't enough guards to watch him. Attorneys for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice are trying to dissuade a federal judge from forcing the state to cool its un-air-conditioned prisons, arguing in an ongoing lawsuit that the state already provides incarcerated people with unlimited access to cold showers, ice water and air-conditioned respite areas. From 2001 to 2019, as many as 271 Texas prison inmates may have died because of extreme heat, according to a 2022 study. (The Texas Tribune — Sept. 11, 2024)
U.S. Sen. JD Vance regarding his false claim that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. (NPR — Sept. 15, 2024)
Danny McCormick, a Republican state representative in Louisiana, on a bill enacted by the Legislature repealing a ban on the sale of raw milk. Driven by increasing demand for the product, a number of states have moved to remove bans despite public health officials' warnings that drinking unpasteurized milk could lead to a spike in potentially deadly bacterial and viral infections. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that 143 deaths from various illnesses in the U.S. have been linked to raw milk since 1987. (Yahoo News — June 22, 2024)
