Declarations

Treatment Options

“I don’t think in Colorado we spend nearly enough on treatment.”

—Sen. Michael Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, applauded additions, such as treatment instead of jail, to a felony DUI bill to make a fourth DUI a felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of as much as $500,000.

Still an Issue

“I hope that this will inspire others and bring in an awareness that there is still an issue out there.”

—Indiana Girl Scout Katie Floyd, who raised funds for a tornado siren for Green Township, which previously had none. Floyd says she saw the need for a siren in 2012 when a deadly tornado went through southern Indiana communities. She contacted Illinois-based Federal Signal Corp., which knocked $17,000 off the cost of the siren and also received a $10,000 grant.

Fuzzy DUI Videos

“The DUI sky is not falling. There’s no problem with the law.”

—Heath Taylor with the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in response to a request by South Carolina prosecutors to have the current state law de-emphasize police video in driving under the influence cases. Prosecutors contend that too many cases are being dismissed because of imperfect recordings. Defense attorneys counter the solution is better officer training.

Preventable Deaths

“The names and faces change from year to year, but we see so many of the same tragic circumstances that lead to preventable workplace deaths every year.”

—Steven Tolman, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, on workplace fatalities. Fifty workers died from injuries on the job in Massachusetts in 2014, according to a report released in April by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupation Safety and Health.

Blown Away

“They were on the downslope of the bridge heading off the bridge and were working on pulling off onto a siding. Before they could get to that siding … the five cars were blown off of the back end.”

—Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Jeff DeGraff, describing the scene where five rail cars carrying six to eight freight containers fell from the bridge outside New Orleans during a violent storm in late April. None of the containers held hazardous cargo and nobody was injured.

Topics Massachusetts