"You've got to have hope if you are a black man named Obama running for the presidency of the United States of America."

- Illinois Sen. Barak Obama, who came out ahead in the Iowa Democratic caucuses Thursday.

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"It's unbelievable - I never saw it coming. I thought it was a scare tactic by the analysts."

- Perry Jundt, a drilling supervisor for Ensign United States Drilling Inc., who has worked in the North Dakota oil patch for 30 years. He was reacting to news that the price of crude oil exceeded $100 a barrel this week.

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"Stuff that I can't smell (Jimmy) still can find. What he lives for is basically affection and his toy, his ball. Making me happy is basically what he wants. He's been a great dog, a very good, very fast learner."

- Morton County deputy sheriff Jon Engelstad, talking about his K-9 partner, Jimmy. The 2½-year-old police dog began work last month. AGerman shepherd dog born in Hungary, Jimmy and his training cost the department $12,000, paid for mainly from the sheriff's department's asset forfeiture fund.

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"We're in a community where we haven't shared in the prosperity of the rest of the state. With the oil boom and agriculture doing so well recently, people are doing better than they were, say, five years ago. That has not really happened on the reservation. We have high unemployment rates, high poverty rates. A project like (an equine center) could really give us a jump on things. It's ambitious, but you don't accomplish stuff if you're not ambitious."

- Jonathan Anderson, director of the Entrepreneurial Center at Sitting Bull College, at Fort Yates on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. He was reflecting on a dream of building a horse arena: perhaps a moderate size facility for $2 million or one that could host big events and major national rodeos, at the price tag perhaps of $4 million to $5 million.

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"If I can get them to concentrate on the work, or if they pronounce the words, I brag 'em up every time."

- Lyle Shultz, a retiree who has volunteered as a helper in two Bismarck elementary schools, for a total of 14 years.

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"It's a great honor to join a list with names like (Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith). I added to things (the Minnesota Vikings) already had. I am a playmaker. That's why I say if there is anything I could do to put me out there, just put me out there.)

- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who was voted Wednesday as the National Football League's Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. In one game, he set a league mark for rushing, gaining 296 yards.