"When you are waiting for something from Iraq, you don't know if it's going to take a week or a month. … Right now there isn't much we can do but sit and wait like ducks."

- Lisa Lappi, stranded in Bismarck with her children, trying to get back to Germany and awaiting a signature from her husband to grant her power of attorney, a process that is dependent on mail from him while he is stationed in Baghdad.

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"You could be looking at some big property tax increases in the future."

- Rep. Merle Boucher, D-Rolette, who is the House minority leader and the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, saying he was skeptical about whether Gov. John Hoeven's tax relief proposal could be sustained.

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"The goal is zero. … We strive to have zero fatalities. … Make the right choice, don't drink and drive and always buckle up."

- Lt. Michael Gerhart, North Dakota Highway Patrol, talking about holiday enforcement.

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"I think we'll look back and see that North Dakota becomes a major energy hub for the nation."

- Sen. Kent Conrad, D-ND, talking about what he hopes will be a multifaceted approach by the government in an energy policy.

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"Al always gave 100 percent at the University of Mary. He put in an honest day of work out there every day. He earned every penny."

- Al Bortke's wife, Linda, reflecting on her husband's 35 years of service.

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"I ate the balance of my fentanyl (painkiller) patches because I thought it was better to do myself in than to turn myself in - I woke up battered and bruised and I realized God didn't want me to do that and I turned myself in."

- Hedge fund cheat Samuel Israel III who tried to kill himself after previously faking his death and going on the lam.

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"The fire is just a big raging animal right now."

- Darby Marshall, spokesman for the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services, talking about the Big Sur, Calif., blaze that forced massive evacuations.

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"I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer."

- Rocker Lenny Kravitz, denying a relationship with the wife of baseball star Alex Rodriguez, who has split up with his wife and been linked to Madonna, who has allegedly split up with her husband.