Verbatim: Jan. 9, 2006

"The whole city was on fire everywhere." DEAN DILLARD, Texas rancher, on brush fires that raced across Texas and Oklahoma, burning more than 70 buildings in his hometown of Cross Plains

"The U.S. is exporting its problem of violence to the streets of Toronto." DAVID MILLER, Toronto mayor, reflecting on a record year for gun-related deaths in the Canadian city after a dispute among 10 to 15 youths erupted in gunfire on a busy street last week, killing a 15-year-old girl and wounding six other bystanders

"My grandfather would roll over in his grave if I sold our land. He'd haunt me the rest of my life." CLIFTON HERBERT, resident of Cameron Parish, La., where a proposal was made to move an entire string of villages, including Cameron, 15 to 20 miles inland from the Gulf Coast to protect against future hurricanes

"The case continues to be made that this congressionally chartered organization is dysfunctional." BENNIE THOMPSON, Democratic Representative from Mississippi, as Congress began an inquiry last week into how the Red Cross has mismanaged relief efforts and funds for Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and other disasters

"Let the student decide." JOHN MCCAIN, Republican Senator from Arizona, in a recent interview with MTV News, after stating, "I'm not saying [intelligent design] should be taught in science classes. But I'm saying young people should be exposed to it"

"In a way, he's responsible for his own capture. He actually raised us to do exactly what we did." CLAY GINGLEN, son of William Ginglen--who was sentenced to 40 years in prison last week for a series of small-town bank robberies in Illinois--explaining why he and his two brothers felt morally obligated to alert the authorities after recognizing their father in a bank surveillance photo

"I can't figure out ... why anyone would steal it. They can't sell it on eBay. It's not fit to eat." BOB BERNSTEIN, owner of a Nashville coffee shop that has drawn tourists since 1996, when it began displaying a cinnamon bun bearing a supposed resemblance to Mother Teresa, commenting on the Christmas Day theft of the so-called nun bun

Sources: AP (2); New York Times (2); MTV; New York Times; Washington Post