Who Said That
Jake Poinsett, education manager at the Trinity River Audubon Center. With Dallas preparing to build a $3 billion downtown convention center, conservation advocates are urging the city to use bird-friendly glass and lighting. Poinsett noted that millions of birds migrate through Texas each spring and fall and collisions with buildings can be deadly. Supporters say the added cost of bird-safe design could save thousands of birds’ lives and position Dallas as a national leader in protecting migratory birds. (The Dallas Morning News)
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. Ladapo made the remark in a podcast interview, reiterating his long-standing opposition to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. He suggested Florida could restrict access to the vaccines altogether. (Tampa Bay Times)
Dr. Pamela Trout of Winter Park, Fla. Trout says she asks parents who refuse to vaccinate their children to seek care elsewhere to protect newborns and medically vulnerable patients. Her policy comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo push to end vaccine mandates in public and private spaces, including doctors’ offices, which has alarmed pediatricians. (Orlando Sentinel)
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II. After receiving a bomb threat at his home, the Democrat thanked law enforcement for protecting his family and neighborhood. He linked the incident to the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and what he described as an escalating wave of political violence in Michigan and across the country, urging Americans not to let intimidation silence their voices. (The Detroit News)
Former Vice President Kamala Harris. In excerpts from her upcoming book, Harris called it “recklessness” that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden decided privately whether he should run for reelection at age 80. She said the stakes were too high to leave the choice to “an individual’s ego” or ambition. (Washington Post)
Cristie Furth, a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea resident, describing the fierce community debate over whether to rename part of Sea Grape Drive as “President Donald J. Trump Drive.” The proposal has deeply divided the small oceanfront town. (South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Fairfax, Calif., Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman, who despite her reservations about a proposed six-story apartment tower in the bucolic Marin County town voted to allow the project to proceed. Hellman said she is bound by state mandates requiring cities to accelerate construction of housing. She and Mayor Lisel Bash now face a recall vote over the project, among other issues. (Wall Street Journal)
Ohio GOP state Rep. Al Cutrona. He’s introduced legislation to make it illegal to declaw cats, which one veterinarian says can cause chronic pain and other health problems; behavioral issues; and an inability to run, jump or climb. Cutrona called declawing “basically sadistic.” The practice is already banned in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia. (News 5 Cleveland)
Illinois state Rep. Martin McLaughlin, reacting to a WalletHub survey that ranked Chicago 136th out of 148 cities for operating efficiency. McLaughlin, a Republican, blamed the city’s progressive policies for making the city feel less safe and financially successful. Provo, Utah, ranked the highest in the survey while San Franciso finished last. (Center Square)
Tonia Sims-Bush, a Mississippi Delta socialite. She is suing Indianola’s Gentry High School for $100,000 after alleging school officials stole a homecoming queen election from her daughter. Sims-Bush questioned the use of Google Forms and called for paper ballots. (Mississippi Today)
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The Democrat announced a $120 million partnership with the federal government to launch the Quantum Frontier Initiative, aimed at making New Mexico the “home of quantum computing.” The initiative will fund projects proving advanced computing concepts at scale, with potential federal grants of up to $300 million. (NM Source)
Pete Sepp, the president of the National Taxpayers Union. The Trump administration is floating a proposal that would limit recipients of Section 8 housing vouchers to two years. Currently, the average recipient receives vouchers for a total of 15.1 years. (The Center Square)
Alexandra Syphard, senior research scientist with the Conservation Biology Institute and the director of science for the Global Wildfire Collective. The Trump administration wants to open up more protected forest land to roads, arguing that this will allow firefighters easier access to fight blazes. Syphard contends that roads themselves provide places for more fires to start. (NPR)
Marten Lodewijks, U.S. president of IWSR, a global beverage market analysis firm. He spoke as bourbon sales slump and small distillers shut down, squeezed by shifting consumer tastes, falling resale values, and tariffs blocking U.S. spirits exports to Canada. (BBC)
Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman. Recovering from being shot nine times in June, Hoffman rallied Democrats at the DNC summer meeting in Minneapolis, invoking the late House Speaker Melissa Hortman’s rallying cry to keep fighting heading into the 2026 elections. Her killing, along with that of her husband, Mark, earlier this summer loomed large as Democrats from across the country gathered at the Minneapolis Hilton to chart a path forward. (Star Ledger)
Marlene Benke, a resident of Richmond, Calif. Speaking at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park, Benke joined local leaders and advocates protesting the Trump administration’s agenda to defund national parks and erase historical narratives. (The Mercury News)
Ken Cuccinelli, former deputy secretary of Homeland Security. He described how Republican governors are competing for billions in federal immigration enforcement dollars under the Trump administration’s expansion of migrant detention capacity, with new state-federal detention facilities already announced in Florida, Indiana and Nebraska. (Politico)
Florida state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith. His remarks came after a rainbow crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub—site of the 2016 mass shooting—was removed without notice as part of a state and federal effort to eliminate “political banners” from roadways. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer confirmed the city was not notified in advance. (Orlando Sentinel)
Former President Barack Obama. He endorsed California Democrats’ proposal to redraw congressional districts if Texas or other Republican-led states push forward with partisan gerrymanders, saying GOP actions have forced Democrats’ hand. (Los Angeles Times)
President Donald Trump. The president said his effort to broker peace in Ukraine is motivated in part by concerns about his afterlife, a remark his press secretary later said was serious. (New York Times)
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat. He was responding to President Donald Trump’s call to ban mail-in voting, a method used by nearly 75 percent of Arizona voters in the 2024 general election. Trump does not have constitutional authority to prohibit mail-in ballots, which remain central to the state’s election system. (Axios)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Republican governor of California. Schwarzenegger, who championed the state’s independent redistricting commission through ballot initiatives, says he will campaign against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to set aside the commission’s work for the next three elections in favor of a partisan map. (New York Times)
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida. The Democrat says his party is gaining confidence about winning back the Senate, pointing to strong recruits in Ohio and North Carolina and growing interest in other potential pickups, including Maine, Texas, Alaska and Iowa. (Politico)
Henderson, Nev., Councilwoman Carrie Cox. Her comments came after the City Council approved new ward boundaries for the seventh time in 15 years, a practice critics say can skew elections and confuse voters. The frequent redistricting has renewed interest in a stalled proposal to create an independent redistricting commission in Nevada. (Nevada Current)
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. His comments follow data showing New York City added just 956 private-sector jobs in the first half of 2025, the slowest growth outside a recession in decades, with key industries like finance, hospitality and retail shedding jobs. Other major metro areas, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose, have also posted modest job losses in 2025. (New York Times)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. The Democrat pushed back on President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, comparing the idea to actions taken by the Nazi Party in 1930s Germany and warning against federal overreach into local governance. (Chicago Tribune)
Los Angeles City Council member Katy Yaroslavsky. Ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games, the host city is embroiled in a showdown between labor unions and the travel industry. Hotel companies and airlines have been trying to repeal approved wage hikes for tourism workers, which prompted retaliatory ballot initiatives from unions targeting the travel industry. (Politico)
Former Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. He said he doesn’t “see the point” of a fresh round of redistricting in the state, pushing back on calls from Vice President JD Vance and others to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. (Politico)
Robyn Lowe of Ban Carriage Tours Savannah. As Savannah prepares to update its horse tour ordinance for the first time since 2017, Lowe and other advocates are pushing for stricter heat protections, including suspending tours when temperatures exceed 85 degrees. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
California state Sen. Aisha Wahab. The Democrat’s Senate Bill 259 would bar retailers from using AI to adjust prices based on data pulled from customers’ phones. For example, a ride-hailing company could charge more if it knows your battery is about to die. The proposal is part of a broader push in Sacramento to curb AI-driven practices. (Cal Matters)
