“It would be easy for them to deport us. They know where we live. They don’t do it because they wouldn’t have anyone to do the work.”

— Farm worker Luis Gomez, who entered the United States illegally and now lives in Othello in a housing complex built by Catholic Charities of Spokane.

“It’s Idaho. It’s not California, where people want to stop you from making your own choices.”

— BASE-jumping instructor Tom Aiello, of Twin Falls, talking about the resumption of parachute jumping from fixed structures such as bridges after a California woman died in such a jump from an Idaho bridge.

“I thought you could take a pill for 30 days and go back to work, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

— Hayden Lake police Officer Jason Felton, who was diagnosed in March with Lou Gehrig’s disease and can no longer go on patrol by himself.

“Your honor, in your heart, how can you do this?”

— Deonne Moe, shouting at Spokane County Superior Court Judge Robert Austin, who removed her husband, Orville, as general manager of Spokane Raceway Park, the West Plains facility he ran for decades, for disobeying the court-appointed receiver at the financially troubled track.

“They’re catching up with 1,000 years of progress of the Dutch.”

— University of California engineer Robert Bea, comparing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ admission of failure in protecting New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina with The Netherlands’ relatively successful defense against the North Sea.

“We need to put brandy into the system instead of water.”

— Russian flight controller, speaking to astronaut Jeff Williams, U.S. flight engineer involved in repairs on the International Space Station, who complained of being cold during his space walk.

“I don’t necessarily know that I need to or that I want to, but I’m committed.”

— Major league pitcher Roger Clemens, 43, coming out of retirement to sign a contract that will bring him more than $12 million to pitch the remaining two-thirds of the 2006 season for the Houston Astros.

“It’s very personal to her. That gets forgotten in the storm. This is a mother who lost her son.”

— Attorney Terri Sloyer, referring to Anna Zehm’s desire for an explanation of the medical examiner’s findings regarding the death of her son Otto after a fight with police officers in March.

“I am extremely disappointed that some in this body, including the speaker and the minority leader, feel that somehow our actions are sacrosanct and above public scrutiny.”

— Republican Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, reacting to a protest against the search of Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson’s congressional office as part of a federal bribery investigation.

“I love the fights anyways, so it wasn’t like being punished.”

— U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, discussing his acceptance of free admission to boxing matches from Nevada officials who had an interest in legislation backed by Reid to increase federal oversight of boxing.