Declarations

California Storm

“You never think something like this is going to happen to you. It’s been quite shocking and traumatizing.”

— Sacramento, California, resident Niki Goffard’s home was damaged by one of more than 1,000 trees that fell in Sacramento after a New Year’s Eve storm.

3D Challenges

“One of the things about printing a second story is you require, you know, the machine. … And of course, there are other challenges: structural challenges, logistic challenges when we print a second-story building.”

— Architect Leslie Lok, co-founder of design studio Hannah and designer of a two-story home in Houston being built by an enormous 3D printer weighing more than 12 tons, on the challenges involved in constructing the 4,000-square-foot home. It is believed to be the first 3D-printed, two-story home in the United States.

ERCOT Lawsuits

“The insurance companies want compensation; the families want compensation.”

— Said Ann Saucer, one of the co-liaisons for family members and insurers that sued the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and power generators following the 2021 winter storm that left millions of Texans without power in bitterly cold temperatures and hundreds of people dead after electricity was cut in large portions of the state. The Texas Supreme Court in January heard arguments over whether the state’s power grid operator should be protected from lawsuits. ERCOT’s lawyers argued it should receive the same “sovereign immunity” that largely shields government agencies from civil suits.

Radioactive Tests

“Concerned parents deserve certainty about the safety of their children’s learning environment.”

— Senator Josh Hawley and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, in a request to the federal government for more radioactive contamination testing on properties owned by the Hazelwood School District in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant. District officials have received conflicting information about radioactive contamination at Jana Elementary School, located in the flood plain of Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated with radioactive waste generated when Mallinckrodt Chemical processed uranium in the 1940s and 1950s for atomic weapons.

Innocence Found

“I always said I was innocent, and I am glad that they found me innocent.”

— Owen Turner, 51, the driver of a Boston light-rail trolley that crashed into the rear of another train in the summer of 2021, sending 27 people to the hospital, said after being cleared by a jury of a gross negligence charge. The crash, defense attorney Matthew Peterson said, was nothing more than an accident. The prosecution had alleged that Turner neglected his duties, disregarded some safety protocols, and exceeded speed limits.

Florida Adjuster Impersonation

“While committing these offenses, the conspirators impersonated law enforcement officers by wearing black clothing, gloves, and masks — often with law enforcement insignia or vests with a ‘sheriff’ patch affixed.”

— That was from federal prosecutors who charged that a former adjuster for State Farm and Berkshire Hathaway gathered personal information on Florida drug dealers then orchestrated a scheme to rob them. The woman pleaded guilty in January.