“But where are you going to get a job with 9,000 tattoos and your pants sagging?” — Wilson Cherry, speaker, Martin Luther King Day breakfast

“…[O]ur voters would rather see, if a tax increase is necessary, that it go toward the capital needs of the schools versus renovations and upfitting of the mall.” — Jon Barber, county commissioner, on funding school building projects

“The school board will go ahead and sue every citizen of Rowan County.” — Craig Pierce, commission vice chair, on a possible lawsuit against the county over school funding

“I don’t want future generations to forget. … ‘All gave some, but some gave all’ — that’s not my quote.” — Faris Rogers, Boy Scout, on building memorial to Marine Lance Cpl. Nathan Elrod, killed in Iraq

 “It’s like having a body with fabulous bones but no heart.” — Aaron Zaretsky, Grove Arcade Public Market, on Salisbury’s need for jobs and excitement to keep young people from leaving