“I wipe my tears because I know I’m gonna be OK. The pain will always be there but it just eases.”

— Shequita Woodberry, whose daughter A’yanna Allen was shot and killed on Dec. 4, 2016

“The city continues to monitor expenses and avoid unnecessary expenditure until we see more revenues.”

— Shannon Moore, finance
director on the city’s budget as
revenue figures come in

“I think it’s the best game — a perfect combination of athleticism and technique.”

— Anna Rymer, South Rowan
senior volleyball standout

“A coyote is a lot more bold.”

— Megan Cline, naturalist and animal care specialist at Rowan Wild speaking on the differences with more scarce red wolves

“Watching my colleagues grow into even more
astounding types of
professors and people
is a privilege.”

— Barry Sang, religion professor who was recognized with others for years of service at Catawba College

  “I’m not going to lie about it, it’s been tough with our season pushed back and possible offers being pushed back, but I do my best to stay focused every day.”

— Zae Clay, Salisbury Hornets
senior defensive lineman on dealing with the pandemic’s effects on high school football

“A lot of it has come down to essentially sacrificing a lot of social time, play time and bar time in my 20s so hopefully I can design a life where I have more family time in my 30s.”

— Garrett White, who has
accumulated over $2 million in commercial real estate and was named a Top 30 Under 30 future leader

“I have no idea if we’ll be able to survive. We went from making a million in sales last year to maybe making $100,000 this year and barely being able to keep the lights on.”

— Chris Ostle, Fish Bowl co-owner on  COVID-19 restrictions

“There was a steady number of very passionate Trump supporters volunteering this year.”

— Scott Isley, who was in charge of organizing volunteers to work at the polls for the Rowan County
Republican Party