“It doesn’t seem to balance out in my mind that annually, annually we respect and honor the lives of Victor Isler and Justin Monroe, who died in the line of duty … but then we as a council can’t take time to listen to our firefighters about their working conditions.”

— Al Heggins, Salisbury mayor pro tem after the firefighters union presentation about pay was taken off the City Council agenda

“The bottom line for me is this has become too much. We’re being asked to ignore too much in order to give you the benefit of the doubt to provide you another temporary permit.”

— Greg Edds, Rowan Board of Commissioners chairman in denying a permit for Reaper’s Realm Haunted House and Trail to operate   

“I looked down and at my foot there was a bullet laying on the sidewalk, right out here on the corner of Main and Innes.”

—  Paxton Butler, detailing why he decided to run for district attorney after walking through downtown and finding the shell casing

“It is the American soldier who makes America exceptional. … They do it in the name of America and what morals and values we stand for as a people — values like freedom, quality and humanity.”

—  Angie Spillman, who helped the  Hudson, Miller, Tatum VFW Post 3006 organize a gathering for the 13 U.S. service members killed recently in Afghanistan

“Everything took time and it looked as if nothing was being done, which was frustrating. It was being done, but it looked like nothing was being done.”

— Gail Mintz, property supervisor at Wellington Hills in trying to get flood recovery efforts completed

“As our town grows, we’ve got to not only look at this park, but look at other areas in our community to build out for citizens to use.”

— Don Bringle, China Grove town councilman as excitement grows for Community Park improvements

“It makes you question what you were doing a little bit. It doesn’t really make me feel bitter. It’s something you can’t control.”

—  Al Rosero, who was in high school during the 9/11 attacks, discussing recent developments in Afghanistan after serving as a Marine in the Middle East