“For 43 years, my dad was quiet and behind the barn door. Now he’s a different person. Who has he become? This is all his circus.”

— Ryan Sloop, speaking of his dad Charles’ eye-catching hat collection at his farm on NC 150

“It’s similar to the Chewy effect. After Chewy, people all of the sudden started talking about Rowan County and I think you’ll see something like that.”

— Scott Shelton, vice president of the Rowan Economic Development Council on the $27 million tax incentive grant with hopes of landing 2,500 jobs with ‘Project Rabbit’   

“Nobody here is arguing at all about how these drug issues and alcohol, all these things have wreaked havoc amongst the county.”

— Jim Greene, Rowan County commissioners vice chair in expressing concerns about the long-term
sustainability of a proposed $15 million detox and crisis facility

“We were fortunate that the precipitation that fell did not stick to the trees and power lines.”

— T.J. Brown, Rowan’s emergency management division chief

“We have to keep moving forward, pushing the proverbial envelope to get what we deserve, a fair voting process.”

— Deborah Maxwell, state NAACP president at the Salisbury-Rowan Human Relations Council’s Martin
Luther King, Jr. Celebration

“I’m not the one who got Rowan County American Legion started, and I didn’t finish it. All I ever wanted to do was add something to it.”

— Coe Brier, who was to be part of a fundraising event for Catawba College’s baseball program before it was
postponed by weather this weekend

“Rowan County is seeing a tsunami of COVID-19 cases. … We are seeing an extreme amount of community spread of COVID-19 for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.”

— Alyssa Harris, Rowan County health director as omicron cases grow

“They don’t want to be subjected to the public ridicule and scrutiny, and quite frankly, are afraid that if they make a mistake, they’re the next victim of cancel culture. So that’s keeping people out.”

— Jerry Stokes, Salisbury Police chief discussing the smaller pool of candidates available to fill open police officer jobs