“I had a taste of being able to make an impact; I was very lucky to experience that here and now that I tasted it I want to continue and push that farther, make an impact on the world, on theatre.”

— Justin Dionne, managing artistic director, Lee Street theatre, on leaving Salisbury to go to graduate school at Florida State

“When there aren’t programs, you are limited to what you can accomplish when you get out. Now I have a new vision.”

— David Wichy, inmate, Piedmont Correctional Institution, on working towards a college degree and taking part in other programs while in prison

“While the rest of the region has been running around the track, at least we’re moving again.”

— Greg Edds, chairman, Rowan County Board of Commissioners, on the county’s 0.5 percent growth over 2010-1025.

“The people that are going to do this aren’t good people to begin with. They’re mentally imbalanced. … They want to expose themselves to children.”

— N.C. Sen. Andrew Brock, on a Charlotte law that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify

“For whatever reason, when it comes to LGBTQ issues, people get very fearful, and they’re fearful because they have a lack of knowledge.”

—Tamara Sheffield, president of local LGBT advocacy group, Salisbury Pride, on reaction to the Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance, now negated by a new state law, HB2.