To the Editor:

Donald Trump has been guilty of spewing so many fact-free statements over the years that ‘fact checking’ has become a ritual after every Trump pronouncement. No one, including the people that support him, denies this fact.

The Pisgah National Forest has reopened the Pisgah Ranger District effective Oct. 18,, in coordination with local communities and governments. 

To the Editor:

Donald Trump promised at the NRA convention to roll back gun control measures enacted under Biden and to fire the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

To the Editor:

I am concerned about the effects of “Project 2025” — the Republican playbook for a second Trump administration — on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Project 2025 aims to change how federal agencies operate, and it could harm NOAA’s ability to do its work. 

On the morning of Sept. 27, as rain fell steadily from the pre-dawn sky, Travis Donaldson took a drive around the eastern end of Haywood County. Donaldson, the county’s emergency services director, made a lap around all the appropriate areas, finishing up in Cruso with the intention of turning around and heading back toward Waynesville, where an emergency operations center had already been set up. 

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey is calling on motorists to focus solely on the road and do all they can to help prevent accidents during Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which runs throughout April across the United States. 

The open burning of trash, metal, plastic and all other man-made materials not only harms the environment and poses a public health risk, it’s against state law. 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality is reminding North Carolinians that “If it doesn’t grow, don’t burn it.” 

Open burning is only allowed in limited circumstances and only for vegetative materials like leaves, limbs and yard debris. 

In addition, DEQ is reminding people that careless debris burning is the leading cause of wildfires in North Carolina. The N.C. Forest Service may require an open burning permit before certain fires are lit, including fires in protected areas.

For the first time since 2016, Western North Carolina is in the midst of a severe drought coupled with an active fall wildfire season . Research shows that’s right on schedule. 

To the Editor:

As yellow falling leaves and cool, dry air are floating into the mountains, it signals to knowledgeable residents that it’s time to look up.

After a monthlong closure enacted when a bear scratched a park visitor, Rich Mountain Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has reopened.