To the Editor:

In compliance with Executive Order 14253, an official sign has now been posted in the Oconaluftee Visitors Center of our beloved (and already beleaguered) Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and, I presume, at all of the hundreds of other sites overseen by the National Park Service.

In Western North Carolina, where aging populations and rural poverty place extraordinary pressure on the social safety net, few programs matter more than Medicaid and Medicare. Congressman Chuck Edwards, who represents North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, has repeatedly said he and fellow Republicans had “no interest” in cutting Medicare, but his voting record tells the real story. 

To the Editor:

Neither the President’s omnibus budget bill nor the House’s abysmal substitute warrant the approval of sens. Thom Tillis or Ted Budd. The senators should stand up for our country and North Carolina in a time of great need. 

To the Editor:

On June 12, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the following statement during a news conference regarding about 4,700 U.S. military troops in Los Angeles: “We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.” 

Last weekend, Haywood County’s Republican Party hosted a fundraiser at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds that featured music, professional wrestling, a car show and a hearty helping of conservative politics.

Following the event, event organizer and Haywood GOP Treasurer Kim Genova thanked the volunteers that made the event go smoothly, as well as those who turned out. 

Since 1932, the ashlar veneer of the Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville has borne silent witness to memorable events in local and national history — the Great Depression, World War II, Korea, the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, 9/11, Afghanistan, the Gulf Wars and most recently the county’s first LGBTQ+ Pride celebration — but a gathering on Flag Day, the same day President Donald Trump celebrated his birthday with a military parade in Washington, D.C., may prove to be just as enduring. 

To the Editor:

Most of us now understand that Project 2025, brainstorm of the ideologues at the Heritage Foundation and barely mentioned a year or so ago, is very real and that — right now — our federal government is being radically restructured in accordance with that 900-plus page manifesto as it seeks to consolidate power in the executive branch; to consolidate power to the will or whim of the president.

To The Editor:

Do you believe that our country deserves better than this current administration? Do you feel fearful, angry, hopeless or powerless at times? Do you wish there was something you could do to bring about positive change? Then come join your voices with ours on Saturday, June 14 at noon at the Haywood County Historic Courthouse for “Hands Off Haywood — No Kings Rally.” 

To The Editor:

My friends who are Donald Trump supporters have been claiming that President Trump has kept all his promises, that’s why they still support him. 

To The Editor:

Ashley Babbit! Remember that name. The Trump administration Department of Justice just awarded her family $5 million in a wrongful death suit. This shows how corrupt this administration really is and how it caters to those with loyalty to Donald Trump rather than loyalty to our country.