While most Americans are looking forward to receiving the $1,400 payments included in President Joe Biden’s $1.88 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) passed by Congress on March 6, counties and towns across the country are also eagerly awaiting a stimulus package of their own.

Photojournalist Jeffrey Delannoy spent four days on assignment for The Smoky Mountain News in Washington, D.C. both before and after the Jan. 20, 2021 inauguration. Without credentials, Delannoy had to work to get the story in the streets – out on the fenced-in fringe of what barely resembled the National Mall.

Madison Cawthorn, rolling himself around the Longworth House Office Building, draws attention from around every corner and down every straightaway of the labyrinthine tunnels that underlie Washington D.C.’s Capitol Complex, greeting passersby with their first name. 

Last week, as elected members of the House of Representatives and the Senate gathered in their respective chambers to certify electoral votes, Western North Carolina’s newly-elected Republican congressman began to notice that something wasn’t quite right. 

Democratic vice-presidential nominee/California Senator Kamala Harris visited Western North Carolina last week, reminding voters of the importance of getting to the polls on or before Nov. 3.

Last Thursday, Democratic vice presidential nominee and California Sen. Kamala Harris was forced to cancel a planned trip to Asheville after two staffers tested positive for COVID-19, but that didn’t stop her from returning Oct. 21 to speak at an event at UNC-Asheville. 

Less than a week after cancelling travel to Asheville and Charlotte, Democratic vice presidential nominee and California Sen. Kamala Harris is ready to try again.

Less than three weeks from Election Day, California senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will visit the North Carolina cities of Asheville and Charlotte.

Even Hollywood screenwriters would be hard-pressed to craft a more quintessentially American story.

While the big news out of the Democratic National Convention thus far may be the formal nomination of Joe Biden last night, former NC11 Democratic Congressman Heath Shuler — who held the seat before Rep. Mark Meadows — wants Western North Carolina to know that there’s big news coming tonight as well.