Haywood Christian Ministries has announced its fourth annual Farm Fresh 5K on to be run at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 18.

The Farm Fresh 5K is a chance to come together as a community and make a difference. Runners will support local farmers, putting food on the tables of families in need while strengthening the local economy. 

A weekend rally organized by Hands off Haywood commenced with the presentation of a $2,500 check to Haywood Christian Ministries in Waynesville, highlighting a direct link between protest activism and local hunger relief.

Hands off Haywood organizer Mary Ford told the crowd that demonstrators have faced insults and “more middle fingers since March than we have in our entire lives” while taking to the streets on a weekly basis earlier this year but said the group’s focus has remained on democracy and community support.

Western Carolina University Athletics welcomed more than 1,000 Jackson County Public Schools students to campus for its annual “Education Days” basketball games — bringing early holiday cheer and an unforgettable afternoon of hoops.

Over two days, elementary and middle school students filled the Liston B. Ramsey Center to cheer on the Catamounts during men’s and women’s basketball matchups. 

Nearly 15 months after Hurricane Helene tore through rural Appalachia, North Carolina recovery officials said in a Dec. 15 meeting and press conference that federal recovery programs meant to help communities rebuild after $60 billion in damages are still slowing them down. 

Michael Whatley, appointed by President Donald Trump as Helene recovery czar in January, has spoken to the head of the governor’s recovery task force only once this year. 

To the Editor:

Recently three Haywood County citizens long involved in issues of public concern met with Congressman Chuck Edwards at his office in Hendersonville. Issues focused on were SNAP, medical insurance, research cuts and the federal match for Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes.

As the federal shutdown drags on, Republicans accuse Democrats of prolonging it for political reasons, pointing to stalled votes that could reopen the government and fully restore programs like SNAP. But Democrats say what they’re holding out for isn’t politics — it’s protection. Specifically, protection for millions of Americans who rely on Affordable Care Act subsidies that will soon expire. 

Waynesville resident Sam Wilds is blind, cannot work, uses her entire Social Security disability check for household bills, has approximately $50 left on her SNAP card for the month of October, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. 

To the Editor:

Mountain Projects is proud to be a trusted Community Action Agency, serving Haywood and Jackson counties since 1965. Families and individuals rely on our programs each day for support, opportunity, and stability — and our doors must remain open to serve them. 

Last week, Mountain Projects’ Amanda Singletary was convinced she’d be calling all 250 Section 8 landlords with bad news: they wouldn’t be receiving October’s rental payment.  

Because Section 8 received funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but HUD hadn’t indicated what might become of its finances given a federal government shutdown, Singletary was “sweating bullets” as the Oct. 1 deadline to extend a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open loomed over the horizon.  

To the Editor:

I read with interest the opinion piece in the LTE section on Sept. 2 regarding Social Security by Glenn Duerr.

Mr. Duerr is right that the trust fund isn’t on a permanently secure path under the current rules. Projections do show a shortfall "if nothing changes.” So calling attention to solvency isn’t wrong.