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.” 

Henderson County Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards’ repeated failures on economic policy, entitlement programs and Hurricane Helene recovery have left him vulnerable, according to a slew of Democrats who are now competing for the right to run against him in 2026. 

Just two weeks after western Republicans elected a new 11th Congressional District chair, their Democratic counterparts have now done the same. 

To The Editor:

On April 5 over 1,000 American citizens showed up at the Haywood County historic courthouse to stand up for democracy and our Constitution. We were not “bussed” in and we most certainly weren’t paid to be there. Some folks would like you to believe that all the citi-zens that were there were not locals — hate to be the bearer of bad news, many were Haywood County natives.

Prior to its appropriation by communist regimes, International Workers Day — May Day — was first commemorated in honor of Chicago workers killed while striking for an eight-hour workday.

To the Editor:

Since adolescence, I have stood for the principles and platform of the Republican Party, especially in the area of fiscal restraint. I watched as several previous administrations bloated the national budget — recently by $2 trillion annually.

A bipartisan collaboration to bolster critical communication resources during natural disasters is gaining momentum in Congress after lessons learned during the devastation of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina last year. 

Haywood County Democrats are gathering at precinct meetings beginning March 16 and ending March 30. A precinct is an area in which all voters go to a single place to cast their ballot on election day. 

When they are challenged on their authoritarianism, North Carolina Republicans’ most frequent ploy is to retrieve grievances from decades ago. The party is run by a coterie of legislators who suffered years of irrelevance and disrespect at the hands of the eastern North Carolina Democratic machine, and these people still enjoy resurrecting Democratic misdeeds to justify their own malfeasance. 

So here we are, days away from this pivotal election, and here’s a word of advice: take a deep breath, relax, and let the system play out as it’s intended, because we won’t know who our next president is until days after Nov. 5.