To the Editor:

The “Pisgah Legal’s bind” article in the December 17 issue of your paper was very informative. Once again we can thank the Republicans in office for harming their constituents. Our representatives in Raleigh (and Washington) seem to be ignorant and insensitive. 

The Smoky Mountain News is hosting a forum for the three candidates running for Haywood County Sheriff in 2026. 

Sheriff Bill Wilke was first elected to the office in November 2022 and will run as an incumbent. Challenging Wilke in the primary is fellow Republican Mark Mease, who served under former Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher, and Waynesville Police Department Detective Tyler Howell, a Democrat who is running unopposed in the primary. 

Candidates will offer opening and closing statements, in addition to answering a series of questions, which will not be provided ahead of time. Candidates will also have chances to provide rebuttals.

The forum, moderated by SMN News Editor Kyle Perrotti, will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at Haywood County's historic courthouse. It is open to the public and will also be streamed on the SMN Facebook page.

North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has strengthened the process by which it allows people with a driver’s license to register to vote in an effort to prevent noncitizens from illegally participating in elections. 

The changes were instigated following scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice, which prompted an internal investigation by the DMV. The initial inquiry that led to the change was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security.

The seemingly indiscriminate closure of an early voting site at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee prior to the March 3, 2026, Primary Election by the Republican-majority Jackson County Board of Elections has students of all political stripes up in arms and the university’s chancellor refusing to speak out on what critics of the proposal are calling voter suppression. 

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. 

To the Editor:

We are halfway through the 2025 municipal elections for Waynesville, Canton and Clyde, which will significantly influence the leadership of these towns. Unfortunately, low voter turnout continues to threaten these municipal elections.

To the Editor:

Vice President J.D. Vance recently made a remark about protesters in Washington, D.C., calling them stupid white hippies who are in their nineties and need to go home and take a nap. In addition, he said they have never felt danger in their entire lives.

To the Editor:

Congressman Chuck Edwards (R-Hendersonville) recently voted in favor of the president’s proposed budget bill (“Big Beautiful Bill”) that cuts Medicaid and food assistance by nearly $1 trillion and cuts Medicare by $500 million.

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.

To the Editor:

Acknowledging the fact that, yes, all Americans have a right to have and express an opinion, and that the press has a prerogative to print those (as well as its own) opinions, I feel compelled to take exception to The Smoky Mountain News providing an admitted participant of Jan. 6 (a man tried, convicted, sentenced and then wrongly pardoned by the very person who incited the riot) a platform from which to proliferate the blatant untruth that the 2020 election was stolen (“Jan.6 participant speaks,” SMN April 2).