Shining Rock Classical Academy’s taxpayer-funded, unelected governing board pledged “a new direction” on transparency and accountability after a June court ruling dismissed its claims of defamation against a parent and found the school had improperly used government authority to impede public records requests, but that pledge appears to have been short-lived with the recent passage of a media policy in direct response to a forthcoming story by The Smoky Mountain News. 

Rep. Chuck Edwards has refused to speak to The Smoky Mountain News since shortly after he was elected in 2022.

He’s been silent on critical issues of national and regional importance — silent on protecting Social Security, silent on preserving veterans health care, silent on what he did to prevent the Pactiv-Evergreen paper mill in Canton from closing, silent on funding our national parks, silent on why North Carolina didn’t get the congressional funding it needs to recover fully from the damage associated with Hurricane Helene.