To the Editor:

This is a letter I sent to Sen. Thom Tillis:

Because you had the courage to create and make that presentation to the Senate on what war criminals and enemies of freedom Putin and the Russian regime overall are, I hold out hope that you will vote against — or abstain from voting — for the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” or the Senate version of the House budget reconciliation bill with its sneak attack on our republic. 

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.” 

To the Editor:

Most of us now understand that Project 2025, brainstorm of the ideologues at the Heritage Foundation and barely mentioned a year or so ago, is very real and that — right now — our federal government is being radically restructured in accordance with that 900-plus page manifesto as it seeks to consolidate power in the executive branch; to consolidate power to the will or whim of the president.

To the Editor:

Yesterday a small but dedicated group of resistors gathered on the corner of Dillard Road and Main Street, here in Highlands. We engaged in a silent protest in response to recent cuts in SNAP and Medicaid benefits in the Big Beautiful Bill passed by the House of Representatives.

To the Editor:

Dear Rep. Chuck Edwards. It's been a little while, and your defense of the tariffs still has no legs. But that's not why I'm emailing you again. Your president is violating the Constitution. And you know it.

To the Editor:

The tariff disaster is the last of three major events that demonstrate that the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are incompetent to govern the country. The deportation debacle was the first and the so called cost-cutting fiasco is the second. 

Whether you’re Black, Hispanic, Indigenous or White — LGBTQ+ or cisgender — if you’re thinking about promoting equity and inclusion in historically marginalized communities by combating institutionalized discrimination, racism and sexism, congratulations! You just committed thoughtcrime, because some words are more equal than others. 

A bill approved by Congress last week will provide money for improvements to the nation’s ports and harbors; inland waterway navigation; flood and storm protection; and other aspects of the nation’s waterways. 

As the rain from Hurricane Helene mercifully subsided around noon on Sept. 27, smaller creeks in Haywood County receded fairly quickly, the extra water from each flowing into larger tributaries before combining into the Pigeon River as it heads through a narrow gorge into Tennessee.