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. 

To the Editor:

I want to let Sen. Tillis, Sen. Budd and Rep. Chuck Edwards know that it’s difficult to understand why Congress expects me to pay federal taxes. 

To the Editor:

I did not vote for Elon Musk, and I am pretty sure that no one else did either as he was not on any ballot.  Then, why is this man able to disrupt and make changes in our governmental system and programs?  Sens. Tillis and Budd, and Rep. Edwards, do your jobs!

After two major floods in three years, BearWaters Brewing Company is adapting its business to ensure a future in downtown Canton. During a Feb. 13 town meeting, brewery representatives detailed their struggles and their vision for a new chapter, which includes shifting away from brewing on-site while expanding into a whole new line of business.

There’s no such thing as a self-made dictator. It takes more than a village to make one. Lawmakers and judges must cooperate or get out of his way. Citizens must accept that it’s all for the good or will soon pass by. That’s what happened not so long ago to new democracies in Italy, Germany and Russia. 

To the Editor:

Democracy thrives on rules that balance power and protect freedom. But recent actions by this new administration are tearing down those "guardrails," putting our democracy in real danger.

This one goes out to the North Carolina General Assembly and Congress, but it will take a little explaining. 

Hurricane Helene victims in Western North Carolina have eagerly been awaiting an expected holiday gift in the form of federal aid since the Sept. 27 storm pounded the region, but after nearly three months of wholly insufficient action in the General Assembly and a last-minute House vote in Washington, the only gift under the Christmas tree this year was pink bunny pajamas. 

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. 

After decades of paying for hurricane recovery operations along the North Carolina coast, Western North Carolina taxpayers finally had a reason to ask the rest of the state to return the favor in the wake of Hurricane Helene. On Dec. 11, the rest of the state answered with a resounding “no.”