Joel Burgess

In the brief Sept. 3 hearing, ex-Asheville Christian School faculty member Jason Ingle told Buncombe County District Court Judge Edwin Clontz that his attorney was James Mills.

Lawyer Mikael Gross of Raleigh said that documents sent to news media in August by the state board that certifies police instructors incorrectly

HENDERSONVILLE - In the wake of the country's latest school shooting, Western North Carolina's Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards blamed such killings on a mental health crisis, declining to address any role played by the prevalence of firearms.

"We just keep seeing the same pattern, which is people using a certain weapon, AR-15s, and the same thing happens.

North Carolina State House of Representatives District 115 The 115 District, like all North Carolina state legislative districts, has been redrawn by Republican legislators.

North Carolina State House of Representatives District 114 The 114 District, like all North Carolina state legislative districts, has been redrawn by Republican legislators.

USA TODAY Opinion Opinion Opinion: Despite Helene's destruction, Asheville is still where I want to raise my kids

Reports of militia threats against FEMA relief workers after Hurricane Helene triggered memories of my experience with infamous bomber Eric Rudolph.

As a reporter, I was in the wave of news media that swept into the area. For me, it was a strange homecoming. My grandparents had lived outside Murphy for years and as a child let me wander into the thick woods.

Talk of militia activity seems to track with the morass of fantastical misinformation that has bubbled up after Helene's devastation of western North Carolina. But this is not new to the region.