For the second time in two weeks Kai Ryon joined hundreds of Buncombe County Democrats at a town-hall gathering to protest the Trump administration’s blitzkrieg attacks on federal programs.
Last week, Ryon was among the overflow crowd of protesters who jammed and surrounded the Ferguson Auditorium on Asheville’s A-B Tech campus to rain fury on Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards, who hosted the town hall despite warnings from GOP leaders that such meetings could turn ugly.
It did exactly that, prompting the congressman to leave amid tight security as some in the crowd — the 32-year-old Ryon among them — shouted “save our democracy” and a chorus of f-bombs in his wake.
Ryon was back in the same auditorium Thursday night, this time in a much smaller and more restrained audience of Buncombe Democrats. There were no throngs of counter-protesters, no angry placards or banners, and mostly respectful silence as Democratic speakers detailed their efforts to mitigate the massive cuts in federal programs and staff through the state’s budget.
Although these legislative actions may be worthy, Ryon said, they aren’t enough.
“I know I am not alone when I say that I’m frustrated, angry, shocked about what’s happening right now,” the lanky construction worker said when he was called on to speak from his seat near the back of the packed auditorium.
Kai Ryon, who lives in Candler, spoke at the Buncombe County Democratic Party’s Town Hall March 20 at A-B Tech in Asheville. Ryon, a construction worker, galvanized the crowd with a call for the party to “show some teeth” in opposing what he called the Trump administration’s illegal cuts to federal programs. // Watchdog photo by Katie Shaw
“I’m trying to figure out a way to leverage my privilege to help those that are less privileged,” Ryon said. “I am through with civil-engagement protest and, frankly, I’m looking to see the Democratic Party show some teeth.”
The audience erupted in cheers and applause, quieting only when Ryon continued to detail recent reprisals by the Trump administration on its policy critics.
“My question to you guys,” he said, addressing the panel of state legislators, “is: How concerned are you moving forward as things get worse, and, what can we do in the meantime?”
The legislators — state Reps. Lindsey Prather, Brian Turner and Eric Ager, and state Sen. Julie Mayfield — each explained a variety of bills working their way through the Republican-controlled state General Assembly, and the work of the party’s legislative delegation in countering the federal cuts.
“Show some teeth”
But it was Ryon’s demand for the Democrats to “show some teeth” that appeared to encapsulate the audience’s mood and trigger the loudest responses.
Ager replied directly to Ryon’s appeal, though with a modest recommendation. “We are all in a place where we are really wondering how and what we can do,” he said. “This is a great start. Showing up at these things shows you pay attention and want to make a difference.”
Ager and his colleagues urged the audience to channel their anger into community networking by joining clubs, attending school board meetings, befriending “people who don’t hold the same political views,” or doing public-service volunteer work for nonprofits and other agencies experiencing or facing budget and staffing cuts under the Trump administration.
Ager, a farmer and U.S. Navy veteran who represents District 114 south and east of Asheville, also said that mass protests and individual outreach might persuade even incumbent Republicans to find “the courage to stand up” against the Trump administration and exercise the constitutional role of oversight and budgeting.
Mayfield, an attorney who represents District 49 in the state Senate, urged Democrats to be willing to work with Edwards and the state’s Republican U.S. senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, who have been instrumental in steering federal money into the region to assist in the recovery from Tropical Storm Helene.
State Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Duncombe, in white blouse, center) watches March 19 as North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signs the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 Part 1, which includes $524 million in total aid for western North Carolina following Tropical Storm Helene. Mayfield spoke March 20 at the Buncombe County Democratic Party’s Town Hall. // Photo courtesy Governor’s Press Office
A self-described “practical progressive,” Mayfield said that while many residents may be angry with the Republican administration, if they phone these three GOP lawmakers, they would do well by starting the conversation by expressing gratitude for their efforts in sending federal dollars to the region.
“Then you can go ahead and fuss at them,” she said.
Prather also emphasized the value of direct involvement in countering the GOP’s policies. “Your Facebook screams and posting comments under [news media] articles doesn’t count,” she said. Among the actions people can take is to push back against bias and false information, to be willing to confront someone by saying, “that’s actually not true.”
“We all have to believe that truth still matters,” Prather, a former teacher who represents District 115 north and west of Asheville, continued. “If we don’t believe that, we’re absolutely lost.”
Change of mood
The Buncombe Democratic gathering was part of the party’s effort to build interest in advance of a protest rally planned for Pack Square in downtown Asheville on Sunday.
The mood at Thursday’s town hall suggested that local Democrats are shifting their posture from one of stunned shock to calls for action. Ager told The Watchdog in an interview that he sensed this change in mood.
“The Trump administration’s strategy has been to overwhelm their critics by throwing everything at them at once,” Ager said. “The Democratic Party has been pushed onto its back foot by these things. But I see that we’re getting off that back foot now and moving forward; we’re seeing things starting to change.”
One woman in the audience, identified only by her zip code, said she previously worked in programs supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) combating the spread of COVID-19.
“It was shocking to have an agency ended in 10 days, its website taken down and 13,100 projects cut with lighting speed,” she said. “The courts can’t even stay or keep up.”
Even if federal courts eventually rule against the Trump administration’s cuts, “the damage is done and the nonprofits doing the good, local work in the field for the poorest people, they’re gone.”
The woman placed the blame for this on billionaire Trump backer Elon Musk, who contributed $288 million to the president’s campaign and is orchestrating the federal cuts as the nominal leader of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
She asked the legislative panel if anything can be done to stop or reverse Musk’s activities. “This is the dismantling of the federal government,” she said.
Mayfield, the sole lawyer on the panel, offered a blunt reply: “Almost everything he is doing is illegal, is unconstitutional, and there will be consequences for that.”
“We’re going to go through a messy, horrible time,” Mayfield said. “And then judges, I hope, will start throwing some people in jail.”
State Rep. Eric Ager (D-Buncombe, center) chats with constituents at a March 20 Democratic Party town hall called to discuss Tropical Storm Helene recovery efforts and efforts to mitigate GOP-ordered budget and staff cuts to federal agencies. // Watchdog photo by Katie Shaw
In an interview after the program, Ryon had a more measured response. “The Democratic Party is at a crossroads,” he said, adding that this was his reason for attending the meeting and speaking up.
“Maybe it’s naive, but I would like to think that my being here maybe helps steer it in the right direction,” Ryon said.
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SUMMARY: The FDA has issued a warning about counterfeit Ozempic being found in the U.S. drug supply. Both the FDA and Ozempic’s manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, are urging patients and pharmacies to verify the legitimacy of their prescriptions. Counterfeit vials pose potential health risks, with several hundred units distributed outside the official supply chain. The fakes can be identified by a specific combination of a real lot number (P0362) and an illegitimate serial number starting with “51746517.” The FDA and FBI have both warned about counterfeit weight loss drugs, urging individuals to validate their Ozempic supplies.
The FDA and the manufacturer of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk are urging patients, doctors and pharmacies to check their Ozempic prescriptions.
www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-15 15:45:00
(The Center Square) – The North Carolina Senate’s version of a state budget for the next two years breezed through three committees Tuesday with few changes or opposition.
The proposed budget, Senate Bill 257, includes income tax cuts, and a doubling of taxes for sports betting companies who operate in North Carolina from 18% to 36%.
The Senate spending proposal, unlike Gov. Josh Stein’s proposed budget, fully funds the state’s retirement plan. It also increases funding for the state health care plan by $318 million over the next two years.
It would raise teacher pay and funding for colleges and universities.
“This budget continues the success North Carolina has seen over the last decade and half,” Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, one of the bill’s sponsors, told members of the Appropriations/Base Budget Committee.
The first year of the two-year proposed budget is $32.6 billion, the second year $33.3 billion, Hise said. It’s an increase of $1.3 billion, or 4% in the first year, and $733 million in the second year.
He described it as “modest growth” that still allows the state to replenish its “rainy day” reserve fund, which at the end of two years will be back at $4.75 billion. It will bring state funding for a new children’s hospital in Charlotte to $855 million.
It adds another $700 million for Hurricane Helene recovery, adding to the $1.4 billion already appropriated.
“It is also our understanding that Gov. Stein is working on another request for recovery needs,” Hise said. “But as yet, we are not at that place.”
Some of the state funds spent on hurricane relief will likely be reimbursed by the federal government, Hise added.
“We are hopeful the federal government will provide increased and expedited reimbursements,” Hise said. “But we must prepare to fend for ourselves.”
Under the proposed budget, most state employees would receive 1.25% raise the first year and a $3,000 bonus over the entire two-year period covered by the budget, said Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover.
Correctional officers would receive a 5.25% raise with other state law enforcement officers also getting extra pay raises. Local law enforcement officers would receive $3,000 bonuses over the two-year period. Nurses employed by the state would also received higher 3.25% raises over the two years.
Teachers would receive a 3.3% raise over the two years plus a $3,000 bonus. With those raises, the average teacher pay in North Carolina will be $62,407, Lee said.
The proposed budget passed the Appropriations/Base Budget Committee, Finance Committee and Pensions, Finance and Aging Committee with only minor changes on Tuesday.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-14 11:31:00
(The Center Square) – Senators in North Carolina are scheduled to work a budget proposal through three committees Tuesday.
The 2025 Appropriations Act, known also as Senate Bill 257, is to be heard first in the Appropriations/Base Budget Committee. Next is a stop in the Finance Committee, followed 15 minutes later by the Pensions and Retirement and Aging Committee. Senate Bills 258 and 263 carry the same title.
President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, noted in his opening address in January the General Assembly has “moved away from the unsteady rollercoaster of boom-and-bust budgets toward consistent, conservative, fiscally sound budgets.”
The legislation is only beginning, according to the state legislative website. Filed March 11, it was at two pages at midday Monday.
Typically, the governor is first to offer a budget proposal, both chambers follow, and then the negotiations ensue. July 1 is the start of the fiscal year, though it was late September in 2024 when the midterm adjustment was finalized.
Because of the July 14, 2016, signing of a law by Republican former Gov. Pat McCrory, the state government avoided shutdown during a three-year budget impasse that began after Cooper’s veto in 2019. Instead, the law allowed the state to operate on the previous spending plan. It remains in effect today.
North Carolina has a population estimated at 11 million, ninth largest in America and up 37.5% from 8 million just a quarter of a century ago.
Spending on education was the largest share of the last state budget at $17.9 billion for 2024-25, and $17.3 billion for 2023-24 of the $60.7 billion two-year plan.
Cooper in eight years only signed one two-year budget (2021-22), one midterm adjustment (2022) and allowed a two-year budget to become law without his signature (2023-24), the latter tied to his long-sought request for Medicaid expansion.
Cooper vetoed two-year budgets for 2017-18 and 2019-20, and midterm adjustments in 2018 and 2024. Veto overrides enacted two-year budget legislation for 2017-18 and midterm adjustments in 2018 and 2024.
