A local Democratic Party chair in North Carolina resigned this week after he was arrested for allegedly ripping out and stealing roadside signs supporting former President Donald Trump. 

Lowell Simon, the now former chair of the Moore County Democratic Party, who is also running for North Carolina House in November, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs. 

The Moore County Democratic Party announced in a Facebook post on Monday that 68-year-old Simon had resigned as chair “following recent allegations and arrest related to the theft of political signs.” 

The Moore County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy working in the West End area observed Simon removing campaign signs from the roadside along Seven Lakes Drive at approximately 5:25 p.m. Thursday. 

“The deputy, who was responding to an unrelated call at the time, later followed up at Simon’s residence, where the signs were found in his vehicle,” according to the office. “Simon admitted to removing the signs, which were then recovered and returned to their original owner.” 

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A warrant for Simon’s arrest was issued Saturday. He was released “under a written promise to appear in court,” according to the sheriff’s office, and his first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 30. 

“While we appreciate the hard work and dedication he has shown to the Democratic Party and the community, the Moore County Democratic Party cannot and will not condone the tampering of political signs or any other illegal activity,” the local party wrote on Facebook. “Mr. Simon has offered an apology for his actions, as well as his resignation, both of which have been accepted by the MCDP.”

WRAL, the outlet that interviewed Simon over the phone after his arrest, said the local chair complained that signs he had already placed in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein, the state’s current attorney general running against Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, were obstructed by new signs later set up in front of them that read: “Trump low taxes, Kamala high taxes.” 

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“My worse angels got the better of me and I removed the signs,” Simon said. “I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t do it in the stealth of night or anything. I did it when it was five o’clock in the afternoon.”

Former President Trump supporters hold up signs during a campaign rally at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame in Asheboro on Aug. 21, 2024. (Peter Zay/AFP via Getty Images)

“We believe in the importance of freedom of expression and speech, and hope that local law enforcement will continue to enforce such laws that protect those freedoms fairly and without bias across party lines,” the local party added. “As we move forward, our focus will remain on electing Democrats up and down the ballot in this critical election. Together, we are committed to promoting the values of justice, fairness, and freedom that our Party holds dear, and we look forward to building a better future for all in Moore County.”

Last week, Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields, a Republican, also issued a reminder to the public after Simon’s arrest “that the removal or theft of campaign signs is a violation of North Carolina General Statute § 136-32(e), which protects the lawful placement of these signs during election periods.” 

People living in western North Carolina mountain towns who are still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Helene are now dealing with a cold spell as they woke up to snow on Wednesday morning.

“The devastation around here is heartbreaking, but the thought of people with no power or damaged homes is just awful,” Waynesville resident Jeanne Tierney Vavruska told Fox News Digital, adding that she is concerned for her neighbors.

“We had literally been sleeping in our shed because of water damage, and it was so cold,” she added. “This was last week when the temperatures weren’t nearly as bad. I’m so grateful we only lost power for a couple of weeks and had a little water damage.”

Vavruska, originally from Florida, and her husband from Massachusetts started their move to the area in September 2023. They did not settle on their property until March of this year, meaning this will be their “first winter at 4,100 feet.”

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Fox Carolina issued a weather-related First Alert for the “coldest air of the season so far” on Wednesday and Thursday. The mountains were forecast to have feel-like temperatures in the 20s, raising concern for those still without power.

As a result, cold weather shelters opened in Buncombe County, where Helene swept away homes, cut power and destroyed crucial parts of the water system for Asheville, a city of about 94,000 people. The storm decimated remote towns and killed at least 246 people throughout the Appalachians, where massive cleanup efforts have been complicated by washed-out bridges and roads. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005.  

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Animals bundled up in the cold in Waynesville, North Carolina, on Oct. 16, 2024, following a dusting of snow. (Jeanne Tierney Vavruska)

As for Vavruska, she hopes those visiting the area realize there is still a lot of work to be done.

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Snow across a mountain property in western North Carolina less than three weeks after Hurricane Helene ripped through the area. (Jeanne Tierney Vavruska)

“The town is being put back together so quickly, I’m afraid people will forget that there is still a ton of devastation off of the main roads,” she said.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A family in Virginia was left amused — and a little bit confused — when they found an 84-year-old biscuit in the freezer of a recently deceased relative. 

“Granny passed last month, September 2,” Andy Wiseman of Staunton, Virginia, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview. (See the video at the top of this article.) 

His grandmother was 90. 

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Wiseman received a text from his mother, who was in the process of cleaning out his grandmother’s home. She said she’d found something interesting: a frozen biscuit dating back to 1940.

“She actually found it with a bunch of other stuff in the freezer,” he said. “It’s quite perplexing.” 

Wiseman took to Reddit and posted a picture of the discovery on the “Mildly Interesting” page — where it received a lot of attention and comments. 

But questions remained as to who made the biscuit – and why it was kept for nearly a century.  

There was, however, a clue. 

Sealed in a bag with the rock-hard biscuit was a note reading, “Biscuit made by Mrs. Dara L Chambers in August 1940 at the Blankenship home.”

“I guess my grandmother just couldn’t throw it away.”

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While the note was meant to inform the reader about the biscuit’s origins, all it did for Wiseman was spark additional questions. He did not know the names “Chambers” and “Blankenship.”

“We talked to my grandmother’s sister, Sally, and she gave us some information about those names, because they’re not family names we were familiar with,” he told Fox News Digital.

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“It turned out to be my grandmother’s brother, Harold,” Wiseman said. “It was his first wife’s family’s biscuits.” 

His grandmother’s sister, Wiseman said, found a newspaper clipping announcing Chambers’ death in 1940, the same year the biscuit was made.

The note states: “Biscuit made by Mrs Dana L Chambers in August 1940 at the Blankenship home.” Those names did not immediately ring a bell, Andy Wiseman told Fox News Digital.  (Linda Wiseman)

“We believe it’s very likely, maybe, from her last batch,” he said. Wiseman and his mother believe that the biscuit is “probably an old soda biscuit,” but he is unsure of the exact recipe that was used. 

“I’ve been learning more about biscuit history,” he joked. “I never knew this much about it.” 

Wiseman still does not know why his grandmother kept the biscuit for as long as she did or when she even acquired the item. 

“She wasn’t one to save,” he said. “She had downsized, and we really don’t know” why she kept it, he added.

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Wiseman believes his Uncle Harold had held onto the biscuit for the majority of its lifespan. After Harold’s death, Wiseman’s grandmother likely picked it up and stuck it in her freezer — where it stayed until its discovery at the end of September. 

“I guess my grandmother just couldn’t throw it away,” he said. It is also unlikely the biscuit was stashed and forgotten about, he said, as it was found “right in the door” of the freezer.

The biscuit was found “right in the door” of his grandmother’s freezer, Wiseman (shown here) told Fox News Digital. (Linda Wiseman; Fox News Digital)

“It’s just a strange biscuit with no context around it,” Wiseman said. He added that it is “petrified and rock hard” and “smells like freezer.” 

Wiseman and his mother do not have definite plans for what they plan on doing with the 84-year-old biscuit.

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The “immediate plan is to leave it in (his mother’s) freezer,” he said. “And then my brothers and I can find it.” 

The discovery of the biscuit, however, had an unexpected silver lining for Wiseman and his family: It’s kept his grandmother’s memory alive as they deal with their grief, he said.

“It’s been a lot of fun to talk about my grandmother. We all really loved her, and we miss her a lot.”

“It’s been kind of cathartic, I guess, or healing,” he said. 

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“It’s been a lot of fun to talk about the family history. It’s been a lot of fun to talk about my grandmother. We all really loved her and we miss her a lot.” 

Wiseman’s grandmother, he said, would take the entire family out for pizza each month for a big family dinner.

Oct. 7, he said, “was the second one she’d missed. And she was very generous, and we all loved her and miss her. And it’s been a lot of fun talking about this.”