Boys and Girls Homes President Ricky Creech and Case Manager Amber Payne pet Kara along with Boys and Girls Homes residents. Photo by Les High Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a multi-part series where the Border Belt Independent looks at what has changed since The News Reporter’s six-part series in 2017 that reported […]
December 2021
Posted inHealth
Drug treatment options exist, but many don’t know where to find them
Vickie Pait, executive director at Families First, Samantha Adkins, shelter advocate, and Jennifer Cain, direct services specialist, make up a bed in the Families First shelter. Pait said the shelter is often a last resort for law enforcement officers seeking assistance for women experiencing a substance addiction or mental health crisis. Photo by Les High […]
Posted inHealth
Drug treatment program leads to sobriety, sisterhood
Women in Rose House hold a group therapy discussion. Photo by Les High Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a multi-part series where the Border Belt Independent looks at what has changed since The News Reporter’s six-part series in 2017 that reported on the opioid crisis and associated mental health issues. Today, Reporter Ivey […]
Posted inCourts & Justice
A puppy – and a hope for justice – for Robeson County family recovering from shooting
Estrella Sosa, now 10, is recovering after she was shot in the head while riding in a car with her family in September in their neighborhood near Pembroke.
Posted inHealth
Hospital, EMS seeing ‘a lot more’ overdose deaths
Columbus Regional Healthcare System Emergency Department Director Dr. John Penrose says the use of heroin and other street drugs has led to many more overdose deaths, especially during the pandemic. Photo by Les High Publisher’s note: This is the third in a multi-part series where the Border Belt Independent looks at what has changed since […]
Posted inHealth
COVID cases rise across NC’s Border Belt as concerns about omicron variant grow
The number of new COVID-19 cases is on the rise across North Carolina’s Border Belt counties as concerns about the omicron variant grow.
Posted inHealth
Sheriff: Columbus drug crime is a ‘bad situation’
Sheriff Jody Greene at a briefing before deputies conduct a series of weekend drug raids. Photo by Ivey Schofield Editor’s note: This is the second in a multi-part series where the Border Belt Independent looks at what has changed since The News Reporter’s six-part 2017 series on the opioid crisis and associated mental health […]
Posted inNews
‘We need to have a reformation:’ Opioid use continues to wreck lives across Columbus
Darren Mills, who co-leads Celebrate Recovery at Western Prong Baptist Church, says faith-based addiction treatment programs fill a large need in the county. Editor’s note: This is the first in a seven-part series that looks at what has changed since The (Whiteville) News Reporter’s series in 2017 that reported on the opioid crisis and associated […]
Posted inNews
Murder and a police scandal gripped this small NC town. Can Chadbourn find its way?
Some residents say violence is too common in the Columbus County town of Chadbourn, where three people were killed in July.