By Ben Rappaport and Rachel Baldauf benrappaport@borderbelt.org Jimmy and Timmy Bullard, 32-year-old twins who grew up in the Robeson County town of Pembroke, were raised to believe they should always vote for Democrats.  Then came Donald Trump.  “My granddaddy was a Democrat. He goes to church, he’s a Christian,” Timmy Bullard said. “But when he saw what Trump did, that’s when he turned from Democrat …Read more

By Ben Rappaport benrappaport@borderbelt.org Just off the main drag in Pembroke, behind a plaza with a convenience store, an auto repair shop and a gas station, about a dozen people live in tents.  The unhoused people in the small tent community are central to the ongoing legal dispute surrounding last year’s race for mayor in the Robeson County town.  Allen Dial, who owns the property …Read more

By Ben Rappaport benrappaport@borderbelt.org   Greg Cummings and his family used to visit Gary Locklear’s house every Christmas Eve to share stories and break bread in joyous tradition.  But Cummings didn’t show up last December.  The two men were high school classmates who later bonded over decades spent in the Robeson County political arena. Cummings has served two terms as Pembroke mayor after spending several years …Read more

By Ben Rappaport benrappaport@borderbelt.org  Samere Yates sees plenty of problems in his hometown of Fairmont, a town of 2,500 residents in the southern end of Robeson County.  “Everyone here winds up shot, dead or in jail,” said Yates, 18. “There’s just nothing here. It’s terrible.”  But Yates, who will graduate this month from Fairmont High School, doesn’t see any solutions to his community’s woes coming …Read more

By Ben Rappaport benrappaport@borderbelt.org Wake County Superior Court Judge Vince Rozier denied an appeal in a case alleging voter bribery in Robeson County’s primary election, an attorney involved in the case said Wednesday.   The ruling by Rozier, who had not filed an order explaining his decision as of Thursday morning, means Robeson County Commissioner Judy Sampson’s slim victory in the March 5 Democratic primary will …Read more