Robeson County

North Carolina lawmakers want to make it easier for domestic violence victims to testify remotely, so they won’t have to encounter their abusers in a courtroom.

A bill that advanced Tuesday through the Senate Judiciary Committee combines several previously vetoed measures that would ease requirements to purchase handguns and allow people to carry concealed firearms in more locations, including some schools based in houses of worship.

The nonprofit NC GreenPower secured funding to install high-efficiency LED lighting in 60 school gyms as a sustainability effort.

Hundreds of families are still displaced from their homes years after Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Some families have been living in hotels for years waiting for repairs to start.

The facility was going to produce and export wood pellets for other countries to burn for energy. Local advocates said the plant would've brought more pollution to the area.

The remains of 1st Lt. James “Dick” Wright, the hero who vanished during World War II, were finally returned to his tiny Robeson County hometown this week.

Schools in the state are facing severe staffing shortages across-the-board. That's putting more on the shoulders of educators who are still on the job.

As the highly-transmissible delta variant moves through the Lumbee community, many are now feeling the impact of the pandemic at a personal level.

COVID-19 has torn through the largely rural and racially-diverse community. In the past two weeks, 37 people have died from the disease. That represents more than 10% of those who have died from COVID-19 in the county since March of 2020.

As of Sept. 14, Robeson County had the lowest vaccination rate in North Carolina with less than one-third of the population fully vaccinated.