Bladen County News and In-Depth Reporting

North Carolina Farmers Reel From Trump Administration Payment Delays

A Columbus County farmer prepares for the spring planting season. (Photo by Les High for Border Belt Independent)

Farmers say they’re waiting for federal payments for conservation and climate change programs, as well as emergency loans.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer at a briefing in Maryland. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Calls to a Durham-based hotline spiked, and schools and churches scrambled to communicate with families as President Trump’s deportation push began.

Campaign worker Linda Carroll adjusts a sign at the Bladenboro precinct on Election Day. (Photo by Les High)

Rural counties like the Border Belt shifted further to the right, despite Democrats’ efforts to re-engage working-class voters.

Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. poses for a portrait outside of his home in Bladenboro, N.C. // Photo by Travis Long, The News & Observer via AP.

Dowless, a small-town vote wrangler who rose to national infamy over election fraud charges, was laid to rest on Saturday.