Dear readers,

The Robesonian, like all of you, has suffered greatly during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, including the loss of our building, its contents, as well as damage to much of our production equipment. This has compromised our ability to deliver printed news to our readers, as well as to serve our advertisers.

We have in recent days been an on-line product only, with our shorthanded newsroom populating www.robesonian.com with information on the storm and need-to-know information. We have also made our E-edition, a digitized version of the print product, available to all at no charge through www.robesonian.com.

We are currently looking for a temporary headquarters that we will use until our offices are habitable but that is months away. Our plans are to resume publishing a print edition no later than the middle of next week (hopefully sooner) by printing at our sister paper in Mt. Airy and get our printing operation functioning in Lumberton long before our office spaces are ready for us to move back into.

In the meantime, we know that communication with this newspaper has been difficult, but we want to continue to serve the public. News items, including obituaries, can be emailed to Editor Donnie Douglas at [email protected], Managing Editor Sarah Willets at [email protected] or obit clerk Princess Guess at [email protected]. Advertising needs can be met by emailing advertising director Denise Ward at [email protected].

Our commitment to serving our advertisers and our readers has not been diminished by Hurricane Matthew. We wish you and your loved ones the best as we all recover from this tragic event.

Rick Thomasson

Publisher