LUMBERTON — Robeson County drivers saw a sharp increase in gas prices at stations around the county on Thursday with the average price of a gallon of gasoline jumping from $3.14 on Wednesday to $3.24 on Thursday.

LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a man found dead in a car Wednesday in the area of Hornets Road and Meadow Road in Lumberton.

PEMBROKE — The Thomas School of Business at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke will launch its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program on Feb. 3.

PEMBROKE — Royal Travis Bryant has been hired as the new chief executive officer of the Lumbee Regional Development Association.

LUMBERTON — The Village Station restaurant, in operation for 45 years and shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, is being demolished, as is the gas station adjacent to the crumbling, abandoned restaurant, which suffered damage from a fire in August.

RALEIGH — North Carolina teachers with higher effectiveness ratings prior to the disruptions of the 2020-21 COVID-19 school year helped mitigate learning loss as students and teachers managed remote instruction, hybrid learning and other responses to the pandemic, a new analysis of student outcomes shows.

This story is a collaboration between the Border Belt Independent and The Assembly.

LUMBERTON —Whether the groundhog weather prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not, the human forecasters at the National Weather Service predicts warmer than average temperature in the coming months.

ASSAULT: The following assaults were reported recently to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office: Legend Drive, Lumberton; Tracey Sampson Road, Pembroke; Nova Road, Pembroke.