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About

Ben Rappaport is a passionate storyteller and an ever-curious reporter. He is interested in service journalism that improves the well-being of his community and focuses on solutions. Ben has previous experience at outlets across North Carolina and is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism & Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His previous coverage has focused on education, politics and rural communities.

Featured Articles

Border Belt Independent •

Southern Columbus County: Where new development collides with a rural way of life

The aroma of cigarettes, coffee, and Snickers bars fills the air outside of Fowler’s Supermarket on a rainy Sunday morning.

Just before they head to church, a dozen men gather on the long wooden benches and plastic rocking chairs outside the store and debrief the local goings on. It’s been a weekly tradition for nearly three decades since the store opened in southern Columbus County.

If you want to hear about the new
Border Belt Independent •

Fabric of community: The legacy of the Jewish population in rural southeastern NC

In Judaism, l’dor v’dor means passing history and lessons from generation to generation. It’s a core value about carrying traditions and honoring a shared past.

So when the opportunity came for Ricky Leinwand, the grandson of Austrian Jewish immigrants, to take over his family’s clothing store in Bladen County, there was no question what he’d do.

The store, Leinwand’s, has been in Elizabethtown since 1935. For 88 years, it’s been a staple of the community, offering work wear, shoes and more to
Border Belt Independent •

Crisis in children's mental health takes a heavy toll in rural southeastern NC

This is the first in a two-part project about the children’s mental health crisis in Bladen, Columbus, Robeson and Scotland counties. Read the second story, which focuses on the foster care system, story here.

A 9-year-old girl who spent four months last year inside the Columbus County hospital’s emergency department lashed out at nurses and clawed at the drywall. She wasn’t allowed to use a fork over fears she would use it as a weapon.

Each day, staff at the Columbus Regional Healthcare Syste
HUNTERBROOK •

What's Going On With VinFast?

Hunterbrook Media’s investment affiliate, Hunterbrook Capital, did not take any positions related to this article. It was like taking a victory lap at the starting line. Ground broke. Cameras flashed. Politicians celebrated a purported economic victory: an upstart Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer, VinFast (NASDAQ: $VFS), was building a factory in North Carolina. VinFast pledged to bring $4 billion in investment and 7,500 new jobs to Chatham County over the plant’s first five years. In re
Border Belt Independent •

‘Feel more pain’: southeastern NC is at the heart of a 30-year public education fight

For 28 days, Angus Thompson has been undergoing intensive radiation therapy at UNC Health Southeastern in Lumberton. The treatments have left him tired and he now walks with two canes for support.

But the fire hasn’t left the 72-year-old retired public defender. Neither has the fervor in his booming voice. He’s a presence that demands attention and a listening ear when he speaks.

When he’s not recovering from radiation therapy, Thompson is fiercely advocating for the same struggle that has bee
Border Belt Independent •

NC’s diverse Robeson County now has GOP voting streak. What’s behind support for Trump?

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 to Republican.”  

The way the Bullards see it, Trump secured the southern border...
Rest of World •

Recall-plagued EV maker VinFast is betting big on a new U.S. factory

On a cloudless day at the end of July, the Vietnamese electric-vehicle manufacturer VinFast broke ground on its first overseas manufacturing plant in Chatham County, North Carolina. Nine executives and political leaders thrust gold-painted shovels into the ground at once, including state governor Roy Cooper and VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy. “Today’s event marks a new milestone for VinFast,” said Thuy, “affirming our commitment to the North American market.”

The scale of the project is stunning f
Border Belt Independent •

Low pay, lack of resources lead to burnout in southeastern NC schools, teachers say

It’s an epic vocal trio of Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Tensions are rising within George Washington’s presidential cabinet. Jefferson can’t take it anymore.

“If there’s a fire you’re trying to douse,” Jefferson raps in the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” “you can’t put it out from inside the house.”

Those lyrics hit Kaylan Ganus like a brick. It was the wake-up call the public school teacher had needed for some time....
The Chatham News + Record •

The long road home

Adam Sides Jr. has a long fuse.

As a kid, Adam always told people he wanted to be in the military. He said he wanted to help people who couldn’t help themselves. His doctors, however, told him those dreams wouldn’t become a reality.

Now, the 43-year-old Chatham County resident has endured countless tribulations of his own in his quest for stable housing.

Yet, through it all, he’s maintained his positive attitude and affable personality.

When a construction accident in the 1990s left Adam with a ruptured disc, spinal issues and chronic pain, he found himself doing odd jobs for friends to make ends meet. But when those jobs dried up, or those friends went away, Adam was left with limited options.
The Chatham News + Record •

Moncure residents express frustration, fear at plans for their community

MONCURE — Lisa Palmer, like many of her neighbors, grew up in Moncure and has lived there all her life.

Now, at 71 years old, she fears for the future of her beloved community, and the land she grew up on.

“How am I going to pay my taxes?” she said. “I don’t want to pass away anywhere except my home.”

Her home holds the memories of her loved ones — holiday dinners with her parents, after-school playdates with friends and bringing her son home for the first time.

But Moncure is on the fast tr
Border Belt Independent •

Race, equality and alliances: The story behind Lumberton's contentious election

A slate of political hopefuls wanted to shake up the Lumberton City Council in last month’s contentious election that highlighted issues of race and equality in the Robeson County town.

Voters, however, opted to stick with the status quo. They re-elected Mayor Bruce Davis and three incumbent council members. In another district, voters rejected the only candidate on the ballot — Erich Von Hackney, a former council member who often clashed with Davis — and wrote in a candidate endorsed by the ma
Border Belt Independent •

In this Robeson County town, high school seniors say they don't plan to vote

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 through the ballot box in the November election. Many of his senior-class pee...
The Chatham News + Record •

Despite threats, Merry Oaks community persists

MERRY OAKS — On a recent Wednesday evening at Merry Oaks Baptist Church, a dozen church members gathered in the sanctuary to discuss the Old Testament story of King David.

Three men risked their lives in a march to Bethlehem to get water for their camp, Rev. Jim Brady describes from the pulpit. When the men returned, water in hand, they gave that water to David and he poured it out in front of them.

“David did not drink of it,” Brady says. “He poured it out to the Lord.”

The story, he said, i
The Chatham News + Record •

A Chatham resident uses his urine as fertilizer. It’s not as weird as you think.

SILER CITY — Dr. John Dykers is well aware his home doesn’t pass the smell test.

As soon as you enter the front door, the odor smacks you in the sniffer — it’s unmistakable. The unpleasant stench is urine that he and his wife, Nancy Van Camp, have preserved over the past seven months.

The urine sits in several 55-gallon barrels on the Dykers’ lawn, adjacent to the house. The plan is to use that urine as fertilizer for their 100-acre farm.

The idea for using their own urine as fertilizer came
The Chatham News + Record •

‘And a very pleasant good evening’

Vin Scully started every broadcast the same way: “Hi everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you wherever you may be.”

It always felt so pleasant. Like he cared about me and wanted me to feel included.

That is what baseball has always felt like for me, inclusive. It has always been my haven and my gateway to manhood. While my scrawny 5-foot-6 frame was never going to hit home runs or throw no-hitters, being able to talk baseball with my father was always a point of connection.

I always
The Chatham News + Record •

Is CRT taught in Chatham County Schools?: Spoiler alert: School system says it’s not

We don’t have time to politicize our classrooms but outside people are doing that for us.”

A collection of documents from a recent training program for teachers and administrators in Chatham County Schools recently made the rounds on social media.

The training, held last month, was meant to help teachers understand equity and race as part of improving inclusivity efforts in the classroom — but instead it sparked claims that CCS is teaching CRT, or Critical Race Theory, to students.

A selectio
The Chatham News + Record •

North Chatham Elementary’s garden blossoms with community

CHAPEL HILL — The recess bell rings at North Chatham Elementary and the 2nd graders in Susana Negroni’s class bolt out the classroom door and onto the playground.

Some gather for a game of tag near the slide and others congregate at the swing set. But for many of the rest, there’s a new favorite activity: gardening.

The North Chatham Elementary Parent Teacher Association opened a community garden on campus, just off Lystra Road, in April. Since it first broke ground, the students and parent vo
The Chatham News + Record •

Winger challenges Turner in Dist. 3 race, bringing attention, outside cash and drama

The longtime Chatham County School Board Dist. 3 incumbent Del Turner, who has been on the board since 2010, faces a challenge from Jessica Winger, a Chatham County Schools parent and substitute teacher calling for more transparency from the board.

The race has brought sharp focus on issues such as Critical Race Theory, parent oversight in curriculum and school safety to the local stage. Bigger-than-usual donations, advertisements and social media posts have also swirled around the election, wh
The Chatham News + Record •

Wolfspeed announces historic economic development in Chatham County: $5 billion, 1,800 jobs and more impact expected.

“Our community is fortunate to have had great ownership [of the CAM site] that has stayed with us over time, to win this project,” said Michael Smith. “They have had other opportunities to do other things with that site ... It’s all because of having an owner like that who knows what he’s doing and has been committed to making this happen.”

She said she hopes these companies also foster relationships with public institutions like CCCC and Chatham County Schools to help foster the next generatio
The Chatham News + Record •

Exploring Vingroup’s vast reach in Vietnam, and what it means for Chatham County

Editor’s note: Ben Rappaport has just returned from a week in Vietnam touring VinFast’s manufacturing facilities and meeting with company officials. It was part of a VinFast-paid media tour in advance of the electric vehicle manufacturer’s plans to locate a $4 billion plant in Chatham County. This is the first in a series of stories about Rappaport’s experiences.

Dinner cruises along Ha Long Bay, rooftop dinners with fire-breathing performers and five-star hotel stays were all part of an extrav
The Daily Tar Heel •

Column: The future of the Greene Tract must center community voices

A "No Dumping" sign is pictured at the Carolina North Forest, a woodland owned by UNC Chapel hill that covers 750 acres and has several hiking trails.

At the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association Community Center, Minister Robert Campbell prepares bags of canned goods, rice, lentils and fresh produce for the community center’s food pantry every month.

He has given the food to his neighbors through RENA's Food Bank since the 1980s.

Over the years, he’s watched those neighbors grow up — celeb
The Daily Tar Heel •

Farewell column: The necessary struggle of letting go

I have always been a chronic pushover and a people-pleaser. I want to make sure the people in my life don’t leave — and so I do all I can to hold them tight. But that also means I struggle with confrontation and I don’t like putting my opinions out in the open.

Opinions lead to disagreement, which leads to arguing, which leads to leaving, which I cannot handle.

So, when I impulsively applied to the opinion desk of The Daily Tar Heel last spring, it was a challenge to myself: to be more confron
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