By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Daniel Thomas addresses the Boiling Springs Town Council Oct 6, 2026. | Chuck Thompson BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Former Boiling Springs Mayor Daniel Thomas complimented the town’s leadership and defended its long-term planning during Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, acknowledging residents’ concerns over rising water bills while arguing that maintaining aging infrastructure comes at a cost. Thomas, who served on the Town Council fro

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A vehicle is refueled at a gas pump as evening light reflects off its surface. | Alan Wooten / The Center Square Affects local / State – North Carolinians and others filling up at the state’s pumps for gasoline and diesel fuel are getting a break on the 41 cents per gallon tax. Effective immediately through Nov. 30, Relief at the Pump (House Bill 3 of first extra session) was signed into law on Friday by first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A vehicle is refueled at a gas pump as evening light reflects off its surface. Photo: Alan Wooten / The Center Square Affects Local / The Center Square – Diesel fuel is up 84% and regular unleaded gasoline up 58.2% in North Carolina, each since the first of the year adding misery for consumer goods pricing that relies on the trucking industry. Voters are already marking ballots in the nation’s longest voting window and what is in their walle

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The Shelby City Council hears from both Kristen Boggs Jaeger and CathFord's Bob Englander, Monday night, Sept 21, 2026. | City of Shelby video still The Webbley House, as pictured in June 2025. | Chuck Thompson GOVERNMENT — Bed and breakfast, anyone? At Monday night’s Shelby City Council meeting, the council voted in favor of moving forward with for the CathFord plan, a Virginia based firm, to turn the historic Webbley House in

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent President Donald Trump, in red cap, standing under NC state flag, greets those in attendance as he enters the stage at the 'Make America Safe Again' event at the Gastonia Airport on Wednesday. | Chuck Thompson A wider view of the event while President Trump speaks from the podium as the sun sets in the distance. | Chuck Thompson Local, State and National / GASTONIA - President Trump showed up in Gastonia on Wednesday to campaign

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Cleveland County Board of Commissioners in public session, Sept 15, 2026. | County video feed screenshot Government and Education — At Tuesday evening’s September public meeting, the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners restored the $500,000 originally pulled from Cleveland County Schools in the FY2026-27 County Budget. Never mentioned, but buried in the consent agenda, Chairman of the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners sai

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Shelby Police Chief Brad Fraser shakes hands with District Director for U.S. Congressman Tim Moore (NC-14) as Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman looks at the American Flag presented to him that flew over the Nation's Capitol. Sept 1. 2026. | Chuck Thompson Boiling Springs Police Chief Brian DiYorio and Sgt. Chris Williams at the appreciation lunch Sept. 1, 2026. | Chuck Thompson Feature Story / CLEVELAND COUNTY — It was a

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A USPS mail truck parks along a residential street as the postal carrier makes deliveries. | Joel Moysuh / Unsplash AFFECTS LOCAL / STATE – On-time delivery of the mail by the U.S. Postal Service in North Carolina was among the worst in the nation in the second quarter, a report from the agency’s dashboard says. North Carolina was No. 44, with on-time service percentage of 78.2%. That’s well below the target of 87% and the national norm of 8

By Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — You might want to pay attention to your speed and slow down traveling through Boiling Springs from now on. A reduction in the speed limit in one part of town has been enacted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). On Friday afternoon, The Town of Boiling Springs released a statement noting that the area on N Main Street between Ingles and Ramsgate Drive has been reduced from 35 mph to 25 mph.

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square Photo: Phil Roeder / Flickr AFFECTS LOCAL / STATE — Supporters called it a measure of integrity for North Carolina elections. The governor said it was “anti-voter legislation.” Election Law Changes, known also as House Bill 958, was vetoed by first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein late Monday afternoon. The proposal would change early in-person voting periods for primaries, primary runoffs and special elections to 10 days rather than 17. The

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent It may not be a secret, but the county government was not posting, promoting or talking publicly about the line-by-line cost of the new furniture for the new $210 million Justice Center, when Cleveland County Commissioner candidate, and front-runner, Wayne King filed a formal public records request for the cost of the new furniture near the end of July. In the documents, he discovered one floor of Cleveland County’s Justice Center wi

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Chief Financial Officer of CCS, Rob McDaniel, center white shirt, talks about the concerns of operating with $500,000 less than what the county gave CCS last year with state mandated pay raises during the Finance and Personnel committee meeting last Wednesday. However, the state did not supplement more money to the school systems to cover the raises this school year. | Chuck Thompson, Shelby Independent. Education — As summer ends

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent OPINION — In the wake of a legal letter written by the county, earlier this week the county held a tour of the long-anticipated new Justice Center, the largest and most expensive project ever conceived and constructed by Cleveland County government. However, in its intent to rein in public scrutiny, after having the panel of a local political show first try to cover for an embarrassing reveal of information, the county then published

City of Kings Mountain

Staff reports | Cleveland County Government press release SHELBY, NC – As the largest and one of the most significant capital investments in County history, the Cleveland County Justice Center represents a major commitment of public resources. As such, since 2019, the Justice Center has been a topic of discussion on the Board of Commissioners’ meeting and work session agenda(s) twenty-six (26) times; since 2021, the Justice Center has appeared twenty-three (23) times as a new

See the previous news story about the Cleveland County Justice Center July 8 letter for more information.

By Chuck Thompson | Exclusive to The Shelby Independent The Justice Center construction rises from behind the current courthouse, still far from completed, on July 20, 2026. | Chuck Thompson Editor’s note: This legal letter dated July 8, 2026 was discovered in a public records request by The Shelby Independent. This is a developing news story about the information within a letter and the information researched from other documents and previous news reports. A second part wi

Staff Reports | Cleveland Community College North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein takes a photo with CCC students. | Courtesy photo, CCC SHELBY, N.C. — North Carolina Governor Josh Stein visited Cleveland Community College on July 13 to tour the Careers Electric Summer Electrical Academy, one of only 12 academies being hosted on community college campuses across the state this summer. The governor's visit spotlighted the innovative workforce development program, which provides local

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Hendrik Hagenkord, left, with BSPD Chief Brian DiYorio inside the Boiling Springs Police Department. | Chuck Thompson Boiling Springs, N.C. – Schützen und dienen. Protect and serve. You can say it in any language, and the motto remains the same. That was something Hendrik Hagenkord, a German police officer, discovered when he visited Boiling Springs, North Carolina, recently. Hagenkord is from the city of Wuppertal, Germany. Located

Staff Reports | Cleveland County Government Photo courtesy of Cleveland County Government SHELBY, NC — Cleveland County Animal Services recently announced a strategic integration of its community cat initiative (the Trap, Vaccinate, and Release program), establishing a fully centralized system designed to maximize public safety, enhance animal welfare, and ensure strict fiscal accountability for taxpayers. The updated framework transitions the program into a fully in-house, s