By Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column | Special to The Shelby Independent Westmoreland April 12 marks the 250th anniversary of a largely forgotten, but significant date in American history. On this date in 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress of North Carolina met in Halifax and unanimously passed a measure instructing its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote to declare independence from Great Britain. With the Halifax Resolves, North Carolina became the first co

By Chuck Thompson | Opinion (Not the Sunday Column) OPINION – I’ve covered about a dozen different counties and a plethora of city and town councils in my career, but Thursday night was the first time I left any governing body public meeting so angry that I sent them a bill for my mileage and my time. They don’t have to pay it, it’s only a request, but I sent them one. (see photo below) I can promise you that the city has probably spent $48 on a lot of dumber and more pointl

By Ron Humphries | Special guest opinion | Press release Humphries In light of recent public statements and threats regarding my interaction with fellow School Board member Mr. Blanton after the Board meeting on January 12, 2026, I feel it is essential to address the situation with a focus on forgiveness and my desire to move forward. During our verbal exchange, Mr. Blanton angrily approached me closely and gestured towards my face. In a moment of instinctive reaction, I gent

By A thankful educator | The Sunday Column | Special to The Shelby Independent OPINION – Some days come and go without much notice. And then there are days that stop you in your tracks, days that remind you just how fragile and how strong life can be at the very same time. Recently, our community experienced one of those days. What began like any other quickly turned into something none of us ever want to face. In a moment, routines were interrupted, classrooms grew silent, a

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION – Feelings over facts seems to be the preferred way of doing things in media nowadays, but that's not journalism, although, that is what you see and read in the mainstream media every day and that is called 'propaganda' and 'activism' disguised as journalism, as many of you have learned over the years. Some seem to think journalism should be regulated based on what people do and do not like, because it actually does happen ever

Commentary | The Shelby Independent OPINION — It’s March 3, the day most candidates have been waiting for (those that have a primary) and it couldn’t be sweeter or finer than to be in Carolina during this election of attrition, as many candidates have continued to nuke each other into oblivion right up to today. In the local races, Tim Moore is facing off across the wolf in sheep’s clothing: Kate Barr, pretending to be a Republican. This race has only been vicious from her si

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – Pants and politics go hand-in-hand.   They do. It’s true. Pants and politics go “hand-in-hand,” even though you wear them on your legs; I guess one could say they sometimes can help get a leg up on the competition, and other times they’ll have you tripping over your own feet, so to speak. There’s so many sayings / puns / metaphors associated with pants:     Caught with your pants down     Keep your pants on.     Fly by

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR  – We're all critical of something, whether we admit it or not; sometimes it's warranted and other times it's just biased thought. I’m so biased when it comes to politics, yeah... that’s why none of my Sunday Columns are about politics.  – Look in other publications if you want to read political columns on a Sunday. The Shelby Independent is so biased... Well, some like to say so, but they don’t read everything and they only

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Kate Barr Courtesy photo Kate Barr doesn’t hide the fact that she is a Democrat running as a Republican. She has made it clear several times in the past; I even asked her point-blank, “So, you’re a Democrat running as a Republican?” Her response, without hesitation – “Yes,” but then she explained that she feels more like “A woman without a partisan home.” Barr expanded her answer, stating, “I want America to work for everyone;

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column It's not really a Super Bowl column...   All I’ve been seeing and reading, this week, as far as op-eds and columns are concerned, are mostly Super Bowl this or that – and look at me complaining even though I’m reading them.  That’s not a bad thing but do you really need one more column about The Patriots or The Seahawks or the halftime shows? No. There’s no more room on that bandwagon. In a post Belichick - Brady world, it’s nice to see New

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Grigg. Calm seas only last but so long in the dramatic ocean of politics. In the ongoing soap opera of the Cleveland County Board of Education, a new plot twist reared its head Friday, the day after the calm and professional school board candidate forum debate – call it a smear campaign, hit piece, attack, or just the truth – the focus was recently shifted onto current school board member, and candidate for the CCS Board of Education

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – A while back there were a few teenagers or college kids who were asking people in the parking lot of the grocery store if adults were jealous of young people alive today - it was obviously for a social media thing or whatever. They didn’t ask me but the answer I heard was almost exactly what I was going to say: No . And though the woman didn't expand on her answer, I'm sure what she was thinking was along the same lines as

The Board of Education Forum involved eight candidates from the CCGOP By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The board of education candidates before the event began, seated left to right, Robert Queen, Brandon Bridges, Aaron Bridges, Shelia Canipe, Rodney Fitch, Ronnie Grigg, Stephen Self, and Danny Blanton. Sherry Yocum, standing in red shirt, and moderator Dot Cherry on right. Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent Thursday night’s Board of

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – First, you have to understand that while you’re reading this on Sunday (or later) during Icemegeddon, I am writing this on Friday night, eating all my winter storm snacks and typing away, having no clue more than the weatherman on what would actually happen by Sunday. As a friend mentioned to me today, "Being a weatherman is the only job where you can be wrong most of the time and not get fired." By the time you read this.

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent, Special Saturday News & Weather Column Cleveland County Government has declared a state of Emergency, along with The City of Shelby and the State of North Carolina. SATURDAY, Jan. 24, 2026 — Icemegeddom looms on the horizon. Good morning, it's 5:30 a.m., as of publishing time. Today is the day the winter storm rolls in. Don't eat all your storm snacks before it's over. Today's local high will be in the mid 30's. Cloudy, goes without

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR  – The names of restaurant chains have always annoyed me. I don’t know why, that’s just how I’m wired. It doesn’t mean they’re bad names… it’s just some are so obvious I can’t see why they couldn’t be more creative. Others don’t explain what they do at all, but they seem to work. People keep going back. Some have been extremely successful with such basic, obvious, names (like Red Lobster) while others that have no indication

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – As English speakers (heirs of the English language, regardless of your ancestry, this is about the language itself) our names technically do not follow the traditional oath of English names, which is fine; we should be all about unique and beautiful names, whatever your parents picked for you should be honored and celebrated; I hope you like your name — but traditionally, we (in the terms of historical usage as English lang

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column The Sunday Column's new logo for 2026 OPINION / HUMOR – Looking back, how many times were we encouraged to set a new year’s resolution, either in school, from friends and family, news / TV shows or via social media. I can’t recall, but it seems to be quite often. What a nice thought, isn’t it? That’s really all it is, for most people, a thought. But, after doing research, according to several websites, such as Forbes, Pew Research Center,

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent (Originally published 09/07/2025) When I was a kid, maybe early teens, I had a soccer coach tell me that when I’m 40 I’ll feel all the aches and pains from playing sports one day. 40? I didn’t care. That was a thousand years from now. Whatever, maybe — I believed him, but when I pictured a 40 something year old they looked the same as a 75 year old. “I’ll worry about it then,” I shrugged. Tonight was one of those rare nights I wante

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