By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A sign directs voters to a polling location. Alan Wooten / The Center Square Affects local – For the third time in five weeks, voter registrations increased more in the unaffiliated bloc than overall in North Carolina. Saturday’s seven-day update from the State Board of Elections, just 15 weeks away from absentee ballots going into the mail for the Nov. 3 midterms, rose by 3,513 overall and 3,891 among those choosing independence. Republican

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Kings Mountain City Council during a special session, May 12, 2026. | The Shelby Independent KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. – The censure trial of the decade that began with Kings Mountain Council Member Scott Neisler has now expanded to include Kings Mountain’s mayor and another council member. The open censure investigation, which could reportedly cost the city as much as $20,000 in legal costs to outside counsel brought in to investigate

Staff Reports | The Shelby Independent Kings Mountain City Hall | The Shelby Independent KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — In the wake of the current censure proceedings underway against City Council Member Scott Neisler, that could reportedly cost the city as much as $20,000, new alleged accusations have been brought to the council's attention and will be addressed tonight during a special-called meeting for TUESDAY May 12, 2026. According to the agenda, the meeting will cover three

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent File photo graphic | The Shelby Independent Kings Mountain – The City Kings Mountain government spoke out on what was potentially the possible, alleged, Scott Neisler censure proceedings currently in motion, but that remains uncertain at this time. This was followed a couple of hours later by another post about the leaking of the agenda for the upcoming April 14 meeting. Around end of business, on Friday April 10, City of Kings Mou

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent City of Kings Mountain City Hall, summer 2025. | Chuck Thompson, Shelby Independent Kings Mountain – As the Tuesday city council meeting creeps closer, so does a possible censure for Council member Scott Neisler. For what reasons exactly, still remains unclear. In the city council meeting agenda for Tuesday, April 14, 2026, under the regular meeting agenda section, it states, "Motion to authorize the Mayor to enter into

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square file graphic | The Shelby Independent (The Center Square) – Precedent setting cases at the U.S. Supreme Court and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals guided a federal judge to upholding North Carolina’s photo identification voter requirement Thursday. North Carolina voters approved voter identification at the polls in 2018 through a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. In those midterms, 55.49% of nearly 3.7 million votes were

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square file graphic | The Shelby Independent (Affects local) NC Politics – With North Carolina’s primary work in the rearview mirror, voter registrations are rebounding following four weeks of declines overall and in each of the three major voting blocs. All had gains for the most recent seven days as reported Saturday by the State Board of Elections. The 13,400 increase had an 81.4% share bolster the unaffiliated bloc. Republicans gain 12.8%, or

By David Beasley | The Center Square file | The Shelby Independent (The Center Square) – North Carolina voters could get the chance to vote in November on a constitutional amendment that would give the Legislature marching order to put the brakes on rising property taxes. Dan Ettefagh, the director of the General Assembly’s bill drafting division, presented the proposed constitutional amendment to a committee in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. It would “impose by

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Board of election workers work the day away during the recount Wednesday afternoon. | Chuck Thompson A primary recount was held Wednesday for the Cleveland County Schools Board of Education candidate Shelia Canipe, who made the request after the March 3 primary, where she trailed incumbent Vice-Chair Aaron Bridges by only 48 votes. Canipe requested the recount on the Monday after Canvas; she had to file the request in writing. No

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square (The Center Square) – Angela Hawkins has succeeded Bob Rucho as a Republican member of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, the office of the state auditor says. Rucho tendered his resignation this week. The decision, according to a spokesman in Boliek’s office, “was mutually agreed on and due to reportable candidate contributions.” While Rucho has drawn attention for support of state Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, in a primary rac

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Some candidates watched the results at The Cleveland Volunteer Fire Dept. Tuesday night. Top vote-getters, Danny Blanton speaks to Republican primary commissioner winner Wayne King, March 3, 2026. file photo. Caroline Eason, July 2025. Shelby Independent. This news story has been updated to include Eason’s comments. SHELBY – Of the 68,699 registered voters in Cleveland County, 11,806 (17%) participated in an unbelievably historic ha

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square file logo The Shelby Independent (The Center Square) – Early in-person voting ended Saturday and primary Election Day finishes the 51-day voting window in North Carolina on Tuesday. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. and winners advancing to the U.S. Senate race are expected to be known quickly – Roy Cooper for Democrats, Michael Whatley for Republicans. Two other congressional primaries are garnering attention: the redrawn 1st Congressional Distric

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 Alan Wooten | The Center Square Whatley speaks at The Shelby Cafe in September 2025, with NC House Rep. Paul Scott next to him. Photo by: Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent (The Center Square) NORTH CAROLINA – Michael Whatley is favored by 38.3% for U.S. Senate and 80.9% of respondents give approval to the job done by second-term Republican President Donald Trump, a new poll released Thursday says. The sampling of 600 likely Republican primary voters was taken

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Danny Blanton I don’t know if Hell hath frozen over (it was much colder on Monday) but Danny Blanton agreed to sit down with The Shelby Independent to talk about his campaign for the Cleveland County Board of Education. To say this wasn’t the most interesting interview would be to deny the truth, and there was also a bit of comical reprieve we had during the session. “Look at me, stop typing. Look at me so I know you’re listening; d

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Deb Hardin Deb Hardin, a candidate for and a current County Commissioner, is on the last lap of her second term. If reelected, she will begin her third term in December. That means Hardin has served on the board through massive changes across Cleveland County, from the Justice Center to the new Board of Elections building, the 911 Center and Two Kings Casino. Through all these projects, she said she has been concerned about the walle

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Laura Boggs Tharrington Laura Boggs Tharrington has called Cleveland County home since 1980 when she took her first breath as a newborn. This is her home. A 1998 graduate of Burns High School, she graduated from Gardner-Webb University and currently teaches at Crest High School. She teaches business principles, which includes being trustworthy, preparedness, integrity and all the ethical principles. "That's something important to me

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Denise Wright Denise Wright is a candidate for Cleveland County Commissioner . She’s just one of seven candidates vying for two seats up for election. She also ran for commissioner in 2024, jumping into the race a little late; she managed to finish in a strong fourth place out of three seats up for election in many of the precincts. Wright grew up on a small farm in Upper Cleveland County. Her husband works for the City of Shelby, an

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Ronnie Grigg If you haven’t heard of Ronnie Grigg, at least recently, then you’re possibly hiding under a rock, or have just avoided all the political drama as long as possible. Grigg, an incumbent on the CCS Board of Education, is currently running for reelection. Having four daughters of his own, who graduated from Cleveland County Schools, he wants every parent to see their children receive the best education possible. “I didn

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Rodney Fitch R odney Fitch, who just recently turned 60 while on the campaign trail for school board, has been a resident of Cleveland County his entire life. He served on the school board once before and is now looking to rededicate his time, in retirement, to serve as a member of the board of education once again. A native of Upper Cleveland, and a graduate of Burns High School, Fitch recently retired from the Cleveland County S