Republican nominee for the North Carolina Court of Appeals By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent FEATURE — Judge Craig Collins, 54, was driving from the Carolina Coast to the North Carolina mountains when I spoke with him on the phone as he traversed from the eastbound and down area of Brunswick County to the Northwest region of the state, encompassed by the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Alleghany County. (He was not driving at the moment) Collins was traveling from

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 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 Eddie Holbrook and Robert Farrow go over final details before the event. SPORTS / FEATURE — The American Legion World Series (ALWS) Host City Welcome is the ceremonial event that marks the official kickoff to the series. Robert Farrow, this year's overseer of the event, was followed around by the Shelby Independent before the dinner to take a look inside the event. To say Robert Farrow is difficult to keep up with is an understatemen

By Ron Humphries | Contributing Columnist for The Sunday Column OPINION — Growing up in an era defined by black-and-white TV news broadcasts, I vividly recall the authoritative voice of Walter Cronkite, whose signature sign-off, "And that's the way it is," epitomized his commitment to pure journalism. The role of the Press was pivotal in shaping democracy, and the Founding Fathers understood this, viewing a free press as essential for an informed citizenry and a healthy gover

By Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square Senate Democrats are withholding support unless Republicans push back SNAP cost-sharing requirements by at least two years. | Wix file photo National / AFFECTS LOCAL – American farmers, ranchers, and the agricultural industry will have to wait until at least September for the U.S. Senate to take up the long-delayed farm bill. “We’re going to come back in that first week and have another vote on the same bill again,” Senate Agriculture

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Tickets for 'Echoes From the Void' can be purchased by clicking / tapping on this movie poster or the link at the end of this article. ENTERTAINMENT – This Saturday Aug. 8, 2026 (today) An indie film ‘Echoes from The Void’ will premier at Don Gibson Theater. What makes this movie so special is that it was produced by a local filmmaker and shot mostly here in Cleveland County. Brad Hord, writer, producer and composer of the film, is a

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

Staff reports | Cleveland County Sheriff's Office Photo courtesy of The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office. CRIME – Cleveland County is a safer place thanks to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). On Aug. 1, 2026, The CCSO Interdiction Team assisted Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department’s (CMPD) crime, gun and suppression unit with a narcotics investigation involving Walter AJavier Villeda-Ayala. The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office Community Interdiction Team obse

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

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

By Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent Christine Hayes waves as others throw candy from the Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church wagon float during the Lattimore 4th of July parade OPINION – Lattimore is the small-town place to be. It really is. The 4th of July in Lattimore felt like one of those movie towns. It almost didn’t seem real – but it was, it is. Having just been less than two weeks out since I had a heart attack, I wanted to go to the parade but knew I had to take it easy

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square The North Carolina Legislative Building, home to the General Assembly, stands on Jones Street in Raleigh, N.C. Photo: Alan Wooten / The Center Square Affects local – Lawmakers in North Carolina this week are expected to have a vote on the state budget, a two-year spending plan that was due to be implemented on July 1 of last year. One year late, the proposal is expected to be a compromise of the Senate and House of Representatives. Once appr

By Wes Westmoreland | Special Guest Columnist for The Sunday Column Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column An excited John Adams wrote to his beloved Abigail: “The Second Day of July 1776… ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews (shows), Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square North Carolina could be competing against Nashville, TN for a spot. | graphic by The Shelby Independent. SPORTS – Stopping short of saying spend taxpayer dollars, North Carolina’s legislative upper chamber leader says he favors the General Assembly doing all it can to help land a Major League Baseball expansion franchise. Whether it’s Raleigh or Charlotte, Rockingham County Republican Sen. Phil Berger said he’s “agnostic.” He was also noncom

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A woman helps to complete voter registration paperwork at a polling location | The Center Square and Freepik Affects local – As North Carolina moved less than 12 weeks from mailing absentee ballots, the state’s total voter registrations rose another 5,325 to within less than 16,000 of 7.8 million. Trending consistent to the most recent nearly two decades, and particularly since the pandemic era, voter registrations are swelling the unaffilia

By Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column The Sunday Column – There may be nothing that swells the heart with a greater feeling of patriotism and pride than the Stars and Stripes. Immortalized in song and memory, will anyone forget the emotion brought on by the display of flags on September 12, 2001, the sound of the “Stars and Stripes Forever”, or standing for our National Anthem? Some generations ago, the flag that brought about similar pa