By Annie Dance | From our partners at WCABnews.com Lake Lure Town Commissioners meeting. Courtesy photo | WCABnews.com The long-anticipated restoration of Lake Lure is almost complete, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expected to finish dredging and repair work by November 20. Town officials say the milestone marks a turning point after years of storm recovery and construction that have reshaped the lakefront. Mayor Carol Pritchett announced during the November coun

By David Beasley | From our partners at The Center Square (The Center Square) – A new health insurance program for small businesses in North Carolina was unveiled Tuesday with the promise of lower group rates than are offered by individual policies. The program, called Carolina Healthworks, is described as a “multiple employer welfare arrangement” offered by Blue Cross North Carolina and the North Carolina Chamber. It was authorized by the Legislature and implemented with hel

Staff reports | Press Release Healthy Together Cleveland logo Cleveland County has made a donation of $10,000 to support the Everyone Eats Emergency Food Fund Drive , spearheaded by Healthy Together Cleveland  (HTC) to combat food insecurity in the county. Donations to this effort will be used to support Washington Outreach Ministry  (WOM), a local nonprofit organization which serves as the primary food hub for Cleveland County. To date, HTC has raised $80,110 toward its goal

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Tuesday's elections across municipalities in Cleveland County brought about new changes, familiar faces retained their seats, and also some questions, such as who won the Lattimore mayoral race? The town of Lawndale held a mixed beverage election, which resulted in a tie, with exactly 31 votes for, and 31 votes against. But the startling, yet somewhat expected, story about Tuesday was the low turnout of for local elections. Only 7% o

Crime Stoppers will host its BBQ fundraiser on Nov. 15 By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Have you ever wanted to help fight crime by eating BBQ? Now you can – and sign me up, too. Cleveland County Crime Stoppers is hosting a BBQ fundraiser on Nov. 15. Since the reboot of Crime Stoppers in Cleveland County in early 2022, the organization has relied mostly on grants from local entities for their funding to pay anonymous tipsters reward money for information that leads

Staff reports | Cleveland County Arts Council Handmade for the Holidays information The Cleveland County Arts Council welcomes back the Handmade for the Holidays arts and crafts show for 2025. The sale will be open from November 14 through December 23, in the Arts Council gallery located at 111 S. Washington St., Shelby, NC. The hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. - 4.p.m., December Fridays from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. There

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Phil Dee file photo Editors note: Phil Dee is one of the several at-large candidates running for city council, along with Bruce W. King, Jason Nail, Scott Neisler, and Curtis Pressley. Candidates for K.M. Ward 2: Mike Butler, Tyler Fletcher, and Tim Sanders. The candidates for Ward 3: Heather Lemmond, Chris Pullen and Ke'Shawn A. Strong. The Shelby Independent wishes all these candidates the best of luck Tuesday.   Phil Dee h

Staff Reports | Press Release, Cleveland County Government Cleveland County Finance and Purchasing Team. courtesy photo The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Cleveland County for its Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024. This award recognizes governments that go beyond the minimum requirements of generally

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square file photo (The Center Square) – Government operations in North Carolina using only rainy day funds would last 41.5 days, says analysis by the Pew Research Center. The insight said the funds are 11.4% of $3.61 billion in spending. The total days is a decrease of 17.8, fifth most from the previous year. Pew said in October the balance was $3.62 billion. Additionally, first-term Republican state Treasurer Brad Briner told the Carolina Journal

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Cribb's debut book, 'Attract Don't Recruit' is filled with valuable information for chambers and nonprofits alike. For anyone that doesn’t know Christine Cribb, they’re missing out. Social networker, public speaker, consultant, Chamber of Commerce extraordinaire, book author, Cribb is anything but dull. In fact, The Shelby Independent just met her Friday and is already a fan of Christine Cribb. “Adrenaline on overload” as she de

The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – I hate daylight savings, and I don’t care which is the real one. Actually, let me rephrase that because I’ll take some hate from the usual suspects for using the word hate, even though it’s referring to an event and they use it all the time, but – I .. no, nevermind, I hate daylight savings time. I don’t feel like looking up which is the original and which isn’t. Just pick one and let’s move on. We obviously don’t really need it… regardless

Staff Reports Kings Mountain, N.C. – In coordination with the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement (NC ALE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kings Mountain Police Department (KMPD) executed a search warrant at a business known as “Lucky Teeters,” located at 402 E. King Street, in connection with an ongoing illegal gambling investigation. In the press release sent out late Thursday afternoon, it stated, "The Kings Mountain Police Department received multiple

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Davis Editors’ note: Marty L. Thomas and Patrick Litton are also candidates for town council; both are running for reelection. On Tuesday, Nov 4., registered municipal voters will cast their votes for the candidate(s) of their choice. Justin Davis, a Boiling Springs native and candidate for Boiling Springs Town Council, is one of those determined few that will find out after the election on Tuesday if he has the honor of serving on t

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Boiling Springs Mayor Daniel Thomas file photo BOILING SPRINGS – Mayor Daniel Thomas presided over his last full public meeting as the Mayor of Boiling Springs Tuesday night. The November meeting for The Town of Boiling Springs was held Tuesday Oct. 28 due to municipal elections next Tuesday, Nov. 4. After the public town meeting business concluded, council members expressed their praise and admiration for Mayor Thomas but electe

From our partners at WCABnews.com | Annie Dance McDowell Paid for by Elect Justin Davis campaign Jaquan Nijah McDowell, 18, of Shelby, was arrested on Oct. 25 for alleged attempted first-degree murder, according to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office Detention Center.  According to the court filing  reviewed by WCAB News, McDowell is accused of "unlawfully, willfully, and with malice aforethought attempting to kill Brian Spurling."  McDowell has waived his right to a perso

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent From left, Boiling Springs Police Chief Brian DiYorio, City of Shelby Police Chief Brad Fraser and Capt. Scott Brown at Tuesday night's meet and greet in Boiling Springs. Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent BOILING SPRINGS – You may not know the name Brian DiYorio yet, but give it time. On Tuesday, Oct. 28, The Town of Boiling Springs held a drop-in meet and greet for their new Chief of Police, Brian DiYorio. The Town Hall lobby was

Press release | Cleveland County Gov. SHELBY — The United States Department of Agriculture has ordered a pause on all November SNAP benefits until further notice due to the federal government shutdown. Unless the USDA lifts their suspension in the coming days, November SNAP benefits will not be issued. The NC Department of Health and Human Services is ready to act quickly should the USDA allow North Carolina to resume November SNAP benefits. You can still use your EBT card an

A roundtable discussion with the administrators of Kings Mountain Town Talk By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Kings Mountain Town Talk. From left, Matt Dover, Amanda Smith, Jada Henson and Emily Ruff. Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent EDITOR'S NOTE: The writer of this article tried to post on Kings Mountain Town Talk and the post was intentionally held from publishing it to the Facebook page for several weeks until it was so far buried that no one could see i

It's amazing how people embellish their LinkedIn profiles OPINION / HUMOR — I don’t get on LinkedIn much, so when I do it’s just to post an update for my latest book or update my resume, whatever, if that even happens. Usually not. Some people use it as often as Instagram, TikTok, Snap or Facebook, others only have it as a way to keep their professional work portfolio up to date. But the other night, as I logged onto LinkedIn to update my resume, I did something I hardly ever

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Blue Crew LEMC Donnie Chapman, Sergeant Mike Lovelace, Deputy Jesse Hollifield, K-9 Deputy Mike Lawrence and his partner K9 Karma, Deputy Alex Granados, Deputy Ryan Jones and V. Pres. Chris Ledbetter at the fundraising event on Saturday. Courtesy photo | Blue Crew LEMC. Cameron Todd Bridal & Formalwear JB Drone Solutions Blue Crew Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club (L.E.M.C.) held their first Paws for Laws fundraiser ride through Cleve