THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent From left, Crest's Thompson hurdles over a Hunt player, a CCS School Board meeting, former Boiling Springs Mayor Daniel Thomas. It’s hard to believe that it’s the end of the year. The Shelby Independent might have only launched in June, publishing its first original piece on July 1, but with 250 articles published, it only makes sense to highlight the year in review with the TOP 10 LOCAL NEWS STORIES OF 2025, in Cleveland County. This w

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Law enforcement volunteers and 17 local kids participated in shop with a cop on Friday. Courtesy photo, BSPD (For photos from 'Shop with a Cop' event, scroll to the end of the news story) BOILING SPRINGS – The annual Shop with a Cop was held the past Friday in Cleveland County, with kids and law enforcement officers from across the county. The happy faces of kids and cops gathered at The Boiling Springs Town Hall before rolling out

OPINION – I’ll go ahead and tell you now, this will be this last new Sunday Column for the year; next week’s will be a rerun, because like everyone else, I need time off for the holidays, too. I don’t have a staff of employees to fall back on. For 98.5% of the work, it's only me. Even if it’s a wire news story, or not, or my amazingly talented freelancer Lauren Becatti, who has contributed a few news article to build her portfolio, has quite simply been a big help and I hope

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent City Council Dec. 15. 2025. Courtesy video file screenshot City of Shelby video The Shelby City Council meeting marked the end of an era, as it was City Manager Rick Howell’s final meeting in his position. Howell led the council meeting in its convocation before the meeting began. The agenda was approved as-is, with the motion made by Council Member Violet Arth. Former Council Member David Causby was recognized for his dedication of

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Marion isn’t going anywhere, one way or another, at least for now. On Monday night, the Cleveland County School Board was originally supposed to finalize the approval to sell the old Marion Elementary School to a nonprofit group, One More, One Less. In an unexpected move, Board Member and Vice-Chair Aaron Bridges made the motion to remove Marion from the agenda; Bridges stated he felt more discussion was needed before a decision coul

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Rep. Kelly Hastings, N.C. House 110 -R, recently had the honor of being recognized as a 2025 Defender of Public Safety by the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association. "I am extremely thankful to be recognized as a Defender of Public Safety by the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association," Hasting said. "It is an honor to have leading law enforcement officers in North Carolina trust me in my role as a member of the North Carolina General Ass

The Cleveland County Board of Commissioners will hold their regularly scheduled meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 21., at 6 p.m., in the county commissioners’ chamber. Items on the agenda range from recognition of Minority Enterprise Development Week to budget amendments. The commissioners will recognize Minority Enterprise Development Week, with Richard Hooker, MED Week President who is slated to be present for the special recognition. Other items on the agenda include the public comme

The annual event was held Tuesday evening, Sept. 9, at the Venue at Turkey Ridge.