THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor Courtesy photo The Center Square (The Center Square) – For North Carolina residents struggling to buy homes, it’s not their imagination that prices seem to be going through the roof, according to a newly released study. The state as a whole had an average listing price in North Carolina of about $520,000, which is 20% below the national average of $647,000, the John Locke Foundation study notes. Even so, it can be hard to find

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution rests on an American flag.  Alan Wooten / The Center Square (The Center Square) – Eighty-nine of 100 counties in North Carolina have America 250 NC committees, and more than $2 million in grants have already been distributed to 74 counties by the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The first of multiple signature events begins in three weeks at the First in Freedom Festival. “In 20

By Alan Norman | The Center Square (The Center Square) – More than 11.1 million are braced for hazardous winter weather this weekend from Murphy to Manteo in North Carolina. Preparations are ongoing for nominal snow accumulation from the mountains to the Outer Banks. Not all areas are expected to get snow or accumulation; many will get rain and freezing slick surface conditions. An emergency has been declared by first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. The state price gouging l

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square State law permits unaffiliated voters to choose either a Democrat or Republican primary ballot, though not both. (The Center Square) – Switching parties by a deadline was the easy part. Fooling voters with a letter attached to a name on the ballot rather than actions? A half-dozen former Democrats will need more than luck after failing one of the first tests for any stripe of politician: trust. Six people now registered Republicans running

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square North Carolina’s agriculture and agri-business economic impact is an estimated $111.1 billion annually. | The Shelby Independent file graphic (The Center Square) – Plausible reductions in agricultural exports because of retaliatory trade policies stemming from aggressive U.S. tariffs could cost North Carolina farmers $695 million, a new report says. Dr. Jeffrey Dorfman of N.C. State University, for the conservative-leaning John

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square File photo, courtesy of The Center Square (The Center Square) – Review of North Carolina’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses shows 54% were illegally issued. ( Non-domiciled is a person living in a country, such as the U.S.A., but their permanent home (domicile) is another country, mostly for tax purposes ). The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration analysis sets up withholding of $50 million in federal funding by the U.S. De

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square file image (The Center Square) – Taxpayers in North Carolina have new levels in three areas impacting everyday life. Arguably the most times transacted against least noticed will be at the gas pumps. Starting on New Year’s Day and running to Dec. 31, the motor fuels and alternative fuels excise tax rate is 41 cents per gallon or gallon equivalent, the state Department of Revenue says. Individual and corporate income tax rates are also droppi

By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor Shelby Independent graphic file photo RALEIGH – North Carolina legislators called for solutions to rising property taxes, describing them as a threat to both homeowners and renters in the state during a legislative hearing Wednesday. The elderly in particular often struggle to pay their property taxes, State Rep. Carla Cunningham, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, told fellow members of the House Select Committee of Property

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 (The Center Square) – State budget negotiations have stalled between North Carolina Republican leaders in the General Assembly and the calendar year appears headed to an end without a new two-year spending plan. The budget by state law was due July 1 and Wednesday represented Day 114. Lawmakers