THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

Staff Reports | Cleveland Community College Now in its fifth year, CCC’s High School Welding Competition continues to play a vital role in preparing students for high-demand careers in skilled trades. | Courtesy photo. Cleveland Community College — CCC welcomed the county’s top young welding talent on Friday, May 1, 2026, for its fifth annual High School Welding Competition. The event kicked off at 9 a.m. and featured 16 student competitors — four each from Burns High Schoo

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The Cleveland County Administrative Building | Chuck Thompson An alleged botched protocol after a bomb threat and a late county audit put County Manager David Cotton in the hot seat last Tuesday evening. The March Cleveland County Commissioners’ meeting was going as expected until during the public comments section, Angelica Haslam spoke to the commissioners about the prank bomb threat made to the county administration building,

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Crest fb page public courtesy photo CREST HIGH SCHOOL – A potential gunman at a school or a tornado; either one would frighten students, teachers and parents alike, but for both to happen at the same time, is both scary and yet a sigh of relief, once it was discovered the incident at Crest was a false alarm. As the skies swirled above southwest Cleveland County, an active shooter alert sounded in the classrooms at Crest High Scho

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column The Sunday Column It might have looked like Crest’s #1 Namajay Thompson landed after leaping over Hunt’s #15 player, but after that win I’m sure he’s still soaring; and so is every player and coach on Crest's and Shelby's teams right now. Sure. That play might have been against regulation / illegal, but it was awesome to watch – whether you were at the game and saw Namajay Superman Thompson leap the Hunt player in a single bound, or wat

Crest High School FFA Veterinary Science CDE Team earned recognition as first place team in the southwest region at the NC FFA State Competition this past Saturday at Lee County High School.

Passes are on sale Aug 6, and 7.