THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

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 Alan Wooten | The Center Square Earlier passage of a proposal for a statewide amendment on the midterm ballot in November would give voters a chance to weigh in a levy limit. Affects local / Raleigh – Stopping property tax revaluation changes throughout North Carolina this year and allowing them to happen in 2027 is in a proposal that has reached first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. Reappraisals are required at least once every eight years, and some do so more frequently

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A sign directs voters to a polling location. Alan Wooten / The Center Square Affects local – For the third time in five weeks, voter registrations increased more in the unaffiliated bloc than overall in North Carolina. Saturday’s seven-day update from the State Board of Elections, just 15 weeks away from absentee ballots going into the mail for the Nov. 3 midterms, rose by 3,513 overall and 3,891 among those choosing independence. Republican

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square File graphic | The Shelby Independent (Affects Local) – More than 1 million active, inactive and retired North Carolina public employees in the state retirement system could get pension benefit improvements such as a cost-of-living increase or one-time supplement. The Board of Trustees for the North Carolina Retirement Systems voted for the change that takes effect in 2027 and runs through 2032. The board’s new policy will direct how to dete

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Video still from the livestream of the public City of Shelby Council Meeting on April 20. While many residents across the state, county and local municipalities have felt the heavy hand of recent high property taxes, The City of Shelby passed a resolution opposing any official property tax reform that may come from the North Carolina General Assembly later this year. At the beginning of the council meeting, a proclamation was made de

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A sign for the North Carolina Legislative Building stands outside the General Assembly on Jones Street in Raleigh. Photo: Alan Wooten / The Center Square (The Center Square) – Day 252 of North Carolina’s wait for a state budget included a brief gaveling in of the General Assembly, a $1.4 billion critical needs budget proposal from the governor, and a swift rejection from General Assembly leadership. While the Republican majority Senate was

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square file logo The Shelby Independent (The Center Square) – Early in-person voting ended Saturday and primary Election Day finishes the 51-day voting window in North Carolina on Tuesday. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. and winners advancing to the U.S. Senate race are expected to be known quickly – Roy Cooper for Democrats, Michael Whatley for Republicans. Two other congressional primaries are garnering attention: the redrawn 1st Congressional Distric

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) – Stalled recovery in Hurricane Helene is blamed on “stifling bureaucracy utterly lacking in common sense and resourcefulness,” say seven Republican members of the North Carolina House of Representatives in a statement directed at first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. This

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 Alan Wooten | The Center Square U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Ralph J. Rizzo Jr. speaks with North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein during a visit to Camp Lejeune, N.C., Aug. 29, 2025. Photo: Cpl. Loriann Dauscher / U.S. Marine Corps via DVIDS / Public Domain (The Center Square) – Losses in peace of mind for 3 million North Carolinians reliant on Medicaid, in the courtroom by the governor’s administration, and in reimbursements to health care providers took a pause Wednesday. Fir

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square (The Center Square) – Gaining five times more in the last week, Republicans have moved to the cusp of eclipsing Democrats in voter registrations in North Carolina for the first time. Consolation prize as it may be, the change is historic and coincides with another unprecedented benchmark in 15 years of Republican majorities in the General Assembly. Context for the matter, however, is that voters choosing to register are consistently – about