THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

By Alan Wooten | From our partners at The Center Square Courtesy file photo (The Center Square) – Supply has increased and prices, in some cases, will be less this year for live cut Christmas trees from North Carolina. The nation’s No. 2 producer – 1 in 5 of all grown in America by more than 900 farmers overseeing 53 million trees on more than 33,000 acres come from the state – won’t be plagued by a hurricane disrupting the industry. The pitch from farmers is the offer of a f

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

From our partners at WCABnews.com | Annie Dance An after-action report commissioned by North Carolina Emergency Management says Hurricane Helene revealed “critical vulnerabilities”  in the state’s disaster response system, from staffing shortages to communications failures and widespread disinformation. The independent review, conducted by the McChrystal Group, found that the Category 4 storm, which struck in September 2024, “tested North Carolina’s emergency management capa

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square The Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters is seen in Washington, July 29, 2025.  Andrew...

The FEMA Act of 2025 would restore original status as an independent agency, removing it from the Department of Homeland Security where critics say trouble brewed under the leadership of former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the Biden administration.

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Shanghai Fire Department, Shelby, NC. The new building being proposed will be built to the...

North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS) is expected to send the first round of relief checks for farmers sta