THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Boiling Springs Town Council during in session during the May 5, 2026 public meeting. | Chuck Thompson, The Shelby Independent. BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — With Budget Season soon coming to an end, it looks as if Boiling Springs is ready to move forward with approval of their budget next month. The May Boiling Springs Town Council meeting picked up in full swing after the cancellation of the April meeting. Local Scout Pack 117 were on

Staff Reports | Cleveland Community College Because construction of the Beam Student Center is fully funded by the North Carolina General Assembly, these private donations will be used to support student scholarships. | Courtesy photo. Cleveland Community College – CCC marked a historic milestone on Friday, May 1, with a ceremonial groundbreaking for its long-awaited student center, a transformative project designed to centralize and enhance services for students across camp

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 Adrian Hamrick | AWLS | Dir. of Operations The Jim Horn family gathered for a photograph at home plate. | ALWS courtesy photo SHELBY, N.C. — The American Legion World Series (ALWS) Executive Committee once again delivered a memorable evening of baseball at Keeter Stadium as Wake Forest University defeated Appalachian State University 3–2 in the annual Jim Horn Tribute Game on Tuesday night. After a brief morning shower cleared, fans were treated to a beautiful evening f

By Philip Jackson, public information officer | N.C. Forest Service N.C. Forest Service N.C. Forest Service – The N.C. Forest Service has lifted a ban on all open burning for 81 counties effective 8 a.m. Sunday, May 3. The statewide ban on open burning went into effect March 28 due to hazardous forest fire conditions, and the ban remains in effect for Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Moore, Ran

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Boiling Springs Town Hall and Police Department sign out by College Ave. | Chuck Thompson BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Have you checked your wallet for funny money lately? Counterfeit bills have shown up in Boiling Springs, and the Boiling Springs Police Department want you to be on the lookout for anything funny, or fishy when it comes to currency, as it could spread across the county. In a statement released earlier today, Thursday, Apr

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent City Council in chambers during the April 20 meeting. public livestream photo still The City of Shelby continues to grow as new residential zoning requests bring forth new housing construction but not all rezoning applications have been approved, just yet. A couple of rezoning requests were presented to the city council during their most recent public meeting last week. These included Audrey Godfrey, senior planner for the City of S

Staff reports | The Shelby Independent | Press Release | Cleveland County government File photo graphic | The Shelby Independent Cleveland County — In the wake of several unsettling bomb threats against various Cleveland County government offices, the county sent out a press release on Friday April 24, in regards to the specific incident on March 10, stating their findings and noting enhancements made to safety protocols. However, no other information has yet been made availa

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent All CCS Board members unexpectedly raise their hands to vote 9-0 to the Marion Resolution presented Monday night. | CCS YouTube photo still Cleveland County Schools – It was a quiet uneventful vote Monday night, as the Cleveland County Schools voted on the resolution to move forward with the bid process to accept Jerry Allen’s bid on Marion School property. Unlike meetings in the past regarding Marion, it was a calm process, with

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square A vehicle is refueled at a gas pump as evening light reflects off its surface. | Alan Wooten, The Center Square Affects Local – Forecast to take weeks not days for significant movement, a modicum of relief for traditional transportation energy prices has blown in with North Carolina’s weekend pollen. Monday’s average price statewide for a gallon of unleaded gasoline, according to AAA, was $3.89. That’s down from $3.90 a day earlier, $3.94

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent File photo graphic | The Shelby Independent Kings Mountain – The City Kings Mountain government spoke out on what was potentially the possible, alleged, Scott Neisler censure proceedings currently in motion, but that remains uncertain at this time. This was followed a couple of hours later by another post about the leaking of the agenda for the upcoming April 14 meeting. Around end of business, on Friday April 10, City of Kings Mou

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent City of Kings Mountain City Hall, summer 2025. | Chuck Thompson, Shelby Independent Kings Mountain – As the Tuesday city council meeting creeps closer, so does a possible censure for Council member Scott Neisler. For what reasons exactly, still remains unclear. In the city council meeting agenda for Tuesday, April 14, 2026, under the regular meeting agenda section, it states, "Motion to authorize the Mayor to enter into

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Shelby City Council meeting, April 6, 2026. | Screen grab from City of Shelby video feed A new multi-family senior living complex had a special use permit approved Monday night during the city council meeting. The location of the future development is on E. Grover, in the bend, almost across the street somewhat from the Wyke Road intersection. A public hearing was held where Director of planning for the City of Shelby, Brian

Staff reports | Kings Mountain Hometown Farmers’ Market Kings Mountain – The Kings Mountain Hometown Farmers' Market will kick off the 2026 market season on Saturday, April 25 with a special Grand Opening event. The market will operate at 313 S. Battleground Avenue from 8 am until 12 noon every Saturday morning through September 26. The Grand Opening on April 25 will include an Earth Day celebration that will provide attractions and activities for market shoppers of all ages.

Staff Reports | Cleveland County sheriff's Office | Press Release Trenity Glenn Campbell and Angel Lee McManus, both of Bessemer City were arrested for the bomb threats. Two suspects are behind bars after making threats to the clerks office in the Cleveland County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. On April 1, 2026, the Cleveland County Clerk’s Office received two bomb threats within approximately one hour of each other. In response, the building was immediately secured

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Philip Steffen | photo provided by Philip Steffen In the wake of the March 2026 County Commissioners’ public meeting, where it was revealed that the county audit was extremely past due, the county finance director has since been terminated from his position. During the March 17 meeting, the county commissioners seemed surprised to learn from an Local Government Commission (LGC) representative that the audit was past due. The bl

Staff Reports | Cleveland County Sheriff's Office A still-frame from a surveillance camera of the suspects CCSO needs the public's help in identifying or their whereabouts. courtesy photo One of the alleged suspects in question walking into a store. Courtesy photo, CCSO. Another bomb threat plagued Cleveland County Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, at approximately 3:04 p.m., the Cleveland County Clerk’s Office received a call stating a bomb was in the courthouse.

Take a photo with the Easter Bunny, and enter for a chance to win a 70" TV By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Officer Randy Conner, left, and Cleveland County Crime Stoppers Chairman Jeff Yates show one of the two TVs that will be raffled at the Cleveland Mall. | Chuck Thompson Cleveland Mall – The Easter Bunny will be at the Cleveland Mall giving away two 70” televisions in a raffle drawing, thanks to Cleveland County Crime Stoppers and Road to Hope - Shelby. B

By Alan Wooten | The Center Square Airline passengers are seated inside a cabin of a commercial plane. | Oxana Melis / Unsplash CHARLOTTE — Cancellations and delays at North America’s seventh busiest airport were down 90.7% and 35.5%, respectively, for the Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekend compared to the one before, analysis by The Center Square shows. The spike March 13-15 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport coincided with the f

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,