THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION — A few days ago, someone sent me a meme or poster / drawing – whatever you want to call it, and it was a complete fabrication that “newspaper” stood for some crap like “north, east, west, south past and present event report” and it doesn’t. That’s completely false, fake, made up and spread around the internet and we wonder why with all this information at our fingertips that people are somehow less informed than ever… it’s becaus

By Ron Humphries | Contributing Columnist for The Sunday Column OPINION — Growing up in an era defined by black-and-white TV news broadcasts, I vividly recall the authoritative voice of Walter Cronkite, whose signature sign-off, "And that's the way it is," epitomized his commitment to pure journalism. The role of the Press was pivotal in shaping democracy, and the Founding Fathers understood this, viewing a free press as essential for an informed citizenry and a healthy gover

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION — No, it’s probably not what you think, sorry; its much worse. If you like apples, then just stop reading this right now… this is your warning… because if you read the whole thing then you’ll never look at apples the same way again. And don’t comment about how you’re offended, or upset about this, because I warned you – this is your last chance. Anything you read past this is your own choice… Apple picking season in North Carolina

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION — There’s only so many “types” of people in politics. When I look at a local elected official or candidate I always see them as a local version of someone else in history. I’ll look at one person and say well there’s the Bill Clinton or the Ronald Reagan, The Julius Caesar or the John Adams of Cleveland County. Oh, look, there’s the Andrew Jackson of the school board; there’s the Kennedy, Carter, Taft, Hoover or the Honorius (an i

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION – After the Civil War (a name that incorrectly identifies this pivotal historical event), many of the former Confederate Generals waged a war of ink and paper against each other, many in Northern newspapers, accusing one another of treason (of all things), incompetence, and several other personal traits that go beyond the full measure of battlefield decisions. If only these 19th Century Southern celebrities, who held the populace’

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION – Maybe I should run for office. If the man in the dress running for U.S. SENATE in Maine can say the reason he’s running for US SENATE is because, “I ran for office, I didn’t win. I’m a songwriter … and I write my own books” is all it takes to qualify to run for U.S. SENATE then I don’t see why I can’t run for something much more important and distinguished, such as CCS school board. Why start small? Go for the gold. What’s that

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION — Recently, I learned that in North Carolina it is illegal to play bingo for more than 5 hours in a row… My question is, why would anyone play bingo more than 5 hours in a row and what happened at the 5 hour mark to come up with that rule? So at 4 hours and 55 minutes, everything is fine, but at five hours Gertrude had a fit of rage and flipped the tables over? What’s with the 5 hours… Personally, I think it should be illegal to

By Jeff Yates | The Sunday Column | Special Guest Columnist Cleveland County Crime Stoppers Inc is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation serving the residents of Cleveland County through our partnership with all four of our Law Enforcement Agencies: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, Shelby Police Department, Kings Mountain Police Department and Boiling Springs Police Department. Our partnership is based on technology that allows a person (tipster) to anonymously provide inform

By Wes Westmoreland | Special Guest Columnist for The Sunday Column Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column An excited John Adams wrote to his beloved Abigail: “The Second Day of July 1776… ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews (shows), Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever

By Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column The Sunday Column – There may be nothing that swells the heart with a greater feeling of patriotism and pride than the Stars and Stripes. Immortalized in song and memory, will anyone forget the emotion brought on by the display of flags on September 12, 2001, the sound of the “Stars and Stripes Forever”, or standing for our National Anthem? Some generations ago, the flag that brought about similar pa

By Aaron Bridges | Guest writer for The Sunday Column OPINION – When you're a child, you often wish your life away. You can't wait to grow up because you want to do adult things and be able to make your own decisions without someone constantly telling you what to do. Then graduation arrives. You make it to 12th grade after traveling the long road from kindergarten through high school, and now you're preparing to graduate. When I think about graduation, I see it as the moment

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent OPINION – While not everyone is cremated, many people (and pets) most certainly are; my dog Yogi Bear is, too. Yogi Bear died at the ripe old age of 16 ½, five years ago, on June 13, 2021. I keep him on a shelf, in the memorial container I was given when I received his ashes. Some might think that’s weird, but anyone who has the ashes of a loved one wouldn’t think so. I just can’t bring myself to spread his ashes or bury them. The ot

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION — Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start to summer, with trips to the beach, a lake, the mountains, or just having friends and family over to your home to grill burgers and hotdogs in the back yard, and while most people seem to forget the 1,200,000 Americans who died while serving during conflicts, but they seem to remember them more than first responders who, while maybe not in combat, definitely in conflict, died protect

By Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column Wes Westmoreland Listen my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of… Captain Jack? It was late May in 1775 when Captain James Jack left Charlotte Towne, North Carolina, and set out on a long journey on horseback to meet fellow North Carolinians in Philadelphia. The document he carried, dated May 20th, stowed inside his coat for protection, was of the utmost importance. And it was treasonous. By carrying the document, he ca

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION — Happy Typhoid Fever Day! You can thank Typhoid Fever for Mother’s Day. As grim as that sounds, it’s true; to an extent. The holiday, where we honor mothers and grandmothers across the United States, we can trace the origins of the holiday back to a typhoid outbreak during The American Civil War. Ann Jarvis, the mother of Anna Jarvis, who would later be given credit for creating what we know as Mother’s Day, organized Mother's Da

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION – With the war in Ukraine and the War in Iran, we are just one step away from World War 12. At least according to one U.S. House of Representative Member from Minnesota. Most others have laughed in astonishment and joked, "Where's World War 3-11, I never learned about those?" And history scholars might say "4-11" but that's because they know that World War II (that's a two, not an eleven) was mislabeled and technically the 3rd wor

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION – We all grow up learning what we can and cannot eat. We are educated by our family, friends, in the classroom, the news and because of those nifty little warning labels that have helped spread the survival of even the lowest intellectual among us (mainly me). ‘DO NOT CONSUME LYSOL.’ Unsurprisingly, there’s a history behind just about every warning label; even when food must be refrigerated or frozen. Directions on the food packag

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION — A few months ago, I wrote about the state-wide Five Hour Bingo play limit law. I can’t seem to let this one go. It still haunts me that nobody can explain why it’s illegal to play bingo for more than five hours. In North Carolina, you can drive barefoot and swim naked (Don't try it in public, but in seclusion at an uninhabited pond, or at home in your pool, is your business). You can eat while driving, you just can’t hold your p

By Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column | Special to The Shelby Independent Westmoreland April 12 marks the 250th anniversary of a largely forgotten, but significant date in American history. On this date in 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress of North Carolina met in Halifax and unanimously passed a measure instructing its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote to declare independence from Great Britain. With the Halifax Resolves, North Carolina became the first co

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column Easter was always a big deal with my family when I was a kid. As a child, until maybe early teenage years, every Easter, my family would gather together in greater numbers than we would at Christmas. Everyone would come to my parents' or my grandparents' for Easter lunch / dinner. Aunts and Uncles, and cousins that we only saw at birthdays or funerals would come for Easter dinner. It was tradition for all the kids to go play outside; We w