THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

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

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,

Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Cleveland County Admin Building where the county commissioners meet. Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent Is the school board political drama spilling over to the county commissioners race? The Shelby Independent could not verify that political drama is contagious because the CDC could not be reached for comment for this question, but in a google search, and it must be noted was not verified by any qualified experts, stated, "The C

Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent property taxes Today (Monday, Jan. 5, 2026) was / is the last day for Cleveland County property owners to pay their property taxes before fees and penalties. The Shelby Independent took a trip to the county tax office on the last day of 2025 to interview residents paying their property taxes in person before the deadline; as one person noted, who wished to remain anonymous, he feels better paying it in person and getting a receipt right

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent Cribb's debut book, 'Attract Don't Recruit' is filled with valuable information for chambers and nonprofits alike. For anyone that doesn’t know Christine Cribb, they’re missing out. Social networker, public speaker, consultant, Chamber of Commerce extraordinaire, book author, Cribb is anything but dull. In fact, The Shelby Independent just met her Friday and is already a fan of Christine Cribb. “Adrenaline on overload” as she de