Report, eritas, discussion, Commentary, conclusions and Opinions by Robert A
$100 Reward Offered-Deadline April 24, 2025
To the First person who can email to Robert A the correct answer to the question at the very end of this article.
Hint: It is 2 words and each word begins with a vowel.
Editor’s Note: Everybody that is smart enough to read Robert A’s articles knows that Robert A is fond of saying “I smelt a Rat” when he comes across “scents” of governmental corruption. Here in Cleveland County or elsewhere, no matter. Now, Robert A is about to reveal his best single source of the Rat’s “Scent.” The Shelby Star-Online is the “Mother Lode”
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of “Rat’Scents.”
Especially “Rat Scents” regarding corruption right here in Cleveland County. It is where all the various governmental agencies; the Cleveland County Commissioners, CC Animal Control, CC EMS, the CCS School Board, Cleveland Community College, DSS (Oh, the rat scents that have come out of the CC-DSS.) The City of Shelby, the City of Kings Mountain, Kings Mountain Water, The Sheriff’s Office, the Jail and Courthouse and many other places. The Casino and the American Legion World Series, Baseball, Inc., also comes to mind. And they ALL send their phony “Press Releases” to the Shelby Star. All knowing that the Shelby Star never fact checks, just publishes the phony stuff like it came right out of the Holy Bible itself.
This article is about multiple (three) Rat Scent Shelby Star articles that Robert A noticed one at a time. But then realized this past week that they all came together to a different meaning that each one seperate. That they all fit into each other like pieces of a 1,000- piece Jig-Saw Puzzle. That some rottenness that is a problem nation-wide. Usually strung together by Democrats, Had also landed right here in Cleveland County.
(1) The first “Rat Scent” hit Robert A from two directions. The first two “inputs” from one direction came from multiple CCS School Board meetings. At a CCS School Board meeting at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, Superintendent Stephen Fisher informed the School Board that, due to a decline in enrollment, CCS owned so many more School Buses than was needed. That the extra CCS buses would be converted to Activity Buses.
Then, the Shelby Star’s August 13, 2024 article titled “Cleveland County Welcomes students back into the classroom” stating the new class year included statements that CCS’s enrollment was 14,000 students and CCS had 161 School Buses. Not mentioning that the CCS enrollment had dropped from 17,000 students before so many parents could put their kids into Private Schools, Home Schools, Charter Schools and Church Schools (instead of CCS Schools) or mentioned a word about the surplus of CCS School Buses.
Then, many months Later (March, 2025) CCS Superintendent Stephen Fisher informs the School Board that the Democrat controlled NC Department of Public Instructions tells Cleveland County that they will pay $155,555.00 for a new School Bus, but CCS will have to procure the additional bus (that only months before was not needed) through CCS own procurement processes. Of Course Robert A Smelt a different Rat about the procurement processes. But Supt Fisher tells the School Board that “State” money will pay for the new bus, not County Money. So, the CCS School Board voted 9-0 to purchase an apparently not needed new bus just to spend state money and not county money, Not even considering that both state and county money comes from the same place-Cleveland County and State Taxpayers pockets.
Robert A was puzzled by all this conflicting information about waste (maybe fraud) and unnecessary school buses and the willingness of ALL the CCS School Board Members to have gone along with this seemingly obvious waste (or fraud) of Taxpayer’s money. But, Robert A initially just wrote it off as just another example of CCS stupidity.
(2) Failing Schools: Why had Cleveland County Schools Failure rates jumped from less than 5% just a few years ago to over 50% in 2023? And why was the Shelby Star NOT writing very much about this when the information is s-readily available. Sometimes it is very telling in what the Shelby Star does not report. Or purposely minimizes.
Note that Robert A can pick up on the “Rat Scents” much better regarding things that are left out than when overt criminal acts have been purposely under-reported.
(3) The Coats Plant Closure in Kings Mountain with 173 workers soon to be laid off.
On April 17, 2025 The Shelby Star Publishes an article titled Kings Mountain mill closing after more than six decades, nearly 200 to lose jobs
In that article a more precise number, 173, workers would be laid off. That Coats bought this plant from Patrick Yarn in 2017. That this was the only Coats Plant in the USA that is closing and that NO REASON was given for this plant to close except that, “Coats’ decision to exit its North American yarns business and close its Kings Mountain site comes after a strategic review of the business and in response to structural market changes.”
All this sounded very strange and confusing to Robert A. For an international company to purchase a well-established 50+ yar old company (Patrick Yarns) located in a prime location near it’s customers and Interstate 85, and then dump it all seemed strange indeed. So Robert A, as usual looked up the Coats Group and found it’s latest report on the following Link:
https://www.coats.com/en-us/news/2025/03/coats-poised-to-pass-50-sustainability-tipping-point/
After reviewing this link Robert A was even more puzzled. For the following reasons:
- Coats is growing by leaps and bounds
- Moving business off-shore goes against President Trump’s America First Agenda.
- It goes against Coats’ own company goals for employee retention,
So, why would Coats be closing its KM Plant and laying off 173 workers?
Robert A Smelles a Rat!!
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Was all this NOT about closing a valuable plant vital to a company’s business plan, but maybe all about getting rid of 173 problem workers??.
AND, JUST WHAT COULD THOSE WORKER PROBLEMS BE????
Hint: It is 2 words and each word begins with a vowel.
