Lawrence Journal-World 12-19-2016

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CHIEFS FALL TO TITANS IN COLDEST RECORDED HOME GAME. 1C BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE — BUT THAT IS GOING TO CHANGE. PAGE 1B

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Monday • December 19 • 2016

PUBLISHED SINCE 1891

Town Talk

LAWRENCE’S FOOD DESERTS

Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

Unique retailer to close by end of January Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos

LAWRENCE RESIDENT LANCE FAHY, WHO IS VISUALLY IMPAIRED, LEANS IN CLOSELY to see the labels on packages of ground beef while doing his shopping on Thursday.

For some, getting groceries requires more than money BY ROCHELLE VALVERDE Fahy said. “There have been l l l

rvalverde@ljworld.com

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s Lance Fahy does his grocery shopping, there is hustle in his step. He leaves his cart behind as he surveys the length of a meat cooler, stopping his lateral shuffle along its edge here and there to check prices. He’s got two oversized cloth grocery bags to fill and only about 20 minutes to do it. But he doesn’t check his watch. Fahy says he has the time in his head. It’s a trip he does often — at least twice a week — holding his grocery shopping to 20 minutes so that he doesn’t have to wait another 30 for the next bus. “It always is close, getting in and out in 20 minutes,”

a couple times when I have walked out that door and seen the bus pulling away.” Fahy, who is visually impaired, has to get a ride or take the bus to the store from his home in the Pinckney Neighborhood. When he misses the bus home, it makes the nearly two-hour grocery trip even longer. Fahy is likely one of many residents for whom a convenient stop at the grocery store is elusive. Citywide, more than one-fourth of all Lawrence residents live within a federally designated food desert, a lowincome district where the majority of residents live more than 1 mile from a fullservice grocery store.

It’s not just my situation. I observe a lot of people that are having to spend more time and energy to access healthy food than they really should have to.”

— Lance Fahy, of Lawrence

FAHY TAKES THE BUS on his biweekly grocery store run.

> DESERT, 2A

City of Lawrence tightens policy on holiday gifts By Rochelle Valverde rvalverde@ljworld.com

It’s the season of tri-section popcorn buckets and gift baskets, but under a new policy, the City of Lawrence will not be accepting many of those gifts. City departments sometimes get holiday gifts from vendors with which they do

business, but the city manager’s office has let it be known that the policy applies to those gifts as well, said city spokeswoman Megan Gilliland. For the first holiday season under the policy, the city has been donating holiday gifts it receives to local charities. The city gets everything from popcorn to fruit baskets to poinsettias, and when

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applicable, will be donating the items to food pantries or other local organizations. “We get a big box of apples every year,” Gilliland said. “… We donated those to Just Food, since they’re perishable.” In addition to gifts from vendors, employees sometimes get gifts from residents. Gilliland said employees who

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work in public safety and solid waste tend to get the most gifts from residents, and they are allowed to keep some of those — such as cookies that could be shared throughout the department. But Gilliland said they aren’t allowed to accept cash, gift certificates or alcohol.

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hen it comes to the idea of “nonprofit,” I have always found the “non” is the easiest part of that equation. A unique nonprofit retailer in downtown Lawrence indeed has found the “profit” is hard to come by, and is closing by the end of January. The retailer Ten Thousand Villages is closing its store, at 835 Massachusetts St., after about four years in business. “It is just very expensive to operate downtown,” said Scott Stutler, store manager. “We just weren’t making enough to support the business operations down here.” The closing will create more than just a vacant space in downtown Lawrence’s retail scene. The closing also is a hit to the fair trade movement in Lawrence. In case you have forgotten, Ten Thousand Villages is unique because it is a certified Fair Trade Retailer. That means it carries only goods that have been produced in a way that allows them to be labeled as fair trade-friendly. Those requirements include that the people who produce the product are paid a fair living wage, work in safe conditions and that no free or child labor is used in the production of the product. Promoting the idea of fair trade really was the overriding mission of the store. The business was set up as a nonprofit entity and is governed by a local board of directors, Stutler said. The organization will remain active, and will continue to promote the importance of fair trade, but without the store it will lose one of its most visible selling points. However, the good news is that more Lawrence shoppers are aware of fair trade than before the store opened, Stutler

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$

INSTANT SAVINGS ON A SET OF 4 BIG O BRAND TIRES WITH INSTALLATION PURCHASE Valid at participating locations on in-stock sets of four Big O branded tires. Installation charges extra; required on all four tires. Up to 10% shop fee based on non-discounted retail price, not to exceed $35. Disposal fees extra, where permitted. Not valid with other offers. See store for pricing. Expires 1/15/17.

www.bigotires.com SPECIAL FINANCING AVAILABLE^ ^See store for details

4661 W. 6TH LAWRENCE, KS 785.830.9090 2735 SW WANAMAKER TOPEKA, KS 785.271.0194

Mon- Fri 7am-6pm Sat 7am-5pm Sun 9am-4pm ( in Lawrence) Closed 12/25/16 and 1/1/17 for the Holidays


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