Recent Stories

Mass. St. metamorphosis: Looking at Downtown Lawrence's ever-changing face
‘This used to be where everybody got everything’
It’s 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, nearly closing time for Rod Ernst. He sits in his hardware shop near the putty knives, arms folded. Not too long ago, tool shops dominated downtown, he says. “Used to be one on every corner,” he says, rocking in his chair. “They’re all gone.”

Living Proof: Our occasional reminder that not all people are bastards
Lawrencians leave for Burma: "It's time to do something about it."
One day this past May, a 28-year-old hairdresser named Julie received a phone call from Tim Heinemann. Said the retired U.S. Army colonel to the stylist: "I need your help."
Green-age Wasteland
Businesses see the bio-benefits and financial perks of shoving leftover food up their compost piles.
Josh Millstein burrows into a large pile of dirt in downtown Lawrence. He removes a piece of plastic and inspects the mound's innards: roly-polys, a rotting orange, brown sludge. Yep, everything looks right.
Bodies on a bender
Flexibility faux pas? Drop the doc and contort thyself
Not too long ago, Ron Gaches dreaded walking into the capital building in Topeka. It wasn't his lobbying job or the politicians that bugged him, but rather an agonizing foot pain amplified by marble floors. "You can't imagine a less forgiving material to be on all day long," he says.