Columbia Star, July 12, 2013 For many years, Forest Acres residents who needed a socket wrench, nails, or plumbing parts had to travel to the impersonal big box hardware stores on Two Notch Road or Garner’s Ferry. With the opening of the Falcon Ace Hardware at 2085 North Beltline Drive, those days are over. Brandon Clarke, … Read More
Moyers & Co., July 11, 2013 One of the primary arguments against allowing big box stores — such as Walmart, Lowe’s, Target and Best Buy — to set up shop in small towns is that they take customers away from local family businesses that have existed in the community for years. Using high-volume sales — versus … Read More
Truthout, July 7, 2013 Controversy around big-box stores like Walmart, Target, Lowes and Home Depot is nothing new, but communities are getting smarter about tackling these corporate giants — sometimes against considerable odds. In Cape Cod and a handful of other areas across the country, the Economic Impact Review is becoming a vital tool for handling … Read More
The New Republic, July 6, 2013 The main branch of the McAllen, Texas, public library is a sleek modern space, with a circular fountain out front, an art gallery, an interactive touch wall in the children’s section, and long orange benches that look like something out of Kubrick. It’s no surprise the building has won major … Read More
Asbury Park Press, July 5, 2013 If you proudly buy locally grown vegetables for your stew, why not buy a U.S.-made slow cooker to cook them in? You should, say Vincent Vittorio and Nathaniel Thomas McGill. And that idea is the core of the pair’s new documentary, American Made Movie. It’s a by-now-familiar film about the … Read More
GreenTech Solar, July 3, 2013 According to SolarCity representatives, four “unnecessarily burdensome” practices at Xcel, Colorado’s dominant utility, are slowing the growth of solar in the state. Xcel Energy spokesperson Gabriel Romero provided a written rebuttal to SolarCity’s claims, but added, “We have decided to forego an interview and will simply leave you with this statement.” … Read More
Boulder Weekly, July 3, 2013 In May, Walmart was hit with $110 million in environmental fines after pleading guilty to improperly dumping pesticides, fertilizer and other hazardous materials into public sewers and landfills. The Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section said that it was the second-largest environmental criminal penalty ever imposed in U.S. history, after the $4 … Read More
Texas Climate News, July 2, 2013 The non-profit Institute for Local Self-Reliance says its mission “is to provide innovative strategies, working models and timely information to support environmentally sound and equitable community development.” The organization has offices in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. Journalist Greg Harman of San Antonio talked with John Farrell, director of the institute’s … Read More
Midwest Energy News, July 2, 2013 Installing solar panels or wind turbines on city or county-owned property can be fraught with more complexities than doing so on private land. That was demonstrated earlier this month when the City of Jackson, Michigan, opted not to move forward on what appeared on the surface to be a slam-dunk … Read More
