Magazine
Wal-Mart's Manifest Destiny

June 7, 2004

Wal-Mart wants to build more giant Supercenter stores in the West, but communities like Inglewood, Calif., are starting to take a stand against the world’s largest company. Also in this issue: Even the National Rifle Association came out in support of a Tucson, Ariz., open-space saving bond, which passed in a landslide despite complaints from critics that it was just pork.

Feature

Wal-Mart’s Manifest Destiny
Wal-Mart wants to build more giant Supercenter stores in the West, but communities like Inglewood, Calif., are starting to take a stand against the world’s largest company

Sidebar

In a bitter strike, grocery workers lost ground
A bitter five-month strike against grocery chains in California did nothing to halt the slide in wages likely to come when Wal-Mart invades
Wal-Mart: Love it or loathe it
Businesspeople and shoppers may love Wal-Mart, but a lot of its workers – and ex-workers – have reasons to dislike the company

Editor's Note

Ballot-box democracy
The same kind of "ballot-box planning" that’s been used to control development in small towns like Paonia, Colo., is being manipulated by Wal-Mart in its quest to build more Supercenters in the West

Essays

At home on the range with 10-year-old writers and dreamers
A teacher at a small rural school in Colorado encourages her young students to express their feelings and describe the world they live in

Book Reviews

Hidden Waters resurfaces
Charles Bowden’s book, Killing the Hidden Waters, which explores the Sonoran Desert world of the Papago Indians, has been re-released after 25 years
Journal of the Dead
Jason Kersten’s Journal of the Dead: A Story of Friendship and Murder in the New Mexico Desert is an interesting read, but fails to fully develop the story of Raffi Kodikian, who stabbed his best friend, David Coughlin, in an apparent mercy killing

Writers on the Range

I've tried, but I can't eat the view
Missoula, Mont., like many amenity-rich Western towns, is becoming too expensive for its working-class population

News

Arizona voters say 'yes' to open space
Even the National Rifle Association came out in support of a Tucson, Ariz., open-space saving bond, which passed in a landslide despite complaints from critics that it was just pork
Follow-up
Phelps Dodge told to clean up New Mexico groundwater; Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. appeals verdict on cattle-price fixing; Lahontan cutthroat trout tagged in Nevada; National Organic Program decides not to loosen organic food standards
Mountain bikers go wild
Mountain bikers in the Central Oregon Trail Alliance favor creation of a Badlands Wilderness Area near Bend, Ore., even if they can’t ride in it
Small-time ski operator fights for his life
Texas billionaire Billy Joe "Red" McCombs wants to build "The Village at Wolf Creek" – Colorado’s largest resort village – in the heart of one of the state’s most environmentally conscious small ski areas
Buying time against the energy assault
Bidding on oil and gas leases for conservation purposes in places like Delta County, Colo., could prove to be a risky strategy, some environmentalists warn
Wilderness up for lease
Citizen-proposed wilderness areas in the West are the latest battleground in the war over oil and gas drilling on the public lands
Calendar

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Bear "product inspectors"; Rapid City, S.D., supports transsexual city councilman; road rage afflicts runners in Boulder, Colo.; feral llamas; bovine back-scratchers; candidate Linda Kelsch tells Utah Legislature to mind its own morals

Dear Friends

Dear Friends
HCN’s May board meeting; good news for the paper; some readers upset about political stories; scientist Theo Colborn speaks; Mary Sojourner to read in Hotchkiss, Colorado

Letters

Uncommon Westerners

Defending the West Desert: Utah activist Jason Groenewold
Jason Groenewold didn’t set out to be an environmental activist, but now he directs the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, which is fighting toxic waste disposal in the West Desert
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