G&G
WPS
New Zealand white
wines
What has your experience been
with Pokemon Go Page 6
Page 8
EGW
JULY 16 AND 17, 2016
V V V
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
V V V
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
A RESPECTFUL
PARTNERSHIP
gery to remove a tumor 15
years ago. The surgery led
to a stroke that left him unable to speak or walk. The
He is seen regularly rid- recent high school graduate and
ing his bike
promising
around Em“Simple success is what
athlete
poria with
I have today. I’m not
awoke —
a tiny dog
unable
prancing
going out and climbing
to comalong beside
mountains or going out and municate
him.
People re- riding in the DK 200 every — in a
traumatizfer to him as
“the guy on year. But I am successfully ing new
the bike with making it through my day world.
“
I
the dog.” Yet
on my own.”
w o k e
i f a n yo n e
up and
spends a bit
ZACK HOLUB
couldn’t
of time with
Emporian
w a l k ,
him, it is easy
couldn’t
t o re a l i z e
talk,” Holthere is much
ub said. “It was very traumore to Zack Holub.
Holub, originally from
Halstead, had brain sur- Please see Partnership, Page 3
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNTOWN BUILDINGS
By Mary Ann Redeker
[email protected]
Emporia Main Street was recently voted best Main Street in America
in a USA Today online poll.
Revitalization efforts have made
the downtown area a beautiful place
with new businesses, restaurants
and events coming to town.
“We can attribute to Emporia
Main Street a lot of the improvements downtown,” Assistant City
Manager Jim Witt said. “They started the movement and people are
really starting to care about downtown again.”
However, there are some properties in the downtown area which are
deteriorating and are in need of attention.
Witt said the role of the city is to
evaluate these situations and take
appropriate action, however it is the
responsibility of the property owners to maintain their properties.
“The solution to this problem
is — the owners need to invest in
their properties and keep them up,”
he said. “There is no government
bailout dedicated to this. If we end
up with a lot of buildings downtown
which start deteriorating and crum-
bling, it’s really going to affect the
city negatively.”
One such property is 407 Commercial St., where the back side
of the property has fallen in, leaving the alley blocked off for several
months.
“Actions against this particular
building have been going on since
before my time here in Emporia,”
Witt said. “This goes back to sometime around 2013. The property
went through a series of owners.
Every time there would be a new
owner, we would have to start the
process over because we were concerned with the condition. That
particular building has been a major
concern for structural problems.”
The city inspects commercial
buildings for structural concerns
if a problem is brought to its attention. Even though there are no legal
requirements for structural inspections, the city is required to do annual fire inspections.
“When we notice or get a call
about a particular building, we do
an inspection,” Witt said. “We do
inspections to check things out
MARY ANN REDEKER/GAZETTE
and to make sure no one is storing
anything crazy. When this building The back side of a building at 407 Commercial St. is deteriorating and crumbling in. The backside
Good Evening
Please see Program, Page 3
faces an alley and has been blocked off for several months. The city of Emporia recently took action to
have this building demolished due to safety concerns.
VOL. 125, NO. 13
You can go your own way.