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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.