Sunday must-read: "After Save A Lot’s Closing, Potential For Food Desert Grows In New Albany' by John Boyle at WFPL.

Where to begin?

It's wonderful to see John Boyle hit the ground running at his new public radio gig. We're advised never to underestimate the value of liberation from Hanson Acres.

No one can be sure, but apparently the rule of thumb at the Jeffersonville News and Tribune is to ALWAYS solicit the view of a public official, elected or appointed, when writing a story like this.

Refreshingly to the point of screaming aloud with joy and dancing in the streets, Boyle does not do this, preferring instead to speak with those humans affected by Save A Lot's closure, and to locate educated, principled local experts whose opinions are not wedded to the same old political considerations.

The result is fine writing without a cover photo of a mayor, councilman or NAHA administrator.

Three ... six ... nine ... hell, 18 cheers for that.

Thank you, John Boyle.

But here's the part I'm waiting to hear explained by local officials: Assuming the downtown food and drink sector recovers from COVID, which as yet cannot be asserted as a foregone conclusion, what does it say about New Albany as a city that we constantly flog our trendy eateries and watering holes while ignoring the fact that they exist smack in the middle of a food desert, a fact that is most damaging to residents who frankly cannot afford to dine and drink downtown?

Perhaps the LEE Initiative can annex us. Shall we pray?

After Save A Lot’s Closing, Potential For Food Desert Grows In New Albany, by John Boyle (WFPL)

Since the 1950s, residents of downtown New Albany have bought their food at 624 State St., which was originally a Kroger before becoming a Save A Lot. But on June 20, Save A Lot permanently closed its doors. And while there are large grocery chains like Kroger near the outskirts of town, the city’s core is now lacking a full-service grocery option.

“There’s so many of us over here that are very upset, because sometimes we don’t like the big stores,” said Kimberly Williams, who shopped at Save A Lot frequently over the last 12 years. “[Save A Lot] feels homey. Other stores are big, crowded. I don’t like a crowd like that. I like to keep it simple. I know where everything is. That’s going to hurt.”

Williams lives in the nearby New Albany Housing Authority (NAHA) complex. Every two weeks or so, she would pull a wagon just over half a mile to shop, which would take roughly 30 minutes roundtrip.

One of New Albany’s Kroger stores is a little more than a mile away from the former Save A Lot. Though the increase in distance may seem minuscule, every extra step matters to elderly citizens like Williams. The difficulty is amplified by nearby hilly terrain and the fact that Kroger is located in a large shopping center surrounded by an expansive and busy parking lot, which makes the trip less pedestrian-friendly.

“That’s real rough,” Williams said. “You know what I mean? Because sometimes my wagon gets a little heavy. But you know, that’s how I do it… I’ll pull it home. I’m going to miss that. I am.”

snip

The USDA identifies food deserts as neighborhoods that are more than one mile away from the nearest supermarket or grocery store in urban areas – or 10 miles in rural areas – and have poverty rates greater than or equal to 20 percent. One tract of New Albany east of downtown that has a population of 1,897 was already listed on the USDA’s interactive atlas of food deserts, which uses data from 2015.

With the closure of Save A Lot, four more tracts that meet the poverty thresholds could also qualify. Up to 13,500 residents of New Albany may now be living in food deserts.

News and Tribune loses young talent as John Boyle moves to 89.3 WFPL.

John Boyle has been selected one of Report for America's 2020-2021 Corps Members.

Report for America is a national service program that places emerging journalists into local newsrooms for a year of service reporting on under-covered issues and community. Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.

And:

Report for America

INTRODUCING: Report for America’s 2020-2021 Corps Members! These 225 emerging journalists are hitting the ground in more than 160 newsrooms across the U.S. at a time when they’re needed most. Meet our corps members and read their bios here.

Boyle revealed the switch on social media.

I'm thrilled to finally announce that I'll be joining 89.3 WFPL News Louisville on June 1. Last month, I was lucky enough to be selected as one of Report for America's 2020-2021 Corps Members. My team is changing, but I'll still be covering Southern Indiana, along with health.

I can't stress enough how grateful I am to everybody at the News and Tribune. They gave me my first shot out of college and welcomed me back after I spent some time in NYC. None of this would be possible without The Horizon team, either. To everybody who has played a role in my journey up to this point (and there are lots of you), thank you!

Green Mouse says: Boyle does solid work, and it's good to know he'll be staying in the area, at least for the short term.

Gahan clears space in already bulging campaign finance coffers as his half-ass-two-way-street reform project limps toward the runway.

We will surmise from the evidence that John Boyle is Jerod Clapp's de facto replacement at the News and Tribune, although the reporter might be only a temporary pinch-hitter.

Boyle's page at Facebook shows a hiring date of August 2016 (he's a 2016 IU Southeast graduate), and until mid-January, all his bylines were in sports.

Where Boyle fits in the newspaper's "beat by topic, not geography" scheme is yet to be seen; he's done a fire, a Hobkbob Coffee profile, a school board meeting, and now the rumored Downtown Grid Modernization Project (Mayor Gahan's shameless bastardization of Jeff Speck's Downtown Street Network Proposal.

As such, he extracts an interesting nugget from city engineer Larry Summers, who'll probably face disciplinary action for speaking openly to the media.

Work underway on two-way: Initial phases of Grid Modernization Project begin in New Albany, by John Boyle

... Summers said the city's next step will be repaving Spring, Market, Elm, Pearl, Bank and Vincennes streets. An official date for this portion, however, has yet to be set.

"The paving itself is going to be independent of the federal aid, but we are looking to coordinate the two projects," Summers said. "It's kind of nuanced right now. [The start date] depends on who wins the bid for the federal aid portion of construction."

Summers said that if two separate contractors are selected, the repaved streets will have temporary dividers until the federal aid portion of the grid realignment begins. Bids for the projects will be selected in early March. The entire project is expected to be completed by Sept. 30.

Well, well.

Turns out the paving component wasn't part of the federal 80-20 largess after all -- and remember, annual paving contracts are an easily tapped source of campaign finance kickbacks. For those readers eternally curious as to why MAC seemingly captures every contract ... just follow the envelopes.

Boyle did good. "Nuanced" is the sort of code language John Rosenbarger usually deploys to evade scrutiny, and now we know about a potential timeline crack in the otherwise seamless propaganda narrative.

Meanwhile, Boyle also extracts two quotes from business owners, each bearing an important point. First, hitting the nail on the head with regard to traffic speed:

Gary Humphrey, owner of River City Winery, said he has long been in favor of two-way streets in downtown New Albany.

"I've been in support from day one," Humphrey said. "I prefer anything that slows down traffic. Two-way streets will do that."

Then, the enduring transparency bugaboo.

Leo Lopez, who owns Habana Blues, said that though he is not necessarily against the two-way streets, he has not been pleased with the communication between city officials and businesses in New Albany.

"Every time something is done around here, they don't tell anybody," Lopez said. "We don't know until it's about to happen. A lot of business owners will tell you the same thing."

Team Gahan already has botched what might have been, at least in terms of the Speck plan's magnitude. Mark my words, folks, because they're going to botch significant portions of their own diluted HWC street grid rewrite. This will not owe to engineering incompetence, but rather to political cowardice.

It's who they are ... and what they do -- and don't do.