Article: Working. And Still Poor. In presidential stump speeches, it's called The Economy. In the state's poorest city, it's called a way of life. Charles P. Pierce finds in Lawrence a mother and her four hungry kids, a pastor and his meal center, a barber and his tenuous job, a financial giant doing some good, and a whole city trying to just hang on.

HITTING HOME, PART I: THE ECONOMY

HITTING HOME

A three-part series on how thecampaign issues are affecting life here.

PART 1: The Economy (Today)

PART 2: Healthcare (August 17)

PART 3: The War (November 2)

As the afternoon declines into evening, the line begins to form. The homeless men come first, battered parkas and beaten shoes, smoking their bent cigarettes down to the filters. The kids come later, the ones who come alone. School let out hours earlier. Their parents locked the house, because if the Department of Social Services dropped by and found the kids unattended while the parents were still at work, DSS could move the children out. So the parents lock the house, and the kids are on ...

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