Lawrence City Hall is pictured in September 2018. A variety of tobacco issues will soon be before City of Lawrence leaders after being absent for more than a year. The Lawrence City Commission at its ...

Tobacco used to be king in Vernon County where we live. Dairy farming was the main source of income on most farms, but the tobacco crop helped pay the taxes and, in many cases, paid off the mortgage.

During the late 1960s, a bus would drive around the city of Hartford before sun-up to pick up young adolescents to work at nearby tobacco farms. Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, at 14 years old, was among ...