Issue 1170

13 Feb 2017
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About this issue: Overview

We might be buying most of our goods on the internet but you can’t have an online haircut. Saskia Murphy walks down Tib Street in Manchester, where the number of salons shows how service industries are starting to dominate our streets.

Strictly speaking, the new cables connecting a power station to the National Grid will not harm the Lake District, because they will be buried. But they’ll go overland on 50 metre pylons just outside the national park – where campaigners claim the impact will be just as bad. Wilson Boow reports.

Acclaimed cartoonist Tony Husband and his son Paul tell Sandy Thin why they’ve documented their family struggle with heroin addiction and recovery in a new book.

Plus there’s news from Vendor Week, when members of the public gave up an hour of their time to sell Big Issue North and get a feel for the challenges it holds.

In arts and entertainment, there’s a preview of Bolton comedian Sophie Willan’s new show about growing up in care as well as reviews of TV, home entertainment, albums and independent cinema.

Columnist Roger Ratcliffe tries to find the humour in Donald Trump holding the nuclear codes, Michael, a vendor in Liverpool, tells us about his ambition to run a café, there’s our crossword and Sudoku – and much more.