Lawrence isn’t the only town doing battle with Wal-Mart.

A Web site maintained by an organization called Sprawl-Busters tracks such battles across the nation involving Wal-Mart and other “big box” stores.

Sprawl-Busters also provides consultants to help local community coalitions handle campaigns against “megastores and other undesirable large-scale developments.”

According to Sprawl-Busters, these are just a few of the many clashes involving towns and Wal-Mart:

¢ Cornelius, Ore., is the latest of several towns in Oregon where some in the community are trying to stop Wal-Mart superstores or Supercenters from being built. Hillsboro, Ore., rejected a Supercenter because leaders thought it would generate too much traffic and the store’s design was incompatible with the neighborhood.

¢ In Yelm, Wash., the Wal-Mart fight became so intense that the City Council has ordered that Wal-Mart’s name and the term “big box stores” not be mentioned at council meetings, prompting civil libertarians to cry foul. Wal-Mart has an application pending in Yelm for building a superstore.

¢ In Newport News, Va., Wal-Mart backed away from building a superstore because of strong community opposition.

¢ Park Rapids, Minn., where local business owners in this town of 3,500 are trying to get their City Council to delay a decision on zoning that will allow Wal-Mart to build a superstore.

¢ The United Church of Christ in Cleveland is urging a boycott of Wal-Mart because the retailer doesn’t provide health care benefits for 600,000 employees.