Latest Reports

By Maria Saporta

The Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club, after being on the fence for months, is announcing its opposition to the July 31 vote for a regional transportation sales tax (also called the T-SPLOST).

Colleen Kiernan, director of the Sierra Club’s Georgia Chapter, said in a release that the $6.14 billion list of projects would primarily generate more sprawl rather than encourage more sustainable development patterns in metro Atlanta.
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By Maria Saporta

It was another big day for Dr. William Foege — one of Atlanta’s best kept secrets.

On Thursday, Foege was named by President Barack Obama as one of the 13 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

On the same day, Foege participated in the dedication of the building expansion of the Decatur-based Task Force for Global Health, an organization he co-founded in 1984 and served as its CEO.
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By Maria Saporta

Could the Gang of Six become the Gang of Sixty?

Georgia’s two U.S. senators hope so.

One of the original members of the Gang of Six, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, spoke to the Atlanta Press Club Monday when he restated his commitment to work on reducing the nation’s growing debt and its fiscal problems.
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By Maria Saporta

A regional effort to build a regional arts and cultural mindset is losing its leader.

Flora Maria Garcia, CEO of the Metro Atlanta Arts & Culture Coalition, will become the new president and CEO of the United Arts of Central Florida starting May 29.

Garcia has been CEO of MAACC since 2007, when she succeeded Bill Nigut, who is now the Southeast Regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.
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By Maria Saporta

Washington, D.C. — Education reform is alive and well in the nation’s capital.

Members of metro Atlanta’s LINK delegation were enamored with Kaya Henderson, the chancellor of Washington, D.C. public school system, after she addressed regional leaders about the change underway in one of the highest-profile systems in the nation.

Henderson joined the staff of the Washington, D.C. public schools in 2007 as part of the Michelle Rhee administration.
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By Maria Saporta

Washington, D.C. — Cobb Chamber of Commerce President David Connell humbly stood before members of the metro Atlanta LINK delegation Thursday morning after to apologize.

The day before, as Connell was going through security at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, he was detained for having a handgun in his bag. He subsequently was arrested and taken to the Clayton County jail.

Connell finally rejoined the LINK delegation Thursday morning, and he went to the podium to address what had been the buzz of the trip on Wednesday.
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By Maria Saporta

Washington, D.C. — The nation’s capital is enjoying a burst of population growth, Mayor Vincent Gray told the metro Atlanta LINK delegation Wednesday evening.

Gray welcomed Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and about 100 other civic leaders at dinner held at the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

After losing population for several decades, Washington, D.C. added 30,000 residents between 2000 and 2010.
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By Maria Saporta

Baltimore — A 100 civic leaders from Atlanta, on the 16th annual LINK trip, arrived in the largest city in Maryland Wednesday witnessing a city that has strategically sought to be an economic leader in bio-science and cyber security.

Although Baltimore can be overshadowed by the Washington, D.C. metro area, the city also recognizes that its economic strength can be attributed in great part to the ample presence of federal dollars in the community.
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By Maria Saporta

Few people realized how many institutions of higher learning were clustered in metro Atlanta until Mike Gerber came to town 14 years ago.

Gerber, who has been serving as president of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE) since 1998, announced via email that he is resigning his position effective June 30.
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By Maria Saporta

Proponents of transit in metro Atlanta will be kicking off the Fast Track Forward Initiative to inform voters on what is at stake when they go to the polls on July 31.

The Livable Communities Coalition of the Metro Atlanta will be holding a kick-off event on Wednesday April 25 at the restaurant, Shout, at Colony Square from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Doug Hooker, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, will be the keynote speaker.

Several efforts are underway to publicize and promote the one percent regional transportation sales tax referendum in July.
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