Saba Long

There is something liberating about casually strolling down the middle of Peachtree Street as out-of-towners standing on the sidewalk gesture with an air of perplexity.

Rain aside, hundreds of Atlantans joined together this past Sunday to celebrate another Atlanta Streets Alive, the first on our city’s signature street – Peachtree.

From downtown to Midtown, families and friends walked, cycled and skateboarded up and down the street sans cars. Along the nearly three-mile route were food trucks, outdoor games and plenty of familiar faces greeting each other and sharing in the communal spirit of Atlanta Streets Alive.
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“At first I didn’t think about college. I just wanted to get out of high school…but after I graduated I realized that wasn’t enough,” stated Kristy Williams.

Williams, a 2006 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School and the first of her family to earn a high school diploma remarked during a Project GRAD Atlanta panel discussion at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema following a recent screening of First Generation — a feature-length documentary following four California high school students hoping to break the shackles of poverty by pursuing a college degree.

Shot over three years, the documentary captures the struggles of these four students — Dontay, the inner city athlete; Soma, a fatherless Samoan; Jess, a straight A student afraid to leave her small town behind and; Cecilia, the fiercely independent track star and daughter of migrant workers.
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Transportation for America, a Washington, D.C.-based organization pushing for 21st century transportation infrastructure improvements across the country, recently announced nineteen states have put forth plans — some have already failed to pass –  to raise revenue for transportation projects.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley successfully lobbied the state’s General Assembly to pass a 20- cent increase to the gas tax phased in through year 2016. In the future, the gas tax will be indexed for inflation. Dubbed the Maryland Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act, the legislation will also impose a 3 percent sales tax on gasoline purchases. The two revenue models are expected to raise $4.4 billion over six years.
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After the bomb blasts, the graphic photos of dismembered runners being carried to medics leaving behind a red-stained Boylston Street, and the subsequent manhunt for the two brothers who brazenly committed a grim act of terror, only one thought remains in the minds of the American public.

Bring Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to justice.

It has only taken a few days for our political leaders to find a way to divide a virtually unanimous public. We want justice while it seems they want talking points. The primary question at hand is should the United States treat Dzhokhar as an unlawful enemy combatant under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 or receive the legal rights granted a naturalized American citizen.
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Atlanta politicos sometimes forget Republicans live, work and play in the city and also vote in municipal elections.

During the 2009 City Council elections, Peach Pundit, a right-leaning political blog I had been following for a while, had a “meet and greet” in Midtown, and only one candidate attended. That candidate ended up making a solid impression on the group of Republicans present, including Charlie Harper, the blog’s editor.

In a sea of partisan pandering, Harper is often a lone voice of reason — ready to call either side out on their respective shenanigans. Recently, he’s admonished Better Georgia, a progressive organization, for calling on Gov. Nathan Deal to publicly support Wilcox County’s first integrated prom.
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For Georgia Democrats, the ability to win the seat soon to be vacated by Republican Sen.Saxby Chambliss is improbable. Yet it could set the stage for the future of Democratic politics in the state.

There is much scuttlebutt surrounding the Republican primary and the merry-go-round of career politicians that have expressed an interest in the Senate race and possible subsequent open seats as a result.

Declared candidates include Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) and Congressman Paul Broun (R-Athens).
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For the past few years, many corporate and city leaders believed the Atlanta Development Authority (ADA), headquartered in a drab brick building, did not properly reflect the energy of the city.

What the research and development team is to a company, a development authority is to a city or state.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is pushing the city to sharpen its competitive edge, starting with the rebranding of the Atlanta Development Authority, now known as Invest Atlanta.
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Our capital city is often the state’s poster child for innovation delivery, but we may have just been one-upped on an unlikely category — sustainability — specifically renewable energy..

Situated between Savannah and Atlanta, Dublin is not the first place to come to mind when considering a government entity interested in a public-private partnership to provide solar energy.

Teaming up with Greenavations, the city and county recently announced a new project to install over 4,000 solar panels at Dublin High School. The move is expected to save the school $100,000 in the first year alone.
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The growth and support of Atlanta’s technology community was on display this past week with nearly each day showcasing a segment of the City’s startup firepower.

Dubbing itself “the largest gathering of startups since the Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895,” Startup Rally kicked off Monday, Feb. 18 as an expo and internship fair. It also was the official launch of Startup Georgia.

The event featured a network of speakers, sponsors and technologists including Steve Case of Startup America; Sig Mosley, a well-respected venture capitalist; Scott Henderson, executive director of Hypepotamus; and even Jermaine Dupri of So So Def Recordings.
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