Tag Archives: Atlanta

Astronaut’s visit, kids’ space dreams boost Fernbank and NASA

Date: April 22nd, 2013, 8:00 am

Midway through last week’s brutality and mayhem, 200 people got a radically different global perspective when astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson showed up at the Fernbank Science Center in northeast Atlanta. NASA has a mission to reach far into the universe; Fernbank’s is to spark the imaginations of children and instill a passion for science. Both are trying to preserve their missions for future generations amid an ever-present threat of budget cuts, and an Evening with an Astronaut night was their combined effort.

Dyson described peering out of the cupola of the International Space Station to the blue-marble Earth and her eyes filling with tears. But tears don’t fall in space. Hers stuck to her eyeballs. Through that film, her view of our planet and its people deepened, to greater care and hope.
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In pollen season, Kirkwood’s old-school carwash hums

Date: April 15th, 2013, 7:59 pm

Monday marked nine straight days in Atlanta of extremely high (over 1500) pollen counts. You can’t avoid the blanket of yellow green dust covering the city.

For Stuart Brady, the plague of pollen on our cars is almost a biblical call to atone through what his business serves: lots of water and your own elbow grease. At his Kirkwood Car Wash, three words preach from the shingled roof: “Honor Thy Auto.”

These days, the ka-ching of tokens in the self-serve machines is the reason Brady calls pollen “gold dust.” It also gives him hope that his slice of Americana might survive the relentless redevelopment that Atlanta is known for. Continue reading →

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Chick-fil-A selects Carrie Kurlander as new communications vice president

Date: March 18th, 2013, 4:14 pm

By Maria Saporta

From nukes to nuggets.

Carrie Kurlander, vice president of communications for the Southern Co. since September 2009, is joining Chick-fil-A as its vice president of public relations.

She will start her new job in mid April.

Kurlander joined the Southern Co. system in February 2003 as director of corporate communications for the Alabama Power Co. Five years later, she was named assistant to the president and CEO of the Alabama Power Co. before moving to Atlanta to work at Southern Co.’s headquarters.
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In Africa, former Atlantan helps kids One World Futbol at a time

Date: March 11th, 2013, 7:39 pm

For a couple of weeks in 1996, Sandra Cress helped bring the world of soccer to Atlanta. Today she lives in Nairobi and is helping children around the world live healthier lives through one tough soccer ball that stays round when they kick it.

The standard soccer balls used across Atlanta suburbs don’t stand a chance in the thorns, glass and barbed wire of the developing world. There, kids create makeshift balls of rags or whatever they can find. Cress said she saw kids kicking a ball made of old fruit taped together.

The virtually indestructible One World Futbol, made of a hard foam similar to that in Crocs sandals, has already transformed Cress’ world and should inspire anyone with deep knowledge, contacts and enthusiasm that do not seem to fit in the present job market. The indestructible ball offered Cress an opportunity to come full circle in her passion for soccer and expertise in humanitarian aid.
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Posted in Atlanta, Ben Smith, Career Makeover, Inspiration, Life Changes, Michelle Hiskey, Transformation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

For African-American women, a hairstyle can be a tricky decision

Date: March 4th, 2013, 1:35 pm

For African-American women, unemployment is 12.3 percent nationally, 13.1 percent in Georgia. That tough reality helped draw more than 100 black women to an event last week at Georgia State University focused on one decision that each of them faces:

What to do with my hair?

For them, preparing for a job interview or the first day of work isn’t as simple as deciding whether to go with the regimental blue-striped or the red power tie. Around the country, disputes over African American female hairstyles have led to accusations of wrongful firings and discrimination lawsuits.

Atlanta is where people notice, too; for example, TV news viewers spent decades obsessing over local anchor Monica Kaufman Pearson’s changing ‘dos.
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Time for Georgia to recommit to water conservation and regional plans

Date: February 24th, 2013, 1:55 pm

By Guest Columnist LAUREN JOY, an associate attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center

In 2011, many Atlantans were relieved by the court determination that water supply was an authorized purpose of Lake Lanier. Despite this “win” for Atlanta in the Tri-State Water Wars, we must continue to treat water supply as an ongoing and important issue for Atlanta and the state.

The “Water Wars” are far from over, and the best step we can take to secure and sustain our state’s water supplies is to improve our statewide water planning efforts.
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CARE USA’s Helene Gayle of Atlanta to join board of the Coca-Cola Co.

Date: February 22nd, 2013, 12:24 pm

By Maria Saporta

Just one day after the announcement that two legendary Atlanta directors were not standing for re-election to the Coca-Cola Co. board, it was announced that Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of Atlanta-based CARE USA would be joining the board at the company’s annual meeting in April.

Gayle, 57, leads one of the world’s leading international humanitarian organizations whose poverty fighting programs reached about 122 million people in 84 countries last year, according to the company’s press release.
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Atlanta’s new workforce law among possible community agreements to be addressed by city, Falcons

Date: February 21st, 2013, 5:05 pm

A central question facing the Atlanta City Council is how to harness the city’s influence in the proposed deal to help pay for the planned Falcons stadium.

Just this month, the city enacted a new law that seems to require the stadium’s builders to hire a certain proportion of disadvantaged and underemployed residents. Falcons President Rich McKay said the team is committed to such social objectives – and that they will be addressed.

In addition, some on the council want the new stadium to address blight in nearby neighborhoods, specifically along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. However, Councilmember Michael Julian Bond noted that the project can’t be a panacea for, “every social ill under the sun.”
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Two key Atlanta directors — Keough and Williams — leaving Coke’s board

Date: , 5:04 pm

By Maria Saporta

The Coca-Cola Co.’s link to Atlanta will change after the company’s annual meeting in April.

Two of its key directors — Donald R. Keough and James B. Williams — will not be standing for re-election, marking a new chapter for the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co.

Both Keough and Williams, who both are seasoned Atlanta executives, have had ties to the company for decades. In fact, both were associated with the company from the days when Robert W. Woodruff, the long-time leader of the company, was in charge.
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Atlanta Council looks for ways stadium deal could be required to help residents, nearby neighborhoods

Date: February 20th, 2013, 5:08 pm

In about three weeks, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s staff expects to deliver to the city council the meat of the legislation that will enable the city council to vote to help fund a new Falcons stadium.

Given the level of support for the new stadium voiced by several councilmembers, its evident some of them will spend the next three weeks figuring out how to ensure that community benefits agreements are created to help city residents and the neighborhoods around. Such concerns were a major issue at the council’s four-hour work session Wednesday.

Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay assured the council several times that team owner Arthur Blank is committed to being a good civic partner. McKay emphasized that Penny McPhee, president of the Blank Foundation, will oversee that outreach effort.
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