Weighing in at 110 pounds, 6 ounces, the new record holder for the largest blue catfish ever caught in Georgia measures 58 inches long with a girth of 42 inches. It’s the aquatic version of Georgia’s Hogzilla, the monster hog shot in 2005
Author Archives: David Pendered
David Pendered, Managing Editor, is an Atlanta journalist with more than 30 years experience reporting on the region’s urban affairs, from Atlanta City Hall to the state Capitol. Since 2008, he has written for print and digital publications, and advised on media and governmental affairs. Previously, he spent more than 26 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and won awards for his coverage of schools and urban development. David graduated from North Carolina State University and was a Western Knight Center Fellow.
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Lumber price hikes fuel rising housing costs in ATL, nationwide: Fed, trade group
With lumber prices nearly tripling since April, the nationwide rise in home prices was expected in the Beige Book report of economic conditions released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.
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South River Watershed Alliance asks U.S. Court of Appeals to help halt sewer spills
The South River Watershed Alliance has turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta in its effort to compel DeKalb County to stop spilling sewage from sewer pipes in all of DeKalb, not just a third of the county as is now the case.
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COVID-era culture calls on marketing sector to create new types of messages
Turning State Farm Arena into Georgia’s biggest polling place may be a marketing stroke of brilliance. The COVID-driven stampede to online everything also puts the marketing sector at a pivot point in today’s culture.
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Atlanta BeltLine: Equitable development report amid concerns over citizen input
The Atlanta BeltLine’s most dramatic influence on the city’s growth and decline appears in two areas of Northwest Atlanta. Since 2000, population has dropped by 16 percent south of the future Westside Park, and more than doubled west of Atlantic Station, according to an Oct. 14 report on equitable development along the BeltLine.
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‘Big PATH, Tiny Parks’ installation opens Friday in twist on Tiny Doors ATL
A tweak of Atlanta artist Karen Anderson Singer’s concept of Tiny Doors ATL is to run Friday through Sunday in the installation, Big PATH, Tiny Parks, which is the pandemic version of Livable Buckhead’s annual autumn celebration of parks and greenspace.
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MARTA’s BRT plans advance along Summerhill route in Downtown Atlanta
MARTA’s planned Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit project – a potential game-changer in metro Atlanta transit – is poised to take a major step forward with the hiring of a consultant to oversee final engineering and design.
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Rewrite of Atlanta police ‘use of force’ rules to include input from Atlanta City Council
The “use of force” regulations that govern Atlanta police remain under active review almost six months after George Floyd died while in a choke hold in Minneapolis. Plans in Minneapolis for a “defund the police” policy have collapsed.
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Atlanta Fed president urges new rules for banking in minority communities
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic pointed to a few Atlanta neighborhoods to explain why the Federal Reserve intends to revise the law that governs banking in many minority and lower-income communities.
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Indigenous Peoples Day: Rally to remove tribute to Creek Indian War of 1836
In Decatur Sunday, over 100 people of all ages observed Indigenous Peoples Day at a rally calling for the removal of a monument from the Decatur Square – a cannon used in the U.S. war to remove the Creek Nation from Georgia.
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ATL seeks public input on $29 billion transit wish list
Metro Atlanta residents still have time to offer suggestions on the $29 billion transit wish list being assembled by the region’s transit planning agency, the ATL.
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New bank for Black, Latinx consumers starts as Fed seeks to equalize credit access
The new bank announced Thursday by Andrew Young, Killer Mike and Ryan Glover illustrates the purpose behind the nation’s first sweeping update in 25 years of rules that govern banking in minority communities – a review that aims to address inequities in access to credit.
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Georgia Water Coalition commends ‘Clean 13’ for creating more sustainable Georgia
The Georgia Water Coalition paused from its efforts to promote clean waters to celebrate what it called, “extraordinary efforts [that] have led to cleaner rivers, stronger communities and a more sustainable future for Georgians.”
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Tree planting ceremony to recognize lasting impact of local leaders on Westside ATL
At a COVID-sized ceremony Wednesday morning, 18 organizations are to be honored in a tree planting ceremony to recognize their work to lift up and sustain residents in hardscrabble neighborhoods west of the Mercedes Benz Stadium.
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As military base closures loom, Georgia’s team led by former U.S. naval secretary
With a round of military base closures possibly on the horizon, Georgia is taking steps to defend its installations. Gov. Brian Kemp has named a former secretary of the Navy to lead the effort.
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Center for Civic Innovation analyzes local COVID relief funding for philanthropies
A new report on equity in Atlanta’s philanthropic community provides both a snapshot of which agencies received COVID relief funding, and a conversation with Black women who lead organizations that, as a group, the study showed as receiving 18% of the $18 million in local COVID grant funds.
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Georgia’s new human trafficking hotline engages public in fighting the crime: IHTI
Georgia’s new anti-trafficking hotline will help fight two major forms of human trafficking – sexual exploitation and labor, according to the executive director of the Atlanta-based International Human Trafficking Institute.
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Air quality a concern in effort to halt quarry proposed along Chattahoochee River
The proposed rock quarry along the Chattahoochee River in Carroll County is slated to emit particles into the atmosphere during its operations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, if allowed to open on a site across the river from south Fulton County.
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Trump’s ban on offshore oil drilling also halts development of offshore wind farms to 2032
President Trump’s new ban that protects the coast of Georgia and other southern states from offshore oil and gas drilling also bans offshore wind farms until June 30, 2032, bloombergt.com reported Monday.
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Atlanta’s equitable development: No easy answers, but other cities could light way
As Atlanta struggles with the idea of equitable development in blighted areas, such as along the southern crescent of the Atlanta BeltLine, efforts in Washington, Detroit and Boston present real-time examples.
