In Gwinnett County, local control is the watchword in the campaign for a proposed 1 percent sales tax to expand transit. MARTA will be involved only because state law requires it – and the role is restricted to heavy rail.
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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Coastfest goes virtual: Students can learn about shore, 4-pound toads
Georgia Coastfest 2020 offers two new components this year – it is virtual, as are so many events, and a new essay contest for students is to prompt them to think about Georgia’s coastline and what makes it unique.
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Census count extended as Atlanta, Georgia lag nation in being counted
The federal court ruling issued late Thursday that extends the Census count through Oct. 31 comes as Georgia and Atlanta are reporting completion rates that are among the lower in the nation.
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Futurist computer research to be made available by IBM at two Atlanta HBCUs
A cure for COVID-19 is the potential result of a new type of research that IBM is providing through a diversity initiative that includes two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Atlanta.
Posted inColumns
Two Black, Democratic women are the face of change in Cobb, Gwinnett counties
Two Black women, both Democrats, have changed the political dynamics in Cobb and Gwinnett counties in the 2020 election cycle. One is an incumbent county commissioner campaigning for the position of county chair; one promotes candidates and the GOTV effort as head of the county’s Democratic Party.
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Atlanta’s urban renewal, economic mobility programs to face more oversight
The Atlanta City Council is poised to secure greater control over the city’s largest and most successful urban renewal program, in addition to the city’s sweeping programs that aim to promote economic mobility and equity for city residents.
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Georgia taking steps to save ‘The Little Things that Run the World’
The global decline in insects of all kinds is the backdrop for the end-of-summer push for bees and butterflies, including the expansion of a pollinator partnership from metro Atlanta to cover all of Georgia.
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Northern suburbs’ ongoing growth evident in Northside Hospital’s expansion
The durability of metro Atlanta’s population growth is evident in the second expansion in three years at Northside Hospital Cherokee, and at Northside’s facilities in Forsyth and Gwinnett counties.
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Georgia utility sees credit boost by winning dispute with partner at Plant Vogtle
A credit upgrade for a Georgia utility is the latest outcome of the resolution of a contract dispute among partners building the only nuclear facility under construction in the nation, Plant Vogtle.
Posted inColumns
Deluxe Corp. cites sustainable values in new offices in Sandy Springs, Minneapolis
Recent headlines about Deluxe Corp. have focused on the 700 high tech, $90,000-plus salary jobs it is to bring to Sandy Springs. Barry McCarthy chose his words in a recent conversation to shine a light on corporate values that include community outreach – without mentioning his own lengthy record of service.
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Atlanta sidewalks: City Hall’s best thinkers are asked to find funding solutions
This time is to be different, this latest effort to fix broken Atlanta sidewalks and to install new ones. This time, the most innovative thinkers in the mayor’s cabinet are to devise an ongoing source of funding to pay for fixing and installing sidewalks.
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As science is under assault, Georgia Tech president affirms people-centered research, teaching
At a time science and its practitioners are under assault, Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera spoke of the role of research institutions and their mission to provide, “hope to find solutions to the most important problems of our time.”
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Judge dismisses effort to halt DeKalb County sewage spills that leak into South River
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to compel DeKalb County to stop spilling sewage from most of its sewer pipes, setting aside concerns about an estimated 32 million gallons of waste that has been leaked from these pipes since 2014.
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Live Nation failed minority hiring requirements at Chastain Park: ATL audit
Live Nation has not met its minority participation requirements for Chastain Park Amphitheater. In addition, the company has not submitted reports of minority participation at either Chastain or Lakewood Fairgrounds, the two amphitheaters it has under lease agreement with Atlanta, according to a new city audit.
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Mobile devices now can pay fares on Atlanta Streetcar, are tip of iceberg for region
The future of transit fare collections in metro Atlanta is on display now on the Atlanta Streetcar. Mobile payments are accepted. This digital system is to be deployed across MARTA in coming months, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
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Atlanta BeltLine Partnership to hire consultant to nurture businesses along Southside Trail
The Atlanta BeltLine’s fundraising arm intends to hire a consultant to knit together the business community on the southernmost segment of the BeltLine to promote business development and forestall gentrification.
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Fulton County formally honored for ban on single-use plastics in county buildings
The Georgia Water Coalition has worked around COVID-19 to formally recognize Fulton County for its first-in-the state restriction on single-use plastics at county-owned facilities.
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Volunteers pick up debris as Atlanta’s trash collectors struggle under pandemic
As Atlanta’s understaffed trash collection service struggles to pick up waste under the extra burden of COVID-19, volunteers are picking up debris in neighborhoods. The latest effort cleaned a stretch of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and painted over graffiti at a MARTA rail station.
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ARC holds hope for hamlet to be nurtured by Tech, Atlanta Housing near stadium
Planners with the Atlanta Regional Commission haven’t given up hope that Georgia Tech’s next big real estate development can be intertwined with the Herndon Homes public housing development to create a pleasant community a few blocks north of Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Posted inColumns
One neighborhood’s question: How to respond to first huge proposed development
Residents of a quiet neighborhood in Southwest Atlanta have to decide if they support or oppose a proposed multi-story housing development for senior citizens, one with a density that could bring the type of life-altering effects familiar in faster-growing parts of the city.
