“I wish you’d broken all the rules” is a haunting refrain in a memorial written by a Swedish performing artist whose friend died of a heart attack, and not COVID-19, after the South by Southwest event was cancelled and with it their planned performance.
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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Georgia Tech president: Fostering global collaboration, local action in 21st century
Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera portrays a new e-learning program on sustainability as a result of the type of university-based global coalition needed to solve big problems in the 21st century.
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Atlanta housing bond: Investors may buy, but at what price for city taxpayers
Atlanta may well be able to borrow money to provide affordable housing, based on the example of a bond sale Wednesday by a state with a credit rating one step above junk. Two questions are whether Atlanta’s city leaders want to take on new debt in the current economic slowdown, and what interest rate they’re willing for taxpayers to pay.
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Infectious disease doctors: Looming shortage as specialty among lowest paid
A shortage of doctors who specialize in infectious disease is looming at a time these specialists are needed to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic and are among the lowest paid of all medical specialties, a doctor at Duke University reports.
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Credit analysts warn of harm to education posed by potential state spending cuts
Georgia’s early look at cutting the state budget to offset falling revenues was flagged Monday for its potential to harm the state’s quality of education and weaken the credit rating of local school districts, according to a credit outlook released by Moody’s Investors Service.
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Looking to the future of experiencing nature, as seen at Blue Heron Nature Preserve
Atlanta’s Blue Heron Nature Preserve has started “Spread Your Wings,” a social distancing program with a broader purpose of expanding the preserve’s role as an urban ecology center oriented around a new three-mile trail system that traverses ridgelines across 30 acres in Buckhead.
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DeKalb County’s consent decree: New issues raised as motion to dismiss looms in federal court
As DeKalb County aims to squash in July a federal lawsuit that challenges the county’s efforts to stop polluting waterways, the environmental group that filed the lawsuit is making a new claim regarding sewage spills.
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Georgia Pacific to sell about $2 billion in unsecured notes, as planned in late 2019
Atlanta-based Georgia Pacific plans to offer about $2 billion in senior unsecured notes and has obtained an investment grade credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service, according to a credit rating action.
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Reports of Georgia’s first sea turtle nest of 2020 spreads far, wide as ‘good news’ story
The annual story about sea turtles starting their nesting season along Georgia’s coast has been picked up fairly widely and presented as a “good news story” this year as the nation looks to nature for a sense of rhythm in arrhythmic times.
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Tom Cruise could be filming on Space Station before rockets launch from Camden County
Tom Cruise might be filming a movie on the Space Station before the first rocket is launched from a proposed spaceport in Camden County, north of Jacksonville.
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Post pandemic: Views on sustainability, racial equity, just development practices
As the pandemic crisis passes, the new orders of life provide opportunities to improve conditions in terms of sustainability, racial equity in placemaking, and more just development practices. These are among the views expressed by the head of the U.N., a national author who examines Atlanta in an upcoming book, and a longtime urban planner now teaching at Georgia Tech.
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Former Mayor Shirley Franklin says planned housing bond on hold; others differ
Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said the city’s planned housing bond is dead in the water, a casualty of revenue shortfalls anticipated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At least two members of the Atlanta City Council may beg to differ.
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Mayor Bottoms cites no intent to enforce social distancing, under query from Councilmember Bond
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has no immediate intent to penalize individuals who break the social distancing laws, she said Thursday in response to a question by Atlanta City Councilmember Michael Julian Bond.
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‘The cancellations keep coming’ – Life as an artist in a time of a fatal ‘nightmare’
The Swedish singer stuck in Texas by the pandemic has returned to Europe, and hopes to return to the United States and pick up a tour that once included a stop in Decatur in August. Her summer tour in Europe has been canceled.
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Gwinnett buses rolling today as drivers receive N95 masks, face shields; hazard pay still in talks
Gwinnett County buses are rolling today as the private company that operates the system has reached partial agreement with drivers, who had threatened to stop work today if they did not receive personal protective equipment and hazard pay.
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Cut in half, to $100 million, Atlanta’s proposed housing bond retains support on council
Atlanta’s proposed housing bond will be pared to $100 million and presented to the Atlanta City Council soon, Atlanta City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland said Wednesday at an event sponsored by CityRootsATL. Councilmember Michael Julian Bond supported Westmoreland’s call for action.
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Gwinnett County transit drivers to halt work Thursday, citing fears of COVID-19
Gwinnett County bus drivers plan to stop operating the service on Thursday, they notified the transit operator that oversees the system. Drivers on Monday cited fear for their safety and the federal ‘right to refuse’ work during hazardous conditions. The transit operator of GCT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Atlanta’s housing costs reflect supply, demand – plus a growing tilt toward luxury
The law of supply and demand that’s affecting affordable housing in Atlanta has an added complexity that’s arrived at the forefront: A somewhat limited supply is increasingly tilting toward higher income residents.
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MARTA may be turning from ‘What now?’ to ‘What’s next?’
MARTA may be entering the phase where the question turns from, “What now?” to “What’s next?” Especially in light of MARTA’s responsibility to enable social distancing on trains and buses.
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Pandemic offers: Pixie dust that fights viruses, $6,000 a week selling medical stuff
Earn up to $6,000 a week selling COVID-19 products or buy a pesticide that will fend off the coronavirus. These are examples of offers that fuel dreams of easy money and personal safety in metro Atlanta as the pandemic continues to disrupt.
