A state Senate committee this afternoon is to take up two bills that offer completely different approaches to restructure the state’s system that oversees the expansion of health facilities, a topic expected to draw such a large crowd that the meeting is scheduled in the Senate’s largest committee room.
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.
Posted inLatest News
Planned spaceport near Brunswick subject of second lawsuit seeking public records
Camden County and two private companies leading the effort to build a planned commercial spaceport on Georgia’s coast have kept information secret and are in violation of Georgia’s Open Records Act for failing to release the information, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Camden County Superior Court.
Posted inColumns
Georgia’s solar industry lost ground in 2018; state can resume progress, GSEA says
Several new reports paint a fairly grim picture of the solar industry in Georgia, including one that shows the state lost 14 percent of the jobs last year that had been created in the solar industry. Georgia policymakers and the Trump administration’s tariffs are responsible for the downturn, reports contend.
Posted inLatest News
Planned removal of 1937 lock, dam to help fish spawn in Savannah River draws criticism
The newly released federal plan to promote spawning by endangered fish in the Savannah River north of Augusta ran smack into opposition last week from residents who don’t like a drop in the level of the river or the demolition of a lock and dam built in 1937 – two consequences of the plan.
Posted inLatest News
Tech pays tribute to fallen willow oak that dates to late 1800s
Leave it to the folks at Georgia Tech to turn the random falling of a towering tree into a learning experience and exhibit. The willow oak that stood for more than 100 years on campus has been rendered into remembrances that are on display through March 8.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta councilmember’s donation from council account to serve homeless, hungry
Sometimes a slice of life at Atlanta City Hall speaks to a broader moment in the human experience. That could be said of a pending $1,000 donation from Councilmember Jennifer Ide’s council account to a program that serves the homeless and hungry in intown Atlanta.
Posted inLatest News
New hospital planned in North Georgia as one reopens temporarily to protect state certificate
A new hospital is to be built and open in 2022 in Lumpkin County to serve an area just beyond the northern edge of the territory to be served by the soon-to-be consolidated Northside Hospital and Gwinnett Health Systems. During construction of the new facility, a closed hospital in Dahlonega is to reopen to protect a state certificate of approval of the type that some lawmakers say is outdated and should be eliminated.
Posted inColumns
By the Numbers: Region’s economy humming as stars aligned, before bank merger
Metro Atlanta’s economic engine is humming right along, according to a new report that factors in the estimated 6,500 jobs lost in the region in the past year but not the unknown fallout from the announced merger of SunTrust and BB&T.
Posted inLatest News
Health reform effort faces potentially formidable opposition at state Capitol
The legislative effort to “revolutionize” the not-for-profit health care delivery system in Georgia is set to run head-on into entrenched hospital interests that have crowed victory in defending a law that dates to 1979 and protects the status quo.
Posted inLatest News
New housing for endangered woodpeckers being installed along Flint River
A species of endangered woodpeckers that saw its homes in southwest Georgia blown away by Hurricane Michael is getting some new housing through a federal grant funded by Southern Co. and International Paper. The effort involves creating new nest cavities in trees and clearing debris that adds to wildfire risks near clusters of cavity trees.
Posted inLatest News
As health care revisions loom at Capitol, credit rating cut for system near Macon
As state lawmakers look “revolutionize” health care delivery in Georgia, a hospital authority in a rural part of the state has faced a double whammy of a credit downgrade and a reaffirmation of a negative outlook on its ability to repay about $72 million of borrowing in 2007 to finance an expansion.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta Jazz Festival funded, again, with proceeds of car rental tax at airport
The Atlanta Jazz Festival has prevailed in what’s become an annual ritual of tapping the airport car rental tax to help pay for the event. This year, the festival is to receive up to $350,000, a sum that’s up by $100,000 from last year’s appropriation, following a vote Monday by the Atlanta City Council.
Posted inColumns
Kennesaw State breaks glass ceiling; two women hold top academic positions
A Kennesaw State University professor who led prescient research on information privacy – think Facebook privacy breaches – has been named the university’s top academic officer. At a time academia still presents a glass ceiling, KSU’s top two positions and a majority of cabinet positions are held by women.
Posted inLatest News
Feds say Spaceport Camden review ‘paused,’ Camden County files for launch license
Federal authorities continue to list the status of an environmental review of the proposed spaceport on Georgia’s coast as “paused,” citing unspecified issues related to the project sponsor. That said, the sponsor has issued a statement saying it has moved the project forward by applying for a license to launch rockets.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta Audubon aims to help remove invasive species, attract birds to DeKalb County park
The Native Plant and Wildlife Walk at a DeKalb County park is soon to be a bit more native. The Atlanta Audubon Society has awarded a grant that’s to help provide for the removal of invasive species, after which bird friendly species of plants are to be installed.
Posted inLatest News
‘No Drone Zone’ for Super Bowl; Feds have helicopters checking security, radiation
With an alliterative name like “No Drone Zone” in place for Downtown Atlanta starting Thursday, it seems the souvenir hawkers would have come up with a humorous logo to offer the crowds around Super Bowl LIII. They had plenty of advance warning, and even design inspiration from the government.
Posted inLatest News
OSHA ends relief efforts after Hurricane Michael; Georgia cotton remains in fields
Hurricane Michael may seem a distant memory, especially with wintry weather wrapping metro Atlanta, but the impact of the October 2018 storm remains so close that cotton awaits harvest in Georgia fields and only on Monday did the nation’s workplace safety agency return to regular enforcement duties in all affected areas.
Posted inMain Slider
Breaking through the Perimeter: PATH400 to link BeltLine, areas north of I-285
A huge hurdle has been cleared that is to enable PATH400 to connect Atlanta’s BeltLine with Sandy Springs and, possibly if not eventually, the growing trails system north of I-285. As PATH Foundation noted of this first step: “Federal dollars are involved so it won’t happen overnight, but it’s coming.”
Posted inLatest News
Retiring state property chief had immense influence over metro Atlanta for 15 years
Steve Stancil may not have a household name. But when he steps down Feb. 1 as State Property Officer, he will have affected metro Atlanta since 2003 on issues ranging from mass transit, to development policies, to future development along the Atlanta BeltLine and the future film studio/mixed use development that’s to be built in Atlanta at the old Pullman Yard.
Posted inLatest News
Yayoi Kusama barred in 1966 from performing with ‘Narcissus Garden,’ now at Atlanta Botanical Garden
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama made her Narcissus Garden exhibit so controversial in 1966 at the Venice Biennale that organizers barred her from performing alongside the display. The Atlanta Botanical Garden intends to display the exhibit through Spring.
