The elaborate and stunningly lifelike puppets that brought the fantasy world of “The Dark Crystal” to life once again for a recent Netflix series are showcased in a new special exhibit at Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts. Full of weird and colorful characters, “Masterpiece of Puppetry: Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” shows […]
Author Archives: John Ruch
Posted inLatest News
Megachurch leader T.D. Jakes’ company to purchase around 94 acres of Fort McPherson site
And Tyler Perry is buying another 37.5 acres.
Posted inLatest News
Fulton Development Authority suspends controversial per diem payments amid legal questions
The Development of Authority of Fulton County is suspending its controversial “per diem” payments to board members amid questions about their legality. The DAFC is in the midst of a scandal over hundreds of thousands of dollars in per diem payments made to some of the volunteer board members for work as basic as signing […]
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
Fulton Development Authority defends members’ $25K grant program, pledges new reforms
Still rocking from a financial scandal, the Development Authority of Fulton County is now defending a controversial new policy allowing each board member to propose grants of up to $25,000 to local organizations. Among concerns voiced by one prominent DAFC critic is the potential political advantage for board members who are also running for local […]
Posted inJohn Ruch
Capitol View to celebrate Juneteenth with launch of community-owned affordable housing/business concept
Creating an affordable home for small businesses and local residents in a gentrifying area usually means hoping that some far-away developer will throw the community a bone. But at one site in Atlanta’s Capitol View, a social enterprise organization is trying to flip that script with a permanently affordable project the community itself would own […]
Posted inLatest News
Decision time nears for bus rapid transit or light rail on Campbellton Corridor
Will MARTA’s new Campbellton Corridor service be bus rapid transit or light-rail trains? It’s time to get your final opinions in before the transit agency settles on an option later this summer. Whichever option is chosen for the southwest Atlanta route, be prepared to wait a while longer after this milestone moment. MARTA says it […]
Posted inLatest News
Rocked by payment scandal, Fulton Development Authority faces board shakeup
By John Ruch and Maggie Lee The Development Authority of Fulton County board has been rocked by a financial scandal at the very moment its membership is undergoing a reform-minded shakeup to include representatives of public school systems that are staunch critics of tax breaks DAFC grants to luxurious real estate projects. And more shakeups […]
Posted inLatest News
Mayoral and City Council candidates make their pitches on fixing Atlanta’s government
More than 40 candidates in the mayoral and City Council races joined in frenetic forums hosted June 8 by the Committee for a Better Atlanta, where consensus seemed to be that city government is a mess but you’ll have plenty of choices about who will clean it up. The city is guaranteed to have a […]
Posted inLatest News
Reed seeks return to Atlanta mayor’s office
The rumors are true: Kasim Reed aims to return to the Atlanta mayor’s office. Reed, who served as mayor in 2010-2018, made his long-rumored shakeup of the race official on June 9 by filing to raise money for a campaign. Incumbent Keisha Lance Bottoms, a protege of Reed, chose not to run for reelection on […]
Posted inColumns
South River Forest: A big green dream starts coming true
A lovely June morning was the perfect time for a nature hike in southeast Atlanta, but the starting point was a bit of a surprise. A small group traversed the tire-doughnut scars in the parking lot of the Value Village shopping center at Moreland and Custer avenues, parked behind its graffiti-covered loading docks, passed through […]
Posted inLatest News
Streetcar extension to BeltLine draws excitement, but concerns on pace and equity
MARTA’s new momentum toward extending the Atlanta Streetcar onto the Atlanta BeltLine by 2027 is “historic” but still too slow, some transit advocates say, and an example of how new federal funding can spur projects while raising questions of equity in which get money first. Meanwhile, MARTA has revealed key information about the project not […]
Posted inLatest News
Black midwife’s southwest Georgia home makes national list of endangered historic places
A Black midwife’s southwest Georgia home is featured on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual list of “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.” The Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home in Camilla, a Mitchell County city about 25 miles south of Albany, joins other sites at “serious risk” of loss across the country on the […]
Posted inJohn Ruch
Atlanta Police Foundation to hold ‘Public Safety First’ forums, mayoral debate
The Atlanta Police Foundation wants to help shape the mayoral race with an “issues campaign” called “Public Safety First” — a string of forums and panel discussions culminating in a late-summer candidate debate. A nonprofit organization with a board of corporate executives and attorneys at powerhouse firms, the APF is a major financial and technical […]
Posted inLatest News
Corporate leaders Abney and Baranco to be named ‘Georgia Trustees’
Two business leaders will be named “Georgia Trustees” June 5 in an annual award given by the Georgia Historical Society and the Governor’s Office. David Abney, a former CEO of United Parcel Service of America, and Juanita Baranco, co-founder of Baranco Automotive Group, are this year’s honorees. The original Trustees were the governors of the […]
Posted inJohn Ruch
Historic gas station’s pending demolition fuels concerns about weak preservation tactics
Nearly 70 years after it began serving drivers headed to Stone Mountain, a historic, long-shuttered gas station in Cabbagetown is facing city-ordered demolition. That’s welcome news for residents unhappy with an eyesore condition that includes a tree growing out of the missing roof. But for preservationists, the station’s fate is fueling concerns about why the […]
Posted inLatest News
MARTA aims to link Streetcar and BeltLine by 2027, seeks public input on route
The Atlanta Streetcar’s long-awaited extension on an eastern segment of the Atlanta BeltLine could be running by 2027, said MARTA officials at a May 27 meeting where they unveiled a proposed route and stop locations. The line would extend between Edgewood Avenue and just south of Ponce de Leon Avenue. But first the transit agency […]
Posted inLatest News
Committee for a Better Atlanta to kick off candidate forum season June 8
The Committee for a Better Atlanta on June 8 will hold one of the first candidate forums in the races for the mayor’s office and City Council positions. In the virtual-only forums, CBA aims to run through a bevy of candidates in twin two-hour sessions. Candidates for City Council Districts 1 through 12 will appear […]
Posted inLatest News
Survey: Teleworking demand remains high, but managers’ worries grow
COVID-19 vaccinations have not lowered the enthusiasm for pandemic-induced teleworking among employees of Atlanta’s major business hubs. And they’re increasingly worried about returning to the stresses of commuting amid signs that many of their bosses want them back in the office. Those were among the themes in the latest installment of remote-work surveys conducted by […]
Posted inLatest News
Megachurch leader company’s secret plan for Fort Mac gets 30 more days to negotiate
T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures has gained another 30 days to negotiate a still-secret redevelopment proposal for a still-undisclosed portion of southwest Atlanta’s former Fort McPherson site. Jakes leads a megachurch in Dallas, Texas called The Potter’s House and runs a religious multimedia business. In March, the Fort McPherson Local Redevelopment Authority granted his real […]
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta’s Design Awards honor preservation efforts as city diversifies its idea of ‘historic’
Historic preservation and reuse projects took home a majority of the City of Atlanta’s 43rd annual Design Awards in a May 18 virtual ceremony. Meanwhile, city planners teased their intention to diversify their definition of historic sites, as they seek a grant to study LGBTQ history and may landmark more icons of Atlanta’s Black culture […]
