Maria Saporta, executive editor, is a longtime Atlanta business, civic and urban affairs journalist with a deep knowledge of our city, our region and state. From 2008 to 2020, she wrote weekly columns and news stories for the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Prior to that, she spent 27 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, becoming its business columnist in 1991. Maria received her Master’s degree in urban studies from Georgia State and her Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Maria was born in Atlanta to European parents and has two young adult children. She launched SaportaReport in February 2009.
It was a special night in Cobb County.
A confluence of all segments of Atlanta came to witness the preview of the documentary: People vs. Leo Frank.
The movie hit home. It recounted the dramatic story of the lynching of Leo Frank, a Jew who worked at the National Pencil Factory. He was convicted of sexually abusing and killing a 13-year-old girl who worked in the factory.
But the film reveals all the questions surrounding the case, the trial and the
Sad news to report.
Community activist Phillip Rush died suddenly two days ago from a pulmonary embolism.
A mutual friend, Jim Durrett of the Livable Communities Coalition, told me the news this morning.
The last time I saw Phillip was when I ran into him during the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. He was sitting down watching the crowds of people walk by. We spoke for a few minutes, and I never would have guessed that it would be the last time we would see each other.
After today’s AGL Resources annual meeting, retired CEO David Jones gave one of the best compliments a former top executive can give.
“This company is in great shape,” Jones said. “And the dividend growth is solid.”
During this down economy, it’s highly unusual for a company to be reporting good news.
But current AGL Resources CEO John Somerhalder provided a relatively upbeat report to shareholders.
For starters, AGL is in the natural gas
SunTrust’s shareholders were surprisingly respectful at the bank’s annual meeting this morning despite hearing negative financial news and receiving lower stock dividends.
“What a year it has been,” James M Wells III, SunTrust’s CEO, said in his introductory remarks to shareholders.
In looking to the future, Wells said “we know economic recovery is out there,” but he added that the bank did not know when this cycle would end. So he is fully expecting that “2009 will be another difficult year.”
Former Atlantan Julius Coles sees great potential in the continent of Africa. But poverty and disease threaten to destroy that potential.
Coles, president of Washington D.C.-based Africare, was the International Day speaker at the Atlanta Rotary Club on Monday. Africare is largest non-governmental organization focused exclusively on Africa.
Hundreds of millions Africans live on less than $2 a day, Coles said. Since 1981, 25 million people have died
It was a “Rotary moment,” fundraiser Ann Curry observed after Monday’s weekly meeting.
On Monday morning, Rotary President Alec Fraser asked John Fox, president and CEO of Emory Healthcare, to give members an update on a possible pandemic of swine flu.
Fox described Mexico as being “ground zero” for the flu epidemic, but he hesitated calling it a pandemic. He also let Rotarians know that there have been no reported cases in Georgia so far.
Underground Atlanta will not be getting a casino anytime soon. But as one door closes, another one opens.
As my colleague, Scott Trubey, and I reported in this week’s Atlanta Business Chronicle, plans to turn the retail and entertainment complex into a c asino of “video lottery terminals,” is on hold, at least until Gov. Sonny Perdue leaves office.
Perdue has let the Georgia Lottery board, the group that would have to approve the casino, that it won’t happen on his watch.
There’s a wide range of opinions — for a myriad of reasons —
This last week’s Urban Land Institute’s meeting in Atlanta was a shining moment for Ron Terwilliger, chairman of the Trammell Crow Residential.
Terwilliger, who calls Atlanta home, chaired the ULI Spring Council Forum — a national gathering of planners, developers and real estate professionals.
Terwilliger was instrumental in securing the keynote speakers: former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee; and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The economic prognosis continues to be challenging, according to two of Atlanta’s top CEOs.
Frank Blake, CEO of the Home Depot, and Phil Kent, CEO of Turner Broadcasting System, were interviewed this morning by public broadcasting talk show host Charlie Rose.
They were part of the closing session of the 2009 Urban Land Institute’s 2009 Spring meeting, which brought thousands of real estate, planning and development professionals to Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center over the past three days.
What a welcome change.
The new secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development is in Atlanta, participating in the 2009 Urban Land Institute Spring Council Forum.
What a welcome change.
The new secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development is in Atlanta, participating in the 2009 Urban Land Institute Spring Council Forum.
Shaun Donovan, President Barack Obama’s pick for HUD secretary, spoke to the congregation of planners, developers, builders and others interested in the future of cities.
Bringing the annual Coca-Cola Co. shareholders meeting back to Atlanta (after more than a decade) is symbiotic of the company’s vision for growth.
Let me explain. Most years, Coca-Cola holds its annual meeting in Wilmington, Delaware where about 250 to 300 people usually attend.
The meeting held Wednesday in Atlanta (actually Gwinnett Center) attracted 550, partly because this is Coca-Cola’s hometown with the largest concentration of employees and shareowners.
But metro Atlanta also is a much larger
Note to readers: It’s been a busy day, and several posts will follow. This item had to be cut from my next Atlanta Business Chronicle column, but I thought y’all might enjoy reading it.
Atlanta was the site of M&A International’s spring conference, bringing dozens of merger and acquisition specialists from around the world to the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead on April 16.
The event — Growing Opportunities in a Shrinking World — was co-sponsored by the Atlanta Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.
Southern Co. CEO David Ratcliffe is on his way to Washington D.C. to represent the power company’s point of view on the proposed Waxman-Markey bill on energy and climate change.
Starting today, there will be four days of hearings on the draft 648-page bill. The bill is far-reaching and would begin to frame a program on a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
In the past, Ratcliffe has voiced his opposition to the establishment of carbon fees as a way to reduce emissions.
It seemed as though Gwen Ifill was in a room full of friends.
Speaking at an Atlanta Press Club luncheon today, the moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” and a senior correspondent for “the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” actually was among colleagues and friends.
A couple of interesting comments from her luncheon talk at the Commerce Club downtown….
Whe was asked why President Barack Obama, whose father was African-American and whose mother was white, was considered black rather
MARTA General Manager Beverly Scott can hardly contain her excitement.
After decades “toiling in the vineyards,” she and other rail advocates finally have friends in the White House.
With just a couple of days notice, Scott got a call from a friend at the Federal Transit Administration asking whether she could come up to Washington D.C. for the administration’s unveiling of its high speed rail strategy.
So early on Thursday morning, Scott found herself at the old Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. After going through three different security screenings, she joined about 80 other transit advocates in a medium-sized room
What a joy it is to have the Atlanta Dogwood Festival back in its rightful home — Piedmont Park.
And we need the city of Atlanta to do everything it can to protect and nurture the festival for years and years to come.
The Atlanta Dogwood Festival helps mark the coming of spring — an annual ritual that breathes life back in the city and kicks off our festival season — Inman Park Festival, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Virginia-Highlands Festival, the National Black Arts Festival, and of course, the Peachtree Road Race.
It was a moment when eyebrows went up.
At Wednesday’s annual luncheon meeting of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin took the podium as the last time in her current role.
“I want to congratulate you for hanging tough in tough in tough times,” Franklin told the hospitality community.
And when she acknowledged the presence of
Atlanta business leaders had a brainstorming meeting this morning on a strategy to get more accountable state elected officials.
The executive committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber spent its enire monthly meeting talking about the breakdown during this year’s legislative session and how to prevent that from happening again.
For Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the meeting demonstrated the level of frustration that exists in the business community.
So much political intrigue.
The news that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle will stay put rather than run for governor is causing several politicians to rethink what their next move will be.
Folks who had been thinking about jumping in the lieutenant governor’s race now are seeking alternative races because few want to take on an incumbent.
But here’s the discouraging reality.
Not surprisingly, the Metro Atlanta Chamber plans to devote its entire executive committee meeting Thursday morning on state legislative issues.
The meeting follows a particularly disappointing session of the General Assembly that ended earlier this month without resolving a number of issues critical to the Atlanta business community.
Among the issues high on the chamber’s list include: the lack of progress on a bill that would allow voters to pass a one-cent sales tax for
