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American spring: on roots in place and in memory

by Jamil Zainaldin

This week guest contributor BLAKE LELAND, poet and Georgia Tech professor, explores the transplant experience of a former Yankee.

Having read Jamil Zainaldin’s recent columns tracing some of the historical links between New England and Georgia, it occurred to me that as a native of Massachusetts making my home here in Georgia since 1988, I am one of those links myself — not so significant as W. E. B. DuBois, Prince Hall, or Old Ironsides, but nevertheless a little knot in the network of connections between North and South.

Posted inColumns, Guest Column, Main Slider

When serving its patrons bottled water, Park Tavern misunderstands sustainable practices

by Jason Marshall

By Guest Columnist PATTY DURAND, a former director of the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club who currently works in the energy field

When I was a teenager I rode horses in the summer. The barn where I rode had a vending machine filled with Coke, Tab, Fanta grape and orange flavors, and Sprite. I remember wishing the vending machine had chilled water but couldn’t imagine a company being able to sell a product that we get free out of our tap.

And now, 30 years later, I find myself on the opposite side of my teenage fantasy of chilled water from a vending machine: I don’t want bottled water to exist anymore. I don’t want it because 80 percent of the bottles aren’t recycled and so end up in the landfill or the ocean.

Posted inLatest News, Main Slider, Maria Saporta

Architectural groups urge GSU to save the Bell Building

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

The campaign to save the Bell Building in the heart of downtown is gaining steam.

The Atlanta Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Atlanta) and the Georgia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Georgia) sent a compelling letter to save the building to Brad Ferrer, an executive at CNN who holds influential positions at Georgia State University.

Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider

Breaking cycles of poverty: How not to cluster the poor in broken neighborhoods

by David Pendered

Metro Atlanta could be the poster child for housing policies that, intentionally or not, have concentrated lower income households in non-white neighborhoods that aren’t pleasant places. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Obama administration intend to change the way policies are implemented, and the policies themselves.

Posted inColumns, Main Slider, Saba Long

SweetWater Brewing raises funds for the Chattahoochee River

by Saba Long

For one local brewery, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword.

This past weekend, Atlanta’s own SweetWater Brewing Co. raised funds for its “Save Our Water” campaign to support the Chattachoochee Riverkeeper and the Waterkeeper Alliance.

People from cities all over the Southeast boarded kayaks, canoes and more for “The Big Float” to raise awareness for clean water. The annual fundraiser lasts through Labor Day with events in markets where SweetWater is served.

Posted inColumns, Main Slider, Maria's Metro

Atlanta needs to stop closing its sidewalks to people

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

Apparently I’m not alone in my distaste for the proliferation of closed sidewalks in our city.

Dozens of people let me know they agreed with last week’s column complaining about the epidemic of closed sidewalks, especially during new construction.

The refrain was the same. We can, and should, do better if we want to really be a cosmopolitan city.

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A call to #READdifferent

by Jamil Zainaldin

As part of the run-up to this year’s AJC-Decatur Book Festival on Labor Day weekend, guest contributor DAREN WANG, executive director of the AJC-Decatur Book Festival, encourages readers to explore new genres, new writers, and new forms altogether.

We are curious and we are strange and we are unpredictable. We need to cherish and nurture our unpredictability. We are more than all the algorithms that Amazon and Apple and Google and Spotify can ever write.

Posted inLatest News, Main Slider, Maria Saporta

Food Well Alliance celebrates its first year with Healthy Soil Festival

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

The Food Well Alliance, which was formed about a year ago, held its first major event Saturday – Healthy Soil, Healthy Community Festival – at the Truly Living Well urban farm.

Hundreds of people showed up during the festival to learn more about how to encourage and provide greater access to healthy foods – especially in communities that have been described as food deserts.

And one way is to grow food in metro Atlanta through community gardens and urban farms.

Posted inColumns, Guest Column, Main Slider

Georgia can learn lessons from Fukushima disaster

by Jason Marshall

By Guest Columnist DANIEL R. FERREIRA, assistant professor of environmental science Kennesaw State University’s Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology

Georgia has two nuclear power plants with another under construction today. Together, the current plants produce about 20 percent of the electricity used in the state.

Whether you are pro- or anti-nuclear power, the truth is that nuclear power matters and all such plants carry with them the inherent risk of a radioactive release.

Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider

Atlanta Streetcar to accept Breeze Card despite reports of conflict, to get new interim director

by David Pendered

It turns out that the Atlanta Streetcar will utilize the Breeze Card, despite an earlier report by a top city official that Breeze isn’t cost efficient and resulted in no fares being collected this year. In addition, the streetcar has a new interim executive director, according to a statement issued Thursday by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s office.

Posted inColumns, Main Slider, Maria's Metro

Closed sidewalks in Atlanta – enough already

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

Atlanta’s new motto? “Sidewalk Closed.”

One of the unfortunate by-products of developers and companies investing in Atlanta’s real estate is how sidewalks disappear when their projects are under construction.

In just a few blocks in Midtown – between Piedmont Avenue and Spring Street and from 4th Street to 14th Street – dozens of “Sidewalk Closed” signs have popped up.

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