The nation’s machinery for prosecuting those involved in smuggling individuals who enter the country illegally was highlighted in a federal conviction announced Tuesday in Atlanta – the case involves a traffic stop for weaving in a lane, a smuggler who was first stopped for smuggling in 1996, and 10 Latin Americans who said they’d paid to be transported to the homes of relatives on the East Coast.
Category: David Pendered
Articles by David Pendered
Posted inColumns
Apartment prices rise as much as 25 percent, as talks continue on housing affordability
Apartment rental prices have spiked by 25 percent in the past year in a neighborhood near Lenox Square and by 16 percent in and near Atlantic Station, according to a new report by rent.com. These figures provide context for this summer’s continuing conversation about affordable housing.
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As suicide rate spikes among Georgia vets, Shepherd Center raises money to help
As the suicide rate among young Georgia veterans rises to well over twice the rate of their peers who did not serve in the military, the sixth annual event to raise money to help vets with brain injury and/or post-traumatic stress disorder is to end Memorial Day in Buckhead, when runners conclude their run from New York City to the Shepherd Center.
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Seven months after Hurricane Michael, major federal relief funding nears approval
By the numbers, Georgians have waited two-and-a-half times as long for federal approval of disaster relief for Hurricane Michael as the Northeast did for Hurricane Sandy relief. In addition, Georgia’s two Republican senators endorsed the funding package that six Georgia House Republicans voted against two weeks ago. One Texas Republican House member delayed the package’s expected final approval on Friday.
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Transit funding bill could mean money for region; passage seems iffy, at best
The outlook is bright for transit funding in a spending bill that on Thursday cleared a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee. However, chances that it has a prayer of becoming law have crumbled amid the latest round of discord over the Democrats’ calls for investigations into President Trump.
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Fulton Fresh Mobile Market to begin; reminds food deserts exist throughout Fulton
The Fulton Fresh Mobile Market begins delivering produce the Tuesday after Memorial Day, and its route reminds that food deserts existing in communities generally thought of as well served with neighborhood amenities – including neighborhoods in or near Alpharetta and Chattahoochee Hills.
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Kemp appoints five to state board that oversees film industry; board appears in transition
Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday appointed five members to what appears to be a board in a state of transition at a time the department it oversees has been thrust into the spotlight to manage the fallout the state’s anti-abortion law will have on the film, television and commercial production industries.
Posted inColumns
Female business owners struggle for equality as success stories prove the rule
As the nation braces for the Supreme Court to revisit the Roe v. Wade abortion rights precedent, the precarious financial situation of female business owners is highlighted in a new report from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
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Atlanta changes street name in Buckhead, this one for public safety
This was one street renaming that engendered almost no conversation – replacing the name Wieuca with the name Chastain along a section of road that runs through Chastain Park, located in North Buckhead.
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Sea turtles nest on Cumberland Island as environmentalists fight its development
As the sea turtle nesting season heads toward its zenith in June and July, Cumberland Island has hosted the most nests so far this year – even as environmentalists try to block development efforts on and near the island.
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‘Where have all the flowers gone?’ – May is a time of remembrance
This has become a season of recognizing lives lost. Victims of Atlanta’s Child Murders were acknowledged Wednesday by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. They join slain police officers who were recognized this week across the city, state and nation. Fallen soldiers are remembered on Memorial Day.
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Atlanta to have ‘pick your own’ food forest with vegetables, nuts, berries
A 7.1-acre food forest is slated to open shortly in Atlanta as a place where the public is welcome to come and pick to eat whatever catches their eye. The idea already has spread around the world– a town in England even offers communal food grown in a cemetery.
Posted inColumns
ARC’s planning grants: LCI expands to promote evolving priority issues
Metro Atlanta’s signature initiative to retool the way people live, work and play is being reinvented this year to promote evolutions in smart technology, green infrastructure and housing affordability.
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Rainfall in metro Atlanta on track; drought emerging in Middle, South Georgia
As amazing as it may seem after heavy rain on Sunday and previous weekends, federal reports show the cumulative rainfall in metro Atlanta is about on track for this time of year, while moderate drought conditions are emerging in portions of Middle and South Georgia.
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ARC funds $1.6 million in study grants to improve neighborhoods, including Little Five Points
The ongoing effort to retool Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood into a more pleasant place to spend time got a lift Thursday when the Atlanta Regional Commission included the neighborhood on a list of 10 recipients who will share a total of $1.6 million in study grants awarded through the LCI program.
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Little Five Points: Blind Willie mosaic to go in plan to create ‘welcoming’ space
A few more of the grittier edges of Little Five Points’ central gathering spot are to be smoothed over in the coming year as Findley Plaza is renovated. The plan calls for removing the mosaic of the fabled blues musician Blind Willie McTell, and is so detailed it specifies the distance between granite curbstones.
Posted inColumns
Federal aid for Hurricane Michael relief knotted up in Puerto Rico’s $72 billion debt
Lost in the debate over federal money to help Georgia residents recover from Hurricane Michael is the issue of the largest government bankruptcy in U.S. history – an estimated $72 billion filing by Puerto Rico, said to be the only, “bankrupt tax haven in the world.”
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Rename Rodney Cook Sr. Park to honor Ivory Lee Young, Jr., civil rights advocate urges
The Rodney Cook Sr. Park in the Vine City neighborhood should be renamed because its namesake helped lay the foundation for a Georgia Republican Party that critics have connected to suppression of black voters, according to Atlanta-based civil rights advocate Joe Beasley
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Historic Oakland Cemetery opens gate for another view of slightly altered reality
Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery is again opening its doors to share glimpses of a slightly altered reality. This time, it’s a nighttime visit for a self-guided tour of illuminated headstones, mausolea, artworks and archival images projected throughout the cemetery – plus craft cocktails, soft drinks and live music.
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Deadlines near for public comment on mobility planning by Cobb County, ARC
Next week is the final meeting for public comment on Cobb County’s proposed long-range mobility plan. The plan is to include recommendations on potential transit expansion.
