Moscow is ranked as the world’s worst city for traffic congestion, but motorists there travel 3 mph faster than drivers in Atlanta when it comes to the rate of travel on the last inner city mile, according to a report that could fuel conversation at Tuesday’s meeting about express lanes along Ga. 400.
Category: David Pendered
Articles by David Pendered
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Arts, culture in ATL: ARC approves long-awaited plan to expand programs
The murals, performances, farmers markets and soccer events becoming more prevalent at MARTA rail stations are the types of arts and culture offerings the Atlanta Regional Commission intends to foster across the region through a new strategic plan.
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Bribery, favoritism, retaliation cited in Atlanta’s oversized pay for overtime hours
A manager at Atlanta’s airport awarded overtime hours to her husband, son and nephew rather than giving other employees a chance to earn the extra pay, a situation that is just part of the abuse of overtime pay identified in the city’s internal audit of overtime pay.
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MARTA manager sentenced for role in fraud prosecuted Justice Department
The sentencing in federal court this week of a former MARTA department administrator brings to a close a scheme in which two top transit officials and an associate defrauded MARTA of more than $500,000.
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Disease-causing bacteria in water off Georgia beaches now routine presence
Beachgoers were advised they may get sick if they enter the water along portion of three of Georgia’s coastal islands in February because of high levels of a waterborne bacteria associated with disease. The waters have been declared safe, but the warnings remind of the potential harm caused by runoff from manmade or other sources.
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Emory area could see skyscrapers under Atlanta’s proposed rezoning
Office towers of an unlimited height could be permitted on a portion of land brought into Atlanta through the annexation of Emory University and the surrounding area, according to the rezoning proposal.
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MARTA seeks to improve wait times at bus stops with new shelters, amenities
MARTA bus riders and postal couriers may as well share the same unofficial creed, since both endure the elements – “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night….” A ray of sunshine is rising for MARTA riders.
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Atlanta may collect scooter crash data; LA study found head injuries most common
Head injuries, broken bones and abrasions are common injuries when riders crash their standing electronic scooters, according to a recent study from California. A proposal to track such data in Atlanta is pending before the Atlanta City Council.
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Atlanta Audubon’s growing wildlife sanctuary program now includes Briarlake Forest Park
The Atlanta Audubon Society has certified yet another public park as a wildlife sanctuary, this one near Northlake Mall in DeKalb County and the latest in the society’s fast-growing program to provide havens for birds and critters.
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Proposal for multi-year study of state’s health care system adds to debate
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
