Two teenagers who pleaded guilty to murder last year are founding members of a street gang, Down 4 Whatever, that continues to worry Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields. Atlanta’s youth gangs are such an issue that a shoot-out with police could happen, Shields said.
Category: David Pendered
Articles by David Pendered
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Solarize Carrollton effort moves ahead with local support
The West Georgia city of Carrollton is seeking contractors to install residential and commercial solar energy systems in a program that aims to both spur interesting solar energy systems and reduce the average cost of installations through bulk purchasing agreements.
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Amazon seeks educated workforce: Brookings says that isn’t an Atlanta strength
Metro Atlanta’s prospects for winning Amazon’s second headquarters may have been dinged by a report from the Brookings Institution that highlighted the region’s comparative scarcity of college-educated millennials. Baltimore officials think their city may have lost out for that very reason.
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Kasim Reed appointed to board of University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics
Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has secured what may be his first board appointment since leaving office. Reed was named to the advisory board of a non-partisan institute founded at the University of Chicago by a former advisor to President Obama.
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North Georgia hiking trails to be improved by public/private partnerships
During the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the federal law that created the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the federal government has started a program to use volunteers and partners to maintain more than 6,300 miles of trails in national forests in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
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Amazon HQ2: Virginia county’s top LEED certification nets high readership from Amazon site
It’s not just tea leaves that folks are reading to guess where Amazon may locate its second headquarters. The folks at a news site in Arlington, Va. are tracking readers and found that a story about the county’s Platinum LEED certification drew high readership from a group believed to be Amazon insiders.
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UN affiliate recognizes new regional center for sustainability in metro Atlanta
An affiliate of the United Nations has recognized a new Regional Center of Expertise in metro Atlanta as just the sixth such regional sustainability network in the United States. The RCE Greater Atlanta aims to advance education for sustainable development related to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, through smart sharing of information and collaborative programming among universities, governments, communities and the private sector.
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Transit legislation: Rebrand MARTA, 50-cent tax on taxies, transit line to Braves stadium
Metro Atlanta residents are likely to see three changes fairly soon if state lawmakers vote for a hybrid of the two transit bills pending at the Capitol: MARTA vehicles and property may be rebranded; a new 50-cent tax could be applied to each trip in cab, limo or shared ride; and there may be a push for a sales tax in South Cobb County to provide a train, trolley or dedicated bus line to the Braves ballpark and nearby destinations.
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Final meetings on five library renovations in Atlanta; Central Library’s redesign continues quietly
The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System has scheduled its final round of meetings to provide information about construction projects at seven library branches. Five branches in this round of renovation work are in Atlanta and construction on some is to begin in April.
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Georgia recognizes three companies for environmental stewardship
Two timber companies and Georgia Power were honored Wednesday by Gov. Nathan Deal for their environmental stewardship and land management practices. The Forestry for Wildlife Partnership recognizes the importance of private landowners in preserving the state’s wildlife and landscape.
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Atlanta receives $60 million to spur development, create jobs in low-income areas
Atlanta received more federal tax credits to spur development in the round of awards announced Tuesday than it did in the previous round, awarded in 2016. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms heralded the latest award as one of the largest in the country.
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Clean Water Coalition to honor 13 entities that protect water; five are in Atlanta
The South Fork Conservancy, a group of volunteers who joined in an effort to restore Peachtree Creek in Atlanta, is one of the 13 recipients of a new program by the Georgia Water Coalition to recognize efforts to improve the waters of Georgia.
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Hollowell Parkway: Atlanta’s next possible development hotspot avoided fall into decay
When homebuyers start looking to purchase a place in the communities to be built over the next five years along Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, they’ll discover a corridor that didn’t fall as far as some others and is already on a path toward recovery.
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Woodruff Park’s proposed vendors to help pay to maintain park, fountains
Woodruff Park is soon to have vendors selling the food and tourist knickknacks now available from vendors on Atlanta streets. It’s part of a pending deal between Atlanta and an affiliate of Central Atlanta Progress to raise money to maintain the city-owned park and its fountains.
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Georgia’s highways rank 18th in nation as higher spending improves system
As state lawmakers discuss transportation spending, a new report highlights another wrinkle in Georgia’s roadways. The condition of rural roads ranks in nation’s the Top 10, and the urban roadways rank 47th in terms of congestion, according to findings from the Reason Foundation.
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Free tours filled at Oakland Cemetery’s partly restored African American Grounds
It’s good news, with a twist. The free, guided walking tours of Oakland Cemetery’s African American Grounds are sold out every weekend in Black History Month. The sell-outs happen to coincide with the completion of the first hardscape restoration in this part of the cemetery.
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Junk bond rating issued for parent of SC nuclear plant, impact on Vogtle unclear
The financial fallout continues over the troubled nuclear construction projects in the Southeast, as Moody’s Investors Service on Monday slashed the credit rating of SCANA Corp. and its subsidiary that had been building a nuclear plant in South Carolina. The new rating action cites the hardening political climate in the Palmetto State as detrimental to SCANA’s financial posture.
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Solarize Atlanta gains ground as Asian firms unveil U.S. plants to beat solar tariffs
An Atlanta solar coalition is reporting strong and favorable response to its effort to provide low-cost solar panels for buildings of all types in the city. Solarize Atlanta is moving ahead amid significant shake-ups in the solar power marketplace.
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GSU students turn to esports as millennials drift from pro football, Super Bowl
Some students at Georgia State University are likely to be among the younger millennials who skipped the Super Bowl on Sunday in order to focus on a different competitive sport – one in which the computer screen is the playing field.
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Invasive dove seen in Atlanta as Audubon counts 100-plus species
An invasive bird that is showing up in Atlanta traces its lineage to the Middle East. The Eurasian Collared-Dove made its way from the Bahamas to Florida in the 1970s and now is colonizing North America to the point that birds are spending the winter in Alaska, according to results of the annual Christmas Bird Count by the Atlanta Audubon Society.
