David Pendered Archives - Page 72 of 107 - SaportaReport

Fort McPherson: No talk yet of whether HUD’s existing approval would allow for Tyler Perry’s studio

by David Pendered July 10, 2014 9:17 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

The state authority overseeing the conversion of the shuttered Fort McPherson military base into a civilian use met behind closed doors for two hours Thursday before emerging to say a final deal could be secured in two to three weeks.

“We are in the process of negotiating, at this time, a possible sale,” said authority Chairman Felker Ward. “We hope to be able to conclude those negotiations in the next two to three weeks.”

One issue yet to be discussed in public is how the proposal brought by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to sell most of the fort to filmmaker Tyler Perry will affect the existing approval by HUD of a plan to retool the fort into a science center.

Lawmakers support Clayton/MARTA deal, raise questions of equity

by David Pendered July 8, 2014 7:31 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

State lawmakers who oversee MARTA expressed a few reservations Tuesday as they generally applauded the potential of MARTA extending its service into Clayton County.

“This is a major step forward for transit in the region,” said state Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven), who chairs MARTOC, the Legislature’s MARTA oversight committee. “Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come in terms of transit in metro Atlanta.”

Leasing at Cousins’ Terminus points to rebound in region’s office market

by David Pendered July 7, 2014 5:05 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

Cousins Properties reports that it’s leased 95 percent of the Terminus project in Buckhead, underscoring the reported rebound in metro Atlanta’s office sector.

Rebound is a relative term. Rajeev Dhawan, of Georgia State University, and other economists point to the dearth of commercial construction and bank financing to contend the market has not recovered its pre-recession level.

But there’s no denying that Atlanta was mentioned twice in a generally positive report on commercial real estate issued Tuesday by CBRE Group, Inc.

Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern in sound position if talks begin over rail transit in its freight corridor in Clayton County

by David Pendered July 6, 2014 6:22 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

Norfolk Southern appears to be in a solid negotiating position as advocates of Clayton County’s potential transit system prepare to ask the company to allow MARTA to operate passenger trains on Norfolk Southern’s freight tracks.

A MARTA study shows that $185 million could be saved if Norfolk Southern allows use of its freight line for passenger rail service. Norfolk Southern has sent a letter to MARTA that raised a red flag over the notion that passenger service could begin in seven years at the price contemplated in the MARTA study.

The issue will come to a head if Clayton County voters approve in November a 1 percent transit tax. Clayton’s Board of Commissioners voted Saturday to place the referendum on the ballot.

MARTA’s financial plan for serving Clayton County activated by Saturday vote to set proposed tax at 1 percent

by David Pendered July 5, 2014 4:55 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

The finances of the planned expansion of MARTA service in Clayton County gained clarity after Clayton’s Board of Commissioners voted Saturday to put a proposed 1 percent transit tax on the November ballot.

That’s because the 1 percent tax rate activates a feasibility study by MARTA, which envisioned only the 1 percent tax rate and not the 0.5 percent rate the board approved this week. The cost of rail expansion remains a significant variable in MARTA’s plan.

Black employment gains a sign of continuing economic recovery, Ga. Tech professor says

by David Pendered July 4, 2014 2:13 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

Georgia Tech Professor Thomas “Danny” Boston said the jobs report issued Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department contains several signs the economy continues to improve.

The jobs report indicates the nation’s unemployment rate should dip into the 5 percent range when the July report is released, Boston wrote in a column posted on Georgia Tech’s website. That report is to be released Aug. 1.

The unemployment rate among blacks continues to decline, which Boston wrote is a particularly positive indicator because unemployment among blacks is, “particularly intractable.”

Atlanta police say crime rates have decreased around college campuses

by David Pendered June 30, 2014 4:58 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:14 pm

The crime rate has been reduced notably around Atlanta university campuses in the two years since the Atlanta City Council called for dramatic improvements in public safety, according to a new report from Atlanta police.

Robbery rates are down significantly around the Atlanta University Center, which the report portrays as the primary target of the police department’s College Liaison Unit.

The council acted at a time students were frequent targets as victims. The council produced 15 safety recommendations in July 2012. The effort has received scant attention since then.

Two Rotary Clubs donate $87,000 of home medical devices to FODAC

by David Pendered June 29, 2014 4:43 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:14 pm

As a new sales tax on medical devices affects consumers, two Rotary Clubs in metro Atlanta have gathered and donated more than $87,000 worth of devices to a non-profit based in Stone Mountain that distributes them at little to no cost to recipients.

The sales tax, of 2.3 percent, is part of the Affordable Care Act. The tax is projected to raise $20 billion over seven years to help pay for health care, according to AdvaMed, a trade group.

Georgia notes record number of wood stork nests as U.S. says they no longer are an endangered species

by David Pendered June 27, 2014 12:38 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:14 pm

Georgia has noted a record number of wood stork nests this year, news that the state announced as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell visited the Georgia coast Thursday.

Jewell traveled to Townsend to say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is down-listing the wood stork from an endangered to a threatened species.

“The down-listing of the wood stork from endangered to threatened demonstrates how the Endangered Species Act can be an effective tool to protect and recover imperiled wildlife from the brink of extinction, especially when we work in partnership with states, tribes, conservation groups, private landowners, and other stakeholders to restore vital habitat,” Jewell said in a statement.

ARC board debates barring CID board members from ARC’s board as new rep from DeKalb County takes office

by David Pendered June 25, 2014 5:45 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:16 pm

Competing visions of who can serve as a citizen member of the board of the Atlanta Regional Commission emerged Wednesday as the board works to update its bylaws.

Fayette County Chairman Steve Brown has asked the board to create two rules: Term limits for citizen members; and to bar citizen members from service on the ARC board if they serve on the board of a community improvement district – the self-taxing districts that have popped up around the region.

The ARC board’s bylaws working group agreed to consider Brown’s suggestions. The issue raises sensitive political issues, given that ARC Chairman Kerry Armstrong is a citizen member who serves as chairman of the North Fulton CID.

DeKalb County school district: Credit rating stable, also wins $3 million grant from Wallace Foundation

by David Pendered June 24, 2014 9:52 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:16 pm

A New York credit rating agency on Tuesday assigned a top score to the $36 million bond package the DeKalb County school district intends to sell Wednesday.

Also Tuesday, the Wallace Foundation announced DeKalb as a recipient of a $3 million grant to improve the leadership skills of its principal supervisors or regional superintendents, and to increase the number of regional superintendents in order to reduce a span-of-control that now averages 27 direct reports.

Taken together, the measures mark the continuation of the district’s slow but steady improvement from situations involving its accreditation probation and fiscal management in the 16 months since the DeKalb school board first named former state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond as interim superintendent.

Atlanta’s bike share efforts this week set stage for planned 2015 opening

by David Pendered June 23, 2014 6:34 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:16 pm

It’s not glamorous, but the work Atlanta officials are grinding out this summer is setting the stage for the city’s bicycle share program that’s to launch in 2015.

The council approved, after last January’s snowstorm, the contracts with a bike share operator and bike provider. The next step is for the city to make it legal for the bike facilities to operate. The pertinent legislation is pending for review Tuesday and Wednesday by committees of the Atlanta City Council.

The idea behind bike share is for folks to be able to rent a bicycle at a self-service facility and return it to the same facility or another location.

Vigil precedes transit tax meeting in Clayton County, as vote to extend another sales tax looms in 2015

by David Pendered June 22, 2014 5:04 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:16 pm

An interfaith prayer vigil on Monday is slated to begin an hour before Clayton County’s board of commissioners is to convene to consider putting a sales tax referendum for transportation on the November ballot.

The November time frame for the transit vote is of the essence for its advocates. If not called this year, the proposed transit tax will run into the planned 2015 referendum to extend Clayton’s existing special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST).

Clayton commissioners have until July 1 to call the transit referendum. The date is contained in a bill approved this year by the General Assembly. The SPLOST vote has not been scheduled, according to Clayton’s website.

Tactical urbanism, lifelong community on display on Sweet Auburn Avenue

by David Pendered June 21, 2014 12:31 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:16 pm

The tangible elements of a lifelong community, one comfortable for the disabled and well as the aging, are on display through Sunday along Auburn Avenue, in downtown Atlanta.

The two-block demonstration project is coordinated by the Atlanta Regional Commission, which has focused the past five years on informing metro Atlantans that the region is graying faster than many realize.

The concept ARC calls a “lifelong community” in a handbook of the same name also has taken the name “tactical urbanism” over the past few years. It’s a branch of the “new urbanism” concept that swept the region during the last decade, when new apartment buildings offered retail on the ground floors and alleys regained popularity.

Clayton County’s transit tax vote could be set at special-call meeting Monday, on ballot in November

by David Pendered June 20, 2014 7:08 amFebruary 17, 2023 3:16 pm

Clayton County commissioners could vote as early as Monday to call a referendum on a sales tax for public transportation, possibly putting it on the county’s ballot in November.

The commission on Thursday called a special meeting for June 23 at 6 p.m. The purpose is to, “discuss matters pertaining to public transportation in the county.”

MARTA GM Keith Parker and county officials reportedly met Thursday to continue discussions. The only question facing commissioners seems to be how much of a sales tax to impose – 1 percent or a half-percent. A study presented to the commission Tuesday identified the projected levels of service each tax rate would provide.

Wall Street affirms MARTA, warns of system’s continuing fiscal dangers

by David Pendered June 16, 2014 5:18 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:16 pm

A Wall Street credit rating agency has raised MARTA’s rating in advance of the system’s plan to sell $96 million in bonds on June 26.

The rating action states MARTA’s reliance on sales tax revenues as both an asset and a liability. Moody’s Investors Service cited as an asset MARTA’s gross pledge of its 1 percent sales tax, and as a liability the historic volatility of sales tax revenues – revenues that recent Georgia laws have reduced.

While any upgrade in credit is positive, Moody’s warned investors of the danger that MARTA could again raid its savings account to keep the system afloat – as was the case during the depth of the great recession.

Chattahoochee River past, present: Two speakers part of Paddle Georgia

by David Pendered June 15, 2014 4:38 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

Two local authorities are on deck to talk about the past and present roles of the Chattahoochee River in as part of the annual Paddle Georgia festival.

The speakers are Tom Baxter, a political correspondent with SaportaReport, and Clarke Otten, a Civil War historian who focuses on Sandy Springs and overlooked aspects of the war – such as how the Union army crossed the river.

The free events are scheduled June 23 and 24 along the banks of the river at Riverview Landing, a former industrial tract in Mableton that’s to be retooled into a mixed-use community by the company redeveloping Ponce City Market in Atlanta.

Sea turtle nesting on track to continue resurgence along Georgia coast

by David Pendered June 12, 2014 6:45 amFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

Another loggerhead turtle nest was reported Wednesday on St. Catherine’s Island, the latest example of the historic parade of sea turtle procreation on the Georgia coast.

The nest was the 22^nd discovered this year on St. Catherine’s and was No. 284 for the entire Georgia coastline, according to figures gathered by the state Department of Natural Resources and reported by seaturtle.org.

The latest discovery continues an upward trend over the past few years of nestings by sea turtles, which are federally designated as a threatened species. Joining the search for sea turtle nests has become a popular pastime for families who vacation along the beaches in Georgia and Florida.

Atlanta to set Streetcar fares; city to provide public input on future fare hikes

by David Pendered June 10, 2014 8:32 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

Atlanta on Wednesday is slated to enter the final phase of approving a rate structure for the Atlanta Streetcar, the same day the last of four streetcars is due to arrive.

If all goes as planned, base fares will be set at $1 a trip, $3 a day, $10 for five days, $11 for seven days, and $40 for 30 days, according to a presentation to be presented to the Finance Committee of the Atlanta City Council. Fares can be paid with MARTA Breeze cards, according to related legislation.

Atlanta has the authority to double the proposed $1 cost of a one-way ticket on the Atlanta Streetcar without public notice if the city determines it needs more money to operate the system, according to legislation to be discussed at the public hearing. Service is to be free for about three months.

Credit scores as social barometers, other job news from Gen Y front

by David Pendered June 9, 2014 6:24 pmFebruary 17, 2023 3:15 pm

Walter Jones, Jr. did all the right things in college and he’s still looking for a full-time job.

“It’s incredibly frustrating, because everything my parents taught was to go to school, get an internship, and it ends with a job,” Jones said, some six months out of Georgia Southern University.

One can only imagine where Jones fits into the pecking order of the Gen Y generation, some of whom view a credit score as a social barometer. The aching familiarity of his story was covered in a segment of a recent economic forum hosted by Georgia State University.