We must make sure Ahmaud Arbery did not die in vain.
We have an opportunity to turn the horrendous shooting of Arbery into something good – having Georgia pass the Georgia Hate Crimes Act when the legislature reconvenes in June.
Category: Maria’s Metro
Posted inColumns
APC and GPB successfully put on 10 virtual primary debates
The Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting pulled off the most challenging series of political debates in the history of their 27-year partnership.
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Gov. Kemp misses opportunity to leverage Georgia’s global health assets
Gov. Brian Kemp’s announcement last week that Georgia would start easing restrictions due to the Coronavirus pandemic by opening tattoo parlors, bowling alleys, gyms, hair and nail salons on April 24 and then restaurants and movie theaters on April 27 has put the national spotlight on the state.
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As corporate annual meetings go virtual due to COVID-19, something is lost
In days of normalcy, most meetings take place in person – giving shareowners the rare opportunity to be in the presence of company executives and directors. But these days, nothing is normal.
Posted inColumns
Environmentalists, builders seek more density without cutting down trees
If Atlanta is to save its precious tree canopy, there’s a lesson to be learned from the adversaries-turned-friends experience between environmentalist John Noel and developer Adam Brock.
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Tensions on city advisory group cloud Mayor’s commitment to planning director Tim Keane
A storm has been brewing within the Atlanta Planning Department’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
Posted inMaria's Metro
During pandemic, ServeScape seeking to plant seeds of hope and joy
Mario Cambardella is a man of firsts.
Cambardella was the first person to hold the title of urban agriculture director of a major city in the United States.
Posted inColumns
Carol Tomé on becoming CEO of UPS: ‘Lots of glass was broken’
The naming of Carol Tomé as the next CEO of UPS is a major breakthrough for women running major public companies in Georgia.
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Reflections: Saying good-bye to ATL Biz Chronicle; hello to new journalism ventures
Last week marked the end of my tenure with the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
It’s a strange time to be in transition. The world as we know it has changed as we try to figure out how we can survive during the Coronavirus outbreak, and none of us know what will happen and how we will be impacted.
Posted inColumns
Coronavirus challenges how we interact with one another
The coronavirus has thrown me for a loop.
What are we supposed to do? Not shake hands? No hugs? No kisses on the cheek?
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Confronting our past and present in serendipitous Montgomery, Selma trip
What a journey!
Our 2020 Leadership Atlanta class on Saturday traveled to Montgomery and Selma to confront the more sordid aspects of our nation’s shameful past and present – while asking ourselves the question civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. asked 53 years ago: “Where do we go from here?”
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By rejecting Integral settlement, AHA will spend money on lawyers instead of housing
Update: The Atlanta Housing Authority met on Feb. 26 after this column had been published, and it voted unanimously to approve an amended settlement with Integral and its partners. After the vote, AHA Chair Chris Edwards said: “Hopefully we’ll get out of the lawsuit business. It stops millions of dollars currently being spent on expensive litigation.”
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Atlanta’s Delta Air Lines a model for corporate America
Bashing business has become a popular sport these days.
And some of that bashing is well deserved.
But we also must celebrate companies when they act in the best interests of their employees, stakeholders, their communities and the world.
Posted inColumns
Atlanta loves you – pass it on
By Maria Saporta Last week, Leadership Atlanta alums presented several “Big Ideas” for the region to kick off the organization’s 50th anniversary. The “Big Ideas” covered a spectrum – from teaching inmates the plays of William Shakespeare to nonprofit journalism to tracking health disparities. All the ideas stimulated thought and introspection. But one idea sparked […]
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Anne Cox Chambers, 100, enhanced Atlanta in her own quiet way
My favorite Anne Cox Chambers story dates back to the presidential campaign of 2008.
Her close friend, Veronica Biggins, told me how Chambers and a small group of Atlantans had gone knocking door to door for then-candidate Barack Obama in Ohio, South Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
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It shouldn’t be this easy to cut down healthy trees in Atlanta
What a mess.
Back in November, I wrote a column about a couple dozen of high visibility trees in Midtown that were in danger of being cut down.
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Honoring MLK, Yolanda and Bernice during the King holiday
By Maria Saporta “The Dream Continues” That was one of the placards carried by one of the marchers at the 2020 King Week Holiday March on Monday afternoon. The King Holiday provides us all an opportunity to check in with the values and messages that Martin Luther King Jr. shared with us during his too […]
Posted inColumns, Maria's Metro
With sudden death Alvah Hardy, APS and Atlanta lose a true public servant
Life can be so fleeting.
That was the first thought that came to mind when Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen called me early Saturday afternoon to tell me Alvah Hardy had been killed in car accident Friday night.
Hardy was the executive director of facilities services for APS, and he was responsible for all the capital improvements underway at numerous schools across the city.
Posted inColumns
Time to revive Atlanta’s New Year’s Eve tradition at the Coke sign
World-class cities have world-class New Year’s Eve celebrations – free events in public places where people can celebrate – out with the old and in with the new.
Sadly, Atlanta was absent this year as we saw the calendar turn from 2019 to 2020.
Posted inColumns
Richard Jewell saga a teaching moment for us in journalism
By Maria Saporta For the past several weeks, I’ve been absorbed with the story of Richard Jewell – thanks to a book and movie that have resurfaced controversial memories of more than 23 years ago. Jewell was the security guard at Centennial Olympic Park the night of the bombing that caused the death of two […]
