There was a moment in 1998 when anticipation felt less like marketing and more like the first day of a class everyone knew would matter. You could feel the room settle before a word was spoken. Lauryn Hill, all of 23, stood at the front of it. She had already stamped her authority across hip-hop’s […]
Category: Columns
Posted inDelaney Tarr
ATLFF: Craig Zobel and James Ponsoldt on the fight to make Georgia films
Craig Zobel knows it isn’t easy to make a movie in Georgia. At an April 28 Atlanta Film Festival Creative Conference panel, the director of “The Penguin” and “The Mare of Easttown” got candid about the difficulty of creating in his home state. “The world doesn’t want you to,” he said. “You have to fight […]
Posted inColumns
Michael Saadalla of Jamestown Properties joins Alpharetta CVB board
Michael Saadalla, portfolio general manager with Jamestown, has been named to the board of directors of the Alpharetta Convention & Visitors Bureau. Jamestown, a real estate investment firm, has developed 14 properties in Atlanta, including Ponce City Market, and is the lead developer behind the reimagining of North Point Mall in Alpharetta. In his role, […]
Posted inGabi Hart
I’M SO ATL Campaign to Turn Atlanta Into ‘Living Art Gallery’ Ahead of Summer 2026
The I’M SO ATL public art campaign is turning Atlanta city parks into canvases this summer. The campaign, launching in May, aims to transform Atlanta into what organizers describe as a “living, breathing art gallery,” with installations across city parks and neighborhoods leading up to the ARTlanta Festival of Culture in Piedmont Park on Aug. […]
Posted inLatest News
In southern Georgia, Earth Day was spent fighting fires that are still raging today amidst a drought
Last week, multiple wildfires caught flame in drought-stricken Georgia and have been raging since, burning through tens of thousands of acres and sending parts of Georgia into peril against the two largest active wildfires in the country at the moment. One of the main two fires, the Highway 82 fire in Brantley County that started […]
Posted inGuest Column
The cancer gap is real in Black communities; screening can help close it
Each year, millions of American families are impacted by cancer. But cancer does not affect all communities equally. Nationally, Black Americans experience higher cancer rates, including for breast and prostate cancer, and have the highest overall cancer death rate among racial and ethnic groups, according to the American Cancer Society. For Black seniors in particular, […]
Posted inColumns
This year’s primary is a lot about getting acquainted
This would be a good year to check a sample ballot before you go to vote in either party’s primary. With a lot of open-seat races and pent-up ambitions, the ballots for both parties are long and filled with unfamiliar names.
Posted inMaria's Metro
Seeking equity in Atlanta’s economic development strategies
When Eloisa Klementich started writing a book about equitable economic development five years ago, “equity” was not yet a dirty word. Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, , the city’s economic development agency, wrote a book based on her observations of how government and civic entities can ensure their programs and policies foster greater […]
Posted inDelaney Tarr
“Idiots” brings laughter and sold-out crowd to 50th Atlanta Film Festival opening night
The 50th annual Atlanta Film Festival opened with a bang. Or more accurately, it opened with raucous laughter at the sold-out Opening Night presentation of “Idiots” on April 23 at the Plaza Theatre. “Idiots,” a 2026 Sundance Film Festival hit, follows two “unqualified bozos” played by Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr., who are […]
Posted inColumns
H.J. Russell & Company to be honored with Georgia Historical Society Marker
The Georgia Historical Society unveiled a new historical marker honoring H. J. Russell & Company on April 29. The recognition is part of the Georgia Business History Initiative, which highlights companies that have helped shape the state’s economy and history. The marker was unveiled at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs at 504 Fair Street […]
Posted inColumns
Black Effect Podcast Festival delivered live shows and creator strategy to diverse crowd
The fourth annual Black Effect Podcast Festival brought a mix of entertainment, live podcast tapings and industry insight to Pullman Yards, drawing content creators and fans from across the Southeast. The event took place on April 25. Throughout the day, speakers shared similar themes: be yourself, stay consistent, create with purpose, and explore the growing […]
Posted inGabi Hart
Down Town ATL Inc. town hall highlights FIFA planning, pop-up retail and public safety efforts
With less than two months until the FIFA World Cup arrives (June 15), civic and business leaders, and Atlanta residents gathered April 15 at the Downtown ATL Inc. Town Hall meeting at the Rialto Center for the Arts to outline how Downtown Atlanta is preparing for what officials say will be the largest global sporting […]
Posted inDelaney Tarr
Dickens talks youth investment at APC newsmaker event
Teens are still the talk of the town, but this time Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is weighing in. Dickens sat down with Atlanta Press Club Chair Mike Jordan for a conversation on citywide youth investment at the April 24 APC Newsmaker luncheon, where he covered everything from arts funding to “teen takeovers.” By all accounts, […]
Posted inCommon Chords
The night’s not over: The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’
Certain cities produce music the way alleyways produce rumors. New York has always excelled at it. One decade, the noise spills out of CBGB, another from the Bronx, another from mirrored dance floors. By the end of the 1990s, the city had grown sleek and expensive, yet the clubs still smelled faintly of beer and […]
Posted inGuest Column
Two Years Later: Understanding the real impacts of Plant Vogtle
April 30, 2026, marks the two-year anniversary of the completion of Plant Vogtle, the only nuclear reactors built in the United States in the past 30 years. While state leaders celebrate it as a triumph, for Georgia Power customers experiencing two years of high electricity bills, this anniversary is not a celebration. It is a […]
Posted inDelaney Tarr
Piedmont Park Conservancy announces master plan update at annual luncheon
Among the greenery at Piedmont Park, hundreds of civic and park leaders gathered for the annual Landmark Luncheon hosted by the Piedmont Park Conservancy. The guests heard a host of updates on the master plan announced last year. In 2025, the conservancy announced its first comprehensive master plan in 25 years, which would kick off […]
Posted inColumns
Following a playwrights lab, Dunaway Gardens to host Sundance Episodic Lab
The Sundance Institute will hold its 2026 Episodic Lab at Dunaway Gardens in May. The 376-acre destination in Chattahoochee Hills is hosting its second creative retreat in as many months. In April, the gardens welcomed a playwright’s lab led by Philip Himberg, who directed the theater program at the Sundance Institute for more than 20 […]
Posted inDelaney Tarr
Atlanta Press Club readies for largest debate series yet from April 26-28
The Atlanta Press Club is gearing up for its biggest debate year yet. From April 26-28, the Loudermilk-Young debate series will bring almost 85 candidates, ranging from governor hopefuls to the Public Service Commission, on the stage for 18 different primary election debates. “We’re like a little factory over three days,” Atlanta Press Club past […]
Posted inLatest News
Filling in data gaps and potholes: Atlanta one of five cities areas to partner with Waymo and Waze on filling in potholes
Waymo, the self-driving automated car company that has been showing up more and more across the country, and Waze, a satellite navigation software company, are partnering to combine their data to fill in potholes across the country. Last week, the two companies announced a joint partnership with five cities — Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, […]
Posted inColumns
Mid-decade map drawing: Toward an even less effective Congress
“It’s just a simple redrawing. We pick up five seats.” This week’s special election in Virginia is the latest in a long path of unintended consequences which have followed those words.
