Atlanta residents won’t see a hike in their solid waste bills for the billing cycle that starts Jan. 1, 2018, following a vote Tuesday by committee of the Atlanta City Council. But a rate hike seems inevitable given the dire financial situation of the city’s trash collection and recycling programs.
Category: Columns
Posted inLatest News
DeKalb lawmakers predict short election-season legislative session
What does the next Legislative session hold? Probably not approval of laws on casinos, religious freedom or an overhaul of DeKalb County’s government, according to a panel of the county’s delegates to the Gold Dome.
Posted inLatest News
Mayoral candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms lines up support of former opponent
One of Keisha Lance Bottoms’ former competitors in the mayor’s race now says he’s endorsing her.
Posted inLatest News
Hillary in Atlanta: I’m not going anywhere except right into the middle of the debate
At least a half-hour before the doors opened at the Fox Monday night, folks lined up outside in the chill, ready to file inside and hear from Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Posted inLatest News
Confederate icons to come down in Atlanta, pending support from city council, mayor
In the most personal of moments, Brenda Muhammad on Monday asked her fellow panelists permission to read aloud a motion calling for the removal of the names Confederate Avenue and East Confederate Avenue from the city’s streets. The two Confederate icons are among several that are to come down, according to recommendations that are headed to the Atlanta City Council and Mayor Kasim Reed.
Posted inColumns
As Georgia regulators ponder Vogtle’s future, more revelations emerge about its doomed twin in South Carolina
From a design point of view, the nuclear projects at Plant Vogtle and the V.C. Summer site in South Carolina were identical. They were to be the first in a new generation of U.S. nuclear reactors, the Westinghouse AP1000s, cheaper, easier to build and safer than their predecessors.
Posted inColumns
SaportaReport explores Atlanta Civic Circle to convene engaged citizens
SaportaReport hit an important milestone this past week.
We brought together our Thought Leader partners and friends for a special evening of fellowship on Nov. 9 – when we discussed how we can improve civic journalism in Atlanta.
The evening culminated with two sequential interviews with Atlanta’s mayoral run-off candidates, when they were able to share their vision for Atlanta’s future. We were the first venue to have a joint appearance of candidates Mary Norwood and Keisha Lance Bottoms after the Nov. 7. general election. Here is our livestream on Facebook.
Posted inColumns
New criticism of transit voiced as MARTA eyes proposed line to Emory area
Randall O’Toole is at it again. Just as MARTA, Atlanta and possibly DeKalb County seem poised to help fund a transit line to the Emory University area, O’Toole – one of the nation’s outspoken critics of transit and smart growth policies – is out with new reports saying the transit era is over.
Posted inColumns
‘Murder on the Orient Express’ – a 2017 remake with more glitter, less fizz than original
Whodunit?
Kenneth Branagh done it.
Whydoit?
A much better question.
In 1974, Sidney Lumet directed a star-studded cast in a movie version of Agatha Christie’s delicious murder-mystery, “Murder on the Orient Express.”
Posted inSubmitted Photos
Photo Pick: Before Veterans’ Parade by Kelly Jordan
Click to enlarge each photo:
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta’s Confederate icons panel to issue final recommendations Monday
The one Confederate icon in Atlanta that appears slated for the dustbin is a street name, Confederate Avenue. In addition, Atlanta may install a sign to mark the site of a slave auction house that once stood near the present Five Points MARTA Station.
Posted inColumns
The national anthem and its racist content
By Guest Columnist JOE BEASLEY, a human rights activist in Atlanta and founder of the Joe Beasley Foundation
“Ooh-oh, say can you see…” begins our national anthem, the music and lyrics we’ve grown up with as the incantation of individual and collective deep loyalty to the United States of America, its democratic tenets and ideals. But prompted by recent headlines, we once again face and examine the difference between how the words of the national anthem resonate differently for some Americans.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta to fund legal support for people facing deportation
Atlanta is setting aside $150,000 for legal defense for people who are accused of running afoul of federal immigration law under a new program with the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice.
Posted inLatest News
Second round of mayoral campaigning, forums begins
In a short forum Downtown on Thursday night, a small live audience and viewers on Facebook heard from the next mayor of Atlanta, as the two runoff candidates spoke about their priorities and pushed back against what are bound to be recurrent concerns.
Posted inLatest News
Emory University says House tax plan could harm research, student learning
Emory University is ramping up its efforts to inform Georgia’s congressional members of the harm it says the current version of the House tax plan could cause to colleges and universities, which includes undermining funding for research, academic programs and student finances.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta election day updates — Bottoms, Norwood to mayoral runoff
It’s election day in Atlanta. We’ll be posting updates here.
Posted inColumns
Integral’s Egbert Perry finds stance of AHA and Mayor Reed ‘baffling’
Affordable housing developer Egbert Perry, and his Atlanta-based company – Integral, are fighting back against claims by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) that he had received a sweetheart deal to buy land next to his company’s existing developments.
In an effort to set the record straight, Integral and its development partners filed a legal response late Saturday to an AHA lawsuit. The response seeks to correct several statements AHA and Reed have made, which Perry said are misrepresentations of his company’s actions and history.
Posted inMaggie Lee
Election day in Atlanta: where to go, what’s on the ballot
Tuesday is election day in what will almost certainly be two rounds of Atlanta and Fulton county polling. Find links to your sample ballot, your polling place and candidate lists here.
Posted inColumns
In mayor’s races, partisan politics seeps up through the potholes
Across the country, more than 30 big cities are electing or have already elected mayors this year. As we swing into the second round of our own mayoral contest, here’s a look at some of the trends emerging in other cities.
