The effort to improve Peachtree Creek now includes a $25,000 grant from the Coca-Cola Co. that was used to install a rainwater harvesting system at Zonolite Park, in northeast Atlanta.
Category: Columns
Posted inLatest News
Anti-Trump protests cost Atlanta taxpayers up to $16 million for public safety
Atlanta taxpayers will pay up to $16 million for public safety services provided during protests in January against President Trump’s inauguration and his travel ban directed at seven Muslim-majority countries, Atlanta’s budget chief said Wednesday.
Posted inLatest News
Shepherd Center running team raising funds to treat wounded vets
As the nation prepares to honor those who died in service to the country, a team of former service members and civilians affiliated with the Shepherd Center are running eight consecutive half-marathons to raise awareness and funding for veterans still recovering from injury.
Posted inLyle Harris
MLK’s “Beloved Community” and the G-Word
An almost surefire way to start an argument in Atlanta is to utter the “G-word” – as in “gentrification.” In the midst of a torrid development boom, the inflow of affluent newcomers to Atlanta – and the involuntary uprooting of low-income residents that inevitably follows – reveals the racial and economic fault lines running through city’s social bedrock.
Posted inColumns
Regional education report shows families deserve same school options as region’s CEOs
By Guest Columnist GLENN DELK, an Atlanta attorney who is a longtime school choice advocate and co-founder of 21st Century STEM Academy set to open in August in Decatur
Members of Georgia’s public school establishment consistently oppose funding for charter and private schools on the grounds they are not “accountable.”
However, as evidenced by the recent report, State of Education in Metro Atlanta: Baseline Report 2017, issued with great fanfare by Learn4Life – a collaborative initiative of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the United Way of Greater Atlanta and eight public school district partners –the reality is that traditional districts are the ones who are unaccountable.
Posted inColumns
‘Alien Covenant’ – a haunted house movie on a grand scale
How could anyone ever hope to top the scene from “Alien” in which a slimy, gory, nasty thingie bursts out of John Hurt’s chest?
Well, you can’t. But Ridley Scott, who made the 1979 original, comes pretty damn close in “Alien Covenant,” his newest entry into the world of slimy, gory, nasty thingies.
Posted inColumns
Center of Civil and Human Rights inspires Atlanta to keep fighting for justice
The Center for Civil and Human Rights 2017 Power to Inspire Tribute dinner on May 18 provided nourishment for the soul.
And that’s just what event planners intended.
“We wanted to articulate the spirit of human and civil rights, and honor those who lift that spirit up – those who do the heavy lifting,” said Ingrid Saunders Jones.
Posted inColumns
Vogtle’s financial meltdown approaches historic proportions
Suppose the I-85 bridge repairs had run four weeks later than the guaranteed date, completion not yet in sight as summer dragged on, with a cost overrun of $36 million. That’s only a miniature comparison with the scope of the financial meltdown at the Plant Vogtle nuclear project.
Posted inColumns
Proximity to politically charged charter schools increases home values: GSU report
The price of homes in the city of Atlanta rise according to their proximity to a start-up charter school, according to a new report by Georgia State University. Home prices in suburban areas, exhibit a similar trend, but the price increase is about half that of Atlanta.
Posted inLatest News
WalkUPs holding value amid setbacks in broader apartment sector: CoStar
Chris Leinberger’s theories on the durability of walkable communities are holding up in the current setback in apartment sales and rent growth that’s been observed by CoStar. In a nutshell: Folks will pay a premium to live where they can avoid traffic congestion.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta plans $400,000 program to curb mosquito-borne illnesses
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced Friday that Atlanta will mount a $400,000 effort to curb mosquito-borne illnesses, including Zika. The money is coming from the $800,000 allocation Georgia received from the federal Zika funding bill approved by Congress last year.
Posted inLatest News
PSC approves Georgia Power’s plan to build solar facilities at Robins AFB, plus two cities
The Georgia Public Service Commission on Tuesday authorized Georgia Power to build three solar facilities that are to generate a total of 142 megawatts of electricity. The facility planned at Robins Air Force Base is to account for 139 MW of that power.
Posted inLatest News
Supreme Court unlikely to rule on Florida-Georgia water dispute before Oct. 1
The U.S. Supreme Court is not likely to rule on the water war litigation between Florida and Georgia before the court breaks for its summer holiday, and possibly not until well after it convenes Oct. 1, according to the calendar the court provided in a recent ruling.
Posted inColumns
Inevitably, race for Atlanta’s mayor will have racial undercurrents
For decades, Atlanta has been a capital of black political power – dating back to the civil rights movement and to the 1973 election of Atlanta’s first black mayor – Maynard Jackson.
Now 44 years later, Atlanta’s racial dynamics are re-entering the national spotlight as the city could elect its first white mayor in nearly five decades.
Posted inTom Baxter
Perdue bill blows up with majority leader on board
Interesting things have a way of happening when everybody’s interested in something else. Take last week.
Posted inColumns
Run Oprah run? Don’t count on it
Oprah Winfrey delivered the commencement address for Agnes Scott College in Decatur. Those expecting a life-affirming message from the media icon got their wish. But those hoping the billionaire guru would offer a glimmer of hope for a future White House bid were sorely disappointed.
Posted inColumns
As Atlanta seeks rebirth, city must overcome segregationist past cited in new book
Atlanta’s history of government-sanctioned segregated neighborhoods dates to 1922, when the city adopted a zoning law that created separate residential districts for black and white folks, according to a new book by noted researcher Richard Rothstein. The old Techwood Homes and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. also have segregationist roots, according to Rothstein.
