Atlanta’s a growing city, the crown jewel of the nation, declared Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in a major speech on Wednesday. But she said it’s going to to need to draw on a spirit of inclusiveness and cooperation to help residents, communities and businesses that are being left behind.
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Georgia making progress on reducing air pollution, EPA advises Gov. Deal
Georgia is making headway with its efforts to reduce air pollution. Seven counties in metro Atlanta are the only ones that don’t meet federal air quality standards for ozone and they are expected to come into compliance without additional controls, according to a statement released Wednesday by state environmental officials.
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Leader of Atlanta’s housing authority formalizes departure date
The boss of Atlanta’s housing authority turned in a resignation letter effective April 27 — with more than a year and a half left in her employment contract.
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Judge deals Atlanta Housing a setback in fight over land deal
A Fulton County Superior Court judge has handed a setback to Atlanta’s housing authority in its court bid to stop a sale of its land at below-market prices.
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Emory University continues push against DACA rescission, cites McCarthy-era ruling
Emory University is continuing to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, joining 16 other leading universities in urging the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York to support the program and reject the Trump administration’s effort to end DACA.
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Influential Atlanta leaders to visit San Diego in May for 2018 LINK trip
Housing affordability and transit will be key focus areas of the 2018 LINK trip to San Diego, which will take place from May 9 to May 12.
Ever since 1997, a group of more than 100 Atlanta leaders – representing governments, businesses and nonprofits – go to a different city to learn about the best practices that we can bring back to our region. And it also provides an opportunity for leaders from the 10-county region to get to know one another.
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‘Avengers: Infinity War’ – movie lives up to its Super Hero hype
“Avengers: Infinity War” is so damnably self-confident, you almost want to dislike it on principle.
But that’s just it. The movie deserves to be full of itself. That’s because it is full of itself, to the point of being as overstuffed as a holiday piñata.
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Clock ticking on comment period on plan to launch rockets over Cumberland Island
The clock is ticking on the public comment period for a planned spaceport on the Georgia coast. Plans call for privately owned rockets to be launched from a site near the mouth of the Satilla River, soar at 30,000 feet over Cumberland Island, and continue toward or into outer space.
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Mark your calendar for a north and south Fulton transit tax vote, maybe
For months, elected leaders from north and south Fulton have been talking about asking voters for a new sales tax for some new, fast bus service. Now the question is whether they can or should set up a November vote.
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A campaign promise fulfilled
It turns out that two of Atlanta’s iconic structures share a common heritage, even though they have absolutely nothing to do with one another. Who knew? Trick question…we knew. Which is why, this week it’s a two for one special on Stories of Atlanta.
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Dearth of affordable housing calls for comprehensive solution
By Guest Columnist KATHLEEN FARRELL, head of commercial real estate at SunTrust Banks, Inc.
Over the last decade, as millennials entered the workforce and delayed or indefinitely avoided buying a home, apartment complexes sprang up across Atlanta – as they did in many U.S. cities – to meet the growing demand for rental housing. Many of these new developments were built as luxury living experiences in order to command higher rents and meet the expectations of a younger clientele. The result was a robust supply of high-end units that have been absorbed by Atlanta’s strong job market, but a dearth of affordable, workforce housing.
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More than 860,000 poor persons in metro Atlanta at risk from air pollution, says ALA report
Being in a state of poverty is a major risk factor for health issues caused by air pollution in metro Atlanta. For one type of pollution, more poor people are at risk from pollution than are the elderly, or those with diabetes or those with cardiovascular disease, according to a recent report from the American Lung Association.
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Vine City affordable housing for seniors brings together church, city, community
A big yellow excavator at Spencer and Walnut streets in Vine City was still on Friday morning — but just for a while, so folks could enjoy a ceremony to mark the groundbreaking for an apartment being built there so that seniors can afford it.
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Atlanta mayor’s cabinet turnover gets into high gear
At least seven top city staff will “transition externally” and their jobs will be filled over the next few months, according to a Friday afternoon statement from Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
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Vote clears way for stalled Centennial Park apartment build
It took less than 10 minutes, but a Friday afternoon vote seems to have cleared the way for a long-stalled apartment building to rise near the northeast corner of Centennial Olympic Park.
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Atlanta makes progress with installation of solar panels at homes, city-owned buildings
John Rutherford Seydel, an environmental advocate and Atlanta’s sustainability director, is among those who are talking up Atlanta’s program to install solar panels on homes. Meantime, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms joined in the launch of the city’s effort to install solar panels on 24 city-owned buildings.
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Atlanta drops lawsuit against Integral, Egbert Perry and Renee Glover
The city of Atlanta is stepping back from a 2017 lawsuit against its former housing authority CEO, the Integral Group and its boss, a longtime and prominent city contractor who’s built mixed-income developments for the authority.
“The city has dismissed, without prejudice, its lawsuit against Integral Development and related corporate entities and individuals,” a city spokesperson confirmed in a text Thursday evening.
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Wood pellet factories tend to smash air quality permits, new report commends Georgia
Georgia won praise Thursday in a report largely critical of an issue portrayed as lax enforcement of air quality regulations of the wood pellet industry. Criticism also was laid on the new federal policy that power plants fueled by biomass don’t create carbon pollution.
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Commute option incentive begins in May, as report shows metro Atlanta’s air quality worsens
A new incentive program intended to get cars off the road for a week is slated to begin in mid-May. This program comes on the heels of a national report by the American Lung Association that shows metro Atlanta ranks among the 25 most polluted cities; the ALA report also takes aim at some of the Trump administration’s environmental policies.
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2018 Coca-Cola annual meeting lacks fireworks of previous gatherings
The Coca-Cola Co.’s 2018 annual meeting of shareholders at the World of Coke was one of the tamest in the company recent history.
There was no one shouting “Killer Coke.” There were no protesters out in front. There were no angry vocal shareholders. There were no combative exchanges with executives. And no one had to be forcefully removed from the meeting.
