Latest Reports Archives - SaportaReport

Maria Saporta

Ex-Atlanta Housing Authority CEO sends letter to Mayor Bottoms, looks to cleanse reputation

August 17, 2018, 7:51 pm/0 Comments

The former CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority – Renee Glover – has written a letter to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and members of the Atlanta City Council – seeking to open lines of communication with the new administration.

Glover’s letter also was an attempt to make the new mayor “aware of my record at AHA and know that the claims made against me by former Mayor Kasim Reed are false and defamatory.”

Panel discussed need for all civic partners to collaborate on smart city technology

August 15, 2018, 6:25 pm/1 Comment

A whopping 80 percent of a cross-section of metro Atlanta leaders who gathered at a panel discussion on smart cities convened by Bank of America Merrill Lynch thinks reducing roadway congestion is the most pressing transportation challenge that digital technology can address in the region.

Bill Nordmark, co-founder of Atlanta Friendship Initiative, passes away suddenly

August 15, 2018, 12:16 pm/1 Comment

Atlanta business leader William G. Nordmark III, co-founder of the Atlanta Friendship Initiatve, died suddenly Monday evening of a brain aneurysm.

Nordmark, 69, was the kind of business leader who was all in. When co-founded the Atlanta Friendship Initiative two years ago, it became his life’s calling.

Proposed ‘Gulch’ development designed to suppress car use, promote alternative transit

August 14, 2018, 6:14 pm/7 Comments

The planned 27-acre development in the “Gulch” in Downtown Atlanta has won support from an array of governmental entities for its concept of building a mini city above the network of parking lots and a parking deck stretching between CNN Center and MARTA’s Five Points Station.

Atlanta City Council to consider measures to rebuild the Gulch with tax breaks

August 14, 2018, 5:21 pm/0 Comments

Atlanta City Council is wading into some proposals about if to allocate (and millions and millions) of tax dollars to private developers to try and encourage building in a pair of special zones on either side of the Connector. Ground zero is Downtown’s Gulch.

Activists allege immigrant abuse at Atlanta jail in ICE closure campaign; jailer says record shows high standards

August 13, 2018, 6:42 pm/0 Comments

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has hit “pause” on a contract that sees the city jail hold ICE detainees. Activists say one reason she should end it permanently is poor conditions at the jail. The city’s corrections leader says his facility is up to the best standards.

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and Bobby Jones Foundation agree on plan to protect 25-foot stream buffer

August 13, 2018, 2:38 pm/0 Comments

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and the Bobby Jones Golf Course Foundation have negotiated an agreement that would have less environmental impact on the 25-foot buffers along Tanyard and Peachtree creeks.

Earlier this year, the Foundation had applied to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to encroach within the state-mandated 25-foot stream buffer. But the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper strongly objected to those plans.

GSU pioneered a system to help all students complete enrollment process

August 12, 2018, 4:46 pm/0 Comments

As college students head to campus this month, administrators across the country are mindful of Georgia State University and a program it tested to help students who have been accepted actually enroll and attend classes.

Below-normal hurricane forecast comes as rivers, lakes already flush with water

August 10, 2018, 3:43 pm/1 Comment

Federal weather forecasters have lowered their prediction for hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean this year, which is welcome news in Georgia as water levels in many rivers and lakes are at or above normal and recovery continues from last year’s Hurricane Irma.

Southern Co. retains credit rating in part by selling assets exceeding $4.7 billion

August 9, 2018, 5:18 pm/4 Comments

The Southern Co.’s aggressive sales of assets helped it retain its credit rating, despite financial losses at Georgia Power that relate to Plant Vogtle. Those losses prompted Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade Georgia Power’s credit rating.

BeltLine publishes affordable housing road map

August 8, 2018, 10:04 pm/1 Comment

About halfway to its 2030 deadline, the BeltLine has just published a road map meant to help catch the agency up to its promise to build housing that’s affordable for working folks. The agency’s leader says they’ll need help getting there.

Atlanta City Council approves Westside project with lower density and more affordable housing

August 6, 2018, 9:17 pm/3 Comments

The Atlanta City Council unanimously approved plans on Monday for the Echo Street Communities development in English Avenue, one of the first large-scale developments in the area that has triggered strong alarm among many residents concerned about gentrification on the Westside.
The affordable housing plans for the project, which also includes thousands of square feet in office space and retail, match the city’s guidelines, with 35 potential additional affordable units in the works.

Open records, open meetings and the uses of sunshine law for everyone

August 6, 2018, 6:43 pm/2 Comments

If there’s any policy you care about, if you are a supporter of any activist group that works on politics or policy — it’s worth knowing about those “sunshine” laws, and maybe using them yourself.

Georgia Tech grad to lead NASA’s testing of commercial crewed spacecraft

August 5, 2018, 7:49 pm/0 Comments

A Georgia Tech grad was named to the nine-member team of astronauts who are to serve aboard the first commercial crew flight tests of a spacecraft designed to transport humans to the International Space Station and other low-orbit destinations.

MARTA board reviewing Gwinnett deal, vote expected next month

August 2, 2018, 6:48 pm/0 Comments

MARTA’s service area may be about to get a lot bigger. That is, if Gwinnett voters decide they want to join. A contract between the two is set to go in front of county voters in March, and the transit agency’s board will consider the same language as early as next month.

New GBPI poll shows strong support for new taxes to boost education, families, health

August 1, 2018, 5:14 pm/1 Comment

A new poll commissioned by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute shows a majority of those polled support programs and additional taxes in order to improve the state’s public schools, train workers, provide child care for working families, and expand health coverage.

Gwinnett schedules referendum on joining MARTA

August 1, 2018, 9:42 am/2 Comments

“Success lives here,” goes the official saying about Gwinnett. “But it commutes to Atlanta,” goes an unofficial rejoinder. Well, Gwinnett has taken the first step in setting up more transit, scheduling a public vote on whether to set up a new sales tax to pay to join MARTA.

Atlanta Audubon wins grant for garden in Washington Park, intern to study wildlife, plants

July 31, 2018, 5:19 pm/0 Comments

The Atlanta Audubon Society has won a national grant totaling $23,950 that it is to use for two purposes – paying an intern to work in the wildlife sanctuary program, and building a garden in historic Washington Park, Atlanta’s first greenspace dedicated to African Americans.

The affordable housing that’s hidden in plain sight

July 30, 2018, 6:23 pm/3 Comments

Atlanta’s creating more luxury apartments than low-cost ones, which is part of why many people worry that the age of an affordable Atlanta is coming to an end. But what might be a big part of an affordable housing fix is hidden in plain sight.

Non-profit climate group campaigns for new taxes to combat rising sea levels

July 29, 2018, 5:17 pm/2 Comments

The passage of a $192 million bond referendum in Miami last year established that taxpayers are willing to shoulder debt to ward off rising sea levels. A group that helped fund that campaign is connected to a digital company that now offers free science-based predictions on rising sea levels along Georgia’s coast.

Chris Johnston This proposed development is “intended to suppress car use” but will provide 8,000 car parking spaces. I am rolling on the floor, laughing! How many... –
On: Proposed ‘Gulch’ development designed to suppress car use, promote alternative transit

Chris Johnston I was referring to City of Atlanta government that is dysfunctional and monumentally corrupt. Those thus far indicted and convicted are a small part of... –
On: Proposed ‘Gulch’ development designed to suppress car use, promote alternative transit

atlman "Under the later mayors (Massell, Jackson, Young, Campbell, Franklin, Reed, and Bottoms),City government is monumentally corrupt and it doesn’t work." Atlanta "worked" back then because... –
On: Proposed ‘Gulch’ development designed to suppress car use, promote alternative transit

Chris Johnston Operating and maintaining a smart city will require the government to hire and retain more technically skilled workers. The City of Atlanta does not have... –
On: Panel discussed need for all civic partners to collaborate on smart city technology

Greg Hodges Long before his Atlanta Friendship Initiative...… before his leadership role with Rotary..... even before his exploits with GSU basketball, Bill was a friend and fellow... –
On: Bill Nordmark, co-founder of Atlanta Friendship Initiative, passes away suddenly

Chris Johnston @ atlman I assume your comment is directed at me, so I will reply. I am 71 years and have lived in or near Atlanta... –
On: Proposed ‘Gulch’ development designed to suppress car use, promote alternative transit

Older »

Operation HOPE

CDC Foundation

Georgia State University

Dentons

Arts & Culture Seen

Metro Atlanta Chamber

Park Pride

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Center for Working Families

Atlanta Regional Commission

Southface

MARTA

Historic Westside

Junior League of Atlanta

Maria’s Metro

David Pendered

Jamil’s Georgia

Eleanor Ringel Cater

Tom Baxter

Lyle Harris

Seen in Atlanta

Photo Picks

WABE

ATL Business Chronicle

Stories of Atlanta by Lance

Maynard Eaton

Moments by Chris Schroder

Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

Saba Long