Deion Sanders, a star of both the Atlanta Braves and Falcons in the early 1990s, has partnered with the politically conservative Koch brothers to fight poverty in Dallas. An “unlikely partnership” is how a reporter with the Associated Press characterized the relation.
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Georgia House leader signals openness to state funding for transit
A group of state legislators plus county and transit bosses convened in Atlanta on Thursday to start work on recommendations for the state’s transit systems. They heard a hint that state leaders may look favorably on Georgia contributions toward transit.
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Cuba travel plans safe, for now, according to diplomat
In a high-rise office in Midtown on Wednesday night, a former ambassador had some fairly good news for folks with immediate travel plans to Cuba. But for people and businesses with Cuba-related plans a little further out, Charles Shapiro suggested a look back to the past and some uncertainty.
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ATL Streetcar transfer to MARTA to take about a year: Public Works commissioner
The transfer of the ownership and management of the Atlanta Streetcar from the city to MARTA will take about a year to finalize and will be retroactive to July 1, Atlanta’s Public Works commissioner said Wednesday.
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Invest Atlanta to approve final financing for proton center, get new board member
Invest Atlanta is slated to approve Wednesday the final step in a financing deal that will enable construction to resume at the Georgia Proton Treatment Center, in Midtown, just as the Atlanta City Council is poised to appoint a new member to the development authority’s board.
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Morehouse College’s board names Harold Martin as its new interim president
The board of trustees of Morehouse College Monday voted unanimously Monday to name Harold Martin Jr. as the interim president of the institution.
Martin, who has been serving as secretary of the board, follows the sudden death of former interim President William J. “Bill” Taggart on June 7.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Column: Two nonprofits win awards from Community Foundation
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 16, 2017
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has named Literacy Action and Trees Atlanta as the recipients of its 33rd annual “Managing for Excellence” awards.
The recognition is one of the most sought-after awards among Atlanta’s nonprofit organizations. The Community Foundation rewards nonprofits that are exceptionally well-run with outstanding management and governance practices combined with innovative thinking.
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Mayoral candidates pledge vigilance against any anti-gay legislative moves
Eight folks who want to be the next mayor of Atlanta laid out their platforms Friday at a forum held by the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and what they’d do as leader of a city that’s politically quite different from the state of which it is the capital.
All said they would be quick to help stop any efforts to pass something like North Carolina’s 2016 “bathroom bill” – a requirement from a conservative state Legislature that transgender people use public restrooms that that match the gender on their birth certificates. It came just after progressive Charlotte had passed an ordinance that let transgender people use public facilities that match their gender identity.
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Proposed sand mine in Wayne County could pump up to 11.5 million gallons of water a day
A proposed surface mine in Wayne County, near Georgia’s coast, will be allowed to withdraw up to 11.5 million gallons of water a day from the Altamaha River basin, according to draft permits announced June 23 by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
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Perdue blocks Brazil beef imports amid bribery scandal over rotten meat
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday blocked the import of beef from Brazil. Brazil’s meat industry is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving $150 million in bribes paid by the world’s largest meat handler to presidents and state officials.
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Mayor Kasim Reed: $1 billion mixed use development around Philips Arena planned by Richard Ressler, brother of Hawks owner Tony Ressler
The Los Angeles-based CIM Group will develop at $1 billion mixed-use project around a renovated Philips Arena, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in an exclusive interview Friday.
One of the key principals of the CIM Group is Richard Ressler, the brother of Tony Ressler, the majority owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
Reed confirmed the “transformative project” during an interview after the quarterly meeting of the Atlanta Committee for Progress, held at the Ponce City Market offices of Cox Enterprises on Friday morning. It also was Tony Ressler’s first ACP meeting.
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U.S. Ag Sec. Sonny Perdue lauds NAFTA in Savannah meetings with reps from Canada, Mexico
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue emphasized the value of NAFTA as he met this week in Savannah with senior government representatives of Canada and Mexico. Perdue’s support was evident in his tweets and his support of the joint statement released at the conclusion of the trade meeting.
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Settlement reached to close Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter – ending more than a decade of discord
After nearly a decade of legal battles between various parties, a settlement has been reached that will lead to the closing of the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter, according to several sources close to the transaction.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall apparently signed a consent decree on Wednesday, but different parties did not want to discuss the settlement on the record until they had seen the signed agreement
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Proposed efforts to combat heroin, opiate use delayed for review by Fulton commissioners
Fulton County’s board of commissioners voted Wednesday to further refine its planned assault on the usage of opiates and heroin. The board voted unanimously to hold two items pending review – a proposed opiate abuse plan and a proposed $40,000 study recommended by Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Rotary convention boosts city’s global health image
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 16, 2017
Atlanta’s role as a leading hub for global health held center-stage during the 2017 Rotary International convention – an event where nearly 36,000 Rotarians, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and numerous other partners committed another $1.2 billion towards the efforts of eradicating polio over the next three years.
Atlanta was the perfect venue for that announcement. It was here where Rotary first launched its foundation 100 years ago – a centennial celebrated at the culmination of the convention with birthday parties on June 14.
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MARTA aims for better transit experience through art
When Jenn Cornell cranked up her cello at the top of the Northbound train escalator at MARTA’s Five Points Station Monday afternoon, maybe a dozen or so passengers gathered round to watch or listen or take videos. Atlanta transit riders can expect more moments worth stopping for – be it music, dance, painting or other art – as the transit system kicks off a reinvigorated arts program.
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United Way’s Milton Little to take a three-month sabbatical
Following the cue of several of his colleagues, Milton Little, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Atlanta, will be taking a three-month sabbatical starting June 21.
Little said he will use the time to do some traveling, perhaps overseas; help his 18-year-old son prepare to enter his freshman year at Howard University; and spend “a lot of time reflecting and planning for the United Way of the next 10 years.”
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Tom Teepen (1935 to 2017) – a man ahead of his time
Friends, colleagues and family gathered at the Mason Art Gallery Sunday afternoon to remember one of Atlanta’s unapologetic liberals – Tom Teepen.
Teepen, editorial page editor of the Dayton Daily News, became an Atlantan when he joined the Atlanta Constitution’s editorial page in 1982, soon becoming its editor. He later served as a syndicated political columnist for Cox Enterprises until he retired in 2002.
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Atlanta to honor amputee who rolled his wheelchair to Chicago to draw attention to gun violence
The Atlanta City Council on Monday is slated to honor an Atlanta native who propelled himself in a wheelchair from Atlanta to Chicago to draw attention to gun violence. The man’s legs were amputated after he was wounded in a shotgun attack in what was then a crime infested public housing complex.
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Morehouse moving forward despite loss of interim president – Bill Taggart
UPDATED.
Stunned by the sudden loss of interim President Bill Taggart, leaders of Morehouse College pledged to do everything they can to keep the institution strong.
A service for Taggart, who died suddenly on June 7 of an apparent brain aneurism, was held on Friday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel on the Morehouse campus.
“Things happen for a reason,” said Willie Woods, who was elected chairman of the Morehouse Board of Trustee at the same tumultuous time Taggart was named interim president. “The sad part is that we are going to miss Bill’s leadership.”
