Category: Sections

By Maria Saporta

Bernice A. King – the youngest and only living daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. – issued the strongest statement yet against her two brothers — Dexter Scott King and Martin Luther King III — and their desire to sell two of their late father’s prized possessions.

Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent and Social Change, went public Tuesday about how her brothers now want to sell her father’s Nobel Peace Prize medal and his personal Bible.

Once again, the King brothers used a monumental date in order to take an action against their sister. They first filed a suit trying to get her ousted as a CEO of the King Center on Aug. 28, 2013 — the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

By Maria Saporta

Thanks to their popularity and demand for original and branded entertainment, Turner Broadcasting System’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media offerings will be expanding and undergoing strategic changes, the company announced Tuesday morning.

The expansions and strategic changes will impact Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network and the all-cartoon-classics Boomerang.

Stuart Snyder, president and COO of Turner’s AYAKM (Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media), announced the following changes:

By Maria Saporta

A stand-off is intensifying between the west side communities and the Atlanta Falcons over the future alignment of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive around the new football stadium.

The presidents of the four Atlanta University colleges wrote a letter on Jan. 24 to Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell and Frank Poe, executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center expressing “deep concern” about the latest plans for the street.

Beverly Tatum, president of Spelman College who serves as chair of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, sent the letter on behalf of her colleagues — the presidents of Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Clark Atlanta University as well as the thousands of students that attend their institutions.

By Maria Saporta

In an all-too-rare spirit of bipartisan cooperation, U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) appeared jointly at the Rotary Club of Atlanta urging for the federal government to convert to a two-year budget cycle.

“We have to change the way we do business in Washington,” said Shaheen, a former governor of New Hampshire who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008.

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Press Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014 by looking forward rather than focusing on the past.

The APC’s “Forward at Fifty” initiative will seek to leverage the anniversary year as a way of strengthening the role of journalism in serving the public interest. The year-long series of events will unfold under three themes — “Celebrate, Educate and Engage.” The Cox Media Group will sponsor the APC’s “Forward at Fifty” initiative.

By Maria Saporta

A sold out audience attended the world premier concert of the National Arab Orchestra at Atlanta’s Symphony Hall Friday night — living up to its billing — “Building Bridges through Music.”

Even Gov. Nathan Deal wrote a letter of welcome to the National Arab Orchestra and the concert attendees that was printed in the evening’s program. “On behalf of the State of Georgia, it is a pleasure to be a part of this special performance,” Deal wrote.

The host of the Atlanta concert was Nue Medical Consulting, a health information technology company based in Lawrenceville. The event helped the National Arab Orchestra in its quest to meet a $100,000 challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Arts Challenge for an inaugural innovative music program to benefit Detroit’s students.

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Regional Commission, even with a new slate of elected officials as board members, reached another stalemate Wednesday in the election of a citizen board member.

Once again, the deadlock revolved around the election of the citizen member representing District 11 — which mainly covers portions of DeKalb and Fulton counties and a sliver of Cobb County.

That district has been represented by Tad Leithead of Cobb County, who has just finished serving two terms as chair of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Citizen members are approved by the 23 elected officials on the ARC board — and bylaws call for members to receive at least a majority of the votes — putting the threshold at 12.

In December, the elected officials met to vote between Leithead and Minuard “Mickey” McGuire, an urban planner who had been proposed by Lee May, the interim CEO of DeKalb County.

By Maria Saporta

With opening day exactly four months away, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights is announcing several strategic hires as part of its management team.

“It’s an exciting time for us at the Center,” said Doug Shipman, CEO of the attraction that is under construction on Pemberton Place — the same block that houses the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola.

“Our grand opening is fast approaching, and it’s a great feeling to have a high caliber team of individuals leading us to a successful launch,” Shipman added. “I look forward to the contributions of each of our new additions.”

By Maria Saporta

With the anticipated departure of Atlanta chief operating officer Duriya Farooqui on Jan 31, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has named a new interim team to run the city until a permanent replacement is found.

Reed, who left  Monday evening for Davos, Switzerland to attend the 2014 World Economic Forum with Coca-Cola Co. CEO Muhtar Kent, announced in press release on Tuesday that he is naming Michael Geisler to serve as interim chief operating officer beginning on Jan. 31.

Geisler currently serves as deputy commissioner and CFO for the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, a position he assumed in November 2012 after a national search conducted by the COO’s office.

By Maria Saporta

Gov. Nathan Deal had long gone from Ebenezer Baptist Church during Monday’s 46th Martin Luther King Jr.’s Annual Commemorative Service when Senior Pastor Raphael Warnock shared his message.

But had he stayed, perhaps the governor might have gained some insights about what really matters to King’s followers.

Deal was one of the earlier speakers during the three-and-a-half hour service, and it is not surprising that he couldn’t stay for the entire program.

The governor did hear a passionate plea from King’s youngest child — Bernice A. King — who is CEO of the King Center.

By Maria Saporta

The King Center’s annual Salute to Greatness dinner Saturday night broke new ground on two fronts.

Bernice A. King, CEO of the King Center, bravely addressed the hundreds attending the elegant fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta about the legal dispute underway between her and her two brothers — Dexter King and Martin Luther King III.

Second, the overarching theme of the night centered on the rights and empowerment of women. During the civil rights movement, women tended to play a background role giving the spotlight to men.

But on Saturday night, women took center-stage — and several of the men who did speak at the podium obviously had heard the message.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is launching his second national search for a new general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — with a bit of a déja vu, all over again.

The chair of the search committee will be Carol Tomé, chief financial officer of the Home Depot, who chaired the Atlanta airport general manager search less than four years ago.

The city ended up selecting and hiring Louis Miller to that post. Miller retired at the end of 2013. One of the other finalists in the 2010 search — Miguel Southwell — joined the executive team of Hartsfield-Jackson last year, and he serving as the interim general manager until a permanent leader is chosen. Southwell is expected to be a candidate for that job.

By Maria Saporta

The growing economic and political clout of Georgia’s Latino population was on full display Thursday morning at the legislative breakfast of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The breakfast was kicked off with welcoming remarks from Gov. Nathan Deal, who restated his financial commitment to education — a relatively safe topic for a governor running for re-election.

Other speakers at the breakfast included Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Cassius Butts, the regional administrator for the Small Business Administration.

By Maria Saporta

Three metro Atlanta communities — the Atlanta University Center, Lakewood Heights and Lithonia — are part of a select group.

Sustainable Atlanta has selected them to participate in the first year of the Greater Atlanta EcoDistrict Initiative — a concept that is relatively new to Atlanta.