Category: Sections

By Maria Saporta

Feet are taking over.

At least that’s what will be happening on Peachtree Street on May 19 during the third Atlanta Streets Alive from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. During that time, Peachtree Street will be totally closed off to cars between Ellis Street downtown to Pershing Point in north Midtown — a full 2.7 miles.

People will be able to take over the entire street to walk, stroll, run, skip, cycle or use whatever mode of human-powered transportation that choose.

“It’s going to continue to build each year,” said Atlanta City Councilman Aaron Watson at a panel discussion on May 3 at the monthly Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable at All Saints Church in Midtown. “Atlanta Streets Alive reminds us that the streets belong to all of us.”

By Maria Saporta

Mayors. Congressmen. Ambassadors. CEOs. Corporate directors. College presidents. And countless dignitaries.

They all came to honor Ingrid Saunders Jones and her 31-year career at the Coca-Cola Co. at a reception at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Wednesday evening.

Few executives receive the kind of send-off that Jones received, and that’s because Jones is unlike most executives. In her role as senior vice president of Global Community Connections and as president of the Coca-Cola Foundation, Jones extended a personal touch to people in numerous corners all over the world.

By Maria Saporta

After make significant progress as a “Bicycle Friendly State” last year, Georgia slipped a notch according to the latest ranking by the League of American Bicyclists.

The ranking, which was released on Wednesday, showed that Georgia went from being the 23^rd friendliest state for bicycles to the 24^th among the 50 states between 2012 and 2013. The year before, Georgia had jumped from 40^th to 23^rd.

The area where Georgia continues to rank the weakest is in “evaluation and planning” — scoring in the lowest percentile in that category. Georgia also is weak in “infrastructure and funding” — scoring in the next lowest category.

By Maria Saporta

If there’s one thing Erroll Davis doesn’t like, it’s whining.

“Whining is one of our core competencies,” said Davis, who is the not-so-interim superintendent of the Atlanta Public Schools. In fact, he said there’s a saying at APS: “Shut up. Stop whining. Do your job.”

Davis was the keynote speaker at Monday’s Rotary Club of Atlanta when he used the opportunity to both look back and forward on the troubled school system that was marred by one of the most public cheating scandals in the nation.

“I’m in the 22nd month of a 90-day assignment,” said Davis, who obviously has become engrossed in his latest challenge. “May you live in interesting times.”

By Maria Saporta

The firm of 360 Architecture moved one step closer to designing the new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.

The Georgia World Congress Center Authority’s Stadium Development Committee unanimously voted Monday afternoon to recommend 360 to the full board when it meets Tuesday afternoon. At that time, the board will be given a full set of the negotiated terms of the agreement that GWCCA has reached with 360.

Before the vote, William Johnson, senior principal with 360 Architecture, made a presentation to the committee where he unveiled a couple of different concepts of how the retractable roof on the new stadium could work.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta-based MAP International is providing medical relief for Syrian refugees displaced by its Civil War.

MAP International, a global health organization is working in concert with Integral Alliance of Christian relief agencies, which is based in England. More than 1.4 million refugees have fled Syria, seeking safety in camps along the border in Lebanon and Jordan.

MAP is providing emergency health kits filled with enough medicines to treat 10,000 people for three months.  Reports indicate that refugees are suffering from illnesses due to the cramped conditions within the camps.  Refugees are also beginning to suffer from malnutrition and are afflicted with trauma resulting from war injuries, according to a MAP International press release.

By Maria Saporta

Atlantans celebrated the 65th anniversary of Israel’s Independence Day Sunday evening at the Temple — braving a steady rain to mark the significant date in history.

The event was organized by Israeli Consul General Opher Aviran, who welcomed Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed as honorary guests. Peter Berg, senior rabbi of the Temple, gave his introductory welcome. But it was Aviran’s event.

“In 1948, we were only 800,000 people,” Aviran told the crowd of more than 200 people who attended the reception celebrating Israel’s Independence Day. “Now we are 8 million.”

By Maria Saporta

When Keith Parker, MARTA ‘s general manager, came on board in December, the prospects for the transit system were dire.

The MARTA board had adopted a five-year budget plan that called for no salary increases for employees — continuing a practice that has been in place for five years. It called for a 25-cent fare increase in fiscal year 2014 (which begins in July) increasing MARTA’s base fare to $2.75 — among the highest transit fare in the country. It projected reserves declining from $109.7 million in fiscal year 2013 to $1.5 million at the end of fiscal year 2018. And it still expected that it would face an unsustainable healthcare business model.

On Thursday morning, however, Parker and his staff presented an alternate five-year plan to the MARTA board’s Business Management Committee — one that has a much brighter outcome for the transit system.

By Maria Saporta

After conducting a national search for a new dean, Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture ended up picking the internal choice.

Steven P. French, associate dean for research and professor of city and regional planning, will become dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture on July 1.

He will succeed Dean Alan Balfour, who announced last August that he intended to step down in June and rejoin the architecture faculty.

By Maria Saporta

The 2013 Coca-Cola Co. annual meeting began more like a fireside chat between CEO Muhtar Kent and the legendary Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the largest shareholder of the soft drink company.

For most shareholders attending the annual meeting at the Cobb Galleria Centre, Buffett’s presence was a pleasant surprise. Buffett had served on Coca-Cola’s board for 17 years; and his son, Howard Buffett, has been a director since 2010.

As Buffett walked on stage, the crowd of 850 shareholders and guests gave him a warm welcome.

By Maria Saporta

The environment certainly seemed to be front and center on everyone’s mind on April 22 — the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day.

Georgia Power announced that it had reached a deal to import wind energy from Oklahoma to Georgia by 2016. The move was applauded by several environmental organizations across the states — groups that don’t often find themselves on the same side as Georgia Power.

“We applaud Georgia Power for taking a strong step forward on 21st century clean energy solutions,” said Colleen Kiernan, director of the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club.

By Maria Saporta

Five candidates have been named as finalists to become president and CEO of the Atlanta BeltLine Inc. (ABI) — three from Atlanta and two from outside the state.

The Atlanta BeltLine executive committee selected the five finalists on April 10 in a closed session, but the names were not made public until eight days later because they had to make sure to touch all the bases, according to people involved in the search. The Korn/Ferry International firm assisted in the search on a pro bono basis.

By Maria Saporta

One can add Ben Bernanke, president of the Federal Reserve Bank, to the list of people in admiration of Tom Cousins.

Although most people in Atlanta know Tom Cousins as a real estate leader and developer who founded Cousins Properties, Cousins has gained national notoriety for his philanthropic efforts in the redevelopment of the East Lake Community.

At the Federal Reserve System’s Community Affairs Research Conference in Washington, D.C. on April 12, Bernanke’s speech showcased Cousins and his foundation’s redevelopment of East Lake as a national model of lifting a community in a holistic way.