Category: Sections

By Maria Saporta

Women will play a pivotal role in whether the regional transportation sales tax passes on July 31.

That was the message that David Hill, director of Hill Research Consultants which is doing polling for the pro-tax entities, told more than 130 women who gathered at Home Depot’s headquarters for a lunch meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

By Maria Saporta

Barbara Mosacchio, president and CEO of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation since 2008, is returning to her hometown of Chicago.

Saying she was leaving with “mixed emotions,” Mosacchio has accepted a position to become president and CEO of Chicago Youth Centers — a 50-year-old social services organization serving children — beginning in early July.

In a comprehensive review of parks among the 40th largest cities in the United States, the City of Atlanta ranked 26th.

The inaugural “ParkScore” rating system by the Trust for Public Land released Wednesday morning gave each city a score on a 100-point scale. Atlanta’s score was 42.5. Out of a rating of zero to five “park benches,” Atlanta earned two “park benches.”

By Maria Saporta

It could be worse.

The League of American Bicyclists has just released its ranking of “Bicycle Friendly States” — and the good news is that Georgia is in the top half with a ranking of 23 out of 50 states.

That is a significant improvement over 2011 when it was ranked 40th among the 50 states.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta seized an opportunity Monday to show national and international visitors how the city and its institutions can help improve global health.

The all-day conference at the Ritz Carlton-Buckhead was called: Atlanta Summit: Sustaining American Leadership in Global Health & Water. It was organized by CARE USA, the Center for Strategic & International Studies and the World Affairs Council of Atlanta. And more than a dozen other Atlanta-based organizations participated in the event.

By Maria Saporta

The United States pays more for healthcare than any other nation on earth, and it is 50th in life expectancy among the countries in the United Nations.

Those were the sobering comments of Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical and scientific officer and executive vice president of the American Cancer Society, at the annual Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Health-Care Heroes awards dinner on Thursday evening.

By Maria Saporta

The “Screen on the Green” will go dark this year.

Yvette Bowden, president and CEO of the Piedmont Park Conservancy, wrote in an email that the park will not be hosting the film series in 2012.

The outdoor “Screen on the Green” was almost canceled in 2011 because Piedmont Park had not been able to secure a lead sponsor for the event. Then a few weeks later, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed held a press conference to announce that there would be a 2011 season after all — thanks to sponsorships from Delta Air Lines and Georgia Natural Gas.

By Maria Saporta

The City of Atlanta is working on a “21st Century economic development strategy” to set itself apart from other metro areas.

At this Thursday’s board meeting of Invest Atlanta, the economic development arm of the city formerly known as the Atlanta Development Authority, the agency will be hiring consultants to begin working “on a comprehensive development strategy for Atlanta,” according to Brian McGowan, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta

For more than 40 years, Leadership Atlanta has been nurturing leaders through a year-long training program that educates, inspires and connects with other community leaders.

On Monday, Leadership Atlanta announced its Class of 2013 — 84 established leaders who “share a common desire to move Atlanta forward by delving deeply into the city’s issues,” according to the release announcing the new class.

Through the year-long program, they will build relationships of trust and mutual understanding, the release stated.

By Maria Saporta

An international leader in socially-responsible capitalism — Muhammad Yunus — would love to forge a closer partnership with Atlanta.

Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner who has become a global leader in microcredit lending, was in Atlanta Friday to receive the Phoenix Award from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed — the highest honor given by the city to individuals for their outstanding contributions.

“This is really a special occasion for me and Atlanta,” Reed said during a briefing in his office. “I’m going to be watching how other cities are following your lead. We are looking for opportunities to provide microcredit (in Atlanta).”

By Maria Saporta

Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn is disappointed that U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) overwhelmingly lost re-election on Tuesday.

“I feel like I’ve lost my last name,” Nunn said jokingly, referring the important piece of legislation they had co-written in 1992 — the Nunn-Lugar Comprehensive Threat Reduction program.

“He’s a great guy,” Nunn said of Lugar. “He did a wonderful job for his state and for the country. He will be dearly missed. The Senate will be diminished, but the outside world will benefit with him being a part of it.”

By Maria Saporta

The saga to save the Crum & Forster building continues.

The Georgia Tech Foundation made a presentation Wednesday afternoon before the Atlanta Urban Design Commission saying it was not economically feasible to restore the entire building.

Instead, Georgia Tech is proposing keeping only the front third of the historic building so it can build a major development on the balance of the block bordered by Spring Street, Armstead Place, West Peachtree Street and Fourth Street.

By Maria Saporta

This just in.

The Captain Planet Foundation has named Leesa Carter as its new executive director.

Carter has been executive director of the Georgia Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, will take over the organization “dedicated to high quality programs that empower youth to become global environmental change-makers,” according to a news release.