Category: Sections

By Maria Saporta

Memories die hard.

Longtime Atlanta political journalist Bill Shipp is donating all his papers to the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia.

As a gesture of appreciation, the University of Georgia Libraries held a lunch this week at the Blue Ridge Grill celebrating Shipp’s commitment to donate his collection of papers.

The lunch stirred up memories of when Shipp attended UGA in the early 1950s.

Shipp became managing editor of the

By Maria Saporta

For the City of Atlanta to have a balanced budget with at least $27 million in reserves, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is counting on reaching a sale-lease agreement with Fulton County on the city jail.

Reed told Atlanta business leaders this week that the transaction on the jail is instrumental for the city to operate in the black.

Speaking to members of the Atlanta Committee for Progress, Reed told the business leaders that he could use their help in securing at least four votes on the Fulton County Commission in favor of the

By Maria Saporta

There was little fanfare for CNN’s 30th birthday on June 1.

Phil Kent, CEO of Turner Broadcasting System — parent company of CNN, said the low-key recognition was intentional.

“Instead of throwing ourselves parties and having lots of hoopla, we decided on a charitable approach,” Kent said. “To me, anniversaries are an opportunity to focus on the task at hand.”

So the 30th anniversary celebration was turned into “Give 30 for 30.”

Turner was allocating $30 for every one of its employees — CNN plus all the other

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has tapped Carol Tomé to chair the search committee for a new general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Tomé, chief financial officer for the Home Depot, is one of the most powerful women executives in the country and the highest-ranking Home Depot executive who has worked for every leadership team at the home improvement company, starting in 1995 working for co-founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank.

Reed announced that Tomé would lead

By Maria Saporta

There was some preaching going on at the Tabernacle this week.

But the preaching had nothing to do with God.

Instead, the sermons all had a theme — our cities would be healthier if we relied more on two wheels and two feet than driving around on four wheels.

David Byrne, the front man for Talking Heads, likes to the see the world from a bicycle. When the band is touring, Byrne makes a point of riding his bicycle around the cities he’s visiting.

The end result? A book called: “Bicycle

By Maria Saporta

Closing Peachtree Street could become contagious — in a good way.

Plans are underway to launch the Midtown Festival of the Arts during the weekend of September 25 and September 26.

The festival is scheduled to take place on Peachtree Street between Fifth Street and Tenth Street, and it already has lined up a variety of offerings — about 100 visual artists, stages for the performing arts, literary events as well as culinary arts area that will feature chef demonstrations and local restaurants.

Sounds great, right?

By Maria Saporta

Slowly but surely, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights is raising the money it needs to break ground in downtown Atlanta.

Doug Shipman, executive director of the center, announced the latest financial gift at the Atlanta Rotary Club Monday — a $500,000 grant from the UPS Foundation.

That brings the total money that’s been raised for the center to about $70 million.

Shipman also said the center’s economic model will be sustainable economically.

“We are building this without debt,” he said. “We are not breaking ground until

By Maria Saporta

Southern Co. CEO David Ratcliffe does not see an energy bill or a cap-and-trade bill pass Congress during this session.

That’s what Ratcliffe said in response to a question raised after his talk to the Atlanta Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.

But Ratcliffe did seem to be more open to the idea of limiting CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions as a way of addressing global climate change.

“As a matter of public policy, there’s a need to deal with CO2 emissions,” Ratcliffe said, adding that the prevailing thought is that there’s “an association between CO2 and climate change, which is a global phenomenon.”

By Maria Saporta

Leah Ward Sears, former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, had nothing but good things to say about Elena Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general.

Kagan is President Barack Obama’s choice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, his second appointment in the past year.

Once again, Sears was one of the candidates being considered for the post.

“I think anybody on the list would have done a good job,” Sears said of all the people Obama had been considering for one of the most prestigious appointments he will make as president. “She’s going to bring a breath of fresh air to the court.”

By Maria Saporta

A friend called me Saturday morning to tell me Peachtree Street was closed off to traffic until 1 p.m. that day. My friend knew how much I enjoyed it when streets were turned over to people.

The High Museum of Art had gotten permission to close down Atlanta’s main corridor so it could display several dozen classic antique cars.

While it was a unique experience to see cars older than I am, the real thrill was being able to walk down the middle of Peachtree Street with others.

We should do this more often.

Closing streets for pedestrians, even temporarily, is a liberating feeling.