Category: Sections

The city of Atlanta is facing a “Birmingham moment,” Mayor Kasim Reed told the Bultler Street YMCA’s Hungry Club Forum today.

“There’s a new day in Atlanta,” Reed said. “Atlanta is at a new Birmingham moment, a 2010 Birmingham moment.”

Then he explained that in the 1960s, Birmingham was the dominant city in the Southeast with a “robust steel industry.” But it elected a self-proclaimed racist, George Wallace, as governor; and Birmingham’s police chief Bull Connor became a national symbol of bigotry.

Reed said that by comparison, Georgia elected a moderate, Carl Sanders as

By Maria Saporta

An historic contract was signed March 11 on Ted Turner’s ranch in New Mexico.

Southern Co. Chairman and CEO David Ratcliffe and Turner signed the contract to jointly acquire ownership of what will be one of the nation’s largest solar photovoltaic power plants.

The project was acquired and will be built by Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar Inc., a publicly-held company that is the largest manufacturer of thin film solar modules.

The preliminary agreement between the Southern Co. and Turner Renewable Energy was announced in January, but details still needed to be worked out between the three entities.

By Maria Saporta

A pretty amazing resolution was introduced this week that basically describes the Georgia Department of Transportation as incompetent when it comes to developing anything other than highways, roads and bridges.

Senate Resolution 1177 was introduced by some of the top senators in the state — Sen. Jeff Mullis (R – Chickamauga) who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee; Sen. Chip Rogers (R – Woodstock); Sen. Tommie Williams (R – Lyons); and Sen. Doug Stoner (D – Smyrna) among others.

Because of GDOT’s inability to develop

By Maria Saporta

In the end, the 2009 campaign of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta raised $79.3 million, less than 1.5 percent shy of its $80.5 million goal.

Given the economic struggles of the past year, United Way leaders were celebrating Thursday night when they heard the news.

Before announcing the campaign results, John Somerhalder, the 2009 campaign chair who is CEO of AGL Resources, set the stage by preparing the crowd of several hundred that bad news was coming.

First, the goal was the same amount

By Maria Saporta

Three of Atlanta most important former planning commissioners had a message for newly-elected Mayor Kasim Reed — good planning should be an integral part of his administration.

The three former commissioners were invited to the “Dear Mayor Reed” program by the Georgia Tech Student Planning Association Thursday night at White Provisions on Howell Mill and 14th streets in one of the most striking meeting spaces in Atlanta.

As the moderator of the discussion, I wasn’t able to take diligent notes of what was said. Fortunately, my colleague Thomas Wheatley, a reporter with

By Maria Saporta

Three of Atlanta most important former planning commissioners had a message for newly-elected Mayor Kasim Reed — good planning should be an integral part of his administration.

The three former commissioners were invited to the “Dear Mayor Reed” program by the Georgia Tech Student Planning Association Thursday night at White Provisions on Howell Mill and 14th streets in one of the most striking meeting spaces in Atlanta.

As the moderator of the discussion, I wasn’t able to take diligent notes of what was said. Fortunately, my colleague Thomas Wheatley, a reporter with Creative Loafing, was there, and I look forward to reading his report.

By Maria Saporta

For 12 years, Southface has been putting on its Greenprints conference to let builders, architects, planners and environmentalist know the latest in green building technology.

Ideas that might have seemed novel or forward thinking 12 years ago have now become accepted and expected.

“The green economy is going to be the only future economy that we will have available to us,” said John Straube, a building science engineer from Ontario, Canada who is an international expert in energy efficient buildings and was one of the keynote speakers at this year’s Greenprints conference.

By Maria Saporta

Communities are at a critical juncture as modern technology is changing the ways that decisions have been made for decades.

But how the new decision-making model will emerge is still being formed, according to Chris Gates, one of the nation’s pre-eminent observers of communities.

Gates served as president of the National Civic League for 11 years, and now he is the first executive director of PACE (Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement).

Gates was the keynote speaker at Thursday night’s annual dinner of the

By Maria Saporta

Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, is concerned that as Haiti recedes from the headlines, charitable giving also will decline.

Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Jan. 12, Americans contributed $285 million to Haiti relief efforts, including almost $40 million through text contributions.

“The last two weeks, it seems to be leveling off,” said McGovern, who was in Atlanta Wednesday to meet with Red Cross supporters and donors. “As Haiti receives less media attention, it worries me that the donations will wane as well.”