Category: Latest News

By Maria Saporta

Too many Peachtrees?

So thinks my friend George Vecsey, the famed sports writer and columnist who took a buyout from the New York Times in December.

Vecsey, who now has his own website — www.georgevecesy.com, was in Atlanta over the weekend visiting family when he “squandered an hour or two of my life trying to solve the maze of streets named Peachtree in the northern Atlanta suburbs.”

For Vecesey, he can’t understand why there are more than 70 streets in metro Atlanta with Peachtree in their name. He makes a valid case in his “How Baseball Could Solve a Terrible Problem” post.

“This suggests a staggering failure of imagination, if all the planners of the New South cannot do better than slap the name Peachtree on bisecting boulevards,” Vecsey said.

By Maria Saporta

A visibly-relieved Mayor Kasim Reed savored the moment. Yes, the new Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal will open Wednesday, May 16.

The city was able to announce an opening date just one day after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Wright on Monday denied a request from losing airport concession bidders asking to block the city from finalizing concession deals and stop all work to build out retail and eating establishments on the new international terminal and the rest of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

“It feels good,” the mayor said after Tuesday morning’s media briefing in the new terminal still under construction. “I’m really happy. I feel good today.

By Maria Saporta

A special appeal is being launched to get metro Atlanta’s transit advocates to vote on July 31 when a one percent regional transportation sales tax referendum will be on the ballot.

The “Fast Track Forward Initiative” is being spearheaded by the Livable Communities Coalition thanks to a “generous” $100,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, according to Jim Stokes, interim executive director of the Coalition.

In many ways this is a continuation of a relationship that was formed nearly two years ago when the Rockefeller Foundation gave a $100,000 grant to fund the successful Fair Share for Transit initiative.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta media pioneer and philanthropist Ted Turner has always had a soft place in his heart for chimpanzees, apes and mountain gorillas.

On Wednesday night, Turner put money where his heart is. He announced a $1 million donation to the Atlanta-based Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International to help save endangered gorillas in eastern Congo.

“Our wonderful friend Ted Turner has stepped up to the plate, and he has given the Dian Fossey Fund the largest gift we have ever received, “ said Clare Richardson, president and CEO of the Fossey Fund, at a press conference at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. “Ted you are a hero.”

By Maria Saporta

For Monica Kaufman Pearson, United Way is personal.

Pearson, long-time anchor for WSB-TV, was the keynote speaker Tuesday at United Way of Metro Atlanta’s Tocqueville Society at the Vinings Club.

Her relationship with United Way dates back long before 1988 when she became the first African-American and the second woman to chair Atlanta’s United Way board.

By Maria Saporta

While the Atlanta preservation community is objecting to plans to demolish the historic home of the Atlanta Daily World, the parties behind the application released a lengthy statement Monday evening to present their point of view.

It is a joint statement from Alexis Scott, publisher of Atlanta Daily World and the building’s owner; and Valerie Edwards, an executive with the Integral Group, which wants to redevelop the property.

By Maria Saporta

At the First Monday breakfast of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, Georgia’s top economic development official made a passionate plea for the penny sales tax for regional transportation.

Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said passage of the tax would be key to the state’s ability to attract new companies and jobs over the next decade.

Twelve regions in the state will be voting on July 31 whether to approve the sales tax, which then would build a host of transportation projects in their individual areas.

By Maria Saporta

Tax reform is still top of mind for Georgia House Speaker David Ralston.

Ralston was the breakfast speaker of the Commerce Society Thursday morning, when he provided an overview of what was in the works during this year’s legislative session.

In 2010, Ralston helped establish a Tax Reform council of business leaders and economists to look at how Georgia “could become the most competitive state in the nation in terms of jobs.”

The council went around the state to get public input before putting forth a set of recommendations that were presented to the state legislature for the 2011 session.

By Maria Saporta

A passionate campaign is underway to save the historic Atlanta Daily World building on Auburn Avenue.

The Integral Group has applied for a demolition permit of the Atlanta Daily World building, and the application will be heard at the Atlanta Urban Design Commission meeting on March 28.

Already, the news of the possible demolition has awakened historic preservationists and community activists who are deeply concerned about another legacy building potentially disappearing from Sweet Auburn District.

By Maria Saporta

One of Atlanta’s grand dames — Veronica Biggins — was inducted Tuesday morning into the Atlanta Business League’s Women of Vision Hall of Fame.

The Women of Vision breakfast honored 100 African-American women from Atlanta, but it Biggins who received the top award for her decades of involvement in local business community.

Biggins described her career as having had three different chapters.

By Maria Saporta

The executive committee meeting of the Metro Atlanta Chamber turned into a pep rally to pass the regional one-cent sales tax Thursday morning.

Several of the business executives who have been raising money for the transportation sales tax campaign attended the meeting and urged executive committee members to put a full-court press to get it passed on July 31.

Tom Bell, a past chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, explained that about 350,000 and 400,000 people are expected to vote on the July 31 primary.

“We need to identify 250,000 people who will come out and vote,” Bell said. “We have the capability of doing that.”

By Maria Saporta

Georgia voters are strong believers in water conservation.

That’s the overwhelming sentiment according to a recent survey by the polling firm — The Schapiro Group — which was released today.

Nearly three our of every four Georgians (73 percent) believe that it is very important for people to take steps to conserve water in their homes while another 25 percent think it is somewhat important to take these actions.

By Maria Saporta

Georgia has some catching up to do to re-energize its economy.

Several efforts have been underway to do just that — such as Gov. Nathan Deal’s Competitiveness Initiative and the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s New Economy efforts.

Georgia Forward, a coalition of business, civic and government leaders, also has been shining the spotlight on what the state needs to do to adapt to tomorrow’s economy.

By Maria Saporta

With the launch of Southwest Airlines in Atlanta on Sunday, the company’s executives announced a “LUV Grants for Good” program on Monday where Georgia nonprofits would be able to apply for grants.

Gary Kelly, CEO of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, gave a “sneak peak” of the announcement at a breakfast meeting of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce at the Buckhead Club.

The formal announcement is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday at a press conference with Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Spirit ownership team is doing a fine job overseeing the Atlanta Hawks, according to NBA commissioner David Stern

Stern came to Atlanta Wednesday to see the Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers. Before the game, he held a press briefing, gave a host of one-on-one interviews and spoke to local civic and business leaders at a VIP reception before the game.

The message was the same. The Atlanta Hawks are in good shape. They are no longer for sale. And the Atlanta Spirit is dedicated to the team and to Philips Arena.

By Maria Saporta

Roswell Mayor Jere Wood would like to see metro Atlanta create “a unified transit system” rather than creating another planning agency that would keep the current “multitude of agencies” delivering transit services to the region.

Mayor Wood sent over a “letter to the editor” explaining his position. We thought it would be good to share it with all of you (with just a few stylistic edits).

By Maria Saporta

This story has been updated to include a response from the Atlanta City Council.

It’s a David versus Goliath story — Atlanta style.

On Monday, Matthew Cardinale, news editor of the Atlanta Progressive News website, won a case in the Georgia Supreme Court against the City of Atlanta.

Cardinale, who is not an attorney, filed a case against the Atlanta City Council for failing disclose which council representatives voted for and against an action at a retreat in February 2010. He argued that not disclosing those names was in violation of Georgia’s Open Meetings Act.

To read the ruling, click here.