By Maria Saporta
MACON – A gathering of 200 statewide leaders from all sectors has come to Macon State College for an all-day forum on how to move Georgia forward.
The Georgia Forward Forum has been put together by Atlanta-based Central Atlanta Progress in an inaugural effort to unify the whole state.
Macon Mayor Robert Reichert compared the meeting to the thawing that occurs in the spring.
“Renaissance thinking begins slowly and surely with an increase in warmth and l
Amnesty International is concerned about the impact of the latest federal district court ruling on Georgia death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis.
William Cordery, Amnesty International’s senior development officer for the Southern region, just sent me a press release that has come out of the organization’s Washington office.
Here is the release
(Washington, D.C.) – Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today expressed deep concern that a federal district court decision puts Georgia death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis
By Maria Saporta
It’s been a wonderful summer of music.
And even though the heat of the summer is still with us, I know we’re quickly witnessing the end of our summer music season.
One of my guilty pleasures is going to hear live music — indoors or preferably outdoors. I bought tickets to several shows — and sadly the last concert on my dance card was the Jack Johnson show at the Aaron’s Ampitheatre (or as us natives would say — Lakewood).
It used to be that we would kick off the
By Maria Saporta
The two top candidates for governor each spent a half hour this morning talking to the executive committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber. And both apparently had done their homework.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, who is the Democratic nominee, was the first one to talk to the group of about 25 business leaders at their regular monthly meeting.
His visit was then followed by former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, who is the Republican nominee for governor.
“They are both well-informed, and both
By Maria Saporta
After a year without a permanent director, the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club has hired Colleen Kiernan for that role.
The news was announced in an email from Mark Woodall, chair of the Georgia Chapter, which was distributed more widely in an email from Neill Herring, who handles legislative affairs for the chapter.
Kiernan succeeds Patty Durand, who left the chapter in June, 2009.
Kiernan is no stranger to the Sierra Club
By Maria Saporta
Metro Atlanta finds itself in an awkward position.
For decades, the Atlanta region has had a golden touch — despite up and down economic cycles, it always has managed to grow out of recessions and emerge even stronger.
But this past decade has been different. Metro Atlanta finds itself unable to rebound out of this downturn.
At Databank’s Mid-year Real Estate Symposium Thursday morning, two key
By Maria Saporta
It’s official. The fares for the Xpress bus service are going up.
The board of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority held its board meeting Wednesday afternoon and voted unanimously for a fare increase beginning in October.
People will now be charged based on the distance they travel, which translates into some fares going from $3 a ride to $4. Riders also will no longer have the ability to travel on MARTA for that one fare price. (See Maria’s Metro column).
The reciprocal fare agreement between
By Maria Saporta
If approved by voters in 2012, it is expected that the sales tax would generate about $7 billion over its 10-year life span. So the big test will be how those $7 billion will be invested.
The framework for making those decisions is beginning to come light.
On Thursday, Todd Long, director of planning for the Georgia Department of Transportation, released the “draft” criteria that will be considered in coming up with the project list.
By Maria Saporta
In an effort to focus on the issues rather than prickly politics, the Metro Atlanta Chamber had a Republican gubernatorial forum Tuesday morning and made sure there wasn’t an opportunity for the two run-off candidates to confront each other.
First on stage was former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, who was interviewed by Bill Nigut, a former WSB-TV political journalist who is now the Southeast Regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.
After about 35 minutes of Deal answering
By Maria Saporta
And now for another side of the story.
Last week, a federal jury awareded $17.5 million in damages to Corey Advertising, which had argued that the City of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport illegally awarded an indoor advertising contract to a politically-connected competitor.
But Ben DeCosta, who was general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson when Corey was seeking the advertising contract, sent me an email Monday
By Maria Saporta
On Saturday, a majestic tree on the front lawn of the H.M. Patterson & Sons – Spring Hill Chapel funeral home was cut down — causing grief to those who usually are there to console.
“My heart is aching,” said John Gallatin, funeral director and location manager for H.M. Patterson. “It was one of the three original trees that had been planted in 1928.”
After his father died in 1923, Fred Patterson inherited the business and decided “to construct a funeral home on
By Maria Saporta
The bottom line for Georgia — grow your own.
A new study by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development documents how buying Georgia-grown produce contributes to our economy.
If each of the 3.7 million households in Georgia devoted $10 a week to buying produce grown in the state, it would pump $1.9 billion into Georgia’s
By Maria Saporta
The run-offs are here, and the Atlanta Press Club is ready.
The debate committee met Wednesday to map out a series of nine run-off debates between now and Aug. 8, which is two days before the run-off vote. As a reminder, I chair the APC debate committee.
For those of you who are political junkies and/or believe in being an informed voter, here is our line up.
We will hold four debates this Sunday
By Maria Saporta
Twenty-two debates later.
One of the many hats I wear is chair of the Atlanta Press Club debate committee, a position I’ve held for so long (about 18 years) that I’ve kind of lost track of time.
The Atlanta Press Club partnership with Georgia Public Broadcasting goes back to the days when the studio was on Stewart Avenue (yes, before Stewart Avenue became Metropolitan Parkway).
The relationship and partnership has grown over the years, and now I’m
By Maria Saporta
Political pundits in Georgia agree — John Oxendine, GOP gubernatorial candidate and current insurance commissioner, should not star in his own television commercials.
Oxendine, who has been the front-runner in the highly-contested GOP race for governor, has seen his numbers slip in recent polls, and some are even saying that he may not even make the run-off.
But political pundits (their label) acknowledged, in a panel discussion Wednesday evening at the law offices of McKenna Long & Aldridge, that the race is in a state of flux and that the polling
By Maria Saporta
Another international cargo carrier will begin serving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Asiana Airlines plans to operate a Boeing 747-400 freighter with four flights a week to Seoul, South Korea beginning Sept. 13. Asiana will be the 14th all-cargo carrier to operate out of the Atlanta airport, reflecting the growth of air freight out of Hartsfield-Jackson.
“We are noticing a steady increase in year over year cargo volume,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Tuesday morning at a press conference at the airport.
By Maria Saporta
The Committee for a Better Atlanta has weighed in on the candidates running for the Fulton County Commission, and most of the ones interviewed received scores of either well qualified or excellent.
Four of the 12 candidates running for the Fulton County Commission, however, did not participate in the questionnaires or interviews done by the Committee for a Better Atlanta, which includes executives from local companies and business organizations.
The CBA Voter Guide actually gives each candidate a score based on their
By Maria Saporta
It almost felt as though Erwin Zaban was speaking at his own funeral.
The service for the legendary Atlanta businessman and philanthropist Wednesday afternoon at the Temple had an unusual twist.
The two rabbis who officiated during the service —Alvin Sugarman, rabbi emeritus; and Peter Berg, the senior rabbi — actually read from several letters that Zaban had written to his family and friends about his thoughts of life and love as well as his wishes for his own funeral.
Of course, with his customary sense
By Maria Saporta
It’s the end of era.
I just found out this afternoon that Erwin Zaban, a pillar in the Atlanta business community, has passed away.
The service for Zaban will be at the Temple on Wednesday, July 7 at 2:30 p.m.
How does one begin to explain what an important and enduring role Zaban played in both the Atlanta business community and the Jewish community.
Zaban was instrumental in building one of Atlanta’s iconic public companies — National Service Industries — which at
By Maria Saporta
When Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed made the official announcement Thursday of the Midtown Festival of the Arts, it appeared that a significant shift was underway.
All indications at the press conference showed that the City of Atlanta is welcoming an arts festival rather than putting up obstacles to prevent it from happening.
Reed told organizers of the Midtown Festival that he was pleased to lend his support and encouragement to the community-led initiative. The annual debut of the festival will be Sept. 25
