Category: Latest News

By Maria Saporta

Two bridges were crossed Wednesday evening when the Council for Quality Growth held a reception for all the region’s mayors and county commission chairs at the Georgian Club.

The reception of about 300 people also included dozens of business executives, state elected officials, civic leaders and heads of metro organizations, such as the Atlanta Regional Commission.

The reception helped bridge the divide between leaders from the urban core and those from the suburbs and exurbs. It also helped bridge the divide between the region’s mayors and county

Bad, bad news.

As a prisoner on death row, C-TRAN, the bus service in Clayton County, has lost another appeal to stay alive beyond March 31.

The Federal Transit Administration, in a letter to U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Atlanta) is denying to review of its earlier decision to permit C-TRAN to use a pot of federal funds to turn over some of the bus operation to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority.

Scott had written a letter on March 15 urging the FTA to allow the use of Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Funds to allow GRTA to initiate its Xpress buses on at least some of C-Tran’s routes.

By Maria Saporta

It was an all-star cast that showed at today’s Atlanta Rotary Club meeting.

First, Ted Turner received the Atlanta Rotary’s Legends Award, and he was accompanied by friends and family members.

Second, Donna Hyland, president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, was the keynote speaker attracting her own cadre of friends and associates, including philanthropist Bernie Marcus and her board chair Doug Hertz.

Turner was introduced by his colleague and friend Taylor Glover, president of Turner Enterprises.

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Development Authority — economic development arm of the city of Atlanta — has named an interim president beginning April 1.

Ernestine Garey, who has been ADA’s managing director for housing finance, will fill the position that has been held by Peggy McCormick since March 31. McCormick submitted her resignation today saying her last day on the job will be on March 31. McCormick has worked with the city since 2002 when she serve as co-chair of Mayor Shirley Franklin’s transition team.

Mayor Kasim Reed, who chairs ADA’s

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.”

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is doing all he can to make sure Georgia and her capital city is not forgotten in Washington, D.C.

Recently, it has seemed as though Georgia has ended up with less than its share of federal stimulus dollars, especially where transportation is concerned.

In fact, Georgia was only one of 10 states in the country that did not receive any of the recent round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants.

Georgia submitted 32 applications for TIGER grants including nearly $298

By Maria Saporta

Last Tuesday night, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation invited Richard Louv: author of Last Child in the Woods, as one of its guest speakers.

Louv made a convincing case about how our children are suffering from “nature deficit disorder” as our young spend more and more time with computers, televisions, video games and other electronic devices.

Unfortunately, this is not just an American phenomenon.

“In the United Kingdom, fewer than 10 percent of the kids said they played in natural places,” Louv said, adding that at

By Maria Saporta

The executive committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber was relatively upbeat about this year’s legislative session.

At its meeting this morning, the executive committee heard from Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Tad Leithead, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Both Cagle and Leithead expressed optimism that progress was being made on a transportation funding bill that would allow regions to vote in a one-cent sales tax for their transportation needs.

“The bill has been introduced,” said Bill Linginfelter, the 2010 chair of the Metro

By Maria Saporta

The reception Wednesday evening to welcome Bill McCargo, the new CEO for the Atlanta Education Fund, turned into a commitment ceremony that possible cheating on state test scores would not be tolerated.

“If we do find at any time evidence of any cheating, it will be dealt with swiftly,” Beverly Hall, superintendent for the Atlanta Public Schools, told those attending the reception at the 191 Club. “I’ve based my entire career on honesty.”

John Rice, chairman of the Atlanta Education Fund and a vice chairman of

By Maria Saporta

While the news that Atlanta did not receive any federal funding today for its streetcar project was a let down, several leaders were quick to say that all is not lost.

“We made a valiant effort,” said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, one of the four partners that put together the application for the streetcar. “We all knew it was a long shot.”

Robinson said both former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and current Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed did all they could to make sure the city’s application got a fair

By Maria Saporta

It’s not looking good for Atlanta winning federal funds for its streetcar proposal.

Atlanta had applied for up to $300 million for its streetcar proposal as part of U.S. Department of Transportation $1.5 billion stimulus program.

Hundreds of communities from around the country had applied for the grants, including 32 in Georgia alone.

The grants were to have been announced by today.

News reports from across the country have indicated that many cities already are celebrating for having won a piece of this $1.5 billion

By Maria Saporta

The city of Atlanta and MARTA should find out by Wednesday whether it will receive federal transportation funds for its streetcar proposal.

A public-private partnership between the city, MARTA, Central Atlanta Progress and the Midtown Alliance applied for nearly $300 million to build a streetcar line from Five Points to Midtown, and a line from Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia Aquarium to the King Center.

Atlanta is facing stiff competition because it is one of dozens, if not hundreds, of cities in the running for $1.5 billion to be awarded nationally. As a way to improve its odds, the city’s application had scaled