Original Story on WABE By Maria Saporta Play Audio Dr. Wood Smethurst, cofounder of the Ben Franklin Academy and one of the most progressive leaders in Atlanta’s education circles, died July 14. He left behind a legacy of humanity and hope, something celebrated by those who attended his memorial service last weekend. At the end […]
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Atlanta’s new soccer team could be symbol for unity
Original Story on WABE By MARIA SAPORTA Play Audio Soccer fans still have to wait about a year and a half before they will be able to go to a match to see Atlanta’s pro team at the new downtown stadium. But when owner Arthur Blank officially unveiled the team’s new name – Atlanta United FC – […]
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Fate of Atlanta Hawks still unclear with new team ownership
Original Story on WABE By MARIA SAPORTA Play Audio The new principal owner of the Atlanta Hawks, Tony Ressler, closed the deal on the city’s professional basketball team on June 24. At his first press conference, 24 hours later, the Los Angeles businessman said the team would now speak with one voice … a marked contrast to […]
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Atlanta vying for more federal funds to extend Streetcar line
Original Story on WABE By MARIA SAPORTA Play Audio The city of Atlanta is applying for a $29.3 million federal TIGER 7 grant to extend the Atlanta Streetcar to the BeltLine. Although Atlanta will be facing tough competition for those federal dollars, city leaders believe they have a good case. The city has been pretty successful […]
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Achieve Atlanta seeks to boost city’s graduation rate
Original Story on WABE Play Audio Maria Saporta of the Saporta Report explains Achieve Atlanta to WABE’s Amy Kiley. A new program called Achieve Atlanta aims to improve the college graduation rate for Atlanta Public Schools students. Maria Saporta gives WABE’s Amy Kiley an overview of $20 million initiative to WABE’s Amy Kiley.
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Georgia hoping General Electric will call state its home
Original Story on WABE By MARIA SAPORTA Play Audio General Electric Co. has set up a committee to explore moving its corporate headquarters out of Connecticut, following the legislature’s decision to increase taxes on the state’s major businesses. Georgia leaders quickly expressed interesting in having GE relocate to the Peach State – to join the growing number […]
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Atlanta’s new planning commissioner should be allowed to plan
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced May 28 that he has selected Tim Keane of Charleston, South Carolina, as his new commissioner of planning and community development.
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Former Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. not romanticized in new film
By Maria Saporta Original story on WABE Play Audio A new documentary takes a look at the life of a former Atlanta mayor. Fifty years ago, he gained national standing as a man of courage. Ivan Allen Jr. was the only elected leader from the South to testify in Congress for the integration of all […]
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Fortune 500 has no female CEO from Georgia – yet
By Maria Saporta Original Story on WABE Play Audio Few people have even heard of the company Veritiv. But by next year, it will become one of Atlanta’s best-known companies. That’s because it will have the first woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company based in Georgia. When the company eventually is included on the […]
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Atlanta leaders travel to Canada for ideas exchange
More than 100 Atlanta leaders are in Toronto, Canada this week. It’s part of the annual LINK exchange – when municipal heads travel to other cities to meet the people who run them. Maria Saporta of the Saporta Report is in Toronto with the delegation. She told Amy Kiley what Atlanta leaders are learning up North. […]
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Atlanta’s clock ticking to make peace for Nobel Peace Summit
Original Story by Maria Saporta on WABE Play Audio Atlanta has until May 9 to make peace for a peace summit set to take place this November. The international body that selects cities to host the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates met in Rome over the weekend and issued a statement. All the parties in Atlanta […]
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NCR’s virtual shareholders meeting has real-world implications
Original Story by Maria Saporta on WABE Play Audio When NCR ─ a Fortune 500 company based in Gwinnett County ─ held its annual meeting last Wednesday, the only way one could participate was online. It’s the first time in Georgia’s history a major public company held a virtual annual meeting. So NCR shareholders were […]
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Delta Air Lines gets no love from 2015 Georgia Legislature
Original Story by Maria Saporta on WABE Play Audio Delta Air Lines employs 33,000 people in Georgia ─ more than any other company in the state. But that didn’t stop state lawmakers from punishing Delta’s outspoken CEO. The legislature voted to reinstate a jet fuel tax on Delta. Why? To teach CEO Richard Anderson a […]
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Georgia’s electric vehicle market hits legislative potholes
Original Story by Maria Saporta on WABE Play Audio Georgia rarely ranks as one of the top states in the country for something positive. But with electric vehicles, Georgia has been leading the way. Mayor Kasim Reed boasted that last year we were first in America in the sale of the plug-in Nissan Leaf. Electric […]
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Free ATL Streetcar rides make economic sense
Original Story by Maria Saporta on WABE.
The Atlanta Streetcar. People instantly have an opinion ─ regardless of the facts. Some call it a boondoggle. Others say it doesn’t go where they want to go.
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Commentary: Free Atlanta Streetcar rides make economic sense
The Atlanta Streetcar. People instantly have an opinion ─ regardless of the facts.
Some call it a boondoggle. Others say it doesn’t go where they want to go. Inevitably the conversation will go to the $92 million cost to build the 2.7-mile loop that connects Centennial Olympic Park with the King Center through the heart of downtown Atlanta.
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City Of Atlanta pulls support for Nobel Peace Prize Summit
Original Story on WABE Maria Saporta speaks with WABE’s Amy Kiley about the city’s pullout from summit preparations. More than 20 Nobel Peace Prize laureates are scheduled to meet in Atlanta this November, but it looks like city leaders won’t be in the welcome party. Mayor Kasim Reed has withdrawn the city of Atlanta’s involvement in […]
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CARE CEO Helene Gayle is leaving Atlanta but leaving an impact
By Maria Saporta Original Story on WABE Play Audio We are losing one of our leading advocates for making Atlanta a center for global health and development: Helene Gayle. Gayle has been the CEO of CARE for the past nine years. She announced in October 2014 she was leaving the international relief and poverty fighting organization […]
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Clayton County MARTA Could Be Big Economic Generator
By MARIA SAPORTA Original Story on WABE In one short year, Clayton County has gone from being the Atlanta region’s ugly duckling to its beautiful new swan. The reason is simple. MARTA. On March 21, MARTA will launch its first three bus routes in Clayton, and more bus lines will be added in August and in […]
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Remembering Don Keough, former president of the Coca-Cola Co.
By Maria Saporta >> Original Story from WABE They just don’t make them like they used to. Don Keough’s services attracted an overflowing crowd of admirers – including Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, Roger Goodell, Chicago’s Richard Daley, Sam Nunn, Louis Sullivan and top leaders from around the world. Why? For many, Keough was the human face of […]
