If you want to gauge the temperature of the current political climate, ask veteran Republican political operative Brian Robinson. He is not shy when it comes to talking about Georgia and national politics. Robinson worked on Capitol Hill for former Republican Congressmen Phil Gingrey and Lynn Westmoreland. He served as former Gov. Nathan Deal’s deputy […]
Posts
Posted inDemocracy
Metro Atlanta election workers mount David-and-Goliath fight against debunked claims
Two metro Atlanta elections workers are taking on some of the nation’s most influential disseminators of misinformation. Shaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, have just filed their second defamation lawsuit this month, alleging they were falsely accused of committing ballot fraud–this time against a far-right cable news outlet, its executives, and Rudy Guiliani, New York City’s […]
Posted inColumns
‘Adaptive reuse’ of older buildings adapts to pandemic real estate trends
“Adaptive reuse” – the repurposing of older buildings for modern uses – is doing some successful adapting itself as the pandemic shakes up real estate. The urban trend is spreading into suburbs, remaking troubled malls and hotels, and the surge in industrial uses like delivery-oriented ghost kitchens.
Posted inLatest News
New Atlanta City Council faces tree protection, waste fees, housing density, more
The incoming Atlanta City Council is to face two thorny issues the past council voted in December to punt to the city’s new leadership: Tree protection and solid waste fees.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta City Councilmember Westmoreland comes out as gay
Atlanta City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland has come out as gay on the eve of his second term in office.
Posted inColumns
Congress must pass immigration relief now to unite communities, raise economic growth
By Guest Columnist ANTONIO MOLINA, chairman, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
As a U.S. Navy Veteran, a community leader here in the state of Georgia, and current chairman of the board for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I am incredibly proud of the progress that the Latino community has made across the nation and the Peach state.
Posted inLatest News
Buckhead City opponent criticizes reporting of Atlanta bond sale by SaportaReport
A founder of an organization opposed to Buckhead cityhood has criticized a story that appeared in “SaportaReport” concerning Atlanta’s sale of bonds this month with terms that contain a poison pill for the cityhood movement.
Posted inUncategorized
Neighbors for a United Atlanta, Inc. criticizes story on bond sale, offers alternate view
By MICHAEL HANDELMAN, CFA, executive director, Neighbors for a United Atlanta, Inc. “Buckhead cityhood effort does not seem to cause hike in Atlanta’s borrowing costs,” reported a Dec. 20 article by the “Saporta Report’s” David Pendered. This headline was based on a single point-in-time comparison between recent sales of government bonds by the City of […]
Posted inLatest News
Who should plan the park next to Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center?
Planning for Atlanta’s public safety training center is increasingly focused on adjacent parkland with no clear authority and no communication with groups who will include the green space in a South River Forest input process launching in January.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta’s pioneering construction and demolition of public housing the focus of markers, exhibit
Atlanta has played a key role in America’s history of affordable housing: It was the city that pioneered federally funded public housing complexes – and also was the first to demolish them all.
Posted inColumns
Eleanor Ringel’s ‘Top Ten’ movies of 2021
Having spewed out 10-Best lists for almost three decades at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and around a decade or so at the Atlanta Business Chronicle and, of course – the Saporta Report (my personal fave), I could probably make a 10-Best list of my 10-Best lists.
Posted inThought Leadership
MARTA Encourages Survey Participation to Collect Feedback On Bus Network Redesign
MARTA is encouraging participation in an online survey that will ultimately inform a redesign of its bus network. In the survey, MARTA riders and potential customers will be asked if they prefer to have buses arrive more frequently on fewer routes or less frequently on more routes. The concepts presented in the survey are hypothetical and […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Restoration of “uninhabitable” Forest Cove apartments could start in January
The desperately needed restoration of the Forest Cove apartment complex could finally be on the horizon, project officials say. For years, residents of the Southside Atlanta community have complained of pests, mold, trash, and crime that have made the property virtually “uninhabitable.” On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Forest Cove’s owner and manager Millennia Housing Management (MHM) told Atlanta Civic Circle that the […]
Posted inDemocracy
Election workers sue right-wing website, recall year of threats
The last year has been agonizing for Fulton County election worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, after working for the local elections office during the 2020 presidential election. That decision upended their lives. The women and their famiy have been subjected to a barrage of death threats, harassing phone calls and emails […]
Posted inLatest News
Mayor-elect Dickens announces inaugural weekend activities leading to Jan. 3 swearing-in
Mayor-elect Andre Dickens has announced a weekend of volunteer activities and prayer leading up to his Jan. 3 inauguration at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.
Posted inLatest News
Alex Garvin: Urban planner whose 2004 study shapes Atlanta BeltLine
Alex Garvin died last week as an advocate of two issues shaping Atlanta – the Atlanta BeltLine and efforts to ease the shortage of housing.
Posted inLatest News
Miracle mom and calf, North American right whales, spotted off Georgia’s coast
Snow Cone the right whale has been spotted with her calf off the coast of Cumberland Island, still entangled in the fishing gear she’s dragged all the way from Massachusetts.
Posted inLatest News
Reporter’s Notebook: Hoping for snow this weekend? No dice.
As the Omicron variant spreads and COVID-19 cases increase around the metro area, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has reinstated a city-wide mask mandate for indoor public spaces. The City of Atlanta is back to the yellow zone of its reopening plan, which calls for “limited industries [to] resume operations with severe restrictions.” Mayor-elect Andre […]
Posted inAtlanta Civic Circle, Housing Affordability
Still chipping away at backlog, state denies almost half of rental assistance applicants
While the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) wades through its backlog of roughly 33,000 emergency rental assistance (ERA) applications, the state agency is denying nearly as many applicants as it’s approving. As of early December, the DCA had received nearly 50,000 applications for federal rental aid. It had processed just over 16,000 of them—less […]
Posted inDemocracy
Ongoing demand for election documents keep county election officials trapped in 2020
While all political eyes and efforts are focused on the upcoming 2022 midterms, Douglas County elections supervisor Milton Kidd and his staff are trapped in 2020. Every week for the last year, the Douglas elections office has been fielding at least three or four requests, mostly from out-of-town individuals or groups, looking “for every piece […]
