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Posted inDavid Pendered

Proposal: Give Atlanta mayor direct control of city’s arts programs

by David Pendered

Atlanta's Office of Cultural Affairs would be moved into the mayor's office under a proposal now pending before the Atlanta City Council.

The office currently is located in the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. The office is headed by Camille Russell Love, who reports to parks Commissioner George Dusenbury. Dusenbury reports to Atlanta COO Duriya Faroqui, who reports to the mayor.

Reed is an outspoken advocate of public arts programs and has provided city funding of the arts despite the recession. The Office of Cultural Affairs oversees Atlanta’s most prominent arts programs, including the 36th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival – for which Reed hosted a preview party at Loews Hotel.

Posted inLatest News

Metro Atlanta Chamber President Sam Williams to retire by year’s end

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

After 17 years as president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Sam A. Williams told the organization’s executive committee at a specially-called meeting Tuesday morning that he will retire at the end of the year or when his replacement is hired.

Williams, 68, has been one of the leading voices of the Atlanta business community for decades — at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, three years as president of Central Atlanta Progress and 22 years at the Portman Companies.

In his role as president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Williams has been instrumental in a number of civic initiatives — helping save Grady Hospital; working to change the Georgia flag; meeting the standards of the Clean Water Act; trying to reduce congestion and increase investment in transportation; revamping the region’s economic development strategies; improving the area’s quality of life; and trying to improve the outcomes of students attending public schools.

Posted inLatest News

National Public Radio seeks to bolster its journalistic voice across country

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

National Public Radio is committed to living up to the “national” part of its name.

That was one of the messages that Gary Knell, president and CEO of NPR, shared with the Rotary Club of Atlanta during his talk on Monday.

“When you have journalists based only in Washington and New York, you are not hearing what is going on in the country,” Knell said. “We are going to rely more on our partners like WABE. We have got an army of 1,200 journalists around the country at 270 stations.”

Knell said NPR already has become a powerful force in the field of journalism. It has 38 million listeners per week, which is more than the subscribers of 78 of nation’s top newspapers combined.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

Krog Tunnel’s avant garde shows celebrate history, music and art

by Michelle Hiskey

In Atlanta last Wednesday, an eclectic homage to the “Rite of Spring” ballet unfolded in the century-old Krog Street tunnel, best known as an elaborately graffiti’d passageway between Inman Park and Cabbagetown. Dance, jazz and movies projected onto the bright painted artwork celebrated Igor Stravinsky and his transformation of modern dance.

Billed as “Le Sacre du Krog,” the cacophonous performance was the latest incarnation of a monthly series of performances on the edge of DeKalb Avenue leading to Cabbagetown. Beginning next week, creators Brian Bannon and Bill Taft are scheduled to debut “Krog!,” a “best of” their Krog Street performances at Theatrical Outfit in the Atlanta Fringe Festival.

“It gives us a chance to present stories, photos and music from a year-and-a-half of Krog shows at a more comfortable theatre setting,” said Bannon. “With bathrooms and everything.”

Posted inDavid Pendered

Kennesaw State devises degree program to provide training in culinary sustainability industry

by David Pendered

Kennesaw State University is starting a new degree program in culinary sustainability that will teach best management practices for the food service industry.

The new program, reinforced by two sustainability awards in May from the National Restaurant Association, is part of KSU’s effort to establish its place in leadership training for nation’s $632 billion marketplace of restaurants.

“We’re all fighting for the same consumers,” said Christian Hardigree, who devised the curriculum. “The question is: How can we do things that are more efficient, more effective, and that improve the bottom line?”

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Shawn Wilson was happy in his job, until Moment a mentor took him personally to enroll in college

Avatar photo by adminmegan

Long before Shawn Wilson began traveling the world as head of the New Look Foundation of renowned Atlanta musician Usher, meeting celebrities and establishing a successful youth leadership program, he was dodging his college application and working at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin YMCA.

Instead of filling out college applications when he was graduating from high school, Shawn began working as the Aquatic Coordinator at the YMCA. At 19 years old, he liked being in charge of the pool and making good money. Yet, despite how hard he tried to justify his decision to put it off applying to college, he eventually decided to – thanks to a Moment forced on him by a YMCA member in one of his water aerobics classes.

Posted inTom Baxter

Austin is keeping it weird — and so should we

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

My colleague, Maria Saporta, recently visited Houston with a group of civic leaders and reported on that sprawling megalopolis beside which we often measure ourselves. Today we'll take a less formal look at another Texas city to which we need to pay attention.

If Houston is your uncle who got rich developing shopping centers back in the '80s, Austin is your nephew who just made a fortune on an Internet startup.

Until recently, the Texas capital's explosive growth has been overshadowed by its neighbors, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. But in this year's Forbes listing of the fastest growing cities in the country, it elbowed past its Texas rivals to take the No. 1 spot. And it's quality growth: Austin was the only U.S. city to make a 2010 ranking of the world's most dynamic cities, based on growth in employment and income.

Austin may still cultivate a small-town image, but the metro area passed a fateful milestone over the weekend, when its telephone service was shifted to a 10-digit dialing system.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Column: Kelly Dolan picked to lead Atlanta Women’s Foundation

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, May 31, 2013

The Atlanta Women’s Foundation was in no hurry to hire a new executive director when Barbara Mosacchio moved to Chicago last July.

Instead the board decided to look at every aspect of the foundation — its mission, its strategic direction, its fundraising, its grantmaking and its greatest potential — before designing a wish list of the person who could best lead the influential organization.

“We’ve been calling it our ‘year zero,’ ” said Danita Knight, who has been serving as board chair during this process. “The final piece was hiring an outstanding person as our executive director.”

The board of Atlanta Women’s Foundation has named Kelly Dolan, a longtime Atlanta nonprofit executive, as its new executive director beginning July 1.

Posted inSaba Long

Downtown Atlanta developing into both a community and an amenity

by Saba Long

“Patience, grasshopper,” was the tone last week at an Urban Land Institute (ULI) panel discussion titled “Downtown: Community or Amenity?”

Downtown Atlanta is most often seen as a tourist center within the city’s largest central business district — but a further look reveals there is more than meets the eye.

According to Central Atlanta Progress (CAP), compared to the rest of the city, downtown has the largest concentration of jobs, the largest share of college students, and with five hospitals, is the medical hub of Atlanta.

In its four square miles, are a number of distinct communities including Fairlie-Poplar, Luckie-Marietta and South Downtown. Census data reflects a 48 percent increase in the average family income of downtown residents over the past decade– which should be a clear sign of the need to cater to the needs of the community.

Posted inMaria's Metro

Passenger trains essential to plans for downtown multimodal terminal station

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

To those who want to start writing an obituary on plans to bring passenger trains to the heart of downtown Atlanta — not so fast.

The naysayers were quick to declare the inevitable death to the long-planned Multimodal Passenger Terminal that’s to be built in “the Gulch” — an area that encompasses several blocks south of Five Points.

The Norfolk-Southern railroad sent a letter to the Georgia Department of Transportation in early May saying that because of anticipated growth in freight traffic, it does not expect to have sufficient capacity on its rail lines to accommodate passenger rail to serve the MMPT.

First of all, let me express my disappointment in the tone of the letter that Norfolk-Southern sent to the Georgia DOT. The letter makes it sound as though it has closed the door to passenger rail serving downtown Atlanta.

Posted inDavid Pendered

As Cheshire Bridge debate roils, a project advances for improving West End near new Falcons stadium

by David Pendered

The proposal to close strip clubs and other “adult-oriented businesses” along Cheshire Bridge Road isn’t the only urban renewal issue facing the Atlanta City Council Monday.

Also on the agenda is a small item that has become part of a much bigger picture – the potential for community renewal in neighborhoods near the future Falcons stadium.

The small item is a proposal to spend $460,617 to continue making it more pleasant to walk between the Atlanta University Center and West End. Incidentally, West End is the first commercial district south of the new stadium and is located closer to the stadium than Atlantic Station.

Posted inGuest Column

Watch out Atlanta and Georgia — we can see Charlotte and North Carolina coming up fast in our rearview mirror

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist JANICE L. MATHIS, vice president of legal affairs for the Rainbow Push Coalition in Atlanta

I confess to bias toward North Carolina. My mom went to North Carolina Agriculture & Technical University (A & T) at a time when higher education opportunities for African American women were miniscule.

My dad helped send Jesse Jackson to A & T. Watching ACC basketball was not a small factor in choosing Duke University. Research Triangle Park, former North Carolina Gov. Terry Sanford, summers during high school at Bennett College all leave me favorably predisposed toward North Carolina.

But early on I also heard the siren song of Atlanta. Daddy went to graduate school at Atlanta University. We rode the train from Greenville to visit him. We stayed and ate at Paschal’s Motor Hotel and Restaurant. It was magical.

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta Braves honor sports and Civil Rights legends at Heritage event

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Another great Atlanta tradition is born.

The Atlanta Braves on Friday launched the beginning of the team’s first-ever Heritage Weekend (May 31 to June 2) as a way to pay tribute to its home city’s Civil Rights legacy.

And the opening luncheon did not disappoint with the presence of legends who broke racial barriers in the world of sports and society in general.

In 2011 and 2012, the Atlanta Braves hosted the Civil Rights Game. But this year, Braves decided to expand the idea into an annual Heritage Weekend and to pay tribute to the team’s own icon — Hank Aaron — with the Hank Aaron Champion for Justice Award.

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

‘After Earth’ — Real life father and son, Will and Jaden Smith, return to earth 1,000 years from now

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

“After Earth” is a simple (some might say, simple-minded) film with complex baggage.

Let’s start with the star package: Will Smith and his teenage son, Jaden.

Nepotism is a tricky thing, almost insidiously so. Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, have long ago proved their devotion to family. Remember when they left the Oscars to be with their sick daughter?

Their son, Jaden, has wanted a movie career for some time now. The first time I saw him on screen, he was uncomfortably paired on stage with Justin Bieber in the documentary “Never Say Never.” Their interaction — or rather, lack thereof — came off as disastrously inappropriate, overlaid with the moneyed whiff of a behind-the-scenes deal. The pair seemed wary of each other, as if they both knew all they had to do was make it through this one performance and that was that.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta Streetcar attracts firms interested in contract to start service April 30, 2014; bids due June 28

by David Pendered

Representatives of six transit operating companies that want to run the Atlanta Streetcar took a walking tour of the route Thursday.

The companies attended a pre-proposal conference conducted by MARTA to introduce the streetcar to the market of companies that have expressed an interest in operating and maintaining the service through March 2018. Bids are due June 28.

MARTA intends for the contract operator of the streetcar to start work around Sept. 15 and to begin providing passenger service on or about Jan. 12, 2014, according to a schedule included in the request for proposals.

Posted inLatest News

A true preservation victory as Randolph-Lucas house gets new life

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Rarely do preservation stories in Atlanta end up with happy endings.

But that’s exactly the happy fate of the historic Randolph-Lucas house — a 1924 home in south Buckhead — that has been threatened with demolition several times in recent years.

The solution? The house will be moved from its current location at Peachtree Road and Lindbergh Drive to Atlanta’s Ansley Park neighborhood to a vacant lot at 78 Peachtree Circle later this summer.

The home is being saved thanks to an extraordinary effort that has taken place bettween a host of partners — especially the Buckhead Heritage Society and the new owners of the home — Christoper Jones and Roger Smith, founder of NewTown Partners. They will be returning the mansion to its residential roots for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Cousins Properties starts a high rise in Austin in push to boost its number of holdings beyond metro Atlanta

by David Pendered

Cousins Properties, Inc. has broken ground on a 29-story office tower in downtown Austin.

Cousins is a bellwether Atlanta real estate firm that has said it intends to reduce the proportion of Atlanta properties in its portfolio. Evidently, Texas is a favorite locale, as Cousins purchased an office tower in Austin this year with a portion of the $165 million it raised in an April 12 stock sale.

Two tenants have committed to the new building – a 371,000-square-foot, class A structure designed by the same firm based in Durham, N.C. that is designing a second tower for Cox Enterprises. The cost of the new building was not released.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Column: Atlanta architect John Portman to receive Four Pillar Award

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, May 24, 2013

Internationally renowned architect and developer John Portman will receive the prestigious 2013 Four Pillar Award from the Council for Quality Growth.

Portman will receive the award on Oct. 10 at a dinner at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta — a trend-setting hotel that he designed — with its unique indoor atrium. It’s a building that launched the Hyatt hotel chain and a building that gave Portman international fame.

But to describe Portman as just an architect or developer is only providing two sides of a multifaceted artist and entrepreneur.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta’s planned homeless program raises issues of profits for providers, moving homeless west of downtown

by David Pendered

Who will profit from Atlanta’s new programs to reduce homelessness? Will the homeless be moved to dwellings in blighted neighborhoods west of downtown Atlanta? What will happen to the homeless shelter at the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets?

These central questions arose in a discussion Tuesday about Atlanta’s proposal to create a non-profit organization to take over the city’s federal and state funding that’s intended to reduce homelessness.

No solid answers were provided before the proposal to create the non-profit was approved unanimously by the Atlanta City Council’s Community Development Committee and sent to the council for a vote June 3. The mayor retains considerable influence over the planned non-profit.

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