Home » Posts

Posts

Posted inSaba Long

In our quest for justice, let’s not ignore the U.S. Constitution

by Saba Long

After the bomb blasts, the graphic photos of dismembered runners being carried to medics leaving behind a red-stained Boylston Street, and the subsequent manhunt for the two brothers who brazenly committed a grim act of terror, only one thought remains in the minds of the American public.

Bring Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to justice.

It has only taken a few days for our political leaders to find a way to divide a virtually unanimous public. We want justice while it seems they want talking points. The primary question at hand is should the United States treat Dzhokhar as an unlawful enemy combatant under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 or receive the legal rights granted a naturalized American citizen.

Posted inLatest News

Celebrating ‘Earth Day’ with good news blowin’ in the wind

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The environment certainly seemed to be front and center on everyone’s mind on April 22 — the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day.

Georgia Power announced that it had reached a deal to import wind energy from Oklahoma to Georgia by 2016. The move was applauded by several environmental organizations across the states — groups that don’t often find themselves on the same side as Georgia Power.

“We applaud Georgia Power for taking a strong step forward on 21st century clean energy solutions,” said Colleen Kiernan, director of the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

Astronaut’s visit, kids’ space dreams boost Fernbank and NASA

by Michelle Hiskey

Midway through last week’s brutality and mayhem, 200 people got a radically different global perspective when astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson showed up at the Fernbank Science Center in northeast Atlanta. NASA has a mission to reach far into the universe; Fernbank’s is to spark the imaginations of children and instill a passion for science. Both are trying to preserve their missions for future generations amid an ever-present threat of budget cuts, and an Evening with an Astronaut night was their combined effort.

Dyson described peering out of the cupola of the International Space Station to the blue-marble Earth and her eyes filling with tears. But tears don’t fall in space. Hers stuck to her eyeballs. Through that film, her view of our planet and its people deepened, to greater care and hope.

Posted inMaria's Metro

Making peace with our Olympic legacy

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

As Atlanta’s Olympic flame flickered at the end of the Summer of 1996, I began to see the painted bright blue line that marked the route of the Olympic marathon fade with the passage of time.

It would have been so simple for Atlanta to have repainted that line — keeping that small part of our Olympic legacy ingrained on our city’s streets, in our minds and in our hearts.

Seventeen years later and Atlanta is still wrestling with its Olympic identity and legacy.

Several events this past week caused those mixed emotions to bubble back up to our city’s surface.

On a high note, the creation of Centennial Olympic Park transformed a section of downtown that had been littered with vacant buildings and surface parking lots into one of the liveliest destinations in the city surrounded by top attractions and new developments.

Posted inDavid Pendered

American Rivers lists Flint River among country’s most endangered

by David Pendered

The Flint River ranks second on the list of the country’s most-endangered rivers, according to the latest ranking by American Rivers, a 40-year-old organization that works to protect waterways.

The Flint made the list for the same reason cited when it was included on the “Dirty Dozen” list compiled last year by the Georgia Water Coalition – poor water management.

The two reports essentially oppose the state’s plans for the Flint River, which have the stated aim of providing water at affordable prices. The river groups contend the plans will further reduce water flow in the Flint, harming living creatures and threatening the recreation-based economy of regions that rely on the river and its tributaries.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

CEO Larry Gellerstedt: Cousins Properties back to playing offense

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Doug Sams and Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 19, 2013

Almost four years after he took over running Cousins Properties Inc., CEO Larry Gellerstedt believes the Atlanta real estate company is once again playing offense.

Gellerstedt cites the company’s recent public offering of more than 14 million shares as proof. It raised about $165 million in net proceeds, a large portion of which is set aside to help finance the acquisition of 816 Congress Avenue, an Austin, Texas, office tower.

Posted inGuest Column

Atlanta region’s housing rebound poised to have a green energy glow

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist LUIS IMERY, president and CEO of the Imery Group, a full-service construction, green rating and real estate group

The housing industry is showing signs of recovery, but it will never be the same.

I’m not referring to the size of the industry — though it’s unlikely we’ll reach again the tremendous volume of construction that took place in Atlanta before the Great Recession. I’m referring to the product. The new homes themselves will certainly never be the same. They’ll be much better.

The National Association of Home Builders says single-family housing starts have risen steadily since January 2011, a figure that supports McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2013 Construction Outlook, which predicts a 21 percent year-over-year growth in new single-family homes.

Posted inTom Baxter

We have more to fear than fear itself: The news and the events of the week

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

For modern-day philosophers contemplating the nature of news, last week provided a gruesome laboratory. News, we must posit first, is not events. It is the way that we react to events.

Last week an explosion strong enough to generate a mushroom cloud ripped apart a Texas town, killing at least 14 and injuring 200 more. Authorities intercepted letters containing a deadly poison, intended for the president of the United States and a U.S. senator from Mississippi. A justice of the peace and his wife were arrested in Texas and charged with three murders which had widely been attributed to a violent prison gang.

Of course, it was none of these stories which were the biggest news of the week, but the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon which killed three people and injured more than 130, and the dramatic manhunt which followed.

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta BeltLine Inc. releases names of the five finalists for next CEO

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Five candidates have been named as finalists to become president and CEO of the Atlanta BeltLine Inc. (ABI) — three from Atlanta and two from outside the state.

The Atlanta BeltLine executive committee selected the five finalists on April 10 in a closed session, but the names were not made public until eight days later because they had to make sure to touch all the bases, according to people involved in the search. The Korn/Ferry International firm assisted in the search on a pro bono basis.

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

‘Trance’ – talented director with outstanding cast still disappoints

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

There is nothing like a good heist movie, and “Trance,” I’m afraid, is nothing like a good heist movie.

True, it begins with a clever bit of chicanery at a high-end auction. A priceless Goya is up for bids when the alarm system sounds.

A trusted employee, Simon (the ever-good James McAvoy), heroically tries to foil the thieves. In the process, he suffers a head wound.

As often happens in this sort of picture, Simon is actually an accomplice. But the knock on the head has messed things up…in his head. Which messes up everything else.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta’s moment of silence for Boston after the attack

by David Pendered

Atlantans are paying quiet respects to Boston following the explosions during the Boston Marathon.

Artist Walter Cumming was watching the event live on an internet feed, drawing during the race, and posted drawings from his sketchbook scant hours after the blasts. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed issued a statement. MARTA and other agencies advised that security has been increased, including what appear to be additional patrol cars parked near the state Capitol.

On Thursday, Atlanta Councilmember H. Lamar Willis intends to honor Boston’s victims with a moment of silence before his weekly run/walk, which he does with city employees.

Posted inLatest News

Ben Bernanke praises Tom Cousins, East Lake, Purpose Built Communities

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

One can add Ben Bernanke, president of the Federal Reserve Bank, to the list of people in admiration of Tom Cousins.

Although most people in Atlanta know Tom Cousins as a real estate leader and developer who founded Cousins Properties, Cousins has gained national notoriety for his philanthropic efforts in the redevelopment of the East Lake Community.

At the Federal Reserve System’s Community Affairs Research Conference in Washington, D.C. on April 12, Bernanke’s speech showcased Cousins and his foundation’s redevelopment of East Lake as a national model of lifting a community in a holistic way.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Column: Wells Fargo commits $2 million to Woodruff for teen arts

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 12, 2013

In one of the more novel gifts that the Woodruff Arts Center has ever received, Wells Fargo is committing $2 million over the next five years to create a teen outreach initiative that will cross all four of the center’s divisions.

The first annual Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program — which will involve a two-day “teen takeover” of the Woodruff Center campus on April 26 and 27, will involve an American Idol-like competition for best Atlanta talent on Friday night as well as live music, dancing, workshops and other entertainment on Saturday.

Posted inLatest News

Delta Air Lines’ gravity pulled MLT Vacations headquarters to Atlanta

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

More than a year ago, Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson believed that having MLT Vacations under its own roof rather than in Minnesota made great business sense.

So on Wednesday afternoon, Anderson and Gov. Nathan Deal cut the ribbon on MLT Vacations new headquarters on the campus of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. The move has meant 100 new jobs in Atlanta so far with the promise of more to come, according to John Caldwell, president of MLT Vacations, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

“I was very involved,” Anderson said. “We took the decision that they were going to move here.

Posted inDavid Pendered

As feds probe possible fraud in Atlanta’s workforce agency, Invest Atlanta steps into void

by David Pendered

Invest Atlanta, the city’s development arm, plans to hire a consultant next month to sharpen Atlanta’s workforce development strategy.

The project is moving forward as the federal Department of Labor weighs evidence of possible fraud in the federally funded Atlanta Workforce Development Agency. The agency’s budget approaches $10 million a year.

Invest Atlanta distributed a request for proposals regarding the workforce strategy on March 4, according to a schedule contained in the RFP. That was a month after the Feb. 4 release of a city audit that revealed the evidence of possible fraud and recommended Atlanta’s workforce agency be discontinued.

Posted inSaba Long

Peach Pundit helping Republicans find a pragmatic voice in local politics

by Saba Long

Atlanta politicos sometimes forget Republicans live, work and play in the city and also vote in municipal elections.

During the 2009 City Council elections, Peach Pundit, a right-leaning political blog I had been following for a while, had a “meet and greet” in Midtown, and only one candidate attended. That candidate ended up making a solid impression on the group of Republicans present, including Charlie Harper, the blog’s editor.

In a sea of partisan pandering, Harper is often a lone voice of reason — ready to call either side out on their respective shenanigans. Recently, he’s admonished Better Georgia, a progressive organization, for calling on Gov. Nathan Deal to publicly support Wilcox County’s first integrated prom.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

In pollen season, Kirkwood’s old-school carwash hums

by Michelle Hiskey

Monday marked nine straight days in Atlanta of extremely high (over 1500) pollen counts. You can’t avoid the blanket of yellow green dust covering the city.

For Stuart Brady, the plague of pollen on our cars is almost a biblical call to atone through what his business serves: lots of water and your own elbow grease. At his Kirkwood Car Wash, three words preach from the shingled roof: “Honor Thy Auto.”

These days, the ka-ching of tokens in the self-serve machines is the reason Brady calls pollen “gold dust.” It also gives him hope that his slice of Americana might survive the relentless redevelopment that Atlanta is known for.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Falcons stadium: An uphill fight to right a community beset by wrongs

by David Pendered

“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

That sentence, popularized by President Reagan, could well sum up the first challenge facing the effort to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods around the future Falcons stadium.

From the 2006 shooting death of Kathryn Johnston by Atlanta police during a botched drug raid, to the cheating scandal that touched Bethune Elementary School, to recurrent flooding problems – the neighborhoods of English Avenue and Vine City have seen plenty of efforts to help them either go no where or go awry.

Neighborhood residents have their own share of problems, as well.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Cancer diagnosis led Atlanta INtown owner Wendy Binns, husband to adopt son from the Congo

Avatar photo by adminmegan

In September of 2011 at age 36, Wendy Binns was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma – breast cancer. At that Moment, the owner and publisher of Atlanta INtown newspaper joined the ranks of more than 200,000 other women – including Wendy’s mother – who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

Wendy had seen the toll the diagnosis had taken on her mother and her family and she knew the difficulty of undergoing treatments. But she also knew had her mother not been diagnosed, Wendy might not have been as vigilant and discovered her own diagnosis so early. The mother and daughter saw that as a gift.

“The most excruciating part of getting the diagnosis was having to pick up the phone and call her and tell her that her baby girl was diagnosed with breast cancer too,” Wendy told us in our accompanying Moments HD video.

Gift this article