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Posted inLatest News

Gov. Nathan Deal said Atlanta Falcons’ success helps stadium’s chances

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Gov. Nathan Deal said the Atlanta Falcons’ win on Sunday might help the team win support at the Georgia General Assembly.

“Anytime people good about something, it is good,” said Deal, adding that a win Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers would be even more significant. “I certainly think winning the game will be positive.”

That said, the governor said it is highly unlikely he will be able to attend Sunday’s game. A brother-in-law passed away this past weekend, and the memorial service will be this Sunday out of town. And Deal is on the program.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Waffle House, Waffle Palace set stage for family memories and cult status

by Michelle Hiskey

As a transplanted Northerner, I misunderstood Waffle House for many years. Wasn’t it just a kitschy Southern chain of roadside dives, frequented by truckers, cheapskates and all-night partiers?

So wrong. Way too many stories, families and milestones stack up at the Waffle House against that easy bias. The restaurant’s 24/7/365 reliability across a network of locations has been going so strong for so long (since 1955) that American culture – not just Atlanta’s — is scattered and covered with Waffle House stories.

Locally, the Waffle House mystique is celebrated on stage with last week’s return of the home-cooked play, “The Waffle Palace: Smothered, Covered & Scattered 24/7/365,” at the Horizon Theatre.

The play’s cast and writers met up with restaurant fans and regulars last weekend at the Waffle House Museum in Avondale Estates. The line between real waffle memories and made-up waffle drama melted like butter on a hot griddle.

Posted inDesign, Design and Our City, Thought Leadership

Sprout Space Becomes a Reality

Avatar photo by Perkins and Will

Every aspect of the Sprout Space classroom was designed with the goal of enhancing student learning. The design incorporates green building strategies that eliminate energy costs, create a healthier learning environment, and reduce construction costs. Sprout Space has a threefold mission: to provide healthy, sustainable, and flexible spaces for students to learn. Currently, more than […]

Posted inDavid Pendered

ARC’s first reorg in a generation aims to meet region’s emerging needs

by David Pendered

The Atlanta Regional Commission is embarking on its first reorganization in a generation, in order to meet the demands of the post-recession paradigm that’s emerging from the public and private sectors.

Silos of expertise are to be replaced by collaborative teams. An example of the new approach would be for ARC planners to examine mobility rather than transportation – a shift that frames the issue in a fashion that begs for broader solutions.

“Because we are changing in so many ways as a region, ARC realizes we have to be more adaptable to help local governments solve more problems,” said Doug Hooker, ARC’s executive director.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Georgia Chamber of Commerce plans several new initiatives for 2013

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, January 11, 2013

Several new initiatives will be part of the 2013 work plan for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which will hold its annual meeting on Jan. 15 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Those initiatives will help continue the recent success that the Georgia Chamber has enjoyed in getting its legislative agenda passed.

In 2012, the Georgia Chamber had the “best legislative session we’ve had in 20 years,” said Chris Clark, president of the organization.

Posted inSaba Long

Local entrepreneur plans to make Atlanta the tech hub for the Southeast

by Saba Long

Atlanta Tech Village is not an technology incubator; it is a community center for tech companies and tech startups, David Cummings says explicitly.

Cummings recently sold Pardot, a marketing automation company he cofounded, for $100 million, and he is on a mission to bring cohesion to Atlanta’s technology sector. He plans to do so by creating Buckhead’s first technology community center, Atlanta Tech Village (ATV).

Conjuring up the idea just two months ago, Cummings has already secured a building and tenants. Located at 3423 Piedmont Road, where the Atlanta Business Chronicle currently is located, ATV will be centrally positioned between the north Fulton tech companies, investors and Tech Square, Georgia Tech’s technology hub.

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

Golden Globes: ‘Oscar’s younger, dumber, prettier sibling’ is more fun

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

The Golden Globes, Oscar’s younger, dumber and prettier sibling, threw a nice little monkey wrench into the eternal question: who will win what on Oscar Night.

Well, it’s eternal for movie critics and for pundits in general who suddenly morph into movie critics around Oscar time. I think I read what Bill O’Reilly was picking a few years ago.

The Golden Globes began as a joke: a doling out of awards by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a somewhat dubious group made up of somewhat dubious people. Well, dubious in the implication that they make their living writing about movies. A lot of them have other real jobs, but moonlight as movie reviewers.

Posted inTom Baxter

The wacky doo legislature comes back to town

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

In his eulogy for Herman Talmadge, Sam Nunn told the story of a visit to the senior senator’s office not long after Nunn had been elected to the U.S. Senate. Talmadge inquired of his young colleague whether he’d answered all his constituents’ letters, and Nunn replied that he had, with the exception of a few “nuts” who had written to him about tin foil and flying saucers.

Talmadge gave him a stern look and reached for the spitoon he kept by his desk.

“If you can’t win the nut vote,” he said, “You’re not going to carry a county in Georgia.”

That anecdote drew a rollicking response back in 2002. I imagine if a similar story were told at the funeral of some prominent politician today, it would still get a laugh, but it would be a more nervous laughter. The nuts have gone from being key to getting elected, to getting elected themselves.

Posted inLatest News

Lockhart: growth to stay slow in 2013

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Economic growth in 2013 will be much like economic growth in 2012 — slow, according to Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Lockhart gave his annual economic forecast to the Rotary Club of Atlanta Monday — stating that the views he shared were his own rather than official policy from the Fed.

“So we begin the year in a mode of slow overall growth, tolerable inflation and gradual progress on unemployment,” Lockhart said. “Over the last months, our narrative has not changed much.
The continuing theme is slow growth hovering around 2 percent. This rate of growth is below potential and compares unfavorably with past recoveries. We remain in a long slog.”

Posted inMaria's Metro

Ups and downs of Atlanta Streetcar project due to reintroducing transit

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

It’s been more than a half century since streetcars ran on Atlanta’s roads.

But that’s about to change — despite numerous obstacles that have revealed that we’re a bit rusty in the streetcar development business.

Construction work is progressing on the Atlanta Streetcar — and it currently appears that service will begin in the spring or early summer of 2014.

That is about six to seven months after the original schedule. But the project has experienced unforeseen delays — primarily over the relocation of underground utilities and the surprises of what exists underneath out streets. More than 15 utilities have been impacted.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Builders of Falcons stadium may have to hire low-income city residents

by David Pendered

With debate looming over construction funding for a Falcons stadium, another issue is taking shape – this one over who will get hired for construction jobs.

The Atlanta City Council is considering legislation to require eligible construction contracts funded by the city to employ a certain proportion of unemployed and under-employed residents of Atlanta. The proposal requires the workers to be either skilled, or in an approved training program.

The legislation does not specify whether its scope would reach to include the hotel/motel tax, which is set by the city council. The tax is now planned to help pay for construction of the new stadium that is to have a retractable roof.

Posted inGuest Column

Georgia facing healthcare fiscal cliff if it refuses federal Medicaid expansion

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist PAT GARDNER, state representative for House District 57 (D-Atlanta)

Two important healthcare issues loom large for the General Assembly beginning January 14th.

Legislators will engage in a hot debate and intense negotiations over the renewal of a hospital assessment fee.

They will also consider a related issue — whether Georgia takes advantage of federal funds available to families newly eligible for Medicaid. And that one seems a nonstarter at this point. Why? Short term vision.

Posted inDavid Pendered

New MARTA GM Keith Parker visits GRTA board for hellos, handshakes

by David Pendered

MARTA GM Keith Parker got a warm reception from the GRTA board when he visited on Wednesday.

Parker made a few remarks in which in he introduced himself as a complete person – a manager who favors “low cost, high impact improvements,” a leader who’s a good listener, and a family man with three children – including one just a month old.

The visit was just the latest of Parker’s stops on his outreach tour. Parker didn’t make any grand announcements, but he did make the important effort to meet his professional colleagues in the public transit arena.

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed: Georgia will be a blue state in 2016

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Looking into a crystal ball, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed predicted Thursday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for president.

And in 2016, she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will invest time and money in Georgia. Because the Clintons have had such a strong relationship and history with Georgia, the state will go to the Democrats in the general presidential election.

Reed spoke Thursday at the Atlanta Press Club’s Newsmaker luncheon held at the Commerce Club.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta Mayor Reed enters reelection year with $1.2 million in coffer

by David Pendered

Entertainment entrepreneur Tyler Perry contributed to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s campaign war chest that now contains just over $1.2 million, according to a campaign finance disclosure dated Tuesday.

Perry’s contribution of $2,500 on Dec. 17 was part of the $363,690.13 listed in itemized cash contributions Reed raised during the final reporting period of 2012, the report shows. The report shows an addition $20,233.44 in in-kind contributions, plus $2,020 in cash contributions of amounts of less than $100 each.

Kevin Rathbun Steak, on Krog Street, was one of the places Reed’s campaign spent a portion of the $176,459.22 in itemized expenditures, the report shows. Rathbun was paid $273.20 for two events listed as “official business meeting(s)” in September and October, the report shows.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Column: Skyland Trail gets new chair, plans fourth campus

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, January 4, 2013

Skyland Trail, a nonprofit treatment facility for adults with mental illness, is starting a new chapter in its development.

After 25 years leading the board, Mark West has stepped down as chairman. He will be succeeded by John Gordon, president of Gordon Document Products and managing partner of its sister company — Perfect Circle Renewable Energy.

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