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Posted inDavid Pendered

Crum & Forster building – Court order preserves a third, rest to be razed

by David Pendered

The front third of the Crum & Forster building in Midtown will be saved, and the rest of the building razed, according to a consent order signed Tuesday by Fulton Superior Court Judge John Goger.

These terms were reached Tuesday in an amended consent order negotiated by lawyers for the Georgia Tech Foundation and two defendants – the city of Atlanta and its Board of Zoning Appeals. The ruling appears to end a preservation battle that has raged since GTF filed a request for a demolition permit in April 2008.

Goger denied a motion to allow five interveners in the case, a ruling that affirmed a comment from a lawyer for the city who said all concerns of the proposed interveners were resolved by the consent agreement.

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed tells Kiwanis that ‘surviving is not enough’

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed did not mention to members of the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta on Tuesday that he is running for re-election this year.

But he did make sure to honor a decades-long tradition Tuesday of being the first speaker each year to address the Atlanta Kiwanis.

On Jan. 5, 2010, Reed continued the tradition set by his predecessors, speaking to the group only one day after being inaugurated. And he has followed suit this year.

Posted inLatest News

Walton Foundation announces its total investments in charter schools

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The Walton Family Foundation is announcing that in 2012, it invested nearly $29 million to help start up 111 new charter schools across the country.

In Atlanta, the Walton Foundation has invested in more than 20 charter schools through its Public Charter Grant program since 1997. In the last two years, the foundation has invested nearly $1.5 million to support the launch of seven charters schools in Atlanta.

The Walton Foundation also announced that it has invested a total $312.9 million in charter schools since 1997, supporting the creation of 1,437 schools during that same period, according to a press release.

Posted inPublic Relations, Thought Leader

Announcement by The Associated Press to include Samsung-sponsored Tweets is part of an evolving platform

by SaportaReport

The Associated Press announced it will begin having sponsored tweets on its Twitter feed and Samsung will be the first company to take part in it. Twitter has had advertising for some time in the form of Promoted Tweets – tweets purchased by advertisers that appear in targeted users’ Twitter feeds. The Promoted Tweets are […]

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta becomes an anchor location for the Interfaith Youth Core

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

It’s no accident that Atlanta is the largest base of operations for the Interfaith Youth Core and its leadership institutes.

Eboo Patel, founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Core, told members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday that “Atlanta’s golden son” — Martin Luther King Jr. was a “great interfaith hero.” Yes, he was a Baptist minister, but he based much of the Civil Rights movement on the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu who believed in non-violence, justice and harmony.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Counting squirrels adds quirk to Inman Park

by Michelle Hiskey

By Michelle Hiskey

In the 1880s, a dreamy question created the east Atlanta neighborhood of Inman Park: “What if… the streetcar connected downtown with a posh suburb?”

Today, a funky obsession has connected neighbors there: “What if all the squirrels came down from the trees and attacked us in an apocalyptic nightmare?”

From the imagination of local writer Jamie Allen came the acorn that grew into the Inman Park Squirrel Census. From this nutty (to some) idea unfolded a modern fable, a tale of harnessing curiosity and technology to transform how we see our surroundings.

Grounding their wildlife watch is some hard cash: through the social media incubator Kickstarter, the squirrel census recently raised $9,000 to form an LLC and print and sell vintage-style posters of where the squirrels are.

Posted inSaba Long

New arts organization – c4 Atlanta – to foster creative class and intown revival

by Saba Long

For two metro Atlanta natives, Jessyca Holland and Joe Winter, their employer’s downsizing forced them to the drawing board. Just hours after getting the boot, the two met for coffee and drafted a business plan for an arts services organization that we now know as c4 Atlanta.

The organization is one of nearly 2,000 cultural non-profits in metro Atlanta that generate more than $502 million in revenue, according to a recent Atlanta Regional Commission analysis. The Great Recession shook the foundation of many arts-related organizations with inevitable downsizing of programming and staff, and for some, shutting the doors.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Invest Atlanta to use view from 29th floor offices to spur job creation

by David Pendered

Atlanta’s development authority, Invest Atlanta, is open for business in new office space that offers a panoramic view of the city and region.

Invest Atlanta now fills the 29th floor of the Georgia-Pacific Center. The modern architecture is a far cry from the exposed brick-and-beam look of the old space, so popular among start-ups at the end of the 20th century.

The new space is all about gleaming fixtures and views that intend to convey a confident message about Atlanta’s future. The look speaks to the agency’s renewed focus on creating jobs, as opposed to incentivizing development.

Posted inTom Baxter

Bug-splat politics and the national discussion on disaster relief reform

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

It’s only fitting the first annual Lovebug Award for Congressional Cooperation should go to the representative of a Gulf Coast district familiar with those pesky winged insects which show up a couple of times a year to sacrifice themselves on the windshields of automobiles.

Rep. Steven Palazzo of Biloxi was one of 67 Republicans who voted Friday against a $9.7 billion relief bill for the part of the country hit by Superstorm Sandy. He was joined by five members of the Georgia delegation – Paul Broun, Doug Collins, Tom Graves, Tom Price and Rob Woodall – as well as representatives from several other states which have been recent recipients of federal disaster aid. But the prize for sheer glass-house, pot-call-the kettle-black brass has to go to Palazzo, who represents the district where Hurricane Katrina hit land, in the heart of a region where rent-seeking isn’t a dusty economic term but a way of life.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Architects submit qualification bids to design new Falcons stadium

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

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

Ten architecture firms are vying to become the lead designer of a new $1 billion stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s a lucrative project for an industry that’s seen tough years since the Great Recession. Design fees could command 6 percent to 11 percent of the approximately $700 million construction budget, said Richard Sawyer, stadium procurement director.

Posted inMaria's Metro

With such a great story to tell, Atlanta should share its tale with the world

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

Atlanta really does have a great story to tell.

And it is a story that needs to be told for the sake of Atlantans and outsiders alike for generations to come.

That point was brought home to me over the weekend when I finished reading Frederick Allen’s 1996 book: “Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946-1996.”

The book has been part of my collection of books about Atlanta — some read, some not yet — that I’ve been holding on to for that elusive period when I’ll have time to leisurely consume the information on their pages.

Posted inDavid Pendered

New initiative aims to help children in Georgia, now ranked 37th in child well-being by Casey Foundation

by David Pendered

Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal is slated to announce Monday that Georgia is creating a one-stop shop to help pregnant women and mothers of infants get all the assistance their communities provide.

The new initiative, Great Start Georgia, aims to promote the welfare of young children by helping their mothers and others who care for them. Mother and child will be guided through the process of locating and accessing existing programs.

The program intends to address the precarious conditions facing Georgia’s children. The state now ranks 37th in terms of child well-being, according to the 2012 Kids Count Data Book released last summer by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Posted inGuest Column

Slashing state services again will do lasting economic damage to Georgia

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist ALAN ESSIG, executive director of the non-profit, non-partisan Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

You’ve heard the old joke. The Georgia Legislature is back in Atlanta, so you better hang on to your wallet. But overspending by state legislators hasn’t been a problem for the better part of a decade. Lately we’ve become so tight-fisted we’re hurting ourselves.

Anyone who still finds the joke funny hasn’t been paying attention.

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

Movies in 2012 – Eleanor’s choices for the 10 best and the 10 worst

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

The holidays may have come and gone.

But for movie reviewers and critics’ groups, there are still a few shopping days left in which to express our opinions about the best and worst of the year.

In fact, one of the groups I belong to — The National Society of Film Critics, which meets in Manhattan — holds its gathering this year on Jan. 5.

So, what sort of year was 2012? A very good one if you were a Hobbit, a Dark Knight or an Avenger.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Silence greets last contract for a developmental highway – Fall Line Freeway – once a bone of contention

by David Pendered

The silent thud of public response to the pending completion of the Fall Line Freeway is an indication of how far the politics of roads in Georgia have evolved in 25 years.

There was a time the very words “developmental highway,” which is what the Fall Line Freeway is, sparked strong response from friends and foes. However, there was barely a peep after the state announced Wednesday the final contract to complete the road was let – for $53.8 million with completion set for 2015.

Posted inLatest News

Nature Conservancy buys 6,277 more acres along Altamaha River in Georgia

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The Nature Conservancy — Georgia unveiled a New Year’s present Thursday when it announced that it has purchased 6,277 acres along the Altamaha River in Wayne County.

The tract, known as Boyles Island, has been on the Nature Conservancy’s “wish list” for decades, according to the press release issued by conservation organization.

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