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An animal rights organization plans to have a lawyer in Atlanta today to oppose the city’s proposed animal ordinance, which the group says would permit the use of bullhooks to control elephants.

Bullhooks don’t pop up much in daily conversation. But every February, when the circus comes to town, there’s debate about – and often rallies against – the metal-barbed sticks that animal trainers use to strike and apply pressure to sensitive spots of elephants.

“By introducing legislation that excludes a bullhook ban, it appears the city is caving to commercial interests over animal welfare,” said Carney Anne Chester, a lawyer for PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The price of MARTA’s base fare and monthly pass fare will not increase through at least June 30, 2013, according the operating budget MARTA’s board of directors approved Monday for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

However, the price of other fares will increase on Oct. 7, according to the board’s previously approved rate hikes. Reduced fares will rise from 95 cents to $1; mobility base fares will rise from $3.80 to $4; and mobility monthly passes will rise from $122 to $128.

Also, the price of vehicles for Atlanta’s streetcars are rising. An extra $750,000 will be needed for an acquisition now budgeted at $17.2 million, according to a report to the board’s Operations Committee. The board took no action on the report.

Atlanta is poised to enact a new animal ordinance drafted by Mayor Kasim Reed’s office that does not ban the use of “bullhooks” to control elephants.

Bullhooks are specifically banned by a Fulton County animal ordinance, which would have prevented the use of the barbed sticks in February by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The circus won the right to use bullhooks to control elephants through a lawsuit it filed against the Fulton County.

The mayor’s office intends for the Atlanta City Council to vote June 18 on the proposed animal ordinance, according to the legislation. That’s likely to be a busy day for legislation, given that the council also plans to approve a citywide budget of $540 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

A new federal report paints a grim picture nationwide of the real estate industry.

According to Mayor Kasim Reed’s current budget proposal, the picture isn’t any better in Atlanta. The effect of the downturn rambles across major sectors of the city’s economy that once had prospered from real estate development – engineering and construction, materials and transport, legal and marketing and sales.

The mayor’s budget book holds out little hope for a bounce in the local economy to occur over the next year.

Sweet Auburn Avenue’s commercial district has the dubious distinction of making its way twice to the list of the country’s most endangered historic places.

That announcement was made Wednesday by David Brown, executive vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Brown and others spoke at an event on a vacant tract of land at the corner of Auburn and Piedmont avenues, where a building stood until it fell from disrepair.

The designation comes just three months after Atlanta’s Urban Design Commission halted the planned demolition of most of the building that once housed the Atlanta Daily World newspaper. The developer, who planned to build a new structure behind the old facade, subsequently announced it would not appeal the ruling.

The fine for overtime parking in Atlanta would be set at $35 per violation under a proposal the Atlanta City Council is to consider Wednesday during its special call meeting to debate proposed amendments to Mayor Kasim Reed’s budget plan.

The city code now provides for a fine of up $1,000, which can be imposed at the discretion of a city judge, according to legislation proposed by Councilman H. Lamar Willis, who is elected citywide.

Willis’ proposal would set the fine for overtime parking at $35 and provide for late fees. A related proposal would set a schedule of hours during which cars could be parked in metered parking zones throughout the city.

Atlantic Station has exceeded every realistic expectation of an urban renewal project.

In 1999, Atlantic Station was the dusty site of a shuttered steel mill. Today, through a tremendous public-private partnership, it is a city onto itself that’s claimed equally by the Midtown and Georgia Tech communities.

There’s no doubt that Atlantic Station has been a successful financial investment for both its initial investors and the city. That success is cited in a new city audit that recommends the Atlanta City Council enact stricter controls over Atlanta’s largest renewal program, which is administered by Invest Atlanta, the city’s redevelopment arm.