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Posted inDavid Pendered

Cobb County’s coliseum authority may have capacity to fund Braves stadium within its existing powers

by David Pendered

A public authority in Cobb County may have the financial capacity to help pay for the planned Atlanta Braves stadium without a vote by the public, the county Board of Commissioners or a city council.

The Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority (Cobb-Marietta) has the sole power to set the hotel tax rate, according to state law. The Braves began talks with the coliseum authority in July, according to espn.com.

The coliseum authority now operates three destinations in the Cumberland area near the site of the planned Braves ballpark – Cobb Galleria Centre, Galleria Specialty Shops, and the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Posted inLatest News

What it would have taken for Atlanta to keep the Braves at Turner Field

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

When the Atlanta Braves representatives were focused on renewing their lease at Turner Field, their overwhelming desire was to be able to control their own destiny.

In short, the Braves would have been happy to stay at Turner Field:

  • if they had been able to fully control the stadium’s operations;
  • if they had been able to partner in the redevelopment of the parking lots around the stadium into a mixed-use entertainment- residential complex;
  • if they had received governmental approvals to develop a privately-funded maglev transit line from the Georgia State University MARTA station to Turner Field; and
  • if the City of Atlanta would have contributed to the maintenance and rejuvenation of Turner Field.
Posted inLatest News

Egbert Perry: Atlanta Braves did not consider GM site in Doraville

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

When the Atlanta Braves decided to explore possible locations other than Turner Field, one option the team apparently did not consider one of the most obvious choices in the region.

That site is the former General Motors plant in Doraville — a 167-acre site that sits at a prime location at the nexus of I-285 near I-85 along the MARTA rail line.

Instead of picking the GM site, the Atlanta Braves announced Monday morning plans to move to a 60-acre site in Cobb County just outside I-285 west of I-75 along Circle 75 Parkway and Windy Ridge Parkway. The closest MARTA rail station is the Arts Center station in Midtown — at least 10 miles away.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Braves in Cobb: Traffic, transit access to stadium near Cumberland Mall may be less a nightmare than some predict

by David Pendered

The notion offered by the Atlanta Braves that fans will find it easier to get to a ballgame in Cobb County than in downtown Atlanta ran into a buzz saw of criticism Monday.

“What a traffic nightmare!! I-75 and I-285 are already [troubled],” a writer identified as MayorDowning commented on ajc.com. “Now you’re adding to it.”

In reality, the Cobb site isn’t a hopeless traffic nightmare. The planned ballpark is alongside Gov. Nathan Deal’s major highway initiative. It’s in the middle of a grid of big roads served by three interstate highways. And it’s about a mile from the transfer station of Cobb’s bus system and its linkage to MARTA.

Posted inTom Baxter

Jason who? Just maybe, a contender

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

When Jason Carter’s grandfather announced he was running for president, the news was such a surprise that it generated that famous “Jimmy Who?” headline. It was a different story last week when the young state senator from DeKalb County announced that he’s running for governor.

Gov. Nathan Deal’s campaign claimed it was only a coincidence, but by the end of the week it had placed its first campaign ad, an upbeat spot touting Georgia’s ranking by Site Selection magazine as the nation’s No. 1 state in which to do business. The speed with which former state senator and DeKalb County commissioner Connie Stokes announced she was changing gears and running for lieutenant governor was a sign Carter’s decision was no surprise on the Democratic side, either.

Posted inUncategorized

Ships Passing? Aaron Burr, Jefferson Davis and George Washington in Ga.

by Jamil Zainaldin

Aaron Burr, Jefferson Davis, George Washington. Each man who passed through Georgia was following his own destiny; each was a traitor to those who held power and who had the resources to punish him.

Aaron Burr, prior to his election as vice president of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, had compiled an impressive record. Many considered him a brilliant lawyer as well as an able and strikingly handsome politician. And during the Revolutionary War he had distinguished himself for bravery and leadership.

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed wishes Atlanta Braves well in Cobb County

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed released a statement at 12:44 on Monday afternoon — literally saying good-bye to the Atlanta Braves in downtown Atlanta.

The mayor explained that the city did not have the millions of dollars it would need to match Cobb County’s offer for the Atlanta Braves.

The mayor’s full statement read as follows:

“The Atlanta Braves are one of the best baseball teams in America, and I wish them well. We have been working very hard with the Braves for a long time, and at the end of the day, there was simply no way the team was going to stay in downtown Atlanta without city taxpayers spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make that happen. It is my understanding that our neighbor, Cobb County, made a strong offer of $450M in public support to the Braves, and we are simply unwilling to match that with taxpayer dollars. Given the needs facing our city and the impact of Turner Field stadium on surrounding neighborhoods, that was something I, and many others were unwilling to do. We have been planning for the possibility of this announcement and have already spoken to multiple organizations who are interested in redeveloping the entire Turner Field corridor.”

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta Braves planning move to Cobb

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Braves announced Monday morning plans to build a new stadium at I-75 and I-285 — leaving the downtown location where they have been for nearly 50 years.

Team officials announced that the new $672 million stadium will be built in partnership with Cobb County, and that it will be open in time for the opening of the 2017 baseball season. The Atlanta Braves are in the process of buying 60 acres of land just outside 285, and it plans to build the new stadium as part of a mixed-use development.

Posted inColumns, Michelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

Local artist injects dark humor into diabetes

by Ben Smith

Diagnosed with diabetes in her first year at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Leah Owenby felt anger, fear and other deep emotions. Those feelings now are channeled into whimsical, funky and jarring pieces of art in “My Creepy Diabetes Show” at Yay Studio in Avondale Estates. She assembles syringes, test strips and other found objects familiar to all of us with this disease to create darkly humorous statements about dealing with the hideous monster that never leaves our bodies. By putting eyes and Lego legs on her blood glucose meters, for instance, she converted them into “glucobots.”

There is a sobering enormity to her work that reminded me that she and I and millions of us with diabetes most likely will die of this disease. No matter how much we exercise and try to eat right, it is always stalking us.

Posted inLatest News

CARE campaign reintroduces CARE package with lasting messages

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

A new holiday tradition is born.

The CARE package — the ultimate symbol of international goodwill after World War II — is making a return  with a holiday twist.

Atlanta-based CARE, with its creative agency of record — Brunner, is launching its first marketing campaign since 2006. It is seeking to reach a new generation of donors by reclaiming its iconic CARE package.

Posted inMaria's Metro

Atlanta’s political landscape shifting with Nov. 5 election wins and losses

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

As unusual as it sounds, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed both won and lost on Nov. 5.

Although he solidly won re-election against three challengers, Reed lost three city council races that he had fought hard to win .

Those three races were: Andre Dickens, who was backed by former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, beat embattled City Councilman Lamar Willis, who was strongly supported by the current mayor. Former Reed rival Mary Norwood beat City Councilman Aaron Watson, who was supported by Reed.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Buckhead CID plans precisely for public gardens along Peachtree Road

by David Pendered

It takes thousands and thousands of flowering plants to keep the Buckhead business district looking like a million dollars.

Just last week, the Buckhead Community Improvement District went to market with a request for proposals to maintain all the greenery in public spaces within the CID. Proposals are due Nov. 18 and, keeping in step with the times, questions are being accepted only by eco-friendly email.

The greenscape request for proposals provides an insight into the level of detail the Buckhead CID pays to its common spaces. Consider the requisites for only the seasonal color on the segment of Peachtree Road from Maple Drive to Peachtree Dunwoody Road:

Posted inGuest Column

Atlanta’s Rev. Jasper Williams — a ‘prince of preachers’ — celebrates 50th anniversary at Salem church

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist MAYNARD EATON, communications director for SCLC who also moderator, executive editor and co-owner of “NEWSMAKERS” Live/Journal in Atlanta

Atlanta is nationally known for its unprecedented string of black mayors, its iconic roster of civil rights leaders, and its wealth of primetime black preachers.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Chief of Americans for Progress-Ga departing for position with Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition

by David Pendered

The head of the Georgia branch of oil billionaire brothers Charles Koch and David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity announced her resignation Friday.

Virginia Galloway, state director of AFP-Georgia, sent an email saying she will take a new position early next year with the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Ralph Reed serves as president of FFC.

Galloway leaves AFP as a major tax reform proposal is ramping up for debate in the 2014 session of the state General Assembly. Galloway has been a leading voice in the fair tax movement and testified in favor of it in July before the Senate Fair Tax Study Committee.

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

‘About Time’ — Richard Curtis’ film falls short of ‘Love Actually’ charm

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

Every so often, a movie comes along that, if someone brings it up, you know they’re going to say how much they liked it. A good example? “Love Actually.” People who dislike it never bring it up.

“Love Actually” apparently never achieved Pet Peeve status — though a number of critics, smelling a crowd-pleaser, went out of their way to heap scorn on what I’ve always looked at as a friendly, eager-to-please, reasonably unpretentious picture.

So, when the ads for the new film “About Time” go out of their way to remind audiences that it’s from Richard Curtis, the same guy who wrote and directed, well, “Love Actually,” you can see they are counting on 10 years worth of good will (Yep, it came out that long ago).

Nothing wrong with that. The marketing department could also point out Curtis wrote “Notting Hill” (one of Georgia Power CEO Paul Bowers’ favorites) and “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (one of mine).

But “Love Actually” is the magic word (well, words). And “About Time” is not in the same ballpark. It’s not even in the same game.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Column: Atlanta Girls’ School getting new head — Ayanna Hill-Gill

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on November 1, 2013

The Atlanta Girls’ School has named Ayanna Hill-Gill, currently head of the Purnell School in Pottersville, N.J., as its new head beginning July 1, 2014.

Hill-Gill has worked at Purnell in various positions for 19 years and served as its head of school since 2007. The all-girls boarding school serves about 100 students in the ninth to 12th grades.

Posted inLatest News

Penny McIntyre selected as new CEO of Sunrise Senior Living in Virginia

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta is losing another one of its women executives.

Penny McIntyre, a former top executive of Newell Rubbermaid Inc., has been picked by the board of Sunrise Senior Living to serve as the company’s new CEO. Sunrise Senior Living is based in McLean, Va.

“I wanted to let you know that I landed a role – CEO of Sunrise Senior Living,” McIntyre wrote in an email. “I am excited – a role where I can make a difference. But sad to be leaving Atlanta…”

McIntyre, who will begin her new job on Nov. 18, will succeed Mark Ordan, the company’s current CEO, who announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down from his role after the sale of the company.

Posted inDavid Pendered

$1.1 billion in spending approved Tuesday by metro Atlanta voters for roads, redevelopment, schools

by David Pendered

If metro Atlanta voters aren’t willing to pay higher taxes to ease traffic congestion and promote schools and development, that’s not the message they sent in Tuesday’s elections.

Voters approved more than $1.1 billion worth of spending in five jurisdictions – $852 million for projects including roads and urban renewal, and $280 million for the Clayton County school district.

Voters in Peachtree City approved a tax incentive program that favors development. Fairburn voters rejected an identical proposal. Two cities approved Sunday alcohol sales – Dacula and Palmetto. All votes results are unofficial pending certification.

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