Sometimes it takes courage to do the right thing.
That describes MARTA and its general manager, Beverly Scott, and their brave venture to expose the good, the bad and the ugly inside its organization.
The most comprehensive external audit of MARTA’s operations and its entire system currently is underway.
By Guest Columnist BOB DREW, founder of EcoVie Environmental and chairman of Southeast Rainwater Harvesting Systems Association (SERHSA) and a board member of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA)
After a summer of drought conditions in Middle and South Georgia, water levels in Lake Lanier are now close to the record lows established in the drought of 2007-2008.
USA Today reported on Nov. 11 that drought conditions throughout the South and Midwest have inflicted more than $10 billion in economic losses to the U.S. economy, a number projected to rise if dry conditions persist through the winter months as expected.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 25, 2011
It’s a tale of the two Woodruffs — a relationship that spans the past five decades.
The latest chapter of the tale culminated with a $15 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to the Woodruff Arts Center as a “vote of confidence” in the cultural organization’s transformation in governance and financial management.
Could rats bring out the best in a restaurant?
That’s the crisis in an unexpected tail, er, tale of a neighborhood tavern in Decatur.
The owner spent 17 years attracting regulars with simple delicious fare, specialty beers and word of mouth. Melton’s App & Tap became an “everybody knows your name” watering hole.
By David Pendered
Three massage spas, nail salons or hair care shops are to open at Atlanta’s airport next year, the largest of them at the concourse that will serve the new international terminal.
The due date for bids was postponed from Wednesday to Dec. 14, following the city’s decision to throw out all of its original provisions that aim to help small businesses win a contract.
By David Pendered
Zoo Atlanta visitors will be able to feed giraffes from a terrace that is to open next Spring.
For a small fee, visitors will be able to feed romaine lettuce to the giraffes, said Nevin Lash, an Atlanta landscape architect who is designing the new terrace and approach ramp.
“It will be a great experience with a giraffe that has a 19-inch long tongue, which you don’t get to see unless it’s feeding directly in front of you,” Lash said.
By Eleanor Ringel Cater
In many ways, “The Descendants” is a descendant of “Terms of Endearment.” New terms and new endearments for a new century.
But some things are forever…like families and the bonds that not only tie but also choke.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 18, 2011
Southwest Airlines is sending a signal about its role as a civic player in Atlanta by accelerating and expanding AirTran Airways’ pledge to the Grady Health Foundation and Grady Memorial Hospital.
AirTran had made a five-year, $250,000 pledge to Grady in 2009, and it had already fulfilled $100,000 of that pledge when it was acquired by Southwest Airlines in May.
Southwest now is not only honoring AirTran’s pledge, but it is adding another $50,000 to the pot. It also is providing the entire gift at one time.
“AirTran did have this commitment to Grady, and we knew how important Grady is to Atlanta,” said Debra Benton,
By Maria Saporta
The Rotary Club of Atlanta could not have found a more fitting speaker for its Thanksgiving message than Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
What the folks at Rotary did not know is that Bolling will be receiving the top honor from Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential Georgians in January, 2012. Bolling probably is the first nonprofit leader to receive the magazine’s “Georgian of the Year” award.
Bolling began his talk by giving thanks for our freedom and our ability to agree to disagree. He thanked Rotary for being “one of those containers that holds the energy” to make Atlanta a stronger
By David Pendered
First the lead Democratic consultant dropped out, then the Democratic communications director resigned.
Now, the campaign team is still taking shape as the clock ticks toward referendum day in just over eight months for the 1 percent sales tax to pay for traffic-easing projects and transit.
One constant of the campaign has been the leadership of a small group of consultants who worked together at the Republican Governor’s Association.
For decades, Atlantans have felt that they have had a secret formula to resolve differences among disparate folks and to create an economy where people can prosper.
A champion of this mindset is none other than former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young — a Civil Rights leader who went to Congress and later became the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter. He then came back to Atlanta and served two terms as mayor.
Young was awarded the 2011 Ethics Advocate Award by the Center for Ethics
By Maria Saporta
Fort McPherson’s officials are seeking Requests for Qualifications for firms interested in become the master developer for a 113-acre site south of downtown Atlanta.
The McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority will select a firm or a team of firms that will be able to guide the project through its development phases and provide professional services within the project’s scope.
Fort McPherson, a 488-acre military facility, was closed earlier this year. Planning for the redevelopment of the property has been underway for years.
By Maria Saporta
The Consulate General of France in Atlanta has reason to celebrate.
The second-annual France-Atlanta two-week gathering brought together a wide variety of people — elected officials, professional experts, scientists, diplomats, humanitarian leaders and performing artists to forge a closer relationship between the French and Georgians.
The theme of the 2011 conference was: “France-Atlanta: Together Towards Innovation,” a partnership between the French government, Georgia Tech and numerous other French and American organizations.
By Guest Columnist MICHAEL NARK, CEO of Atlanta-based Prenova, a privately held enterprise energy management company
Have you heard of the Better Buildings Challenge? It’s a national campaign that was launched by President Obama in February to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings.
The goal is to increase energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 20 percent by 2020 through issuing a series of incentives for upgrading offices. President Obama believes this initiative will create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and make our air cleaner. But perhaps most importantly for the business sector, it will save money – an
By David Pendered and Maria Saporta
A second ranking member is departing from the campaign team for the transportation sales tax that will be on the ballot next year.
Liz Flowers has resigned as communications manager, according to Renay Blumenthal, senior vice president of public policy for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and CEO of the non-profit corporation that is leading the sales tax campaign.
Flowers follows the exit of Glenn Totten, whose job as lead consultant placed him in the position of designing the campaign to inform the public about the sales tax and sway voters to support it.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 18, 2011
A major transformation is under way at the Atlanta History Center.
First, the center has initiated an international design competition to create a whole new look for its building on West Paces Ferry Road while improving several of its physical offerings. It has picked five design finalists, and the Atlanta History Center plans to select the winning architect and design by Dec. 1.
The center also is in the midst of a $27.4 million capital campaign to implement the new design. The campaign also will refresh and modernize the center’s Atlanta History Museum. The campaign includes $5 million to go toward the center’s endowment.
By Eleanor Ringel Cater
The mortality rate in “Immortals” is a mile-high, and I wondered for a while if, perhaps, I might’ve enjoyed the carnage more if I had opted for the 3-D version.
Or even the 3-D IMAX version.
But I’m pretty certain that there’s nothing that could improve this disastrous mish-mash of vaguely mythological references, rendered with blood-spurting splendor by director Tarsem Singh. A specialist in Omigod over-the-top visuals (remember “The Cell,” starring Jennifer Lopez in her first incarnation?), Singh may have been aiming for the next “300.”
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 11, 2011
One of metro Atlanta’s greatest economic engines is none other than Emory University.
The university recently commissioned New York-based Appleseed Inc. to conduct an independent, third-party review of its economic impact.
Emory President Jim Wagner said Nov. 8 that the university is the fourth-largest employer in metro Atlanta, with more than 23,300 jobs. Emory directly and indirectly supports nearly 50,000 jobs statewide.
By Maria Saporta
The Woodruff Arts Center today sent an email to its governing board that it has received a $15 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to cover long deferred capital needs of the cultural institution.
The grant will be paid over the next two years.
In its letter to the center, the foundation stated: “This grant commitment is made in recognition of the substantial progress made in strengthening financial oversight and governance within the Woodruff Arts Center. Grant expenditures are to be
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 11, 2011
A small architecture firm in downtown Atlanta has become an international leader in the green building world.
The Epsten Group Inc., founded by Dagmar Epsten in 1991, also has developed two out of the 10 LEED Platinum projects in Georgia. Both of them have been for the firm’s own offices along Edgewood Avenue in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward community — just feet away from the Martin Luther King Jr. historic sites.
Platinum is the highest possible designation provided by the U.S. Green Building Council, which oversees the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications.
