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Posted inMaria's Metro

Atlanta Streetcar holds great promise — but only if trains run often and link key places

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

Walking along the streets of downtown Atlanta, painted multi-colored lines are the first sign that the Atlanta Streetcar is on its way.

Those are the markings of all the utilities that lay underneath the surface of downtown streets — telephone, cable, fiber, water, sewer, gas and electrical lines. There are even abandoned streetcar tracks and the vestiges of pipes that were once a downtown steam heating system that served downtown buildings.

Many of those utilities will have to be relocated to make way of the 2.7-streetcar line that will connect Centennial Olympic Park with Ebenezer Baptist

Posted inGuest Column

A multi-state regional approach is necessary to wisely invest in our ports

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist DAVID KYLER, executive director of the Center for a Sustainable Coast in Saint Simons Island

Much has been asserted about the economic benefit of deepening Savannah’s harbor – some of it highly speculative and contradicting official analysis by the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

One thing is certain: the project’s price tag of $625 million is no chump change in today’s budgeting world. Given the political emphasis on responsible government spending and anticipated cuts in a host of federal and state programs, objective assessment must outweigh wishful thinking in public discourse and related government

Posted inLatest News

The mystique of 11 sparks both fear and kindness as we prepare to mark 11-11-11

by Michelle Hiskey

By Michelle Hiskey

Friday is 11-11-11. If that’s just trivia to you, read on. There’s much more to this number 11 than meets the eye.

Eleven is a powerful number on my family calendar. Both my children were born (unscheduled) on the 11th. On that day of the month, my husband was diagnosed with diabetes, and his mother died. And then there’s Sept. 11, and the Japan earthquake on March 11.

So yes, when it comes to the number 11, I do have confirmation bias.

“That’s when you start to notice something you think is special and then you notice more of it,” said Emory University mathematician Michelangelo

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

Multiple personas of “Martha Marcy May Marlene’ create impressive debut film

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

By Eleanor Ringel Cater

“Martha Marcy May Marlene” is a curious tale of multiple identity.

Unlike “The Three Faces of Eve” or “Sybil,” in which the protagonists’ different personalities came from within, the young woman — brilliantly played by Elizabeth Olsen — in Sean Durkin’s impressive debut film, lets her identity be defined by others.

The film begins with Olsen sneaking out of a commune-like settlement in upstate New York (these details are filled in later).

Posted inATL Business Chronicle

Column: Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation signs 50-year lease for Rhodes Hall

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 28, 2011

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has preserved its own home for the next five decades.

“We just signed a new 50-year lease with the state of Georgia for Rhodes Hall,” said Mark McDonald, president and CEO of the Georgia Trust. “We have been here since 1983, but we hadn’t had a lease for the last three years.”

Rhodes Hall was built in 1904 as the original residence of Rhodes Furniture founder Amos Rhodes at 1516 Peachtree St. in Midtown. Today, it is a historic house museum that doubles as the headquarters for the Georgia Trust.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta’s streetcar takes first big step through City Council

by David Pendered

By David Pendered

The construction of the planned streetcar system in Downtown Atlanta cleared its first big hurdle Wednesday at Atlanta City Hall.

The Finance Committee of the Atlanta City Council approved measures needed to start building the streetcar system. The committee approved plans to:

Lease almost two acres for a future parking lot and maintenance barn beneath the Downtown Connector, between Auburn and Edgewood avenues;

Provide a total of up to $10.7 million to relocate water and sewer utilities, and to add enhancements related to the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists along the streetcar route.

Posted inLatest News

John Portman: renaming Harris — a street that ‘goes through the heart of my life’

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

In grand style — with the largest green and white sign to ever adorn an Atlanta city street, Harris Street was renamed John Portman Boulevard at ceremony at the corner of Spring and Harris streets Wednesday morning.

A heated transparent tent was installed at the corner where attendees could see many of the buildings that John Portman Jr. had designed and developed along and besides the Peachtree ridge downtown.

In fact, the tent was only a few yards away from where Portman got his start — creating a market center in a former parking garage.

The event was kicked of by Albert Maslia, one of the champions who worked tirelessly to get Harris Street renamed in honor of Portman.

Posted inLatest News, Michelle Hiskey

A scary situation — the rise of childhood obesity in Georgia

by Michelle Hiskey

By Michelle Hiskey

When you see the stark ads of fat kids in Georgia, don’t turn away from the scariest thing you may see this season.

As hard as it may be, take a long look. What’s happening to their health should shock everybody – and lead us to fitter future generations.

The ads, which have been running in print, outdoors and on TV, are black and white and right to the point.

“I’m 7 years old. I don’t like going to school because all the other kids pick on me. That hurts my feelings,” says a local girl named Tina, among the child actors who answered a casting call for the ad campaign commissioned by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

The TV ads end with a boom, like a

Posted inDavid Pendered

Airport concessions: Joint venture disbanded, new partnership expands bid as city alters forms

by David Pendered

By David Pendered

The second round of proposals for concessions contracts at Atlanta’s airport looks a lot like those submitted for the first round.

The only difference is that one company, a joint venture that had been disqualified from Round 1, dropped out of competition for Round 2. However, half of that company did resubmit even more proposals with a new partner, city records show.

Atlanta also changed some reporting requirements concerning whether a company’s employees may legally work in this country. The reporting issue was one reason the city announced on Sept. 2 that it was throwing out all proposals and starting the bid process anew.

Posted inLatest News

Metro Atlanta moves forward — from multimodal to sales tax to new ARC director

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Monday was an important day in the life for Atlanta — from multimodal to a transportation sales tax campaign to a new executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

It started at 10 a.m. when U.S Rep. John Lewis, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Georgia Department of Transportation board member Dana Lemon celebrated the signing of an agreement for the initial development plans for the Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal (MMPT) in the railroad gulch in downtown Atlanta.

The two-year, $12.2 million agreement is between GDOT and the three-member development team that includes Cleveland, Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises, Atlanta-based Cousins Properties and Atlanta-based Integral Group.

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

For Halloween: favorite “spooky” movies of haunted houses

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

By Eleanor RIngel Cater

The recent trend in horror has become so vulgar and bloody (“Saw 12” anyone?) that we’ve almost forgotten the satisfying shiver of less obvious scares.

Say, the eeriness of a terrific haunted house movie.

I recently saw the new prequel “The Thing,” (a fabulous film that offers a variation on the Haunted House theme) and that may have set me thinking.

So, as Rod Serling might say, consider these unhappy habitats.

Posted inMaria's Metro

Homeless Task Force chose to take on the community rather than seek common ground

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

Papa loved Anita and Jim Beaty.

When Papa — I.E. “Ike” Saporta — was alive, he found a common ground with the Beatys — a dedication to helping those less fortunate.

Papa always fought for the underdog — willing to take on the status quo when he believed in a cause — and housing the poor was one of his core beliefs.

Today the Beatys have become one of the most controversial couples in Atlanta — serving as the steadfast leaders of the Task Force for the Homeless. They have taken on the City of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, “competing” social service organizations that serve the homeless as well as numerous civic and business leaders.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta absorbs Savannah’s port; Mayor Reed becomes port’s local public face

by David Pendered

By David Pendered

By osmosis, Atlanta has absorbed Savannah’s port.

Atlanta’s mayor, Kasim Reed, has become the local face of the proposed deepening of the Savannah Harbor. Atlanta’s media seems to pay more attention to the latest twists in the two-decade process of deepening the harbor than to progress on the new international terminal at Atlanta’s airport.

The main news out of last week’s State of the Ports luncheon was the number of jobs the ports created in the metro Atlanta area. Meanwhile, one of Gov. Nathan Deal’s comments – concerning the transportation sales tax referendum – barely registered.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle

Chronicle of Philanthropy: five Atlanta organizations among nation’s top 20 non-profits

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 28, 2011

Move over Fortune 500.

The Philanthropy 400 gives metro Atlanta and Georgia solid bragging rights as a leading center for the headquarters of the country’s major nonprofit organizations.

The 2011 Philanthropy 400 list, compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, shows that five of the largest 20 nonprofits in the country are based in metro Atlanta. The only other metro area with the headquarters of five of the top 20 is the Greater Washington, D.C., area.

The list ranks the 400 charities that raised the most donations from private sources in 2010. The top three nonprofits in the country were: United Way Worldwide; the Salvation Army and the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund.

Posted inGuest Column

RedPrairie finds Georgia as a welcome place for business

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist MIKE MAYORAS, CEO of RedPrairie, a global supply chain and retail technology provider based in Alpharetta

In a recent column, Tino Mantella, the president and CEO of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), provided some thoughtful insight on steps Georgia should take to make the rest of the country and world aware of Georgia’s dynamic and growing business environment.

He challenged us to share what we value about working and conducting business in Georgia, so that companies and professionals around the world would have a better understanding of what Georgia can offer.

In that spirit, here are a few reasons that I personally, and RedPrairie, the company I work for, appreciate the opportunity to be based in this market.

Posted inLatest News

Coca-Cola donates $500,000 to the 25-year-old Atlanta Women’s Foundation

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Women’s Foundation’s annual “Numbers Too Big to Ignore” luncheon on Thursday was exactly that.

The keynote speaker was Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Co., who spoke about women being the economic drivers of the 21st Century.

And then in a most dramatic fashion, at the end of his talk, Kent announced that the Coca-Cola was giving $500,000 to the Atlanta Women’s Foundation — half as a grant to help empower women and girls and the other half as a challenge grant — a challenge that the hundreds of women attending the lunch at the Georgia World Congress Center seemed more than willing to meet.

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta’s United Way has community plan for homeless in Peachtree-Pine shelter

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta’s civic leaders are standing by, ready to help provide services to the homeless men currently living in the Peachtree-Pine shelter in downtown Atlanta.

The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta Thursday announced that it has established Operation RESPECT, a community plan to provide services and resources to the homeless men who have been staying in the shelter.

Operation RESPECT stands for: Respond. Educate. Serve. Protect. Effective. Care. Transition.

The Peachtree-Pine shelter has been

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

Little reason to see ‘Footloose’ remake — except to see scenes of places in Georgia

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

By Eleanor Ringel Cater

If someone had told me there was going to be a remake of an early ‘80s dance movie with a one-word title that starts with “F,” I would’ve guessed, without a second’s hesitation, “Flashdance,” starring a very sexy Jennifer Beals (and her body double) as a dancing welder in Pittsburgh.

I would’ve been wrong.

Instead, Hollywood has hired the once-mighty Craig Brewer (“Hustle and Flow”) to direct an almost scene-for-scene remake of “Footloose,” the movie that — along with “Diner” and a few others — launched Kevin Bacon’s career.

Posted inLatest News

France-Atlanta: 12 days of events to deepen ties between Georgians and the French

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The second annual France-Atlanta symposium opened Wednesday — forging partnerships in business, technology, education and culture between the French and Georgians.

France’s ambassador to the United States, Francois Delattre, said such a comprehensive partnership does not exist anywhere else in the country. In fact, Delattre said the France-Atlanta event could become a model and an inspiration for other U.S. regions and France.

France-Atlanta was the brainchild of Pascal LeDeunff, the French consul general in Atlanta.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Mayor Reed envisions airport becoming a top 10 cargo handler to grow its business

by David Pendered

By David Pendered

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed outlined his vision Tuesday for the airport to greatly expand its role as a freight handler.

Reed said he can see the day when passengers use the airport by day, and in the wee hours the airport becomes a major freight-handling facility. Reed made the comment during a panel discussion at the third annual State of the Ports Luncheon.

“At midnight, the airport should be handling cargo,” Reed said, adding that he wants to see the airport join the ranks of the top 10 cargo handlers.

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