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Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Charlie Ackerman’s Moment was atop an Asian mountain near a mysterious isolated village

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By Chris Schroder

Real Estate Developer and Founder of Ackerman Security Systems, Charles Ackerman, had his Moment on a trip to a remote mountain range when he happened upon a third-world village.

While preparing to take a flight from London, Charlie came across a book on the Zanskar Range in India and became intrigued. In recorded history, only 100 people had been to the mysterious mountains. Upon asking others about the mountains, he found that it was even more elusive than he originally thought.

“We’ve asked people, ‘have you ever heard of Zanskar?’” Charlie said in our accompanying Moments video. “And they would say, ‘No, there isn’t such place.’ ”

Posted inTom Baxter

A bluff, a gulley, a canyon or escarpment, but this is not a cliff

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Terminology matters immensely in the framing of a political debate, but sometimes it falls a little short.

The American people were not convinced in the last election that every cutthroat CEO, coldhearted skinflint and profligate heir deserved to be called a “jobs creator.” Nor does it appear, as plasmas move briskly out of box stores and power-intensive holiday decorations brighten the landscape, that they believe they are headed for a “fiscal cliff.”

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Santa Claus’ Moment was a solution to a foggy Christmas Eve when he almost didn’t finish his rounds

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Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santa Claus. He’s called by many names but his mission is always the same – deliver toys to children around the world.

We had the chance to catch up with the rosy-cheeked and eye-twinkling legacy while he was visiting Rhodes Hall, taking notes of children’s Christmas wish lists. As he told us in the accompanying Moments video, his Moment happened following one foggy Christmas Eve when some children nearly received their presents late.

Posted inGuest Column

Don’t let wind energy tax credits go away because of the fiscal cliff

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist JENNETTE GAYER, coordinator of policy development, research and legistlative advocacy for Environment Georgia

This past Friday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar made a historic announcement — for the first time ever, his department will hold competitive lease sales for the purpose of offshore wind energy development. The two areas being leased are off the coasts of Massachusetts-Rhode Island and Virginia.

In the press release, Salazar explained: “Wind energy along the Atlantic holds enormous potential, and today we are moving closer to tapping into this massive domestic energy resource to create jobs, increase our energy security and strengthen our nation’s competitiveness in this new energy frontier.”

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Mark McDonald’s jarring childhood Moment stirred lifetime passion for preserving historic sites

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By Chris Schroder

Mark McDonald and his childhood friends were bicycling to their favorite fishing pond nestled in a grove of trees outside their historically rich hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, when they made a startling discovery.

The future CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and his friends suddenly faced a harsh reality that had struck many historical southern towns before and since – development. The boys stood in silence as they watched as a large construction tractor bulldoze their beloved trees that had always shaded their favorite getaway.

“After I got out of law school, I realized that there were things that could be done about this,” he said in our accompanying Moments video. “The historic preservation movement was taking hold.”

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Behind the high price of peanut butter is a tale worth spreading

by Michelle Hiskey

Quit fretting over Twinkies that you can’t buy and the Thanksgiving groceries that you have to purchase.

Take a look at the crazy-high shelf price of a Georgia-grown staple – peanut butter.

Paying well over $3 per 18-ounce jar – more than a buck more than a year ago — made this choosy mother ask what was going on in peanut country a hundred miles south.

Big swings in peanut production are causing price increases — and future price cuts — for this pantry staple. And a closer look at the peanut’s powerful simplicity is quite inspiring.

In a nutshell, behind the high price of peanut butter is a story worth spreading.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Frank Skinner’s Moment seeing 3-year-old overcome hardship ignited accountability to service

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By Chris Schroder

While President and CEO of Southern Bell, Frank Skinner began to take a leadership role in conducting the United Way Campaign for Metropolitan Atlanta. During the introduction to this new role in 1988, he began visiting and touring various facilities served through United Way to see the programs’ implementations firsthand.

Frank had been a community member dedicated to service for years, but it wasn’t until a visit to the Center for Visually Impaired that he made a profound connection in not only his aptitude – but also his responsibility – to serve.

Posted inGuest Column

Midtown Atlanta going from Blueprint to Greenprint to an urban ecodistrict

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist KEVIN GREEN, president and CEO of the Midtown Alliance

Depending on whom you ask, the term “sustainability” can have vastly different meanings. In the context of a dense, urban community, it goes much deeper than merely satisfying environmental concerns. Start with what the market is telling us.

Edward McMahon, an Urban Land Institute senior fellow, recently noted that “the market will ultimately favor the greenest buildings in the greenest locations in the greenest cities.” Tenants are demanding green office buildings.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Tom Murphy’s Moment led to a sustainable funding mechanism for local nonprofit, Open Hand

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By Chris Schroder

Tom Murphy had been in the restaurant business for years serving nutritious and high quality meals at Murphy’s, his iconic Virginia-Highland restaurant, but it wasn’t until his mother passed away from ovarian cancer that he realized there was a segment of the market that wasn’t being served well.

He decided to fill that void and, in the process, created a sustainable funding mechanism that has earned millions of dollars for the Atlanta nonprofit Open Hand.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta advances array of storm water management options as state focuses its water plans on new reservoirs

by David Pendered

As the state moves ahead with plans to build water reservoirs, Atlanta is proceeding with efforts to make better use of rainwater that falls over the city.

On Nov. 27, if all goes as planned, the city’s long-awaited proposal to improve the management of storm water is to get its first hearing by the Utilities Committee of the Atlanta City Council. Advocates hope the council will enact it early next year and Mayor Kasim Reed will sign the legislation.

Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro

Column: Global Cities Initiative to kick off 2013 program in Atlanta

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Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, November 2, 2012

JP Morgan Chase and the Brookings Institute have teamed up on an initiative to help cities become more globally competitive.

The Global Cities Initiative, a $10 million, five-year program, will be coming to Atlanta on March 19 and 20. It is one of five cities that will be part of the initiative in 2013. The other cities are Houston (May 14-15), Dallas (May 16), Denver (June 25-26) and Mexico City (Nov. 11-15).

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Atlanta’s NYC Marathoners: It’s the journey, not the storm cancellation

by Michelle Hiskey

For Atlanta’s sizable community of runners, the first Sunday in November belongs to the New York City Marathon. First there’s the luck of getting in via a lottery of hundreds of thousands of applicants. Then there’s hours of training that can feel like a part-time job. Finish the 26.2 miles through the five boroughs, and chalk a big one off the bucket list.

After a week of mixed messages from New York race organizers, Hurricane Sandy ultimately led to canceling the race and detouring the disappointed runners. While disaster response is of course more important than a big athletic event, the following Atlanta marathoners illustrate the trait that will fuel New York’s recovery: endurance, resilience, optimism and more.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Matt Arnett’s Moment was spotting a quilt in Gee’s Bend, Alabama that became a national sensation

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By Chris Schroder

Matt Arnett had toured art museums across the globe, but nothing made a larger impact on his art career than the Moment he discovered a handcrafted quilt tucked away in a closet of an older woman’s modest home in Gee’s Bend, Alabama.

Matt had been researching and documenting African American art and culture in the South – tagging along for years with his father William, an art collector.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Mayor Kasim Reed’s college decision Moment prompted a year of silence with his father

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By Chris Schroder

If you watched as Kasim Reed was sworn in as the 59th Mayor of Atlanta in 2010, you saw his parents proudly standing beside him.

Their influence on Kasim’s life has been constant with only one major bump in the road – his decision to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. Kasim was faced with one of the major pivotal decisions a young student must face – where to attend college. The decision is difficult for many, but for Kasim, the larger hurdle was informing his father, June, short for Junius.

“When I grew up, my dad – for many years, certainly since I was a boy – wanted me to go to the University of Georgia in Athens – the state’s flagship institution,” Kasim said.

Posted inSaba Long

Metro Atlanta still needs to focus on its water resources and conservation

by Saba Long

Midway through his lecture, Charles Fishman paused to rest a package on top of his head — 24 packaged bottles of Publix branded bottled water. This, he said, represents the amount of water we use to flush a toilet.

Fishman, author of “The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water”, was in Atlanta Oct. 26 presenting a talk “Smart Water Solutions for Atlanta” on behalf of two initiatives — Smart Water Grid coalition and Georgia Water Wise Council.

Fishman’s talk provided anecdotes on water use failures and successes — both domestically and abroad.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Alana Shepherd’s Moment was the ‘call from hell,’ launching her son’s recovery and family’s investment in a remarkable rehabilitative hospital

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By Chris Schroder

It was a Sunday morning, October 21, 1973. Alana Shepherd remembers this specific Sunday morning – not because it happened to be her mother’s birthday – but because it was the morning she received the “call from hell.”

“That’s the way every family describes it,” Alana told us. “And it’s true.” The call was to inform Alana and her husband, Harold, that their 22-year-old son James had been in a life-threatening accident.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta to be first major test of state program to spread cost of eco-friendly rehabs of downtown buildings

by David Pendered

Atlanta intends to use a fledgling state-authorized financing program to help property owners pay for upgrades to energy and water systems in commercial buildings in downtown Atlanta.

A partner in Atlanta’s new energy effort is Ben Taube, formerly the executive director of Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance. Taube now serves as president of BLT Sustainable Energy Inc., which on June 28 helped organize the company that on Oct. 18 got the city’s green light for a deal – Ygrene Energy Fund, which is affiliated with a California-based company of the same name.

Program advocates have their work cut out. For starters, the Atlanta City Council has yet to create the special tax district in which the financing program will function. Also, little guidance is available from other programs because few, if any, other governments in Georgia have enacted the system since its creation in 2010.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Charles Driebe’s sobering Moment changed his life – and those of many addicts – for the better

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By Chris Schroder

When Charles Driebe’s mom invited him to a mysterious meeting at her house in 1990, the 33-year-old Atlanta attorney had no idea that one Moment would alter his life – and the lives of many other people who struggle daily with addiction – for the better.

Addiction to alcohol or other mood-altering substances afflicts more than 23 million Americans. For the friends or family members I know who wrestle with these issues, I often give one simple piece of advice: “Call my friend Charles. He’ll point you in the right direction.”

Posted inLatest News

Atlanta BeltLine opens Eastside Trail with an eye towards the future

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By Maria Saporta

As the sun emerged from the clouds, the northeast section of the Atlanta BeltLine was officially opened Monday morning — a reminder that all good things take time, effort and money.

Nearly all the players — past and present — were there, providing a historical context of what the project means for Atlanta.

“Today, we are not merely opening a new trail or public space,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “We are showing what’s possible for the future of our city.”

Posted inTom Baxter

Remembering Dick Pettys

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I had the honor of being among the last people to call Dick Pettys a colleague. He’d left the Associated Press to become editor of InsiderAdvantage Georgia a couple of years before I left the AJC to become editor of its sister site, the Southern Political Report. We were two old print guys who had found our way to the other side of the digital divide.

When Dick finally made good on his promise to move up to his dream place in the mountains a few years later, I took over InsiderAdvantage Georgia for a while. Even in his self-designated retirement, Dick – who had settled with his wife Stephanie in a small apartment in Habersham County waiting for that dream place to get built – would monitor the streaming video of the legislative session and cover what I couldn’t get to. From a distance of a hundred miles or more, he was still the sharpest observer of what was going on.

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