Brookhaven hasn’t wasted a minute in ramping up projects with the $40 million bond for parks and facilities voters approved in November 2018. Just four days after Moody’s Investors Service awarded the bonds its highest rating, the Brookhaven City Council approved two contracts related to parks improvements.
Atlanta’s aged tree ordinance of 2001 looks so good that some folks say they’d be happy if the city would enforce it – until it can be updated. Meanwhile, the city says it’s on track to update the existing tree ordinance in July.
The commercial season has opened in two Georgia rivers for a fish once known as the poor man’s salmon, a herring that some revere for its role in preventing George Washington’s troops from dying of starvation as they camped near Valley Forge.
The federal government has authorized a company to harass animals in federal waters off Georgia’s coast in order to search for deposits of oil and gas. This testing is a first step to offshore drilling and the federal permit, plus four others, has been challenged in federal court by nine environmental groups.
Marcia Bansley, founder of Trees Atlanta, John Pruitt, retired anchor of WSB-TV, and Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, are among the seven members of a new group of advisors created to help Atlanta Audubon continue to expand its outreach.
The state has opened its competition for grants of up to $3,000 for projects that help the public learn about and view animals, plants and habitats – especially those that are listed as conservation priorities in the State Wildlife Action Plan.
Amid reports that the Trump administration intends to announce next week a reduction in the amount of wetlands and waterways covered by the federal Clean Water Act, the Southern Environmental Law Center is condemning the proposed step as the most destructive of Trump’s rollback of environmental rules.
Solarize Atlanta has added a major participant, the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, which plans to install an array on the roof of the Besser Gymnastics Pavilion.
Kennesaw State University is on a team that has won a national grant to combat a disease that is decimating the bat population in Georgia and other states. The team is charged with testing methods to eradicate the disease by cleaning bats’ homes in hopes of slowing the spread of the disease.
Stephanie Stuckey has joined the staff of Southface, the veteran Atlanta non-profit organization that promotes sustainability of homes, workplaces and communities. Stuckey will take the position of director of sustainability services, following her departure in May from her position as the City of Atlanta’s chief resilience officer.
The federal assessment of climate change released by 13 federal agencies the day after Thanksgiving bears more than passing resemblance to an environmental report Georgia issued in 2015. The federal report also makes several references to Atlanta and Georgia.
A series of talks on redesigning cities, their systems and policies, to meet the needs of the 21st century promises to explore topics that are on the table today in metro Atlanta. The series of six talks begin Dec. 4 and continues through April at Georgia Tech.
Ruby and Michael Lamb didn’t think too much about being almost the only passengers on the Atlanta Streetcar early on Saturday afternoon. “I think they built it for tourists,” said Michael Lamb, visiting from Macon with his wife.
A Carrollton-based company that produces half of the wire and cable used to distribute electricity in the United States intends to install a solar panel array that’s so large it is to reduce the cost by up to 25 percent of all commercial and residential systems in the local Solarize program.
By Guest Columnist JOHN ERNST, mayor of Brookhaven
Last year, the City of Brookhaven purchased what is now known as Ashford Forest Preserve, 33 acres of a decommissioned runaway that had grown into a meadow full of mature trees, native plants, and a stream, from the DeKalb County government.
The $5.7 Million purchase was made possible by a Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. This federal loan allowed Brookhaven to increase its greenspace by 10 percent, mitigate stormwater problems and establish a nature preserve in our rapidly developing community. We couldn’t have done it alone and it was a win-win for the state, county and city governments and taxpayers.
A few acres of land north of the Lakewood Fairgrounds has been transformed from a tract so disturbed that a federal report said it could barely support wildlife to a heavily planted wetland that has been certified as a wildlife sanctuary by the Atlanta Audubon Society.
The Georgia Water Coalition’s latest report on the state’s most polluted waters shifts the traditional focus of the Dirty Dozen from the most polluted places to the “politics, policies and issues” that most threaten Georgia’s water.
Gov. Nathan Deal has proclaimed Nov. 12 through Nov. 16 as Telework Week, and again this year the event provides incentive programs that encourage drivers to log their alternative to driving to work alone in a vehicle.
By Guest Columnist KAREN GRAINEY, assistant director of Center for a Sustainable Coast
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a monumental report on Oct. 8, warning that humanity has only 12 years to make the “rapid and far-reaching” reforms needed to prevent the worst effects of climate change. These reforms entail drastic reductions in the primary cause of global warming – greenhouse gas emissions.
The famed trout fishing spots in North Georgia will continue to provide opportunities for anglers following an agreement for the federal government to continue funding for three fish hatcheries that stock streams in Tennessee and Georgia.
Atlanta Fed District voices concerns over economy, other districts sound same noteJanuary 16, 2019 - 5:11 pm
Brookhaven’s new $40 million parks bond earns top credit rating; city already spending proceedsJanuary 15, 2019 - 5:56 pm
Atlanta’s tree ordinance a sore spot among residents as city eyes a new code in JulyJanuary 14, 2019 - 3:44 pm
