A local theater company is apologizing for language appearing in an actor’s biography in a playbill that was viewed by many Jewish people as threatening or antisemitic. City Springs Theatre Company issued a statement Saturday saying printed playbills containing “From the river to the sea,” in the performer’s biography have been destroyed. Natalie DeLancey, executive […]
Tag: Sandy Springs
Posted inAdrianne Murchison, Columns
Sandy Springs shuts down massage spas suspected of illicit activity
Last week, the Sandy Springs Police Narcotics and Vice Unit executed search warrants at two alleged illegal massage spas. The city is working to stop the spread of illicit activity and taking similar steps to Roswell, where police in recent years have targeted illegal massage spas and operations engaged in prostitution and sex-trafficking. According to […]
Posted inColumns
Charles Sharper Gala spotlights afterschool sports and wellness program
The Sharper Ball, a fundraiser and gala benefiting The Healthy Youth USA Foundation, will take place Sunday, Dec. 21, at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center. The ball has historically drawn strong support from local and state elected officials, professional athletes, and members of the Sandy Springs community. The gala will feature a live band […]
Posted inColumns
Sandy Springs closes year with menorah lighting and farewells
Tuesday was a poignant day for Sandy Springs. The city held its final city council meeting of the year, which also marked the last meeting for three departing council members, including one being honored with a park in his name. Officials also gathered with the community for a menorah lighting to honor the third night […]
Posted inAdrianne Murchison, Columns
Three metro cities elect new mayors as Sandy Springs incumbent wins fourth term
East Point, South Fulton and Roswell elected new mayors Tuesday night, while Sandy Springs voters chose to keep their longtime incumbent in office. In Sandy Springs, Mayor Rusty Paul secured a fourth term with 69 percent of the vote, defeating challenger Dontaye Carter. Paul was first elected in 2013. In the race for the open […]
Posted inColumns
Runoff candidate forums set to tackle voter concerns
Local elections that take place without federal or state contests on the ballot rarely attract large numbers of voters, a political science professor at Emory University said. But next week, residents will have opportunities to hear directly from runoff candidates in races spanning Atlanta, South Fulton and Sandy Springs, as contenders participate in candidate forums […]
Posted inAdrianne Murchison, Columns
Mayoral races in north and south Fulton cities headed to a runoff
Voters in several north and south Fulton cities are sending mayoral candidates to a runoff election on Dec. 2. Sandy Springs The day after Sandy Springs marks its 20th anniversary as an incorporated city, residents will return to the polls to decide their next mayor in the Dec. 2 runoff election. Mayor Rusty Paul, who […]
Posted inColumns
‘We were here’: Sandy Springs elder reflects on Black life rarely highlighted by the city
At 83, Shirley Peters Pruitt believes she is the oldest living Black resident in the city of Sandy Springs, where the stories of early Black families have rarely been told as they have been in the neighboring cities of Roswell and Alpharetta. Yet Pruitt and former schoolmates who attended the Bailey-Johnson School during segregation are […]
Posted inColumns
Crime theme and tax issue surround candidate’s exit from Sandy Springs race
Lauren Locke, who was running for the Sandy Springs City Council District 2 seat against incumbent Dr. Melody Kelley, has withdrawn from the race. She campaigned on a message of crime and safety that echoed strategies used by some north Fulton candidates four years ago. The former candidate said she left the race under “extreme […]
Posted inColumns
Sandy Springs celebrates 20 years, reflects on the push for cityhood
Back in the fall of 2005, Sandy Springs leaders were preparing for the moment the clock struck 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 1. That was the instant the community officially became a city. Next week, Sandy Springs will celebrate 20 years of cityhood with an anniversary party for about 500 guests on City Green at City […]
Posted inColumns
Sandy Springs revokes law that critics say silenced free speech
Sandy Springs is repealing a controversial ordinance aimed at curbing the expression of hate speech, after determining the law is constitutionally flawed. Cory Isaacson, the Georgia legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said, the ordinance would have “shutdown speech and expression across the whole city” During a city council meeting, Tuesday, Isaacson praised […]
Posted inColumns
When a campaign story creates backlash and conversation on race
In a recent SaportaReport story about the Sandy Springs mayoral race, I referred to candidate Dontaye Carter as “Black.” The sentence came just before a few lines on his platform, which includes a call for greater city support of minority-owned businesses and deeper engagement with Sandy Springs’ diverse communities. That single word — Black — […]
Posted inAdrianne Murchison, Columns
Move to stop hate speech in Sandy Springs sparks new concerns
In an effort to curb hate speech and regulate flyer distribution, Sandy Springs has approved new ordinances that some say may violate First Amendment rights. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation both say that the new laws infringe on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Flyers and pamphlets […]
Posted inColumns
‘Ragtime: The Musical’ is Sandy Springs theater company’s biggest production
City Springs Theatre Company brings its own production of “Ragtime: The Musical” to the stage this week. The musical is set in New York City during the turn of the century, with fictional and real people from history as characters. The storyline weaves the lives of three very different families, including a “stifled” upper-class housewife, […]
Posted inAdrianne Murchison, Columns
Parents explore legal action against Fulton and move to form charter school
Sandy Springs parents who formed a committee last fall to save Spalding Drive Elementary are not giving up their fight. They have taken steps to form a charter school. Separately, the parents are consulting an attorney on the possibility of obtaining a temporary restraining order against Fulton County Schools to pause the process for the […]
Posted inColumns
Rallying support for an intown Atlanta Jewish cultural center
Several key Jewish leaders are reviving efforts to create a vibrant Jewish arts and cultural hub in the heart of Atlanta – an idea that has been floated since 2018.
Posted inLatest News
AJC plans to move to Midtown in 2024
After for than a decade being headquartered outside the city limits, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution will move its offices to Midtown, according to Andrew Morse, AJC’s president and publisher.
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
Northern suburbs’ Airbnb data show challenges of short-term rental regulation
As the City of Atlanta prepares to enforce its new short-term rental regulations, the experiences of some of those north metro suburbs who started earlier show some of the challenges.
Posted inColumns
A founder of Sandy Springs’ privatized government advises Buckhead cityhood backers
We wouldn’t be talking about Buckhead cityhood if it wasn’t for the landmark 2005 incorporation of its north metro neighbor Sandy Springs amid similar tensions over political unity and government services.
Posted inColumns
Will Democrats’ ‘blue wave’ push in suburban city elections drown nonpartisan tradition?
From Tucker to Sandy Springs, the state Democratic Party is making good on plans to run candidates in suburban city elections. Think local ripples from the “blue wave” that already washed Republicans out of north metro Congressional and General Assembly seats, helped flip Georgia to Biden, and, Democrats hope, puts one of their own in the Governor’s Office in 2022.
