JOURNALISM
Mayor Reed departs Monday for tour of Panama Canal with Biden, Isakson
- Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is headed for a tour of the Panama Canal expansion with Sen. Johnny Isakson and Vice President Joe Biden. Kasim Reed The mayor’s participation was announced Friday, as discussion continues over the decision by the Atlanta Braves to move to Cobb County. The trip comes right after Gov. Nathan Deal announced his plans to provide an additional $35 million in state funding for the proposed deepening of the Savannah port. The deepening is needed to handle the larger ...more
Falcons funding deal oh so close, but politics and opposition could extend debate into first quarter of 2014
- The stage is all but set for the Atlanta City Council to approve on Dec. 2 the community benefits deal that’s required for the city to provide its $200 million to help pay for a new Falcons stadium. A video released late Thursday intends to raise awareness of the need for a binding agreement to restore the neighborhoods. Credit: “Making the Case for Vine City and English Avenue” Whether that will happen remains a huge question. There likely is a good ...more
ATL chief says Paulding County’s planned airport won’t thrive in tough industry
- The planned commercial airport in Paulding County won’t do well in the competitive airline business, the chief of Atlanta’s airport on Wednesday told members of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Click on map for a larger view: Paulding County’s proposed commercial airport is located about 40 miles from Atlanta’s airport. Credit: Google Earth, David Pendered “The possibility of a second airport thriving is not so likely,” Louis Miller, general manager of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, told a group gathered in ...more
Cobb County’s coliseum authority may have capacity to fund Braves stadium within its existing powers
- A public authority in Cobb County may have the financial capacity to help pay for the planned Atlanta Braves stadium without a vote by the public, the county Board of Commissioners or a city council. The Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority (Cobb-Marietta) opened the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in 2007. Credit: wdanielanderson.files.wordpress.com The Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority (Cobb-Marietta) has the sole power to set the hotel tax rate, according to state law. The Braves began talks with the coliseum ...more
Braves in Cobb: Traffic, transit access to stadium near Cumberland Mall may be less a nightmare than some predict
- The notion offered by the Atlanta Braves that fans will find it easier to get to a ballgame in Cobb County than in downtown Atlanta ran into a buzz saw of criticism Monday. Click on the image for a larger version. The Atlanta Braves plan to build a ballfield that’s in the midst of a grid of big roads that are served by three interstate highways. Credit: Google Earth, David Pendered “What a traffic nightmare!! I-75 and I-285 are already ,” ...more
Buckhead CID plans precisely for public gardens along Peachtree Road
- It takes thousands and thousands of flowering plants to keep the Buckhead business district looking like a million dollars. These penny orange violas are to warm the appearance of Peachtree Road through landscaping work planned by the Buckhead CID. Credit: fleursannuelles.com Just this week, the Buckhead Community Improvement District went to market with a request for proposals to maintain all the greenery in public spaces within the CID. Proposals are due Nov. 18 and, keeping in steps with the times, questions ...more
Head of Americans for Progress-Ga leaving for position with Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition
- The head of the Georgia branch of David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity announced her resignation Friday. Virginia Galloway Virginia Galloway, state director of AFP-Georgia, sent an email saying she will take a new position early next year with the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Ralph Reed serves as president of FFC. Galloway leaves AFP as a major tax reform proposal is ramping up for debate in the 2014 session of the state General Assembly. Galloway has been a leading voice in the fair ...more
$1.1 billion in spending approved Tuesday by metro Atlanta voters for roads, redevelopment, schools
- If metro Atlanta voters aren’t willing to pay higher taxes to ease traffic congestion and promote schools and development, that’s not the message they sent in Tuesday’s elections. Click on the chart to see a larger image of spending approved by voters in metro Atlanta. Credit: David Pendered Voters approved more than $1.1 billion worth of spending in five jurisdictions – $852 million for projects including roads and urban renewal, and $280 million for the Clayton County school district. Voters in Peachtree ...more
New Airport West CID hangs in balance as influential backers eye decision of Fulton County tax commissioner
- The year-long effort to create a special tax district near Atlanta’s airport in order to promote economic development may be near a successful conclusion. A proposed Airport West CID could promote development around Atlanta’s airport that may create the type of community described by in this drawing by John Kasarda, who heads UNC’s Center for Air Commerce. Credit: aerotropolis.com On Wednesday, representatives of the Fulton County tax commissioner and the proposed Airport West CID are slated to meet to see if ...more
Atlanta welcomes kempt vendors; MARTA to allow food concessions in 2015, starting with four stations
- A trip to downtown Atlanta may soon include the chance to buy snacks and souvenirs and even a meal from vendors along Atlanta’s sidewalks and in MARTA stations. Atlanta's new vending program envisions carts like these to be used on city streets. Credit: City of Atlanta The Atlanta City Council approved a plan Monday that is to have vendors back on the streets before Christmas. MARTA could have sandwich shops and coffee kiosks in stations within two years, based on results ...more