Archive for the ‘Quality of Life’ Category

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

The longtime president of Planned Parenthood in Atlanta is set to retire after 32 years in Atlanta. Kay Scott talks about the women’s health organization, which provides exams and services for thousands of residents through eight health centers across three states. She also addresses the conservative opposition and political fire Planned Parenthood receives due to its role as an abortion provider and advocate for reproductive health issues. In our second column, a leader of Georgia Right to Life writes about the so-called war on women.

Commenting is open below Sherri Nelson’s column.

By Tom Sabulis

On Dec. 28, Kay Scott, 67, officially retires as president/CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast. Her departure marks the end of a 35-year career — she spent three years at Planned Parenthood in Austin, Texas — fighting for women’s health issues. From her downtown Atlanta office, she had some final things to say:

Thoughts upon leaving Planned Parenthood: I …

Continue reading Women’s healthcare »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

The Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund’s annual awards luncheon is Thursday Dec. 6 (metroatlantaartsfund.org) at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead.  The fund makes grants to small and midsized groups across the region. We asked director Lisa Cremin for her thoughts on the health of the local arts community.

Commenting is open below.

By Lisa Cremin

There is good cause for optimism about the arts in the Atlanta region. Mayor Reed has doubled the city’s modest arts and culture budget through the Office of Cultural Affairs. Gwinnett County now has ArtWorks! to promote the arts. Activity and philanthropy are emerging in new and exciting ways.

But while these are all great reasons to celebrate, I am talking about something different. New investors are recognizing that the arts make a place the place where people want to live. Take Louis Corrigan, who invests significant dollars in unlikely and delightful public interactions, seen in the neighborhoods, parks …

Continue reading Reasons for arts optimism »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

Ideally, wildlife conservation laws are crafted to benefit the country, the planet and various endangered inhabitants. But the Georgia Aquarium’s plan to acquire beluga whales from a Russian supplier, writes one scientist, endangers the whales and tarnishes our environmental reputation by opening the door to trading in protected wildlife. However, an aquarium official guarantees their safe transportation and says the facility’s research will help save the species.

Commenting is open following Naomi A. Rose’s column.

By William C. Hurley

In seven short years, Georgia Aquarium has become a global advocate for animals, and Atlantans are justifiably proud. A key aspect of Georgia Aquarium’s mission is to welcome the public to learn about animals they would never otherwise see, like beluga whales. An independent 2011 Harris interactive poll revealed that more than 90 percent of Americans support the work done by zoos and aquariums, particularly with regard …

Continue reading Aquarium’s beluga hunt »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

Georgia should not establish a state health exchange under the auspices of Obamacare, argues a writer with a libertarian think tank. After all, the state will have no real control over the exchange. It would cost too much and would also mean higher taxes. But a local health policy expert says it’s a great deal for citizens who can take advantage of new federal tax credits to purchase private health insurance and will see billions pumped into the state economy.

Commenting is open below Tim Sweeney’s column.

By Michael F. Cannon

President Barack Obama has won re-election, and his administration has asked Georgia officials to decide by today whether the state will create one of ObamaCare’s health insurance “exchanges.” Georgia also has to decide whether to implement the law’s massive expansion of Medicaid. The correct answer to both questions remains a resounding no.

State-created exchanges mean higher taxes, fewer jobs, and less protection of religious …

Continue reading Two views: Should Georgia establish health exchange? »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

Despite the poor economy, there has been a surprising decrease in crime in some metro Atlanta communities, including Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. The city of Atlanta has seen a slight uptick in the last year, but since 2001 the numbers of violent and property crimes are way down. But a criminologist at Georgia State University writes that the new FBI statistics can be misleading and fleeting.  Also, I talk with a neighborhood safety veteran about how crimes are changing on a street level and how his community has improved.

Commenting is open below my interview with Greg Scott.

By Robert R. Friedmann

Crime statistics happens to someone else somewhere else. When it happens to us, crime is at a 100 percent level. A single murder, burglary, rape or robbery is one too many.

Yet, it is important to look at crime statistics because they provide a helpful, albeit limited, reflection of the public health of a given city, county, state and the nation, …

Continue reading Going beyond crime stats »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

The Atlanta streetcar project is skimping on bike lanes in order to protect some metered parking spaces, writes a local bicycle activist. That makes riding bikes along a redeveloped Auburn Avenue a much more dangerous proposition, and a shortsighted one, too. The city says it’s a necessary compromise. It would like to nurture our growing cycling community — and plans to double the mileage of city bike lanes by 2016 — but it also recognizes that businesses will need at least some limited on-street parking.

Commenting is open below Tom Weyandt’s column.

By Rebecca Serna

Once completed, the Atlanta Streetcar project has the potential to transform downtown Atlanta and the Sweet Auburn neighborhoods. Projected to carry 2,500 riders a day, the streetcar project promises new life and new investment along Auburn and Edgewood avenues.

Just blocks away, the Beltline’s Eastside Trail is already booming. Even before the official opening last week, the trail saw a …

Continue reading Streetcar projects needs proper bike lanes »

A few weeks ago, Atlantan Cynthia Gentry wrote on our Opinion pages about the theft of her political yard sign, without identifying the candidate of her choice. She sparked a spirited conversation on our Atlanta Forward blog when we posted the column.  This morning, she wrote to us again, reporting that her sign  was stolen again last night.  She replaced it with the sign pictured here. What do you think?

Continue reading Yard sign theft revisited »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

Georgia Power’s plan to increase the amount of solar-generated electricity it distributes is commendable, writes a local environmental group. But the utility can do more, and should be willing to accept a carbon tax that could return revenue to the public and improve its clean-energy portfolio. An industry spokesman counters that the tax is unfair to lower-income customers and would cost jobs.

Carbon tax can aid clean energy

By Steve Valk

My hat is off to Georgia Power following its recent announcement to significantly boost the amount of solar-generated electricity it distributes to customers, 10 times the amount it currently buys and sells.

Given what we’ve seen this year with corn-killing drought and record-setting temperatures, any efforts to shift toward clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is extremely welcome. Georgia could benefit from reduced air pollution, since there are about 10,000 hospitalizations for asthma yearly at a cost …

Continue reading Carbon tax, clean energy »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

Commenting is open below.

By Gary Laderman

A recent Pew survey indicating that one in five Americans now identify as religiously “unaffiliated” is getting a lot of attention. It confirms previous surveys that show the “nones” is the fastest growing segment of the religious landscape, and commentators and prognosticators are trying to figure out what this all means.

The political implications are noted: the religiously unaffiliated are now a majority in the Democratic Party. So are the theological implications: not simply atheists or non-believers, a majority of “nones” still believe in a God, or gods, or something spiritual. Perhaps most significant are the demographic implications: a third of people under 30 identify as unaffiliated.

According to some, there can be only one conclusion: Religion has no future in America. More important, it seems that Christianity and other minority traditions in America with very small numbers — like Judaism, Islam, …

Continue reading New spiritual paradigm? »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

Presidential election season seems to bring out intense feelings even in the most placid neighborhoods. Here is one Atlantan’s story. Commenting is open below. Please keep the discourse civil. Thank you.

By Cynthia Gentry

Decades ago as a young student at Atlanta’s Morris Brandon Elementary School it was easy to come up with an answer for the teacher asking, “What is great about the United States of America?” I would wave my hand and respond, “Freedom of speech!” That was easy back then. But the years have shown me that our First Amendment is neither easy nor simple.

On a recent Sunday evening, my husband, two dear friends, and I sat unwinding in the beauty of the front yard of our Chastain Park home. Hours before, we had returned from a hellish week during which my beautiful and wickedly funny 16-year-old stepdaughter underwent her second brain surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Just the day before my husband had been rushed to the …

Continue reading Yard sign bullies »