Category: Atlanta, Georgia Local News

But while an alleged affair between Willis and Wade has created controversy, there’s no basis under Georgia Law to disqualify Willis or Wade from continuing to prosecute the Trump RICO case. 

Under Georgia Law, a prosecutor is disqualified from a case due to a “conflict of interest” when the prosecutor’s conflicting loyalties could prejudice the defendant leading to an improper conviction. Georgia law states, “[t]here are two generally recognized grounds for disqualification of a prosecuting attorney. The first such ground is based on a conflict of interest, and the second ground has been described as ‘forensic misconduct.’

The RICO case centers around the 2020 election probe when Trump asked former Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during a phone call to help him secure over 11,000 votes, the amount in which he trailed Joe Biden in Georgia.

During a recorded call that took place on Jan. 2, 2021, Trump told Raffensperger, “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”

 

Georgia wasn’t thought of as a mecca for filmmaking a decade ago, but Vincent Bates saw the potential.

Bates, a Savannah College of Art and Design graduate, made the decision to move to Atlanta when he finished his architecture studies in 2013 and pursued a career that some might have thought was possible only in Hollywood.

“At the time, the film industry was relatively young in Georgia,” Bates said, “so I chose to remain here where I felt I could enter on the ground level.”

The decision has paid off. Bates has worked as a set designer for Marvel, Warner Bros. and even an Academy Award-nominated film. He was a set designer for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which is nominated for a 2024 Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

It’s now common knowledge that some of the biggest films are made in Georgia.

SCAD’s impact on the film industry

SCAD, which has a campus in Midtown, is Georgia’s driving force in creative studies. It plays a supporting role in Georgia’s film industry by sending scores of graduates into the local talent pool.

Its LED volume stages for virtual production, one of which opened in Atlanta in September 2022, are unparalleled film technology available to all students. The stages make for “an investment into the future of SCAD students [which] reinforces the university’s contributions to Georgia’s multibillion-dollar film and television industry,” according to the university.

In fall 2023, the Atlanta campus added a bachelor of fine arts program in acting and a casting minor, as well as a casting office. Students have received their Screen Actors Guild cards while still studying by working on films such as the Academy Award-nominated “May December” under the tutelage of industry professionals including Professor Craig Anton. Anton, associate chair for the School of Film and Acting in Atlanta, is a working actor best known for his role on the mid-2000s Disney series “Phil of the Future.”

“May December” was shot in Savannah with more than 50 SCAD students and alumni cast in some capacity, whether in acting roles or behind the camera.

In total, 150 of the university’s alumni and current students played some part — whether it was actually playing a part, designing costumes or building sets — in the films nominated for 2024 Academy Awards.

Aaron McGriff graduated from SCAD with a degree in animation in the early 2000s and has worked on several Oscar-nominated Pixar films, including “Elemental,” which is nominated for Best Animated Feature this year.

Terner Thompson, a 2018 SCAD graduate, contributed to one of the most buzzed about movies of the year, if not the decade.

“Barbie” is nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Thompson worked on the film as a compositor, a person who assures that all the visual effects of each frame work together.

SCAD’s impact on Georgia

SCAD is supporting the state of Georgia’s film industry and its economy, too.

The university reported that in fiscal year 2023 it generated $1.3 billion in annual economic impact for the state. This was a 70% increase from the last report, which was conducted in 2019.

SCAD’s economic impact in metro Atlanta grew to over $328 million, double what it was in 2019, according to the report. This is due to “direct spending and indirect spending because of SCAD’s presence” according to its executive summary for fiscal year 2023.

SCAD directly employs 852 people in metro Atlanta, and another 2,613 are employed through jobs supported by SCAD’s spending on “capital projects, development and planning projects and suppliers.”

SCAD will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its Atlanta campus next year.

“I think over the years, we have contributed to the growth of arts and culture in Atlanta,” said John Buckovich, vice president of SCAD Atlanta and university operations. “And over the last two to three years, we’ve really had transformational growth.

Buckovich said 25% of SCAD students stay in Georgia after leaving the university.

“Our students, whether it’s Savannah or Atlanta, come here from 120 different countries and all 50 states and fall in love with the community,” he said. “They’re opening businesses, they’re buying homes and they’re raising their families, really becoming part of the Atlanta or Savannah communities.”

SCAD enrolled over 17,500 students between its three physical locations (Atlanta; Savannah; and Lacoste, France) and online during the 2023-24 academic year.

The university offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. For the current academic year, the five highest-enrolled majors are animation, illustration, film & television, fashion design, and sequential art.

Bates credits his SCAD education for furthering his career in movies and his life in Atlanta.

The number of productions that have come to Georgia over the years, coupled with the cost of living compared to Hollywood, makes the decision to stay in Atlanta “an easy one,” he said.

“SCAD provided me with a foundation of knowledge that I continue to build upon today,” Bates said, “and it’s amazing to see the resources provided to current and future students to remain competitive in this ever-changing industry.”

Throughout Black History Month and beyond, the role African Americans have played and continue to play throughout history was recognized and honored. The month has always been a chance to celebrate the rich cultural traditions and accomplishments of the Black community, while also raising awareness about ongoing disparities deeply rooted in American history.  

It is always a disservice to highlight Black History Month without also shedding light on the mental health crisis that continues to disproportionately impact minority communities, especially African Americans. The statistics are sobering. 

• African Americans are 20% more likely to have serious psychological distress than Caucasians
• African Americans receive mental health treatment at 50% the rate of Caucasians
• In 2015, African American youth ages 5-12 were approximately twice as likely to die by suicide than their White counterparts 

 There are several factors fueling these numbers and several paths to turning the data around.  

 Here are a few ideas:  

 Integrate Behavioral Health in Primary Care 

 evolvedMD is working to make mental health treatment more affordable and more accessible, by spearheading the integration of behavioral health services in modern primary care. Research shows that Black/African Americans are more likely to seek help in emergency rooms or primary care rather than from mental health specialists. The psychiatric collaborative care model embeds mental health therapists within a team, led by a patient’s primary care physician. In addition to the behavioral health manager, primary care physician, and psychiatric consultant, evolvedMD has enhanced this model to form a well-balanced wraparound approach that includes care coordinators and clinical managers. This allows the patient to receive services from the comfort of their primary care office, all without judgment or discrimination.  

 Bring Affordable Mental Health Resources into Black Communities 

 Recent data from insurance company Sidecar Health ranks Arizona 15th in the nation when it comes to how much residents pay to visit a family therapist, with an average cash price of $311-$316. At a time when nearly 20% of African Americans live below the poverty line, leveraging free or low-cost programs is a starting point to bridging the mental health access gap for minority communities.  

 Invest In + Incentivize Black Mental Health Professionals 

Only 5% of America’s psychology workforce are Black/African American. Seeing a therapist who understands your experiences comes with a host of benefits, including feeling more connected, more comfortable opening up, and more likely to follow treatment plans. 

If we promote opportunities for Black professionals to pursue careers in mental health, enhance the visibility of the diverse workforce, ensure fair and equitable pay, offer scholarships for graduate training and more, you will see a steady increase in Black therapists who are ready to serve the unmet needs of their communities. 

 Honor and Celebrate those Who Paved the Way 

 African Americans’ contributions to the field of mental health have long been overlooked. Take the time to learn about and celebrate trailblazers like Mamie Phipps Clark, Ph.D.; Kenneth Bancroft Clark, Ph.D.; Dr. Paul Cornely, Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Joseph L. White, Ph.D., and many more who spent their lives working to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community, while also increasing access to trustworthy, affordable care. 

 Honor Yourself or Your Community by Being Part of the Solution 

If you are experiencing or believe you are experiencing any mental health stressors, we encourage you to make yourself a priority by visiting any of our partner primary care offices to receive upfront and ongoing behavioral health services. If you are a behavioral health professional and would like to join us in providing quality, affordable service, please visit www.evolvedmd.com to learn more. 

Dr. Christina Abby is Director of Training & Curriculum, evolvedMD.  

About evolvedMD 

Launched in 2017, evolvedMD is leading the integration of behavioral health services in modern primary care. Uniquely upfront and ongoing, our distinctive model places behavioral health specialists on site within a practice. evolvedMD offers an economically viable and better way to integrate behavioral health that ultimately drives improved patient outcomes. 

 

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Courtesy of Method Co.

Out-of-towners eager to experience all the Old Fourth Ward has to offer will soon have a lavish place to stay. Come summer, the historic area is getting a $150 million, 16-floor development featuring a boutique hotel, members-only social club, and four restaurants and bars. Created by New City Properties, Forth is located between the Historic Fourth Ward Park and the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail.

In 2017, New City acquired 11 acres of land from Georgia Power, just south of Ponce City Market. In its first phase of development, it launched a 480,000-square-foot office building, where MailChimp now resides. When Forth opens in June, it will offer 196 hotel rooms plus 39 fully furnished, extended-stay apartments, ideal for both business and leisure travelers.

Jim Irwin, president of New City, started working in the area 15 years ago, developing Ponce City Market for Jamestown in the shuttered City Hall building. Nearby, industrial space sat empty, nearly abandoned. Irwin went on to develop 725 Ponce, home to BeltLine Kroger, and believes Forth will add the finishing touch to the neighborhood.

“It’s the bow on the composition, the key missing piece,” he says. “Our mission is to create a place people love coming to—whether it’s to work, live, eat, or shop. This will be a place for people to spend the night and a third place where everyone can come together like [London-based social club] Soho House.”

“To watch the total resurgence of the neighborhood and the cataleptic power of the BeltLine to gather people and give them a new way to experience Atlanta is a point of pride,” he continues. “The challenge is to create things from nothing. This building and journey are about reimagining the hospitality experience.”

Courtesy of Method Co.

Courtesy of Method Co.

The look
Designed by New York-based Morris Adjmi Architects, in collaboration with Method Co. in Philadelphia, Forth hotel will have floor-to-ceiling windows and skyline views. Interior inspiration draws from contemporary European design and early Americana traditions (think vintage pieces and handmade wooden furniture). The feel of the apartments will be similar with the addition of kitchenettes, full-size appliances (including a washer and dryer!), oak floors, and separate living and sleeping areas. The building’s concrete exterior with a diamond-patterned tower will provide a stately contrast to the warmth inside.

Courtesy of Method Co.

Courtesy of Method Co.

The amenities
Forth will feature a fitness center with workout classes, a luxury spa, and a 2,300-square-foot pool deck with lounge seating and cabanas. These facilities will be available to both hotel guests and social club members. Co-working and event spaces will also be available. The social club details are still in the works, but Irwin says the team is modeling it after aspects of the Ned in London, the Bay Club in San Francisco, and Fitler in Philadelphia.

Likewise, information on the restaurants is scarce. Method Co., the hospitality company behind the Pinch hotel in Charleston and Kamper’s Rooftop Lounge in Detroit, will be developing and overseeing the concepts. On the ground floor will be a modern Italian steakhouse, on the roof, a cocktail lounge. A Mediterranean restaurant and bar will live poolside. In the building lobby, a private cafe and bar will open only to social club members. Additional details should be available in the next couple of months.

Although Irwin hopes most people will walk to Forth, almost 2,000 parking spots—with both valet and self-park options—will be available under the building.

Courtesy of Method Co.

Addressing neighborhood concerns
BeltLine-area developers have long been criticized for pricing residents out of their neighborhoods. In response, Irwin says the company set aside 10 percent of adjacent apartment building the Overline as “affordable” multifamily units.

Similarly, with new developments, there’s always worry about preserving historic structures and maintaining the look and feel of an area. New City worked with the Old Fourth Ward Business Association and Fourth Ward Alliance to squelch concerns.

“We’re all about preserving historic structures. This land was 12 acres of surface parking that was a fortress of barbed wire. We didn’t tear anything down,” Irwin explains. “It’s making something from nothing. We’re focused on making this place by Atlanta for all of Atlanta.”

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This morning, surrounded by friends and family, DeKalb County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson officially qualified for the race to succeed Michael Thurmond as CEO of DeKalb County. This was part of a full day of campaign activities, starting with a prayer call led by faith leaders from around the county, and culminating with a fundraiser this evening.

The highlight of the day was a press conference at the campaign’s new headquarters on Memorial Drive in the heart of the county, symbolic of the Commissioner’s intent to be a CEO for the entire county.

“In my time in office as the Commissioner for Super District 7, I have been laser-focused on
delivering for my constituents throughout the county. I am extremely proud of what my office has
been able to deliver in terms of completed projects, services delivered, and constituent
responses” Cochran-Johnson noted during the press conference.

“Now, I am eager to bring that spirit and energy to the CEO’s office. We have become too accustomed to the status quo in DeKalb. We’ve been conditioned to accept ‘good enough’. We have too many great people, too many resources, and too much talent in this county for that to be the way. This campaign isn’t going to be about business as usual. This is about bringing a new vision, new ambition, and
new vitality to DeKalb County. This campaign is about ‘Government Reimagined.’”

Lorraine Cochran-Johnson was first elected to the DeKalb County Commission in 2018. As a
first-time candidate for office, she beat incumbent Commissioner Greg Adams in a primary
runoff election, garnering over 67 percent of the vote. She was unopposed in the general election that
year. She was re-elected to office in 2022, this time securing over 77 percent of the vote in the primary
and avoiding a runoff despite having two opponents on the ballot. She was once again
unopposed in the general election that year.

Before entering into electoral politics, Cochran-Johnson had long-established herself in the
fields of media and business. She began her career at the legendary Creative Loafing
alternative newspaper in Atlanta, GA. She would eventually go on to serve in various publisher
and editorial roles with papers around the region, including the historic Atlanta Daily World and
the Atlanta Tribune. She would go on to also found her own business, a line of fashionable
eyewear, as well as serve as a professor at the Art Institute of Atlanta.

Cochran-Johnson holds a BA in Political Science and Criminal Justice, an MA in Criminal
Justice from Troy University, an MPA from Auburn University, attended John Marshall Law
School, and holds an Executive Education Certificate in Delivering Public Services: Efficiency,
Equity, and Quality from the Harvard Kennedy School. She currently resides in Stonecrest, GA
with her husband.

For more information about Cochran-Johnson’s record, accomplishments, and platform, go to
https://lorrainefordekalbceo.com.

Paid for by Lorraine Cochran-Johnson for DeKalb CEO. Andrew Heaton, Campaign Manager. Approved
by Lorraine Cochran-Johnson

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Photograph courtesy of the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center

Of the many subjects Atlantans love to argue over—who has the best lemon pepper wings, the term “Hotlanta,” whether the Hawks will ever win anything—public transportation is always at the top of the list. As we reported in our February issue, the plan to build light rail on the BeltLine has drawn opinions from all corners of the city: Advocates say it will provide desperately needed alternatives to cars, while critics say it will only cause more crowding on the pedestrian paths.

It may be hard to imagine today, when gridlock traffic is synonymous with Atlanta, but riding public transit was once the norm. For the first half of the twentieth century, Atlanta’s public transportation system rivaled even that of bigger Northern cities like Baltimore and Pittsburgh. By 1928, the city’s streetcar system was so extensive, you could hop on in East Point and ride up to North Druid Hills, only changing trains once. Before cars became ubiquitous and city planners carpeted the city with multi-lane highways, Atlantans rode public transportation to work, school, shopping and entertainment. They didn’t all do it together: Atlanta’s streetcars and trolleys were strictly segregated until Civil Rights activists integrated them in 1959, and transit routes often favored riders in white neighborhoods. Racism underlies the long history of public transportation in Atlanta and shaped the system as we know it today.

Here, a brief look at the city’s former streetcar system and why Atlanta’s public transit had such a decline.

The first electric streetcars

“Atlanta must move in the matter of rapid transit,” proclaimed an Atlanta Constitution editorial in 1889. The city was growing, and demand for transportation was outstripping horse-drawn trolley cars. People wanted the glamorous technology of the future: electric streetcars.

Later that year, the Atlanta & Edgewood Street Railroad Co. responded to the call. Its first electric streetcar, accommodating about 20 passengers, ran from Five Points to Inman Park. Powered by electricity through an overhead cable, it ran along a fixed railroad track at a dizzying 10 miles per hour, around twice as fast as horse trolleys (and requiring much less hay). Competitors soon followed, adding miles of streetcar lines around the city in a free-market bonanza with little oversight from the city, and hawking their routes to potential riders. “The nine-mile circle ride of the Consolidated line is a delightfully cool one,” advised an ad in the Constitution. “The schedule is a good one, and one can be taken on Peachtree or Houston Street every fifteen minutes.” Georgia Power Company consolidated most of the market by 1902, and Atlanta became known for its timely and efficient public transit.

From the beginning, however, Black Atlantans experienced a second-class transit system. Streetcar lines ran abundantly between Black and white neighborhoods, in part because Black service workers rode them to work in white homes. But the state segregated the streetcars in 1890, and empowered white conductors to enforce the law, even by gunpoint. In the 1920s, Black businessmen launched a jitney bus service that ran similar routes as the streetcar to save Black riders from the humiliations of Jim Crow, but Atlanta City Council broke it up. Public transit remained segregated until 1959, when a movement by local Black ministers won legal integration; the transit company hired its first Black drivers two years later.

Photograph courtesy of the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center

Photograph courtesy of the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center

A postwar boom, then bust

As photos of early 20th-century Atlanta make clear, the city wasn’t always glutted by traffic: cars shared the street with pedestrians and light rail. Wealthy Atlantans began migrating to cars in the 1920s, but public transit ridership didn’t peak until the late 1940s. Georgia Power Company had swapped out the aging streetcars for trolley coaches—electric busses powered by an overhead cable. Faster, roomier, and with innovations like forced air (a precursor to air conditioning), Atlanta’s new state-of-the-art trolley system was one of the biggest in the country. And it was run—Georgia’s business class loved to boast—as a profitable private business, unlike the state-run systems in New York and Chicago.

The years after World War II were boom times for Atlanta’s public transit: In 1946, trolleys transported 154 million riders—not bad for a metro population of less than a million. (In 2019, before the Covid-19 upended public transit nationwide, MARTA’s total ridership, including buses, was 125 million.) Just a few years later, however, transit began its long decline. What happened? The private sector model is partly to blame, says Nicholas Bloom, author of The Great American Transit Disaster.

“The geography of Atlanta meant that private companies were pretty profitable without government help,” he explains; Atlanta isn’t surrounded by water or big hills, so companies could lay track without building expensive tunnels. Georgia officials mostly ignored public transit, pouring public dollars into highways instead. By the time MARTA took over transit as a public agency in 1972, the car had already won the fight for metro Atlanta. Business leaders eager to revitalize downtown emphasized construction of heavy rail trains, which underperformed and pulled resources from bus networks, more useful for daily commuters, especially those in lower-income, majority-Black neighborhoods that had been largely shut out from trains.

Since public transit’s decline, nearly every attempt to expand it has been met with ferocious opposition, from transit skeptics who think it’s a waste of taxpayer money to homeowners concerned about outsiders coming to their neighborhoods. “It is uncomfortable to admit it,” Bloom writes, “but Americans and their political representatives kneecapped mass transit.”

Photograph courtesy of the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center

A public transit future?

Supporters hope that BeltLine light rail could help turn the tide on Atlanta public transit. We’ll likely never be a world-class city for transportation—Bloom notes there’s been too much development to reverse engineer a public transit system—but he sees many opportunities to get people out of the cars into other modes of transportation. “There are multimodal forms of transportation—e-bikes, ridesharing, electric scooters, those are all popular alternatives,” he says.

He thinks public transit advocates should be patient in their quest to transform Atlanta’s car culture, and focus on the long game: “It took Atlanta 80 years to get to this point—it will take another half century to make it a more transit-oriented place.”

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Photograph by Perry Julien

Guitarist and bluegrass musician Billy Strings closed out his Winter Tour with two sold-out shows at State Farm Arena on March 1 and 2. His musical influences stretch from traditional bluegrass to rock and metal. Strings, whose 2021 album Home won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, performed songs from that album and others, along with several covers during the first of the two concerts, with an entirely different song selection for the closing night. Here, check out the scenes photographer Perry Julien captured at the show.

Photograph by Perry Julien

Photograph by Perry Julien

Photograph by Perry Julien

Photograph by Perry Julien

Photograph by Perry Julien

Photograph by Perry Julien

Photograph by Perry Julien

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