The Second Burning of Atlanta
The horses knew exactly what to do. When the alarm sounded, they trotted into their metal chutes, waiting side-by-side until their harnesses dropped from above. As the stable door at Engine Company 7 opened, another alarm blared, and the team galloped out.
Trial by Social Media
For better or worse, arts organizations are particularly susceptible in today’s call-out culture. How the ouster of WonderRoot's founder exposed the power and pitfalls of justice in the digital age.
Billy Payne
When Payne, a no-name former UGA defensive lineman and real estate lawyer, started pitching Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic bid, the city’s bold-faced businessmen presumably had the same reaction as the Atlanta Constitution: This man is a “screwball with a harebrained scheme.” Thanks to that screwball and unrelenting city booster—who strategically recruited former mayor and UN ambassador Andrew Young to charm International Olympic Committee members—Atlanta shocked the world by securing those centennial games in September 1990. Payne became president and CEO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, which sparked not only $3.5 billion in tourism and new construction but also massive repairs to infrastructure, a population boom, and a giant leap toward the laurel Atlanta had so long desired: true international city. In 2006 Payne took over as chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, where he grabbed headlines last year for criticizing a disgraced Tiger Woods.
Jermaine Dupri
The music video for “Welcome to Atlanta,” the second track off his 2001 album, Instructions, tells the story of Dupri’s career: partying at Cheshire Bridge’s Club 112 with Ludacris, Lil Jon, Lil’ Bow Wow, Usher, T.I., Da Brat, and Monica (with cameos by Dominique Wilkins and Evander Holyfield). It’s a Who’s Who of the Atlanta hip-hop and R&B scene of the last fifteen years, and Dupri produced it. At fourteen, the precocious son of a band manager produced the group Silk Tymes Leather. At nineteen, he founded the So So Def recording label, shortly after an Atlanta preteen duo called Kris Kross—whom he discovered, polished, and wrote songs for—sold 7 million records. From there, he produced mega-acts TLC, Mariah Carey, and Usher. In 2010 the Grammy winner recorded the mixtape I Think I’m Berry Gordy. Earlier this year, Dupri launched Global 14, a social networking site, calling it the “coolest, hippest city on the Internet.”
Apples to apples: Price comparisons
Statistics and white papers tell you only so much. To get a hands-on feel for what’s available, I comparison-shopped at stores in west Atlanta, looking for staples and the ingredients for a simple spaghetti dinner.
Utopian Ambition: A Clayton County charter school challenges the status quo
The students of Utopian Academy for the Arts are being called on the carpet. Yesterday, their middle school mischief found the classic victim: a substitute teacher. The seventh-grade science room grew so loud that the classes on either side could hear the commotion through the walls.
Mr. Rigolizzo and the amazing miracle weed that will save Sparta, Georgia! (Or not.)
Michael Rigolizzo, who may or may not be the best thing that’s happened to Sparta, Georgia, in generations, drove into town for the first time four years ago and found himself charmed. To be charmed by downtown Sparta requires a generous spirit and a vivid imagination.
One and Done
By any measure, John Smoltz’s twenty-two-year professional career was remarkable. A Cy Young winner and eight-time All-Star, Smoltz is the most recent pitcher to join the 3,000 strikeout club and the only one ever to top both 200 wins and 150 saves.
From Streetcar Suburb to Stadium Site
The history of the stadium neighborhoods is complex and extensive.
Fruit of Labor
The Mexicans—thirty-two of them—wait for the pickup truck. They are dressed, almost to a man, in dirty jeans, boots, long sleeves, and baseball caps. Some wear bandannas to shield their necks and ears from legions of gnats. The rising late-summer sun is starting to cut through the morning mist that clings to the orchards and fallow pastures of Peach County like a thin coat of fuzz.
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