Atlanta Community Discussion Thread

[echinatl]

Originally Posted by smArTaLlone

Helicopter, dogs used to scour Ga. 400 area in Forsyth County

By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 06/10/08

A seven-hour manhunt for four suspects in a foiled burglary at a Dawson County clothing store ended early Tuesday afternoon when the remaining three men were spotted walking along Ga. 9 near Cumming, authorities said.

About 5:20 a.m., a private security guard at the North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville noticed a silver van backed up to the doors of the Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th store, a store that had been hit a few weeks ago by smash-and-grab burglars who stole several thousand dollars worth of blue jeans, Dawson sheriff's Sgt. Tony Wooten said.

"The suspects in the van, we believe, observed the security guard and started leaving the outlet mall," Wooten said.

"When they met two Dawson County sheriff's deputies, a police chase ensued, which eventually led to Forsyth County," Wooten said. "The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office deployed stop sticks on Ga. 400 just before Pilgrim Mill Road and the suspects' van wrecked."

Stop sticks are strips with small spikes designed to puncture tires.

After crashing the van, which had been reported stolen earlier in the morning in Atlanta, the suspects ran on foot, sparking the manhunt by deputies on the ground and in the air, as well as k-9 units.

One suspect was taken into custody before 10 a.m., and the remaining three were arrested while walking together along Ga. 9, Wooten said.

A woman stopped by deputies near the outlet mall around the time the van was first spotted was uncooperative with authorities and was initially believed to be connected to the attempted burglary, but Wooten said she was not a part of the crew of would-be bandits. She will, however, face unrelated charges in Dawson County, he said.

Wooten said the suspects "did not make entry" into the Saks Fifth Avenue store before driving off. He said the store was the target of burglars about three weeks ago who also backed a van up to the front door before making off with blue jeans valued "in the twenties of thousands" of dollars.

Metro Atlanta has seen a number of similar burglaries of clothing stores by so-called Blue Jean Bandits over the past year. Some arrests have been made but authorities say different groups of bandits have carried out the crimes.

Hangm with the blue jeans they were trying to steal!!! Yeeehaaaawwwww!!!

[smArTaLlone]

Hotel painting resumes

Though it's mostly glass and steel, the Westin Peachtree Hotel — the signature silo-like skyscraper in downtown Atlanta — is getting a paint job.

Workers are putting a fresh face on the 65,000-square-feet of concrete that makes up the first eight stories of the 73-story building with 700 gallons of paint and sealer, said Ed Walls, general manager of the hotel.

"I think it is the first time we have done it" since the building was constructed, Walls said. The work is to be completed in four to five months, said Walls.

However, the March 14 tornado — which blew out many of the hotel's windows — interrupted the work, and some of the painting staff had to be diverted to help repair damages from the twister.

Walls said the workers pressure-washed the John Portman-designed building, then repaired places where the concrete was chipped or cracked, added a sealer and are now painting the building a "custom Westin beige."

— Leon Stafford

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by echinatl

Hangm with the blue jeans they were trying to steal!!! Yeeehaaaawwwww!!!

I'll second that.

[cabasse]

they finally added street view for atlanta in google maps/earth.

[Atlantan26]

ewwww that pic of atl you posted from google maps looks awful!

[Andrea]

Some interesting facts and figures about Atlanta's employment and population growth. We added approximately 900,000 people between 2000-2006, with 64% of that growth from Asians and African Americans!

[Andrea]

Wow, this is really exciting! One of them there smart fellers from way out yonder in San Francisco is doing a driving tour through the Deep South and blogging about it. As he reported yesterday, however, there's not much call to interact with us local yokels: "After all, if I showed up at the door of a TV station in Birmingham and said I was a reporter from San Francisco doing a road trip project driving around the South, the likely response would be, "You're a what? With who?"

Wonder if he will make it all the way over here to Georgia?

[AtlMidtowner]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Some interesting facts and figures about Atlanta's employment and population growth. We added approximately 900,000 people between 2000-2006, with 64% of that growth from Asians and African Americans!

You meant:

40% African American
24% Latino
25% White
8% Asian

And I am sure the Latino and Asian number is way off, as counting the undocumented Mexicans, Central Americans, Brazilians, Colombians, Indians, Chinese and Koreans, is next to impossible

[Rail Claimore]

It would be awesome if 24% of the growth was Asian. Nevertheless, the growth of that group in metro Atlanta has been phenomenal over the past 20 years.

But the fact that all four major racial/ethnic groups have growth numbers like that is a testament to Atlanta's ability to attract people from all walks of life. I'd venture to guess only Houston and maybe Dallas are in the same league.

[dante2308]

Lanier level at record low for this time of year
North Ga. conditions expected to worsen

By STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/10/08

Lake Lanier is receiving only 26 percent of its normal inflows this month, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The lake level is at a record low for this time of year, and State Climatologist David Stooksbury said last week drought conditions are expected to worsen across north Georgia over the next several months.

Our best chance of a respite is a hurricane or tropical storm, though such storms usually occur in late summer.

"For the next several months, Georgia's best chance for widespread drought relief will be tropical disturbances," Stooksbury said.

For the year, the water flowing into the lake from the Chattahoochee and Chestatee rivers and other streams is less than half the norm. Both rivers are flowing near their record lows for this date.

At the same time, the Corps has increased the amount of water it is releasing from the lake to meet metro Atlanta's water supply and wastewater needs, and for other downstream demands.

Lanier is about 14 feet below full, lower than it has ever been at this time of year. The lake — along with the Chattahoochee just below it — is the main water source for more than 3 million metro Atlantans.



Okay here is the deal folks. This year's available water level is actually worse than last year's and to top it off, we're actually seeing a mild drought. We are at 1057.06 which is less than seven feet above the lowest recorded level ever and I'm sorry to say that this is our high point. I don't know what we were doing all year but say goodbye to the good ole days.

I posted this again because I think it is being overlooked by everyone again and that will just lead to worse problems in the future.

Put another way, the water level was below the current pool level only 5 times since 1960 including last year and this is the summer peak level...

[echinatl]

I don't think we're in as bad of shape as you point out. Even though we're 10 feet below where we were this time last year, the water level isn't going down at the same rate. Also, you noted that we're in a mild drought (I didn't verify this) but last year we were in an exceptional drought. So if we're "only" in a mild drought I would consider that a good sign.

I think all we need to get us through is a nice little tropical storm to roll through and for the current rainfall to stay consistent. The average drought lasts 2 years so we have 6 more months to go (hopefully)! I think we should continue to conserve water AND electricity, and am scared that once things get back to normal everyone forgets the problems we've had and goes right back to our wasteful ways of life.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by AtlMidtowner

You meant:

40% African American
24% Latino
25% White
8% Asian

Yes, thanks for correcting me. Are any of these ethnic groups settling in any particular part of the metro area, or are they just equally dispersed all over the place?

[Fiorenza]

That's racist.

[Fiorenza]

Seriously, I think they're dispersed all over the place. I know we're getting some good diversity where I live. Doesn't bother me a bit.

[Andrea]

Fiorenza,

I was a little surprised to see that out of the last million or so residents we added only 25% identified as white. Before long they'll technically be a minority themselves.

[dante2308]

Originally Posted by echinatl

I don't think we're in as bad of shape as you point out. Even though we're 10 feet below where we were this time last year, the water level isn't going down at the same rate. Also, you noted that we're in a mild drought (I didn't verify this) but last year we were in an exceptional drought. So if we're "only" in a mild drought I would consider that a good sign.

I think all we need to get us through is a nice little tropical storm to roll through and for the current rainfall to stay consistent. The average drought lasts 2 years so we have 6 more months to go (hopefully)! I think we should continue to conserve water AND electricity, and am scared that once things get back to normal everyone forgets the problems we've had and goes right back to our wasteful ways of life.

The problem is that we refill the lake. Even in rainy year, the level will go down as much as 10 feet in the fall and early winter. If we lose that much, we will be in a worse situation than last year and that assumes heavy rain. If we are in a mild drought, then things are even worse.

[ATLaffinity]

good read from The Atlantic about an unintended consequence of tearing down housing projects: crime and murder follow the subsidized housing and it's often worse since it's spread out and the police were unprepared for the new patterns.

the article focuses on Memphis, but they mention ATL and how crime has spread out here.

American Murder Mystery

While fewer Americans live in high-poverty neighborhoods, increasing numbers now live in places with “moderate” poverty rates, meaning rates of 20 to 40 percent. This pattern is not necessarily better, either for poor people trying to break away from bad neighborhoods or for cities, Galster explains. His paper compares two scenarios: a city split into high-poverty and low-poverty areas, and a city dominated by median-poverty ones. The latter arrangement is likely to produce more bad neighborhoods and more total crime, he concludes, based on a computer model of how social dysfunction spreads.

[dante2308]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Fiorenza,

I was a little surprised to see that out of the last million or so residents we added only 25% identified as white. Before long they'll technically be a minority themselves.

Why do you think that is? I thought Atlanta had a pretty broad appeal. It is affluent and well educated. One would assume that the people moving in would represent the national average.

[smArTaLlone]

Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 12:11 PM EDT
Atlanta Business Chronicle

DocuSys Inc. will move its headquarters from Mobile, Ala., to Midtown Atlanta, creating 300 jobs over the next three years.

The company makes an anesthesia information management system (AIMS), medication management system and presurgical care management system. It will bring to Atlanta jobs ranging from software engineering, software implementation and client services to product management and sales positions within the health-care IT market.

"Atlanta offers a developing health-care technology company like DocuSys a sizeable pool for finding talented and experienced applicants with the necessary skills we need for each specific position," said Robert Watson, DocuSys president and CEO. "The Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce have been extremely helpful to our company during this transition and we are pleased to partner with one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S."

The company will keep a presence in Alabama.

[AtlMidtowner]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Yes, thanks for correcting me. Are any of these ethnic groups settling in any particular part of the metro area, or are they just equally dispersed all over the place?

New arrivals to Atlanta:
Definitely in segregated areas!
African Americans......Clayton, DeKalb and South Fulton
Asians......Gwinnett, Gwinnett Gwinnet and a tiny part of DeKalb (up Buford Hwy, then right turn on Pleasant Hill up to Gwinnett Mall)
Latinos......heavily concentrated pockets in each county in areas with lots of apt complexes next to each other and retail in walking distance

Whites.......whereever the above three arent over 30%