COVER STORY

The Sky Is Not The Limit
By Susan Percy
Ben DeCosta, the man who runs the world’s busiest airport, says Hartsfield-Jackson is poised to soar despite high fuel costs and tough economic times that will change the map of the airline industry forever. He’s building a new international terminal and looking to the future.

ABOUT THE COVER: Daemon Baizan photographed Ben DeCosta at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for Georgia Trend.

FEATURES

Homegrown: Georgia’s Winning Wines
By Krista Reese
At Georgia Trend’s second tasting of Georgia wines, judges looked for taste, balance, character and food-friendliness. They found three winners and five wines of distinction.

Surgery Goes Robotic
By Mary Anne Dunkin
A new “ship-in-a-bottle” approach means less pain, shorter recovery time and lower risk of complications for some invasive surgical procedures.

Water Lessons, Water Plans
By Jerry Grillo
The long drought has Atlanta leaders looking to Denver for ideas and solutions, even as critics of regional and state water plans say the conservation measures are toothless.

Bringing The World To Georgia
By Jerry Grillo
Last year Georgia’s international trade totaled $82.5 billion, and there are more trading partners ready to cash in. Brazil’s newly opened consulate in Atlanta is charged with promoting economic development and helping businesses and investors. China and Russia may be next on the consulate list.

Creative Strategy
By Ed Lightsey
Designed to grow Georgia businesses, the state’s Centers of Innovation are linked to strategic industries – agriculture, aerospace, life sciences, logistics, manufacturing and energy – with a solid record of supplying jobs and revenue to the state, at a bargain-basement price.

OUR STATE

Cartersville/Bartow County: Prime Destination
A community that’s close to atlanta, but not too close
Plus, Cartersville/Bartow County At-A-Glance
By Randy Southerland

Gwinnett County: Boomtown Revisited
Retrofitting Metro Atlanta’s “old growth suburb”
Plus, Gwinnett County At-A-Glance
By Ben Young

Monticello/Jasper County: Playing To It's Strengths
Banking on tourism, agriculture and creativity
Plus, Monticello/Jasper County At-A-Glance
By Ed Lightsey

DEPARTMENTS

Organizations: 500 For Life
By Shannon Wilder

The GreenRoom
By Ben Young

Political RoundUp
By Tom Crawford

Neely Young: Can The Speaker Survive?
If he loses his bid to challenge House Speaker Glenn Richardson, David Ralston will be stripped of his committee chairmanship and sent into the wilderness, along with those who supported him.

Business Casual: Toto's Revenge
By Susan Percy
If you overlook a couple of trips to the emergency room, a hospital admission, a night of tornadoes and a fire at the motel where we were staying, it was just another quiet weekend in Kansas.

Millard B. Grimes: The "Unfairest" Tax
A truly useful proposal would be to cut the FICA percentage from 6.2 percent to 5 percent and level it on all income.

State Of The Economy: Asian-American Buying Power
By Jeffrey Humphreys
The Asian population is relatively young. That means a larger proportion of Asians either is entering the workforce for the first time or is moving up the career ladder.

Profile: Holding Out Hope
By Patty Rasmussen
Kristin Connor helps families cope with childhood cancer

Legends: Still In The Swim
By Gene Asher
Pete Higgins has coached Westminster to 25 state championships

Art Of The Meal: Sushi Masters
By Krista Reese
MF Buckhead, the latest venture of restaurateur brothers Chris and Alex Kinjo, is a soaring, gorgeous space with inventive touches. The sushi is fabulously fresh and perfectly seasoned.

Politics: A Failure Of Leadership
By Tom Crawford
We have a state school superintendent who wanted to remove evolution from the science curriculum and whose underlings have said that students don’t need to take science or social studies to get an adequate education.