Author: Jerry Grillo

A Watershead Moment

There is as much water today as there was 4 million years ago, when the human population could be measured with a show of hands. Since then, in spite of difficulties that may have sent a lesser species scurrying for…

The Long Haul

Andy Landers needed to be anywhere else that winter night of 1979. He had to put some miles between himself and a gut-wrenching, season-ending loss by his Roane State women’s basketball team. So he started driving south, took mountain back…

A Literary Triple Crown

It is 1941 in the segregated South, and a young African-American journalist hops off a bus one town before his destination. He is pursuing the inside skinny for a story about a recent lynching. It is dangerous undercover work. So…

Lights, Camera, Kudzu

It’s been more than 30 years since Deliverance jump-started Georgia’s film industry, and now movies, TV, commercials and videos have a $450-million impact on the state’s economy. But the competition is fierce, especially from other Southern states ready for their close-ups.

Healing Hearts

Angioplasty, once performed only at hospitals with onsite cardiac surgery capabilities, is now available at 10 smaller community institutions in Georgia, thanks to a ground-breaking study.

How Sweet The Sound

Hometown music festivals around the state draw legions of fans who come with lawn chairs to sit in and cash to spend. The celebrations combine culture, commerce and civic pride. There’s often a charitable cause and always a good time.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Both Georgia State and Kennesaw State are considering new football programs – GSU has recruited Dan Reeves to lead its effort. Students, alumni, administrators and fans are enthusiastic, but in the end, it will all come down to money.

New Look For The Old Game

A roster of new Georgia golf courses, many serving as centerpieces for residential developments, is defying a national trend. But golfers’ demands for year-round course perfection are increasing the cost of playing the sport and, some say, taxing the environment.

All The Right Mooves

John is a mad for free fast food enlightenment, desperate to “Eat Mor Chikin,” so he places regular phone calls to the executive offices of Chick-fil-A and greets the receptionist not with a “hello,” but a heartfelt “moo.” “Another one…

Water Worries

With Georgia’s rapid population growth threatening its water supply – Atlanta could be in trouble as early as 2030 – conservation is on everyone’s mind. Some are betting the time is right for desalination projects to turn seawater into drinking water.

Going Public

Georgia’s 262 semi-private, daily-fee and municipal golf courses give golfers a wide range of options. The numbers reflect the golfing boom of the last 20 years and the changing landscape of the game itself.

Added Incentive

When a new industry – or an expanding one – needs a trained workforce, Georgia’s technical colleges are there to help. The system’s Quick Start Program is a not-so-secret weapon in the state’s economic development arsenal.

Last Aid

Nearly all of us will encounter severe illness at the end of our lives. As the population ages and costs escalate, health-care providers and patients will have to look at end-of-life care in new ways. And it starts with the conversation nobody wants to have.

2007 Most Influential Georgians

There is an old Korean proverb that takes a stab at power, influence and the distinction between the two: “Power lasts 10 years; influence not more than a hundred.” Our ninth edition of the 100 Most Influential Georgians puts the spotlight on individuals whose influence has been tested over time, as well as some who have only recently ascended to positions of great power.

General Rodeheaver: A True Leader

As commander of the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team, Brigadier General Stewart Rodeheaver put the community building tactics he honed in economic development with Georgia Power to work for the people of Iraq

The Olympic Legacy

Ten summers after the 1996 Games delivered the world to Atlanta, the city's economy, its population, its landscape and its image are changed forever. But the man who brought the Olympics here says it was always about sports and athletic competition.

Carpet Maker To The World

Georgia's largest manufacturing industry supplies nearly 45 percent of the world's carpet, employs 45,000 workers and has a payroll that tops $4 billion annually. And it all started with tufted bedspreads sold along the sides of mountain roads.

Inside The Atlanta Fed

Georgia played a key role in establishing the cou ntry's central banking system, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is one of a dozen regional banks that helps set national monetary policy. It's much more of a grassroots operation than you might think.

Unhealthy State

Atlanta is the public health capital of the world, home to the CDC and a long list of agencies and institutions that focus on health care. So why are 42 other states healthier than Georgia - and why do officials think things can improve? Plus, Public Health Classroom.

Fannin County: Reinventing The Economy

Louis Schubert says Atlanta traffic was driving him nuts. "If you weren't home by quarter to five, you were in serious trouble," says Schubert, who lived with his wife Sandy off Chamblee-Dunwoody Road near I-285. "We'd get home and hibernate while the traffic happened."

Georgia County Excellence Awards

Georgia is the 24th biggest state in the union but it has the second highest number of counties. That's 159 local governments crammed into a tight space, all of them scrambling to provide services for their citizens, accentuating their limited capacities for revenue generation, competing with one another for business, or joining forces to maximize their collective resources.

2006 Most Influential Georgians Hall of Fame

In professional sports, an athlete earns induction into his or her sport's Hall of Fame only after having been retired for several years. It doesn't work quite that way for Georgia Trend's Most Influential Georgians Hall of Fame, which is reserved for those individuals whose credentials rate permanent status on any list of prominent Georgians.

The 100 Most Influential Georgians [S-Z]

For the eighth year, we offer our annual listing of the state's most powerful citizens - the 100 Most Influential Georgians, a roster of individuals who wield influence in business, government, politics, public policy, education, the judiciary and other areas that impact every aspect of every Georgian's daily life.

The 100 Most Influential Georgians [M-R]

For the eighth year, we offer our annual listing of the state's most powerful citizens - the 100 Most Influential Georgians, a roster of individuals who wield influence in business, government, politics, public policy, education, the judiciary and other areas that impact every aspect of every Georgian's daily life.

The 100 Most Influential Georgians [G-L]

For the eighth year, we offer our annual listing of the state's most powerful citizens - the 100 Most Influential Georgians, a roster of individuals who wield influence in business, government, politics, public policy, education, the judiciary and other areas that impact every aspect of every Georgian's daily life.

The 100 Most Influential Georgians [A-F]

For the eighth year, we offer our annual listing of the state's most powerful citizens - the 100 Most Influential Georgians, a roster of individuals who wield influence in business, government, politics, public policy, education, the judiciary and other areas that impact every aspect of every Georgian's daily life.

The 100 Most Influential Georgians

For the eighth year, we offer our annual listing of the state's most powerful citizens - the 100 Most Influential Georgians, a roster of individuals who wield influence in business, government, politics, public policy, education, the judiciary and other areas that impact every aspect of every Georgian's daily life.

School Pictures

A look at six Georgia public schools in four cities - three are near the top in rankings; three are near the bottom. But the numbers don't always tell the whole story.