Author: Kenna Simmons

Ups, Downs and In-betweens

Name Recognition: Primary ballots got longer in August as more candidates entered statewide races. On the Democratic side, Michael Thurmond announced his run for governor. His extensive resume includes serving as CEO of DeKalb County for two terms and as…

Ups, Downs and In-betweens

Forts Renamed, Again: Fort Eisenhower in Augusta is now Fort Gordon again. It’s one of nine military bases once named for Confederate leaders whose names were changed in 2023 under former President Joe Biden. Now President Donald Trump is restoring the original…

Ups Downs and In-between

Legislative Roundup: What passed and what didn’t as the 2025 legislative session ended? Gov. Brian Kemp got his signature overhaul of civil litigation, aka “tort reform,” that limits some lawsuits. It passed with little room to spare – squeaking by in…

Ups, Downs and In-betweens

Primary Challenges: Two incumbents have already drawn primary challengers for the 2026 election cycle. State Senator Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) filed to run in the U.S. Congressional 13th District, currently represented by veteran legislator David Scott. Scott has held the Atlanta-based seat…

Ups, Downs and In-betweens

Nigut Signs Off: Veteran journalist Bill Nigut, a Chicago native who covered politics for WSB-TV from 1983 to 2023, co-hosted his last episode of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution podcast Politically Georgia on January 31. Nigut retired after a career that spanned leading two nonprofits, one of them…

2025 Georgia Trustees

In 1732, England’s King George II appointed the first Georgia Trustees to establish the new colony of Georgia, with the motto “not for self  but for others.” Centuries later, in 2008, the Georgia Historical Society and the governor’s office harkened…

Catching up with… Tim Denning

Tim Denning became president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) in November. These are edited highlights from two interviews. What’s your elevator speech about GRA? I try to keep it really simple and say that GRA helps to…

A New Ballgame

Josh Dallas comes from a football family. The wide receiver at Georgia Southern University played on a state championship high school team with his twin brother, a quarterback now also at Georgia Southern. Their dad was the coach. Dallas remembers…

2023 Travelblazers

A newly branded beer in College Park. A re-created farmhouse turned into a visual arts gallery in Woodstock. A Christmas lights spectacular in Macon. A kayak vending machine in Gainesville. A farmers market beautiful enough to hold wedding receptions in…

Ramping Up the Fight

Timothy Ratliff had no idea he had lung cancer, and neither did the doctor who did his hernia surgery in 2017. A complication after surgery – a blood clot in his leg – led the retired Navy veteran to the…

Growing Tech in Georgia

One of the best decisions Michael Malakhov made as a startup entrepreneur was influenced by something that’s quintessentially Atlanta: traffic. Malakhov and cofounder Eric Morris decided to house their company, Carpool Logistics, in Atlanta Tech Village (ATV), a “tech hub”…

How healthy are we?

Georgia ranks 36th among states in United Health Foundation’s 2022 America's Health Rankings. The report analyzes overall health represented by 51 measures across five categories, including social and economic factors, physical environment, behaviors, clinical care and health outcomes. UHF, a private…

A Drive to Thrive

For Verónica Maldonado-Torres, the goal in business and in life is to thrive. It’s part of a trademarked mindset and approach – “Driven to Thrive” – she made the centerpiece of her consulting company, VMT Consulting, and now of her…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our offices are closed Nov. 23 and 24. See you next week!  Do you follow us? Find us on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Pursuing Premier Public Health

COVID showed us just how vulnerable we are to emerging infectious diseases – not to mention health inequities and underlying conditions that made infected people sicker. But the pandemic also showed us how collaboration could fuel a quick and innovative…

Reconnecting to the River

It’s hard to go anywhere in Atlanta without being reminded of its history as a railroad town. From bumping across tracks to skirting the downtown Gulch to traversing the BeltLine (created from repurposed rail lines), the city’s early claim as…