Parent organizations have sent a letter to Mayor Kasim Reed and the Atlanta City Council demanding that the city pay its debt to Atlanta Public Schools, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. APS officials say the city owes approximately $8 million (or $7 million, depending on who you ask) as part of an agreement to fund the Atlanta Beltline. Organizations that signed the letter include the Council of Intown Neighborhoods and Schools and the North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools.
City planners have created the “Martin Luther King Jr. Grand Boulevard Concept,” which stretches from Northside Drive to Fulton Industrial Boulevard, according to a report in Creative Loafing. In one rendering, MLK Jr. Drive near Downtown is reduced from four to two lanes with bicycle lanes, Savannah-style medians filled with trees separate lanes headed in opposite directions. Other renderings featured roundabouts, public art, landscaping, and pocket parks with fountains. A final plan will be presented to the Atlanta City Council next year.
Midtown Atlanta sandwich shop and bar Villains will close its doors at the end of service on Dec. 20, and undergo a conversion into a new concept called Hi-Five Diner. The new restaurant will serve all day breakfast, soups, salads, sandwiches, blue plates and brunch specials on the weekends. It will continue to operate with a full bar, featuring craft beer and classic cocktails, and will also add a take-out coffee and espresso bar with grab and go sandwiches and salads. Hi-Five Diner’s anticipated opening is mid-January 2015. Hi-Five Diner will also continue to serve some of Villains’ greatest hits, including the “Odd Job” Korean fried chicken sandwich and the “Hail Nero” Asian kale Caesar salad.
