First Slice 4-30-12: EPA to test Atlanta neighborhoods for toxic nastiness

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• One World Trade Center

1. The Environmental Protection Agency will test for toxic lead residue in Morningside and other Atlanta neighborhoods near a former lead-smelting factory turned concrete plant in Morningside (you’ve seen the site if you’ve exited I-85 at Piedmont Road). The factory operated without air-pollution control devices for more than 40 years.

2. The New York Times reports on Anytime Cutz, Atlanta’s 24-hour barbershops. What happens next: the local paper writes a feature, the 24-hour cable news networks produce a segment, and soon the world becomes overrun with these establishments. Which is a good thing.

3. Workers at the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta this week will deliver the factory’s final F-22 Raptor. The fighter jet — which reportedly cost $140 million each — was targeted to meet budget cuts and considered antiquated in a time of drone warfare. The award-winning foreign policy wonks on the Marietta Daily Journal are warning President Obama about the decision.

4. One World Trade Center today is expected to surpass the Empire State Building as New York City’s tallest skyscraper

5. Remember the other night after our squash game how you kept on saying how you wanted to own a small town in Georgia? I know, I know, serendipity! Or coincidence?