First Slice 5/17/12: Sidewalk fall costs city $3 million

Talk a walk and get paid

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  • Joeff Davis
  • Common Cause says the new international terminal is unnecessary and was fueled by campaign contributions



1. Atlanta will pay $3 million lawsuit to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who slipped and fell on a cracked sidewalk in 2008. Alex Jenkins, who’s blind, had warned the city for years about the problem. Fixing the sidewalk would have cost $2,000. I’m terrible at math but apparently the city missed an opportunity?

2. Amid all the fanfare and hullabaloo over yesterday’s grand opening of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s new terminal, ethics watchdog Common Cause of Georgia singled out the $1.4 billion facility as unnecessary and fueled by campaign contributions. The group, which tangled with Mayor Kasim Reed over “pay-to-play” during the approval of airport concessions last year, once again urged the city to limit campaign contributions by vendors and contractors who conduct business with the city. City officials say allegations of pay-to-play are baseless and that the new terminal is necessary to handle future growth.

3. Oooo, finally there’s a TED controversy! The wonky idea-sharing conference is declining to post a speech about income inequality at one of its conferences by Seattle venture capitalist Nick Hanauer. His take? The rich should pay more taxes and the middle class, not the rich, are society’s true “job creators.” TED’s curator says the talk was too partisan.






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