🌱 Task Force Receives $250K + Atlanta Transportation Improvements

Hello all. It's me, Nicole Fallon-Peek, your host of the Sandy Springs Patch newsletter — back in your inbox with all the most important things happening in town these days.

But first, today's weather:

Times of clouds and sun. High: 66 Low: 47.

Business owners and marketers in Sandy Springs: Do you want to build awareness with local customers? I have a limited number of sponsorships available to introduce our readers to local businesses they need to know. Click here to learn more.

Here are the top three stories today in Sandy Springs:

1. Fulton County commissioners approved $250,000 in funding to the Fulton County Reparations Task Force, which was created in 2021 with 14 members and 11 open positions. The task force is meant to serve as an advisory board for commissioners and give recommendations about policies that will "support the revitalization, preservation, and stabilization of the Black/African American population in Fulton County in the form of reparations." (11Alive.com WXIA)
2. Mayor Andre Dickens and Sen. Jon Ossoff plan to begin a brand-new transportation project in Atlanta. At a press conference yesterday (Feb. 6), Ossoff announced that his office secured $30 million to improve transportation, including pedestrian and bike access and safety improvements, on the Southside of Atlanta. Improvements will be made on Pryor Street and Central Avenue, connecting neighborhoods along the Southside BeltLine trail to downtown.(FOX 5 Atlanta)
3. The Hammonds House Museum is celebrating 35 years of showcasing national and international artists from the African Diaspora. To celebrate Black History Month, the museum is displaying an exhibition by internationally-acclaimed artist and South Atlanta High School teacher Tokie Rome-Taylor. The exhibit is titled "Insight: Body as Artifact, Archive, and Memory," and shows large-scale portraits of children (her own included) and explores how memory affects history. (WSB Atlanta)

Today in Sandy Springs:

• Women's Business Network Luncheon At Elavon, Inc. (11:30 AM)

From my notebook:

• According to a new Bumper.com study, Georgia ranked No. 14 in the nation for driver fatality rates at 22.12 percent. Could our automated red light and speed cameras be playing a role? See how our state stacks up against the rest of the country in the report. (Bumper.com)
• Tuesdays are wine nights all February long at Mrs. P’s in the Wylie Hotel! You can stop by tonight and enjoy half-off bottles of wine under $100 and a $15 cheese and charcuterie sampler plate. (Subscription: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Rail service will be suspended south of the Medical Center Station from Feb. 17 at 9 p.m. to Feb. 22. Reduced frequency Red Line service to the airport will resume on Feb. 23, and full service will be restored on Feb. 26. (WSB Atlanta)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Tuesday. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Nicole Fallon-Peek

About me: Nicole Fallon-Peek is a journalist and copywriter with a degree in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University. She has served as a freelance reporter, managing editor, copy editor, and editorial director for a variety of B2B news outlets. She currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.