From City Hall to Magic City, Capital B Atlanta reporters covered breaking news, secured exclusive interviews with newsmakers, unearthed painful history, and published groundbreaking enterprise stories that resonated online and on social media. Here are our top 10 stories of the year. Georgia is quietly working on building the largest ICE facility in the country, […]
MARTA
Posted inPublic Safety, Transportation
State Investigation Finds Missing Belts As A Cause Of Escalator Collapse After Beyoncé Concert
After an escalator malfunction left at least 24 people injured at a MARTA station following a Beyoncé concert earlier this month, a state investigation found that missing parts on the escalator and an overload of passengers were the likely causes of the accident. On July 15, as people were leaving Mercedes-Benz Stadium after Beyoncé’s final […]
Posted inNews
Beyoncé Fans Injured Leaving Final ‘Cowboy Carter’ Show in Atlanta
As fans were leaving Beyoncé’s final concert in Atlanta just after midnight Tuesday, several were injured after a stampede at a MARTA station. Reports indicate there was a stampede on the escalator at the Vine City station after someone began screaming and running. The commotion caused the escalator to speed up and suddenly stop. According […]
Posted inEssay, History
History Beneath Our Feet: Where MARTA Runs, Lives Were Once Sold in Atlanta
Back then, they called it Whitehall Street. Today, it’s the Five Points station, where trains rattle beneath pavement and buses exhale their daily breath into the Georgia sun. But before there was MARTA, before the high-rises, before Black folks were paid for the culture that created the pulse of this city, we were on the […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
What to Do If You’re Detained or Questioned by ICE in Atlanta
Uchechukwu Onwa likens his three-month detention by immigration agents — when he was apprehended at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in 2017 after fleeing homophobic violence in his Nigerian homeland — to the treatment of African ancestors being transported to America during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. “I was handcuffed from my hands down to my waist and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
How to Request Body Camera Footage from Atlanta Police
After Atlanta police officer Marquee Kelley fatally shot local activist Oscar Cain Jr. in the back in March 2019 — with his dashboard and body cameras turned off — the department sought ways to bring more transparency and accountability to policing in the city. The Atlanta Police Department had first deployed body cameras in 2016, however a […]
Posted inExplainers
Drive a Kia or Hyundai? MARTA Wants to Give You a Free Steering Wheel Lock
Do you own a Kia or a Hyundai? Ride MARTA? The transit agency is hosting an event that aims to ensure its riders’ personal vehicles are still in the parking lot when they return to them. In late May, MARTA announced they were partnering with Kia and Hyundai Motors to give away 640 steering wheel […]
Posted inTransportation
MARTA CEO Wants to Improve Transit Experience for Black Riders
MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood wants Black bus and train riders in the Atlanta area to know their local travel needs will remain top of mind for him as the transit authority moves forward with its planned infrastructure ventures this year. Greenwood joined MARTA as its chief of bus operations in June 2019 before replacing former […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Are Relationships Between Black Residents and APD Improving? Mayor Dickens Thinks So.
Mayor Andre Dickens says the rapport between Atlanta police and the city’s Black residents is better now than it was before he took office more than a year ago, despite recent protests over the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis, Tennessee, police. “I would say it has improved over the last year,” Dickens said […]
Posted inTransportation
MARTA Seeks Community Feedback at Next Round of Public Meetings
If you missed last week’s open house events, MARTA still has an opportunity for riders to learn about the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative. This week, the transit authority is hosting two virtual public meetings for residents to learn about and offer feedback on the proposed expansion project. The expansion, which is a part of its […]