Farewell to Atlanta TV Anchor Amanda Davis

The crowd who came to celebrate the life of Atlanta TV Anchor Amanda Davis was well over the 2,500 seating capacity of Cascade United Methodist Church on the southwest side.

The upbeat service was short and sweet with four powerful speakers:

Ambassador Andrew Young and his wife Carolyn gave personal remarks about Amanda’s spirit, love and ability to overcome her demon. Then commended CBS TV46 for giving a second chance by hiring her.

Paul Ossman, 25 year co-anchor with Amanda for the FOX 5 TV Morning Show, tearfully spoke fondly of her as a professional who loved her work and was easy to work with.

Melora Rivera, Amanda’s only child, bravely spoke through tears about how much she loved and will miss her mom and best friend.

This group of Atlanta’s African American TV and radio personalities came to celebrate Amanda’s life. This is yet another testament to all the love people had for this amazing woman.

The lobby of Cascade United Methodist Church after the funeral is filled with well wishers. Amanda Davis touched so many over her 62 years.  She will be remembered. May she rest in peace.

Homeless Camp at Local Post Office

As most people did today, I put on several layers before venturing out in the 29 degree Atlanta weather.  Nice and warm. I warmed up my car,  turned on the heat and drove over to the Ben Hill post office to drop off mail.

However, when I entered the door, a peculiar odor was in the air.  I discovered there was a homeless man camped out there. He startled me.  Seeing the look on my face, he said “M’am, you know it’s real cold outside.” I agreed.. Knowing he needed  transportation to the  City’s closest warming center over at the Old Adamsville Rec Center on M.L. King,Jr. Drive at DelMar Lane, I called Atlanta Police Department (APD) Zone 4 to ask if they could send an officer or someone to take him over to the warming center.  The officer said, ‘of course they would’ and she thanked me for calling.

When the Officer Polencia arrived, he spoke politely to the homeless man who said his name is Dave.  Dave said he is an Army veteran who is waiting for his friend who lives a few houses down to get off from work who he stays with overnight.  Polencia offered to take Dave to the warming center, but he refused saying he is okay.  Polencia told him he could not stay there.  Dave assured the officer he was going to leave.

I left and checked five hours later at 9:20pm and not only was Dave still there, but another homeless guy was also.

This is not good!  Unfortunately, these are  not the only two homeless people in southwest Atlanta.  So, I sent an email to Councilman Andre Dickens, NPU-P Chair Reginald Rushin and CBS 46 TV.  They all responded within minutes.  Yet none of them mentioned transportation to the warming center.  With a shortage of APD officers, do we really want them to run a shuttle service?

With no one else to call, I called Zone 4 again. This time I spoke to Sgt. Bowers who said they would send someone over.

So, is Atlanta a city too busy to have a plan in place for transporting its homeless to warming centers when we experience frigid temperatures?  This is winter. Weather forecasts are pretty accurate.  Frigid temps are always in the forecasts.  Where is the plan?  Where is the compassion from our city leaders?

Tomorrow there will be an Inauguration for The new Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms.  This is her district until then. Will her successor, councilwoman-elect Marci Overstreet, and the other city council members (half are new) devise a plan to help our most vulnerable citizens?

Time will tell whether Atlanta will be too busy to devise and implement a plan.  Will you hold them accountable??

Journalist Amanda Davis Mourned by Atlanta and Nation

Many local and national TV and radio stations are mourning the loss of Amanda Davis a resilient lady, leader and journalist. She died yesterday after suffering a massive stroke at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Tuesday.  Yesterday and today, as I switch from station to station, all are reserving time to allow people to express their feelings about this well loved news anchor who has worked for several local networks.

With tears streaming down their faces, co-workers, colleagues, friends and fans tell stories of this Amanda who worked over theee decades here in Atlanta, overcame her alcohol addiction, and started at the anchor desk earlier this year with CBS.

In the photo above, CBS co-workers FresnKalil and Paul Ossman embrace Amanda at a local event.  Amanda was friends with other longtime local female anchors:  Monica Kaufman Pearson, Brenda Woods, Lisa Rayam, and Karyn Greer. According to CBS TV’s Sharon Reed, ‘They all knew each other, helped each other, and had a fun get-together every year.  That is unheard of in this very competitive industry.’

Amanda will be truly missed.  May our prayers of sympathy go out to her family and friends as they deal with her sudden passing.

For the full story on Amanda Davis’ life and award winning career, use this link:

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/amanda-davis-veteran-atlanta-news-anchor-dead-at-62-after-stroke/

Power Outage at World’s Busiest Airport

 

How could there be a power outage at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport?  This is the world’s busiest airport.  Its’ operation effects air travel nationally and internationally.

It has been almost eight hours and no word from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.   Where is the press conference from GEMA?  With technology, statements and so many modes of communication, passengers and people everywhere are concerned about the slow or no communication about the cause and status.

Why has there not been any official statement from anyone in leadership??  Is this acceptable in this day and age?  How would our leaders feel if they were sitting on an airplane on Atlanta’s tarmac? Or, sitting in a dark airport?  Where is the compassion??

The good news is, MARTA was not affected by the blackout. Their trains were running on schedule. The not so good news is, the police were not allowing anyone to enter the airport during this time to prevent more people from being dropped off.  So, if someone were trying to pick up, they were also unable to enter the airport area since there was no way to tell which cars/shuttles/buses were doing doing what.

As reported by NBC TV 11 Alive in Atlanta, several passengers took to social media to complain about the airlines not providing information in a timely manner. And, many passengers were unable to communicate to their friends and family due to their cell batteries dying. Others with cell phone battery life used the light to navigate through dark hallways in an effort to get outside.

Calls to Georgia Power from 11 Alive were not answered.  They had a vague statement on social media saying they were working to restore power at Hartfield-Jackson Airport.  Yet, that simply was insufficient for stranded passengers and people across the U.S. Who simply want the facts.

The Cascade Patch has a full article by Doug Gross on today’s power outage.  They have as many details as were available at 7:50pm EST.  Here is the link:  https://patch.com/georgia/cascade/s/gbb1e/atlanta-airport-power-outage-caused-by-fire-officials?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=weather&utm_campaign=alert

Also, according to CBS 46 live TV coverage, Mayor Reed and the Atlanta Police Chief are having a press conference this evening (No time given).

Mayor Reed holds press conference with Georgia Power V.P. Bertina Terry as they reveal details of Hartsfield-Jackson airport power outage.  A fire in an underground power station is the culprit.  It also effected two backup stations. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire. Also, the FAA is involved and conducting a review of this matter.

Your thoughts??