Dan Whisenhunt, Author at The Atlanta Loop

About Dan Whisenhunt

http://www.atlantaloop.com

Posts by Dan Whisenhunt:

Beltline

Editor’s note: Atlanta Loop is shutting down effective Jan. 1, 2020

Dan Whisenhunt 12/31/2019

Dan Whisenhunt, owner of Atlanta Loop and Decaturish.com

Dear Atlanta Loop readers,

We appreciate you sticking with us since 2016. While we have enjoyed serving you on Atlanta Loop, we have decided it is time to close this site down and focus our efforts on the website that owns Atlanta Loop, Decaturish.com.

This wasn’t an easy decision and there are numerous reasons we have decided to move on. While the site generated a modest profit, it ultimately wasn’t enough to justify continuing to spend resources on it. And although the local news in Atlanta isn’t being covered as well as it used to be, it is still covered better than many other communities in the metro area. The site didn’t carve out a niche where it could flourish and grow.

We tried numerous things to reinvigorate Atlanta Loop, including bringing on new editors and contributors. But ultimately, we think it is best that we move on so we can devote 100 percent of our energy to Decaturish.com.

This site will be up for a few more days while we migrate its content over to Decaturish.com where it will be archived. Jeff Cochran, our current editor, will continue to sell advertising for Decaturish and will have opportunities to contribute articles and essays as we expand our operations there. Decaturish will cover Atlanta news when and where it makes sense to cover it. Decaturish is hyper local, but it has never been myopic in its scope.

Once the content has been moved, this URL will redirect to Decaturish.com. Anyone interested in buying the Atlanta Loop URL from us can contact us at editor@decaturish.com.

Thank you, readers, so much for helping us with this experiment. While this site never quite took off like we had hoped, it provided us valuable lessons that will help us as we continue to operate Decaturish.com. And for fans of that site, please note: Decaturish isn’t going anywhere. Shutting down Atlanta Loop will mean we have more time and energy to devote to making Decaturish an awesome experience for everyone, including Loop’s readers.

Peace and best wishes for a prosperous 2020.

– Dan Whisenhunt, owner of and publisher of Atlanta Loop and Decaturish

Beltline/ Business/ Opinion

Editor’s note: A new direction for Atlanta Loop

Dan Whisenhunt 06/30/2019

Dear Atlanta Loop readers,

Nearly a year ago, we welcomed Derek Prall as the new editor and publisher of Atlanta Loop. Hyperlocal publishing is a thankless job, but Derek dedicated himself to the work and kept Loop running these past 10 months. Like many of us, Derek has other professional obligations and over the last few weeks it’s become clear that those other obligations need to take priority in his life.

Derek will be leaving Loop as of July 1. That’s not a reflection on him or his work. We mutually agreed that it was the right decision for all of us. We thank him for the job he did and hope he will contribute articles to Loop in the future. He’s a talented journalist. We would love to work with him again.

Loop isn’t going away, though. On July 8, Jeff Cochran will take over as publisher.

Jeff is the current ad sales director for Decaturish who has a lengthy publishing resume.

In the ’70s he wrote for The Great Speckled Bird, Creative Loafing and The Atlanta Gazette. From the mid ’70s until the early ’80s, he was the Regional Advertising Director for Peaches Records and Tapes. In 1981 he began a 27-year career in advertising at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since then he has served as the Advertising Director at Arts Atl and Decaturish. He is also a contributing editor to Like the Dew and Beatlefan magazine.

In the five years we’ve worked together, Jeff has become a trusted partner and friend. He has business savvy and integrity. He is passionate about the future of journalism and he has big plans for Atlanta Loop.

Under his leadership, Loop will become more thoughtful and introspective. The breaking news beat in Atlanta isn’t covered like it used to be, but it’s still covered well. We think there’s more room in Atlanta for deep analysis of the issues affecting the city and its residents, as well as stories that take an inventory of the city’s past with an eye toward its future.

Jeff has passion and if you love what you do, it shows. I’m confident he can take Loop to the next level.

Please join me and welcoming him to Loop and thanking Derek for his months being a good steward of this publication.

The journalism world needs more people like Jeff Cochran and Derek Prall.

– Dan Whisenhunt, owner of Decaturish.com and Atlantaloop.com.

Beltline/ Decaturish

Bruce Roaden, former Decatur 4/5 Academy, Renfroe Middle principal, passes away

Dan Whisenhunt 12/19/2018

Bruce Roaden. Source: City Schools of Decatur

Editor’s note: Due to an upcoming redesign of Decaturish.com, this article is being published on our sibling website, Atlantaloop.com. This story will be moved over to Decaturish.com when the new site is launched.

This story has been updated.

Bruce Roaden, a top-level City Schools of Decatur employee, passed away this week.

Roaden worked in CSD’s central office as the Executive Director of Student Support. He was the secondary education director before that, but he will perhaps be best remembered in Decatur for his time as principal in two of the city’s schools. He was principal of Decatur’s 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue. He left that job in 2015 after serving as principal for four years.

Previously, he had served as principal at Renfroe Middle School. Parents who remember his time there said he convinced them to send their kids to Decatur’s public middle school instead of sending their kids to a private school. He started at Renfore, and with CSD, in 2006, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Superintendent David Dude confirmed the news as did Roaden’s church, Saint Mark United Methodist. A representative for the church said the cause of death is unknown, but it appears Roaden passed away in his sleep.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

Beltline/ Business

Emory University considers kicking in $60 million for Clifton Corridor light rail project

Dan Whisenhunt 11/09/2018

A map of the proposed Clifton Corridor. Image provided by MARTA

The Clifton Corridor light rail project, which would connect MARTA’s Red/Gold and Blue lines, connecting Lindbergh Station to Avondale Station, will be an expensive undertaking.

Cost estimates put the price tag for the total project at $1.8 billion to $2.1 billion. MARTA’s board approved allocating $350 million to the project as part of the “More MARTA” transit expansion initiative, which will be funded by a half-penny sales tax approved by voters.

According to records provided by MARTA, Emory is considering making a $60 million contribution to the project. That contribution includes providing $25.5 million worth of right of way and $34 million in other improvements, including a shuttle.

Here’s the full memo itemizing Emory’s potential contributions:

If other funding can be secured, the corridor could be operational by 2026.

Emory University President Claire E. Sterk has said that other potential funding sources include federal money.

“Federal matching funds will be critical to the next phase of this effort, and current workforce and population centers are key factors in that evaluation process,” Sterk said in September, prior to the MARTA board’s vote. “We will continue to champion better connections through transit for the 40,000 people who work at Emory University, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other organizations here, our 15,000 students, and the over 2 million patient visits to Emory University Hospital and the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center each year.”

Beltline/ Business

Atlanta Business Chronicle calls Christine Blasey Ford hearing ‘win’ for Coca-Cola

Dan Whisenhunt 09/27/2018

As much of the nation sat riveted by testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused supreme court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her, the Atlanta Business Chronicle looked for an angle.

The publication found one, sitting next to Ford while she testified.

In a story titled, “Coca-Cola in spotlight at Supreme Court hearing with Christine Blasey Ford,” the Business Chronicle called the hearing a, “a huge product-placement win for Coca-Cola.”

“One estimate places the marketing value to Coca-Cola at over $3 million,” the article says.

The people who saw the article posted on Twitter were not amused.

“This is the most insensitive and unimportant headline you could’ve possibly written,” one user responded. “A caffeine bottle label is minuscule compared to the gravity of sexual assault and the bravery to come forward about it. Do better, ABC. Do better.”

Another said, “What the hell is wrong with you? I cannot fathom the insensitivity and inappropriateness of this.”

The Business Chronicle has not publicly addressed the criticisms. To see the article, click here.

Beltline/ Business/ Decaturish/ Metro ATL/ Opinion

Editor’s note: The future of Decaturish and Atlanta Loop

Dan Whisenhunt 09/12/2018

Derek Prall, the new editor and publisher of Atlanta Loop

Dear readers,

Two years ago Decaturish.com launched a sibling website, Atlantaloop.com.

A problem quickly arose. There’s not two of me and Decaturish is already a full time job. Decaturish has continued to grow as a business and the demands on my time and attention have grown as a result. I could not give Atlanta Loop the attention it truly deserved.

But that’s changing. I recently partnered with another local journalist, Derek Prall, who will now be the new editor and publisher of Atlanta Loop.

Derek Prall has been a writer his entire life, and a professional journalist for the past decade. He’s worked at daily community papers and run national print magazines. He’s lived in South Carolina, New York and New Jersey, but he’s always called Atlanta his home.

He’s joining Atlanta Loop as the new editor, and is looking forward establishing the site as a powerful voice in the community by providing up-to-date news coverage on the stories that really matters to Atlanta’s citizens.

He lives in Underwood Hills with a loud orange cat named Garbage.

There were many things on Prall’s resume that stood out, but when I learned he had a cat named Garbage, that sealed the deal.

Kidding aside, Derek has a real interest in making sure Atlantaloop.com lives up to its potential and he has a clear vision for the site. Both are necessary for the site to be successful. Derek will not be going it alone. I still own Decaturish.com LLC, the parent company of both sites. I will be there to support him every step of the way. He will have the benefit of learning from my ~~years of mistakes~~ experiences running Decaturish. As part of our arrangement, I’ll handle all the boring administrative stuff like sending invoices and making tweaks to the look of the site. Derek will get to concentrate on doing what he does best: writing great content that is relevant to our readers.

The arrangement will benefit Decaturish readers, as well. Now that I am no longer worrying about providing content for two sites every day, I can rededicate my energy to making Decaturish the best local news website it can possibly be. Decatur and the communities surrounding it are my home. I care about what happens here and being able to write about it for a living has been a privilege and a blessing. I look forward to being able to focus on Decaturish while helping another budding entrepreneur. It’s a win-win.

If you have any questions for Derek, he can be reached via email at derek@atlantaloop or via phone at 770-365-6203.

Please join me in welcoming Derek as the new editor and publisher of Atlanta Loop. I have every confidence that he will make the site an essential and entertaining source of information for the Atlanta community.

Sincerely,

– Dano

Dan Whisenhunt, editor and publisher of Decaturish

Beltline/ Crime and Public Safety

The city of Atlanta will no longer take ICE detainees

Dan Whisenhunt 09/06/2018

Atlanta City Hall. Photo by Bbenrath, obtained via Wikimedia Commons

The city of Atlanta has announced it is no longer accepting detainees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has signed an Executive Order directing the Chief of the Atlanta City Department of Corrections to take the necessary action to permanently stop receiving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees under the current agreement with the United States Marshals Service,” the city announced in a press release. “Additionally, the order directs Corrections Chief Patrick Labat to formally request that ICE officials transfer all current detainees from the Atlanta City Detention Center as soon as possible.”

The city was housing about five ICE detainees as of Thursday morning, Sept. 6.

The city has an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service dating to March 2010 regarding ICE detainees.

“That agreement was originally halted by the Mayor’s temporary Executive Order in June of this year, after the Trump Administration began to enforce zero-tolerance immigration policies that resulted in the separation of hundreds of families at the United States/Mexico border,” the city says. “To assist the City in determining the best path forward, the Mayor convened an Advisory Committee on Immigrant Detention made up of advocates, representatives of ICE and Department of Corrections staff. After numerous meetings and the receipt of public input, the committee recommended that the City should no longer accept ICE detainees.”

Mayor Bottoms also announced partnerships that will support immigrants in Atlanta, “including a partnership with Uber, Catholic Charities, and Lutheran Family Services to provide free transportation and meals to families separated at the US-Mexico border and reunited in Atlanta.”

“She will also be asking the City Council to approve the expansion of legal services to immigrants through the City’s Access to Justice program in the Office of the Public Defender,” the press release adds. “Finally, the Mayor announced that the City of Atlanta has filed an amicus brief along with other U.S. cities to protect Americans who have Temporary Protective Status (TPS) from deportation. This will assist 12,000 Georgians who are from El Salvador, Sudan, Haiti, and other affected countries.”

Beltline/ Entertainment

Dragon Con reports sightly less attendance than expected

Dan Whisenhunt 09/04/2018

A cosplayer dressed as Harley Quinn walks in the DragonCon parade on Saturday

Dragon Con draws tens of thousands of people to Atlanta’s downtown every year, and this year was no different.

But this year’s attendance did not quite meet expectations, the organizers said.

According to press releases from the event, Dragon Con anticipated 85,000 people. About 80,000 people made the trip this year.

“We are proud to have organized an exciting convention that gave fans an opportunity to show off their spectacular costumes, make new friends, and meet their favorite creators. These are the reasons fans come back to Dragon Con year after year,” convention co-chair Rachel Reeves said in a press release. “Dragon Con has always been focused on delivering an awesome fan experience. We are perfectly comfortable with this year’s attendance.”

The convention drew attendees from all 50 states and from countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand and Japan, the press release said.

The convention raised $85,000 for a charity called Literacy Action, Inc. which promotes literacy and life skills for under-educated adults in the Atlanta area. The 2019 charity will be the American Heart Association’s Georgia chapter. The selection is in honor of Thom Trainor, who directed the convention’s Comics and Pop Artist division. He died over the summer, the press release says.

“Thom’s love of comics and art helped shape our comics and pop art programming into the unique experience it is today,” Reeves said in the press release.