Marisa Mecke

1 month ago | wabe.org | Marisa Mecke

After months of consideration, the DeKalb County Commission has voted to raise water rates 10% every year for the next decade to pay for water and sewage infrastructure. During the months commissioners considered versions of this plan, residents voiced concerns about the affordability of increasing water bills. In the end, community members organized and negotiated with county officials to build in protections for low-income households in the final version of the plan.

1 month ago | wabe.org | Marisa Mecke

In just a few weeks, hikers from around the country will arrive in Georgia to start hiking north on the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain. However, with concerns over federal grants and staffing, the organizations supporting the trail say maintaining it will be much harder this year. “This simple footpath actually is protected and maintained through a very complicated system,” said Sandy Marra, president of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC).

2 months ago | wabe.org | Marisa Mecke

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division hit the City of Atlanta with an almost $300,000 fine for sewage overflows at its R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Facility.

2 months ago | wabe.org | Marisa Mecke

Sharma Acharya kneels down in a little patch of grass. During a few weeks in late fall, he and his colleagues watch this little part of the field like hawks. What he’s standing in front of doesn’t look like much more than regular grass. But in it, Acharya says there’s something really special: saffron. “You may not notice where the plant is until you see the flowers,” Acharya said. Peeking out of the grass, he points to a little purple flower.

Jan 15, 2025 | wabe.org | Marisa Mecke

The City of Atlanta is celebrating new solar panels for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport’s fire station, the first of over a dozen fire stations in the city receiving solar panels, according to Mayor Andre Dickens. At a ceremony celebrating renewable energy at Fire Station 40 on Jan. 8, Dickens said this is just one part of how the city is transitioning all its municipal operations to renewable energy by 2035.