Atlanta, GA
Government shutdown threatens Atlanta’s innovation economy
Shutdown could slow innovation
The federal government shutdown has halted new research grants from agencies like the NIH and NSF. Local biotech leaders, including Portal Innovations Atlanta and Georgia Tech-based startup Topo DX, say the freeze could stall early-stage research and slow medical breakthroughs. To offset the funding gap, Portal Innovations has launched a $100 million fundraising effort to support startups impacted by the federal pause in research funding.
ATLANTA – In week two of the federal government shutdown, agencies say most new research funding is on hold, a freeze that could slow innovation in Atlanta and beyond.
What they’re saying:
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), no new grants are being processed, and most staff are furloughed. Once operating funds are exhausted at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the federal agency that funds most university research outside of medicine, normal operations will cease. Even a brief delay could have lasting effects on innovation within Atlanta’s growing life sciences economy.
“A lot of innovation is reliant on federal funding support, especially grants like the NIH,” said Ashley Cornelison, executive director of Portal Innovations Atlanta. “Companies’ access to that is going to be perhaps limited, and it will be really challenging for innovation to be able to scale. It could have some long-term effects.”
Portal provides lab space, funding and expert support to help early-stage biotech and medtech startups grow from university research into real companies. The life sciences incubator sits just off the Georgia Institute of Technology campus in Science Square, a public-private partnership on Tech-owned land designed to link university research with private-sector innovation.
One of the companies under the Portal umbrella, Topo DX, is developing faster lab tests to detect infections in hours instead of days, helping patients get the right antibiotics sooner.
“We want to help people, save lives and prevent overuse of antibiotics, which is a huge problem,” said Adam Krueger, co-founder and lead researcher at Topo DX. “Overuse of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance is what they call the ‘silent pandemic.’ It’s a serious killer.”
Krueger built Topo DX from his research at Georgia Tech, as many Atlanta founders have done. The university routinely ranks among the top U.S. institutions in research activity.
On its website this week, Georgia Tech said the shutdown “is delaying payment for federally funded research activities at Georgia Tech, which represent more than $100 million per month in expenses.” The institute said it will begin implementing mitigation strategies “as early as next week to help ensure business continuity during this shutdown.”
“There’s a lot of grants that either aren’t being funded or there’s questions about them being continued,” Krueger said. “A lot of people are uncertain about their future and about their research future.”
Topo DX is applying for grants through the NSF but remains mostly privately funded. Krueger said the freeze will likely hit hardest at the seed stage of research.
“Research is all about finding something new, something that hasn’t been proven yet,” he said. “Private funding makes a lot of sense once you’ve proven what you have works. But in the seed stages, it’s high risk, high reward — and that’s where government funding really matters.”
At Portal, Cornelison said many founders are anxious about the uncertainty.
“They’re concerned about how it will impact not only them and their companies, but the therapies that they might be advancing,” she said.
Local perspective:
Before the shutdown, Portal began bridging the gap in federal funding with private capital, announcing a $100 million fundraising effort “to help these companies in this difficult time and really bridge them in the absence of what might have been other available resources,” Cornelison said.
The Source: This is an original report by FOX 5’s Alli Levine, who spoke with people who use the loans to fund research.
The funeral service for former Atlanta Braves outfielder Albert Hall is scheduled for 11 a.m. CST Monday at New Mount Zion Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Hall died on Tuesday at age 67.
On Sept. 23, 1987, Hall became the first player to hit for the cycle in an Atlanta Braves uniform and the first for the franchise since Bill Collins did so for the Boston Braves on Oct. 6, 1910. Twenty-one years after Hall’s feat, Mark Kotsay became the second Atlanta player to hit for the cycle on Aug. 14, 2008.
In Atlanta’s 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros, Hall led off the bottom of the first with a single and the bottom of the fifth with a double off Jim Deshaies. In the sixth, Hall hit a solo home run off Deshaies to tie the score at 4-4. Hall started the bottom of the ninth with a triple off reliever Dave Smith and ended the game by scoring on a wild pitch.
A speedy outfielder who stole 455 bases in the minor leagues, Hall went from Jones Valley High School in Birmingham to professional baseball when Atlanta selected him in the sixth round of the 1977 draft.
After hitting .308 and stealing 60 bases for the Southern League’s Savannah Braves in 1981, Hall made his MLB debut on Sept. 12, 1981, as a pinch-runner for catcher Bruce Benedict in the 10th inning of Atlanta’s 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres.
From 1981 through 1988, Hall played in 375 games for the Braves before completing his MLB career with 20 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989.
Hall posted a career batting average of .251 with a .328 on-base average and .335 slugging percentage. He had 125 runs, 202 hits, 37 doubles, eight triples, five home runs, 53 RBIs and 67 stolen bases in the big leagues.
Hall’s best season game in 1987, when he hit .284 and stole 33 bases in 92 games for Atlanta.
Hall appeared in minor-league games each season from 1977 through 1989, except in 1984 and 1987, when he spent the campaigns completely with Atlanta.
In 946 minor-league games, Hall hit .282 with a .376 on-base average and .372 slugging percentage. In 1980, Hall stole 100 bases for the Carolina League’s Durham Bulls.
After Monday’s service, burial will be at Elmwood Cemetery and Mausoleum in Birmingham.
A college football player from Georgia was found dead in a house fire in suburban Atlanta, authorities confirmed earlier this week.
Izaiah Taylor, an offensive lineman for Georgia Military College, was staying at his grandfather’s house in Stone Mountain when the home erupted into flames around 1 p.m. EST on Monday, per WAGA-TV.
Taylor’s grandfather, Gregory Edwards, said that he was not at the home when he was notified about the blaze.
“Well, I got a call from my neighbor. Said there was smoke coming out of the home, and I immediately left work and headed to the house,” Edwards said.
According to WXIA-TV, flames had already engulfed the residence by the time first responders arrived, and Taylor, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“There was no hesitation in going in and searching for the victim,” DeKalb County Fire Captain Jaeson Daniels said. “We got here, and we were able to establish a water supply. And again, receiving that information from one of the nearby residents stating that there was some water inside, we actually went right in and performed a search and luckily found him pretty quick, but unfortunately he was deceased. Once we found him.”
Taylor transferred to the junior college, located in Milledgeville, ahead of this past season after playing for Liberty University in 2024.
“Georgia Military College is deeply saddened by the loss of one of our students, Izaiah Taylor,” the college said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our hearts are with Izaiah’s family, friends, classmates, and all those who knew and loved him.”
Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire, WRDW-TV reported.
Edwards got emotional when talking about his grandson, calling him “a gentle giant.”
“He was one of the kindest people you would have ever known. He wasn’t a bully,” Edwards said. “He was a good boy. He didn’t deserve this.”
“What can I say? I mean, that’s not an easy pill to swallow. You know, you don’t bury your grandchildren,” he added.
ATLANTA, GA — Metro Atlanta residents may have a merry time celebrating Christmas this year as a new survey has named the Georgia town the best place to observe the jolly holiday across the U.S.
WalletHub awarded Atlanta with the moniker in a ranking released Tuesday after analysts examined 100 cities to determine the best places to celebrate Christmas.
With an overall score of 63.36, Atlanta beat out major national cities, including Las Vegas and New York City.
At No. 1, here’s how Atlanta’s ranking broke down:
- Traditions and Fun: 8
- Observance: 30
- Generosity: 16
- Shopping: 6
- Costs: 39
No other Georgia cities made the U.S. ranking.
“Atlanta is the best city for Christmas celebrations this year, with plenty of stores to help you prepare for the holiday, including an extremely high number of bakeries, holiday decoration shops and card shops per capita,” WalletHub experts said.
“Atlanta is also one of the best cities when it comes to the prevalence of affordable restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars if you want to eat out for the holiday (or want a break from cooking afterward). It has the 10th-most Christmas tree farms per capita, too. In addition, Atlanta residents get very excited about Christmas, searching Google for terms relating to the holiday more frequently than people in most other cities. The giving spirit can also be felt by Atlanta residents and visitors alike, as the city has the ninth-highest percentage of people who donate clothing to charity, along with the 13th-most online donations per capita.”
There are a plethora of options in Atlanta to celebrate Christmas, which is observed annually on Dec. 25.
Patch has compiled a few you may want to add to your calendar:
Here are the top 10 best Christmas towns, per WalletHub:
- Atlanta, Georgia
- San Francisco, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Orlando, Florida
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Miami, Florida
- Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Cincinnati, Ohio
,>
See WalletHub’s full methodology.
1985 Movie Reviews – A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, Enemy Mine, and Out of Africa | The Nerdy
Land Grab: Inside Israel’s Escalating Campaign for Control of the West Bank
Video: First Batch of Epstein Files Provides Few Revelations
President Trump Wants to Be Everywhere, All the Time
Bowen Yang leaves ‘SNL’ midway through his 8th season
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Video: First Batch of Epstein Files Provides Few Revelations
FBI Director Kash Patel says bureau ramping up AI to counter domestic, global threats
Podcast: Brussels is broke and has no government
Apple, Google tell workers on visas to avoid leaving the U.S. amid Trump immigration crackdown
Sen Murphy warns ‘people are going to die’ as Congress punts on expiring Obamacare subsidies
-
Iowa6 days agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Iowa1 week agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Maine4 days agoElementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
-
Maryland6 days agoFrigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
-
Technology1 week agoThe Game Awards are losing their luster
-
South Dakota7 days agoNature: Snow in South Dakota
-
New Mexico4 days agoFamily clarifies why they believe missing New Mexico man is dead
-
World1 week agoCoalition of the Willing calls for transatlantic unity for Ukraine