Beer board cites Inversion Circus & Arts Performance Center
The Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board on Thursday fined the owner of Inversions Circus & Arts Performance Center $25 for an event last August that occurred without the required permit.
Inversion was cited for an event that took place Aug. 20, 2020, when Ladell Careathers, a local event promoter, booked an event in the space owned by Jen Keehn. He did so without a permit, though he told Keehn he had one. Beer enforcement officer John Collins said officers were called to the party after a report of shots fired.
Careathers also was fined $25 and, as a result, is unable to legally produce such events for one year.
Keehn told the board she had agreed to the event because the pandemic had hit and dramatically reduced her income flow and events offered a way to make money. She said she made a mistake in not fact-checking the event and that she was now hesitant to make her 5,000-square-foot venue available to others.
Several board members encouraged her to reconsider, with member Chris Keene, saying, “You’re on down the road now. You have a beautiful space,” and encouraged her to ask questions, learn all she can and increase her revenue through event rentals.
Atlanta airport plans full food return Aug. 1
With about a third of Atlanta airport shops and restaurants still closed amid the pandemic, Hartsfield-Jackson International is calling for all concessions to reopen by Aug. 1.
As air travel rebounds, the shuttered restaurants mean many passengers seeking food and drink options at the airport have faced long lines and frustrations at the remaining locations open on the concourses.
In a June 22 memo, airport manager Balram Bheodari told concessionaires that passenger traffic is expected to reach 80 percent of 2019 levels by July, and requested that all closed locations open by Aug. 1 and return to the hours of operation required in their leases.
“I am going to hold them to their contract,” Bheodari said during a recent briefing to Atlanta City Council members.
If concessionaires stop providing services, the city could charge rent and fines, terminate concessionaires’ rights and lease their spaces to others, according to contracts.
Andrew Gobeil, a Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman, said the airport is “confident” that concessionaires will be able to reopen and that it will work with them “to ease their transition back to business as normal.”
Bheodari said that of 159 food and beverage locations at Hartsfield-Jackson, 54 were still closed. Of 111 retail shops, 42 remained closed, and of 85 service locations, 19 were still not open.
Manufacturing grows, but still slows in June
Growth in U.S. manufacturing slowed slightly in June, as supply chain problems persist and businesses say they are still struggling to find workers.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Thursday that its index of manufacturing activity ticked down in June to a reading of 60.6 from 61.2 in May. Any reading above 50 indicates manufacturing is expanding. June was the 13th consecutive month manufacturing has grown after contracting in April 2020, when coronavirus fears triggered business shutdowns across the country.
Construction spending dips 0.3% during May
U.S. construction spending fell 0.3% in May. Growth in housing spending, the economy’s standout performer, slowed while activity in areas most directly impacted by the pandemic showed further weakness.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the May decline followed a slight 0.1% rise in April and left overall construction spending up 7.5% from a year ago. Housing construction, which has been a leading force for the economy during the pandemic, posted a tiny 0.2% gain in May as single-family home construction rose 0.8% while apartments and other multifamily construction was flat.
Nonresidential construction activity fell 1.1% in May with hotel and motel construction and the category that covers shopping centers both falling.
– Compiled by Dave Flessner and Barry Courter