City of Wilmington Trying to Shut Down Your Freedom to Assemble

On March 7, 2012, there will be a meeting of the City's L&I Committee that will take up changes to City Ordinance 12-010 that look specifically targeted at the Occupy Delaware folks and will generally restrict the freedom of Wilmington residents to assemble, unless the government pre-approves your assembly. It also lets them pre-approve the time, the place, the duration, the financial capability of the group (in getting the insurance), and other factors that might restrict your ability to protest or even to petition the government for redress.

Public Hearing For Newark Charter School Moved To Larger Venue

he Public Hearing for Newark Charter School has been moved from the Townsend Building to a larger venue to accommodate greater public participation. The new location is the Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control (DNREC) Auditorium. It is within walking distance from the DDOE (approximately a ¼ mile). Attached are the directions and revised public notice. We will have signage posted at DDOE and staff available to redirect constituents and give them directions to the new building. Please share this update with your constituents. We will start the hearing 15 minutes later to allow for the transition.

Tuesday Open Thread [3.6.12]

Does the Republican primary end today? If Romney wins Ohio and Tennessee, and Santorum only wins Oklahoma and Gingrich only wins Georgia, then I think yes, it is over. If Santorum wins Tennessee, the race will limp along with Romney again the frontrunner who has trouble down south. If Santorum wins Ohio and Tennessee, then Romney is back in trouble again.

It’s Raining Charter Schools!

Odyssey Charter has been working on a deal for the old Wanamaker's building and is planning to open a Charter High School in that location.  I had heard about this…

El Som to be a Guest on the Al Mascitti Show on WDEL

Tune in this morning to WDEL 1150 AM from 10 am to 12 pm to hear our very own El Somnambulo on the Al Mascitti Show. He tells me the name of John Atkins just might come up. He also tells me that another Democrat has filed to run in the Insurance Commissioner's race. And it's a new name. Tune in to find out.

PDD to host panel on State Budget Process

Tomorrow, at their monthly meeting, the Progressive Democrats for Delaware will be hosting a panel on the state budget process. The guests expected on the panel will be: State Representative Dennis P. Williams, State Representative James "JJ" Johnson, Office of Management and Budget Director Anne Visalli, and DEFAC member Bob Byrd.

Delaware Liberal Tracking Poll Results — Jim Van Houten (R)

While Ben Mobley was unknown to 42%, Jim Van Houten is known. And DL readers no likey, to the tune of a 53% disapproval rating, of which 48% is strongly disapprove. So we have polled the Governor, Lt. Governor, Insurance Commissioner, both our Senators, our Congressman, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney General, and all of their respective Republican opposition if they are running for reelection in 2012. What we have not done yet is poll Democratic opposition. And the only official running for reelection this year facing a primary is Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart. So let's poll her primary opposition.

Monday Open Thread [3.5.12]

We got polls. Lots of them. And the general election polls in Ohio and Virginia may cause Republicans to contemplate suicide as they are so horrible. Also... we have a surprising piece of information on gun ownership in America.

Our Interview with Bryan Townsend (D) in the 11th SD

El Som and I had the opportunity to sit down with Bryan Townsend last week for what we hope will be a first in several interviews over the coming campaign. As you may know Townsend is challenging Senator Tony Deluca (D) in the 11th Senate District. And as you know, we don't like Tony Deluca around these parts. So I looked forward to meeting him, and I came away impressed. Should Bryan beat Tony Deluca this September, he will very quickly become a rising star in the party.

Delaware Liberal Tracking Poll Results — Ben Mobley (R)

Who is Ben Mobley? All we know is what is posted on his campaign website. There is a video interview of him that Charlie Copeland conducted, located here, if you want to learn more about another rather anonymous candidate the Republican Party has chosen to run for office. Since he is rather anonymous, his poll ratings reflect that. 42% of the respondents are undecided or unsure when asked if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him. 34% have an unfavorable opinion of him, probably because he is a Republican, though that number is lower than the other anonymous Republicans we have polled. And he has a higher approval rating than the others too: 24%.