Why Privatize the Port Now?

The Kinder Morgan proposal to privatize the Port of Wilmington ought to be much in the news this week -- their Bond Bill Hearing is set for 10AM this Wednesday (in Dover) and the Wilmington City Council will conduct a hearing into this action on Thursday 28 February at 5pm in City Council Chambers. I know that the Wilmington hearing will be live streamed online, and I don't know what access we'll have for the Dover hearing other than in person. One of the things I want to point out today, and I'm hoping that decision-makers keep in mind, is that while DEDO was publicly touting an investment partnership to build out the Port, their RFP (released approx 2 months prior to this article) included a privatization option that customers and businesses at the Port did not know until months later. And still, this privatization deal is quite different than from the talking points DEDO was using to promote this deal as an expansion opportunity.

Oscars Sunday Open Thread [2.24.13]

Let's talk about the Oscars! They'll be awarding film awards tonite -- who do you think should or will win tonite? Give us your predictions in the comments or talk about the movies you saw this past year.

Greg Schauer’s ‘Between Books’ To Close

This is depressing. Beyond depressing, really. Between Books, a superb Claymont book/game store that specializes in fantasy, horror, sci-fi, graphic novels, comics and related genres, will soon close. Owner Greg Schauer has lost his lease. Greg Schauer is so much more than a bookstore owner. He is a one-man support system for authors and artists. He is a voracious reader who always has great suggestions for his clients. He holds workshops and readings for writers and would-be writers. He reads manuscripts at no charge and provides incredibly helpful feedback. He actively supports other local businesses. We need people like Greg Schauer.

Friday Open Thread [2.22.13]

Booman asks if Hillary can kill the modern GOP. If she wins Texas Arkansas and Kentucky (and recent polls show her leading all three states), that means she can win in North Carolina, Indiana, Montana, the Dakotas, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, and Arizona, and if she wins all of those states, and all the Obama blue states from 2012, yes, I think she can.

State Votes To Close Pencader Charter School

Pencader has struggled for quite a while. I've written about the school last July here, and last August here and here. I've watched all this come to a head, and held off calling for outright closure once the new Pencader Board came into being, but this passage from Nichole Dobo's article had my eyebrows raising.
The new school leadership submitted plans for moving forward that contained errors and omissions, said John Carwell, director of the charter school office in the state Education Department. For instance, Pencader’s leaders reported that the school outperformed the state average on student achievement tests, Carwell said. In reality, the school was below the state average on math and reading assessments, he said. This mistake, and others, showed the school’s leaders were “ill-prepared, at best,” he said. Subsequent reports did not convince state leaders otherwise, he said.
Ill-prepared, at best? At best? If it's true that the new school leadership reported false achievement test scores, as well as other errors and omissions then they should be investigated. Isn't this sort of thing against the law?

To V, With Love

This post is in response to this plea: Pandora, special request. can you go over to mike’s blog and write a response post here to his assertion from yesterday that…