Year: 2017

I didn't read much of the 140 comment post while I was on vacation. Someone that said this has gone from being a liberal blog to being a Democratic Party…

Starting today, I will be mixing in more Delaware news and opinions into the Open Thread. Going local was one of the most repeated suggestions by our readers over the last week after my Moving Forward post. Cassandra and I will be launching a new Vote Accountability project that will be similar to our prior Vote Tracking efforts, but I will explain that in later post. El Somnambulo's posts regarding the General Assembly will be replaced by that project, in that we will be posting the Daily Agenda and Hearing Schedule as part of that project, but that will be detailed later this week. I will also be posting more Agenda items for Governor Markell and Carney, Senator Carper and Senator Coons, and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, just to keep you informed as to their daily activities. We want DL to be the clearing house of all federal, state and local activity. Yes, even Sussex County.

Today, Governor Markell will announce the LEED certification of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Richardson and Robbins building in a ceremony at 10:15 am at the Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

Senator Chris Coons will be meeting with Secretary of State Designate Rex Tillerson this afternoon at 3:15 pm. At the top of the meeting, there will be a photo/video availability prior to the meeting in Coons' Senate office (Russell Senate Office Building #127A), however, no quesitons will be taken. After the meeting, at 3:45 pm, Senator Coons will hold a media availability alone where he will presumably take questions. I am not sure why Senator Coons agreed to the photo/video availability if the nominee is going to refuse to answer any questions. Why would he want his photo taken with this friend of Putin? Sure, have the meeting, and then afterwards hold a press conference, but that should be it if Tillerson won't take questions.

Sometimes I listen to the Thom Hartmann show on the Sirius XM Progress channel. This afternoon one of the callers had an interesting idea: he wanted Democrats to focus on making life as hard as possible for those in the red states while fighting for the blue states. As an example, he wanted Democrats to not oppose the repeal of the Federal Minimum Wage, or at least vote against repeal but let it pass by not using the filibuster. Should that be repealed, minimum wages would be left to be set by the states, and the blue states would keep it between $12 and $15 while the red states would implement no minimum wages. The point is to make the Republican and Trump voter suffer as much as possible.

Wilmington Mayor-elect Mike Purzycki will be sworn in Tuesday evening at the first organizational meeting of the Wilmington City Council, to be held in the Grand Opera House on Market Street in Wilmington. The doors will open at 7:45 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 8. The event is free and open to the public. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Aside from the Mayor-Elect, new City Council members also will be sworn into office at the event.

Inside we have video from Matt Meyer's Facebook page of the swearing-in this morning at the Garfield Park PAL Center. In his address, County Executive Meyer promised to emphasize honesty, transparency and efficiency in government. From the News Journal:

"I understand with that trust comes awesome responsibility, a responsibility to lead and act with the best interest of all of our communities in the county," Meyer said. [...] On Tuesday, he spoke of the county's shrinking open space, controversial development code, the scourge of heroin and the epidemic of violence among young people in Delaware. He borrowed inspiration from former President Bill Clinton to say there is hope for solving these problems. "There is nothing wrong with New Castle County that we can't fix with what is right about New Castle County," Meyer said.

If you cannot make it to Washington, DC for the National Women's March on Washington on January 21, you can attend an event in Newark on the same day at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark, 420 Willa Road, Newark, Delaware. There will be a Candlelight vigil at 9:00 a.m., and then the Marchers will depart the church grounds at 10 a.m. and then reassemble at the UUFN for a rally at 11 am.