DL Open Thread: Saturday, February 18, 2023
A Few Intrepid Delaware Citizens Challenge The Ft. DuPont Land-Grab:
Attached is a lawsuit filed pro se in Chancery Court by plaintiffs Erica Lindsey and Jack Guerin to return Grassdale to the State of Delaware. The Summons was served on defendant Shawn Garvin, Secretary of DNREC, on February 2, 2023. Mr. Garvin has 20 calendar days to respond.
Basis of Lawsuit
The lawsuit is based on § 4508 Forfeiture of Public Lands to State which states:“Whoever purchases any of the public lands under any restriction or condition imposed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and fails for a period of 5 years to comply with the restrictions or conditions mentioned in the deed of grant from the Department, forfeits such lands to the State, and the title to such lands shall thereafter rest in the State.”
Grassdale was transferred to FDRPC in March 2016 with all Title 7 and Title 30 protections maintained in the 2016 Deed. The lawsuit documents seven violations of Delaware’s environmental statutes following this transfer.
Although FDRPC was formed as a state agency under DNREC, state laws and procedures were not followed in the Grassdale sale. There was no RFP, no competitive bidding, no appraisal, and no public auction.
The purchase contract was never approved by the FDRPC Board as required. The contract was incomplete with 29 missing and incomplete exhibits.
The Grassdale purchaser is Sun Fort DuPont RV LLC, an anonymous Michigan limited liability company. The purchasers were shielded by a network of four anonymous LLCs, which is another violation of state procurement policy.
The Grassdale deal finally closed on October 28, 2021 with a Special Warrantee Deed which stripped Grassdale of all protections and failed to address pre-transfer title issues.
This lawsuit was mentioned in a very timely News Journal article titled “How Delaware’s plan to resurrect Fort DuPont as a ‘vibrant’ riverfront haven went wrong”.
I stand with them. The ongoing corruption attendant to the Ft. DuPont project has astounded me. But not as much as the universal refusal of anyone in power to even examine it. Of course, those who are most deeply involved in the corruption have also been state officials. And legislators. So there’s that.
The Senator Who Biden Despises The Most Is–This Guy:
But Biden holds real antipathy for one Republican above all others: Sen. RON JOHNSON. The president’s distaste is so strong that aides recall him expressing joy at MSNBC host JOE SCARBOROUGH’s frequent description of the Wisconsin senator as having “rocks in his head.”
Biden’s disdain for Johnson was evident during last week’s post-State of the Union stop at a union hall not far outside Madison. Reading off a printout, Biden turned to the audience of hardhats: “By the way, you have Senator…” he said before pausing for a beat. Biden smirked. He cleared his throat as the crowd laughed and then finished calling out Johnson. “Ron Johnson, on Social Security and Medicare, quote, ‘We should transfer everything so we have to consider everything every year.’”
As the crowd booed, Biden shook his head and muttered in agreement. “Come on, man.”
Biden never served in the Senate with Johnson, who was elected in 2010, two years after Biden became vice president. But Biden grew to dislike Johnson in the years that followed. He viewed him as someone who cared mostly about cable hits. And Biden believed Johnson debased himself to prove his loyalty to DONALD TRUMP, according to three people familiar with the president’s thinking who were not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.
‘They Don’t Need No Edjicashun’. DeSantis continues campaign to dumb-down Florida schools. Biden nails him on it:
President Joe Biden snidely ripped a major push by Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron Desantis to dumb down his state’s schools by censoring books and Black history classes and even jettisoning high-level high school classes.
Biden tweeted Friday in response to DeSantis’ relentless attack on Florida education: “I think every kid, in every zip code, in every state should have access to every education opportunity possible.”
He added, “I guess, for some, that isn’t the consensus view.”
Parents and students fear the consequences of the governor’s agenda will diminish the chances of Florida students getting into the nation’s top colleges. As a result, some parents discussed moving out of the state to protect their children’s education, The Washington Post reported.
Earlier this week, DeSantis threatened to block all Advanced Placement (AP) classes in the state. Taking demanding, top-level courses is critical for students seeking admission to the best universities where competition for a spot is fierce. High AP test scores can also earn college credit.
How Medtronic Bribed VA Hospital Workers And Endangered Veterans’ Lives:
The messages, recently unsealed in an ongoing whistleblower lawsuit, give a window into the way money and medicine mingle in the booming business of peripheral artery disease, a condition that afflicts 6.5 million Americans over age 40 and is caused when fatty plaque builds up in arteries, blocking blood flow to the legs.
Representatives from companies are often present during vascular procedures to guide doctors on how to use their complex devices. This kind of access has the potential to influence treatment plans, as companies and their representatives profit when more of their product is used.
The suit, filed in 2017 by a sales representative for a competing medical device firm, alleges an illegal kickback scheme between Medtronic and hospital employees. According to the complaint and documents released in the suit, between 2011 and 2018, VA health care workers received steakhouse dinners, Apple electronics and NASCAR tickets, and in turn, Medtronic secured a lucrative contract with the hospital. Meanwhile, the company’s representatives allegedly “groomed and trained” physicians at the facility, who then deployed the company’s devices even when it was not medically indicated.
Independent from the whistleblower suit, internal investigators at the Wichita facility have also examined the treatment patterns of its vascular patients in recent years and found numerous cases where medical devices were used excessively. While it’s not uncommon to deploy several devices, a medical expert on the investigation team found that the VA doctors sometimes used more than 15 at a time — one used 33 — deviating from the standard of care.
“It is unconscionable — there can be no valid medically acceptable basis to cram so many devices into a human being,” wrote attorneys representing the whistleblower in legal filings from January 2023. “This is not medical treatment. This is abuse.”
What do you want to talk about?
Bravo to the filers of the Delaware Citizens Challenge The Ft. DuPont Land-Grab, the question becomes why so late, but welcomed none the less. If successful it would be the first time I’ve seen “well connected” developers stopped. This a particularly insidious “land grab”, suspect more then a few politicians have a hand in it. (Sings “My beloved Delaware” in a mocking tone.)
right on. you in sussex county. i am, milford just below the county line.
This group has been challenging the land grab for a few years now. In the General Assembly, in public hearings.
I’m as puzzled as they are as to why nobody in Dover has cast a critical eye at it.
Would say the reason is the same as the one for Route 1 and the frantic attempts to buy land in it’s eventual path, like all good rackets the political class wanted in on the game.
Man, I hadn’t thought about that for decades.
I had thought we had progressed at least a bit since then.
We have. We didn’t have to build an entire highway this time.
the delaware way isn’t sufficient explanation?
Can you give a link or some directions to the source where I can find the Ft. DuPont lawsuit announcement that you pasted in and the actual pro se complaint filed?
may erica lindsay win