DL Open Thread: Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Anybody with a first-hand report on the BHL festivities?  Snark permitted, welcome, even.

How The Cops Kept Kevin Hensley’s Name Out Of The Paper.  Both Cris Barrish and Karl Baker report the story.  I’m going with Cris b/c I umped him back in the Brandywine Little League:

Four days after being elected to a sixth term in the Delaware House of Representatives, state police say Rep. Kevin Hensley was drunk when he pulled into the Valero gas station off the Route 1 highway in Milford.

When Hensley pulled back out onto the highway, police say, he drove right into the path of a southbound car that struck his Toyota Tacoma pickup truck from behind. The smaller Ford Fusion rolled over several times and came to a rest in the front yard of a home several hundred yards down the road.

The 71-year-old driver of the Ford, who lives in nearby Lincoln, suffered several cuts to his face and hands, complained of chest pain, and was taken to the hospital after the 6 p.m. accident on Nov. 9.

Here’s why neither the Hensley arrest nor the Cade arrest were made public by police:

Asked why Hensley’s arrest went unreported, police said they have a policy not to issue news releases for misdemeanor offenses, no matter what position the suspect might hold in the community. The same lack of public disclosure occurred last month when state budget director Cerron Cade was arrested for several alleged shoplifting incidents at the Wilmington Home Depot store.

Oh. They have a ‘policy’.  Someone in the General Assembly should introduce legislation eliminating the discretion given to police to hide the names of public officials who have been arrested from the public.

If only the victim had been injured more seriously, they might have made the arrest public.  From Karl Baker’s story:

In response, a police spokeswoman pointed to Delaware law that describes misdemeanor vehicular assault as one that results in a simple “physical injury,” while a felony case is one that causes a “serious physical injury.”

A serious physical injury is one that “creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes serious and prolonged disfigurement, prolonged impairment of health or prolonged loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ, or which causes the unlawful termination of a pregnancy without the consent of the pregnant female,” according to Delaware’s legal code.

Got it.  A drunken state legislator causes an accident that could have killed someone, but because the injuries weren’t life-threatening, they bury the arrest report.

Unequal justice applied unequally.  Will the so-called ‘House Ethics Committee’ do anything about this?  Rhetorical question.

Perfect Conditions For A Deadly Fire.  I like to watch the Weather Channel in the morning.  Don’t want to watch this, though.  I think I can now safely predict Al’s Song Of The Day.  Although–he might have previously used it.  We’ll see.

A Truly-Insane Press Conference.  At least that’s what’s being reported.  I’m trying to remain Trump-free for as long as I can.  Read the whole thing. Too much weird stuff to excerpt…OK, I’ll share the  Greenland stuff:

He also suggested that America needs to acquire Greenland from Danish control for unspecified national security reasons, returning to a theme he’s expressed at times since his first term.

But when pressed on whether he would rule out using military force — violating the United Nations charter — to take control of Greenland and Panama, Trump repeatedly refused to do so.

“Well, we need Greenland for national security purposes. I’ve been told that for a long time, long before I even ran I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time. You have approximately 45,000 people there. People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for national security,” he said.

Trump went further by suggesting that Denmark should give up any claim to Greenland and allow some sort of plebiscite on joining the U.S. — or face consequences for not doing so.

“If Denmark wants to get to a conclusion, but nobody knows if they even have any right title or interest, the people are going to probably vote for independence or to come into the United States. But if they did, if they did do that, then I would tariff Denmark at a very high level,” he added.

Trump also threatened to use his tariff policies as “economic force” to coerce Canada into giving up sovereignty and becoming part of the U.S.

You get the (demented) picture.

How The Fuck Is This The Judge Who Delays Release Of The Smith Report?  Are there, like, only two judges in America?  The judge in Texas who has the Supreme Court on speed-dial, and this unqualified hack?:

On Tuesday, Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order blocking the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s highly anticipated reports on the prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump’s classified documents case as well as his Jan. 6 election subversion case.

Beyond a decision from the appellate court in the days ahead, the only way to stop the judge’s injunction, according to Cannon’s order, is if there is further direction from Attorney General Merrick Garland to do so. But for now, Cannon’s order temporarily stops Smith from releasing or sharing the report to anyone outside of the Justice Department. Trump and his lawyers have already reviewed the two-volume tome privately, according to the president-elect’s lawyers.

Merrick Garland was by far the single worst appointment Biden made.  Tom Waits would have called him a ‘cream-puff Casper Milquestoast’.  Which would have been an understatement.

Rethugs Try To Block Duly-Elected Democratic Justice From Taking The Bench.  Might just succeed, too:

The Republican majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the state election board from certifying the victory of one of the court’s own members—Democratic Justice Allison Riggs. In doing so, the state’s highest court laid the groundwork for potentially overturning the election and handing the seat to Riggs’ GOP challenger.

Riggs leads the race by 734 votes after two recounts. But her opponent, appeals court Judge Jefferson Griffin, has challenged the eligibility of 60,000 voters. He claims that ballots were wrongly counted from people who submitted incomplete voter registration records, but his list of challenged ballots includes many lawful voters—including Riggs’ own parents.

The state election board rejected Griffin’s protests and was set to certify the election on Friday, but Republicans on the state supreme court, who have a 5-2 majority, blocked that from happening for at least two weeks while they consider Griffin’s motion to reverse the election outcome. The state election board had asked a federal court to step in and resolve the matter so that it could certify the results, but a Trump-appointed federal judge on Monday remanded the case to the state supreme court. The state election board appealed that ruling to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the state supreme court issued its ruling before the federal appeals court could act.

Just thought you’d like to know. There’s a lot of news this morning, and I’m relying on you to fill in the blanks that I’ve left.  Just one more…

Brandywine SD President Faces Unfair Labor Practices Charge.  And not for the first time:

The charge was filed Tuesday with Delaware’s Public Employment Relations Board, a quasi-judicial agency that mediates and enforces collective bargaining laws between public employers and their unionized employees.

It’s levied against President Ralph Ackerman and his board, for “acting in bad faith” by making derogatory comments about the union’s bargaining team and suggesting financial bonuses if parties reached agreement.

Brandywine School District did not provide comment by time of publication. In a written statement while at work, Ackerman apologized for any “misunderstanding.”

“I also am genuinely sorry this negotiation has dragged out as long as it has,” Ackerman said in an email. “It was not my intention to disparage anyone. I further pledge that I will not speak to any BEA member about negotiations and let those discussions be solely with the respective teams.”

Not the first time that Ackerman has shot his mouth off, and had to apologize:

In the heat of pandemic, as Delaware was still grappling with the ultimate decision to keep education virtual the coming school year, Ackerman penned an email to an elementary teacher.

“Teachers are first responders to our future,” the then-board member wrote to a fifth grade teacher hesitant about any return. “If they cannot handle the risk, seek a new career.”

About a month later, the official apologized for the remarks. In a school board meeting, he called the exchange “unprofessional, and not characteristic of who I am. I have always had a profound respect and admiration for teachers.”

I think it is characteristic of who he is.  He shouldn’t be on the Brandywine District School Board, much less its President.  He needs to be challenged the next time he stands for election.

What do you want to talk about?