Delaware
Markell to Children: Drop Dead
Don’t look for gimlet-eyed Jack Markell to lift a finger to assist in the humanitarian crisis at the nation’s borders. Delaware Gov. Markell turned down a request from The US Department of Health & Social Services to even consider making any state resources available to stem the humanitarian crisis. He blames congressional ‘dithering’. As if the kids placed in the middle of this crisis can do anything to overcome congressional dithering.
From today’s News-Journal story:
Markell, who is among a number of the nation’s governors who fielded federal requests for help, said there are no state facilities available that could properly accommodate the children while they await immigration hearings. But he said some Delaware faith-based organizations might be in a position to offer assistance.
“I don’t really see the possibility of any state facilities housing these kids,” Markell said Monday. “I don’t think that exists. If private organizations choose to do so, that’ll be up to them.”
![Tuesday Daily Delawhere [7.15.14]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/14348384747_7173cea199_c.jpg "Tuesday Daily Delawhere [7.15.14]")
Cape Henlopen School Board: Banning Books And Emails
I’m sure everyone is familiar with latest book banning drama from the Cape Henlopen School Board. If not, here’s the recap:
Cape Henlopen School District’s decision to take a book off a summer reading list for incoming high school freshmen has drawn protests from librarians, some parents and teachers.
The young-adult book, “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” which features a main character who is gay, was removed from the list by the school board in late June. The board majority cited foul language, not sexual orientation, as the reason for their action.
Which was followed by this:
Several Cape Henlopen School Board members indicated a willingness to reconsider their vote last month to remove a young adult novel from a freshman summer reading list at a Thursday meeting where librarians and a parent criticized them for it.
Now, this isn’t the first time the Cape Henlopen School Board went after a book. It’s obviously a “thing” for this school board.
But today’s article in the Cape Gazzette brings a new tactic to the the table.
In Wilmington, bullets and violence
Wednesday night, 27-year-old Otis Saunders was gunned down in Wilmington, the city’s 15th homicide victim this year.
While police seek answers behind this latest death, the answer to this question continues to elude everyone: how to reduce the violence?
Expanding the Port of Wilmington
You’ve probably seen this article in Sunday’s NJ that spins out a vision by Tom Gordon to expand on the Port of Wilmington by building a new facility directly on the Delaware River capable of handling the larger ships coming through the world’s seaways. This new facility would be south of the current port, just south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I give Tom Gordon some credit for thinking about capitalizing on the current Port asset. I wrote about this alot when I was writing about Kinder Morgan and I’m still surprised that this isn’t higher up on the economic development agenda.
![Monday Daily Delawhere [7.14.14]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3899/14562026192_c9c7e517bb_c.jpg "Monday Daily Delawhere [7.14.14]")
Wilmington City Council Steps Up to Try to Control the City’s Costs
The last city budget process highlighted once again the difficulty of using that fast-track process to start implementing some budget discipline within the city’s operations. Indeed, that budget not only raised the property taxes of city residents, but also left the city with a surplus – a surplus that no one understands its purpose. There were multiple problems brought up during the hearings – the number of vacant but budgeted positions, the fact that the city isn’t paying its portion of the water and sewer bill, and the fact that the budget largely ignored the WEFAC finding that the city’s financial difficulty can’t be resolved by taxing its way out of it. On top of that, city residents really pushed back on city council people over the passage of that tax increase. To respond to this, City Council is finally exercising its prerogatives as the body that approves spending, to start pulling spending back. This week they started with the staffing at the Fire Department, and they promise to look at all City Departments with an eye to reduce funding for vacant positions and look for better efficiencies.
Sunday Daily Delawhere [7.13.14]
![Sunday Daily Delawhere [7.13.14]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3871/14392556349_1d33363dd5_c.jpg "Sunday Daily Delawhere [7.13.14]")
From the Funsters from last week’s July 4th festivities in Rehoboth
![Saturday Daily Delawhere [7.12.14]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/14592765831_35487a97aa_c.jpg "Saturday Daily Delawhere [7.12.14]")
![Friday Daily Delawhere [7.11.14]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3924/14594139754_b871473c51_c.jpg "Friday Daily Delawhere [7.11.14]")
Breaking: State Rep. Rebecca Walker Will Not Seek Reelection
I first got a heads-up on this from a reader, and then I went to the Delaware Elections website and discovered that she is no longer listed among the ballot-qualified candidates. In other words, Rebecca Walker has withdrawn for reelection in the 9th RD. And, by waiting until after the filing deadline to remove her […]
Breaking: UD Pulls the Plug on the Data Center/Power Plant
I just got an email on this and there isn’t much available yet. From WDEL:
UD announced it has terminated its lease with The Data Centers (TDC), putting a halt to TDC’s plans to develop a data center on the site of the former Chrysler plant.
A report issued Thursday, UD faculty and administrative leaders concluded that the proposed facility, which included a 279-megawatt power plant is not consistent with their first class science and technology campus.
Recent Comments