Starting Monday, New Castle County 911 operators will be able to ask callers if they would be willing to let 911 see what they’re witnessing through real-time video. If so, 911 will text a link to the caller that allows that person to livestream video of a scene through a phone camera. The choice to turn on the camera phone …
Hearing on housing, homeless leads to promise of attention
A joint legislative hearing held by Delaware Senate and Housing committees Wednesday started picking threads out of the tangled wad of factors affecting affordable housing and homelessness in Delaware. The convening of the joint session was clearly a shot across the bow of the state political ship and a forerunner to more state, local and community action on the topics. …
More fines for Pokorny, whose rentals were closed in 2022
The city of Wilmington had impossed $33,000 fines agaisnt the man whose seven Adams Street properties were summarily shut down in 2002, dumpling dozens of people onto the streets. The move agaisnt Adolf J. Pokorny’s property shocked much of Wilmington and Delaware.. Now, the city says, the property owner has made virtually no progress in 18 months to correct structural …
Wilmington city, council lash out in fight over job residency
Mob rule? Or B.S.? A weeks-long debate over Wilmington residency requirements for non-elected city employees has deteriorated into what might generously be described as “frosty” exchanges between Mayor Mike Purzycki and a pair of Wilmington City Council members. After a month of bitter debate, the 13-member council on Nov. 16 passed a five-year residency law for new hires that will …
Virtual event to connect Veterans to new benefits
Military families will have a three-day opportunity to explore Veterans benefits and new eligibility requirements at a one-stop-virtual-shop. From Dec. 12 to Dec. 14, between the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Delaware vets can take advantage of 1-on-1 assistance and can connect with Veterans Affairs, state and community partners to obtain claim status updates, file claims, enroll in …
DNREC finalizes EV regulations. Critics are not impressed
DNREC has finalized state regulations about electric and other zero emission vehicles it says will help Delaware achieve lower air pollution caused by light- and medium-duty cars,. Instead of demanding that by 2035 all new car sales in Delaware must be electric, the program will end in 2032 when sales are expected to hit 82%. That will address many of …
Hope Center plans to face budget questions with facts
As homelessness increases in Delaware and COVID-related support dries up, the New Castle County Hope Center plans to roll out its new long-term sustainability strategy in January. It will include a companion dashboard demonstrating how big a dent in the problem the center has made over the past three years. New Castle County purchased the former Sheraton Hotel on Airport …
Cigarette thief sent back to prison, where he can’t smoke
A New Castle man who robbed a string of tobacco stores over 10 days in spring 2022 has been sentenced to federal prison for 160 days for each of those 10. Donald Gladden, 57, will spend 53 months — or nearly 4 and one-half years — back in prison after being sentenced by Judge Colm F. Connolly of the U.S. …
Planners: How would you like Kirkwood Highway to change?
A regional planning agency wants your opinion on the future of Kirkwood Highway in its first comprehensive review of eight miles of the retail and business corridor. “We have never looked at the full Kirkwood Highway/Capitol Trail Corridor for both transportation and land use, in this way,” said Dave Gula, principal planner for the Wilmington Area Planning Council. “To our …
Retired nurse Valerie Jones Giltner to run in House District 37
A Sussex County retired nurse will run for the Delaware House of Representatives District 37 seat vacated last week by the General Assembly’s only Republican woman. Valerie Jones Giltner, who will run as a Republican, said she plans to continue the work of former Rep. Ruth Briggs King, who resigned because she was moving into a new house that was …