TSD Review May 26

Town Square LIVE Weekly Review – May 26, 2022

Sonja FreyTown Square Live

This Week’s Top Headlines Include: COMMUNITY Meet Padua Academy’s 4 valedictorians. Yes. 4 $300 rebate checks hitting Delaware mailboxes Newly opened Museum of Nature, Science to get $500,000 from county Clifford Brown Jazz Fest returns June 15-18 featuring Stanley Clarke Here’s what to know about Memorial Day 2022 in Delaware FOOD AND DINING Rosenfeld’s Big Fish opens in Brandywine Hundred …

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Delaware lawmaker apologizes after offensive suicide remark

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark, said Tuesday night “gun worshipers” should “stick the barrel of your piece in your mouth.”  A casual observer may assume he was responding to a post about Tuesday’s mass shooting in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. In reality, Kowalko was talking about people who don’t want to wear masks despite the number of COVID-19 cases …

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Bill to bar school boards from raising property taxes goes to House

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

  A bill that would stop school boards from unilaterally increasing school property taxes as much as 10% after a pending state property revaluation was sent by unanimous vote to the House floor Wednesday. During Wednesday’s House Education Committee, Rep. Mike Smith, R-Pike Creek said his House Bill 389 would address the current reassessments of property in all three countries …

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One Democrat. One Republican. Both want an inspector general

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Two lawmakers on opposite sides of the political spectrum have found common ground in their desire to increase transparency and accountability in state government. A bill filed by Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark South, and Rep. Mike Smith, R-Pike Creek, would establish an independent and nonpartisan inspector general office in Delaware. The proposed office would investigate state agencies to identify and …

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Smith, Kowalko both draft bills to create inspector general

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Two bills set to be filed in the General Assembly would create an inspector general’s office in Delaware to investigate claims of waste, fraud, abuse and corruption within state government.  Rep. Mike Smith, R-Pike Creek, said while Delaware already has a state auditor and attorney general, the inspector general’s office would “fill a gap in their coverage.”   “The inspector general …

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Progressive Rep. John Kowalko will not seek re-election

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Firebrand progressive Rep. John Kowalko will retire at the end of his term in November after spending nearly 16 years in the Delaware House of Representatives.  The 76-year-old Democrat from Newark made the announcement on the House floor Thursday afternoon to the surprise of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.  “I am proud of my continuous and resolute support, …

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After emotional debate, bill defining bail for Class A felonies heads to Carney

Charles MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels. Alleged offenders of certain violent crimes could soon face mandatory minimum bail requirements under a bill passed by the House of Representatives Thursday. Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 7 is aimed at reducing violent crime in two of Delaware’s largest and most dangerous cities, Wilmington and Dover, by eliminating the ability of judges …

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Minimum wage hike bill heads to Carney for signature

Betsy PriceGovernment, Headlines

Delaware House of Representatives on Thursday passed the minimum wage bill.   A bill that will raise Delaware’s minimum wage to $15 by Jan. 1, 2025, passed the House of Representatives Thursday, and its next stop will be Gov. John Carney’s desk. A last-minute flurry of amendments to Senate Bill 15 that would have allowed some groups to pay less …