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Delaware Live Powered by 302 Sports

Week 4 Top Plays of Winter Sports

Nick Halliday February 16, 2021 Sports

RELATED STORIES:

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Nick Halliday
Nick Halliday

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  • Tavern on Kings promises ‘elevated’ dining at former Governor’s Cafe
    a large brick building with grass in front of a house

    Tavern on Kings has taken over the space formerly occupied by The Governor’s Cafe. Photo by Charlie Megginson   You would be forgiven for confusing the stately Dover mansion which houses Tavern on Kings for the governor’s official residence.  But inside the walls of the grand estate at 144 Kings Highway, you won’t find Delaware’s First Family. That house is across the street. Instead, you’ll find a bustling restaurant with a charm and new menu that owners and managers say will provide an elevated dining experience, compared to the former occupant, the Governor’s Cafe. After months of being closed for renovations to the historic Leason House, built in 1857 on a manicured triangular property in the heart of downtown, Tavern on Kings celebrated its grand opening Sept. 7. The updated menu includes options ranging from tacos to burgers, salads to steaks, with a variety designed to let each diner find a favorite. Selections include a Cajun seafood boil ($32), composed of red potatoes, corn, shrimp, middle neck clams and andouille sausage in a smoked tomato broth, topped with blackened mahi. Or you might try the slow braised short ribs with house-made barbeque sauce ($23) — or the Governor’s Club sandwich ($12), an ode to the Tavern on King’s predecessor. It’s all about growth, explained Theo Page, co-general manager at Tavern on Kings.  “We don’t want to be stuck in the preset of being known as Governor’s CafĂ©, the sandwich shop,” Page said.   Dover’s Tavern on Kings new decor includes touches of sophisticated color and images. Photo by Charlie Megginson Dark blue accents contrast with the honey-toned grain of wood in Tavern on Kings in Dover. Photo by Charlie Megginson When Tavern on Kings gets its liquor license, it plans to offer novel cocktails. Photo by Charlie Megginson   The menu offerings are made possible by a newly installed full kitchen, helmed by noted local chef, Paul Gallo. Gallo previously offered his culinary talents at Nage in Rehoboth, now known as Fork & Flask, Abbott’s Grill in Milford, and Brick Works Brewing and Eats in Smyrna. Before the installation of the new kitchen, the restaurant was “essentially working with a very powerful, large toaster oven and microwaves,” Gallo said. Not anymore. With new grills, ovens and fryers, Tavern on Kings is able to create about 95% of its food from scratch. The changes to the kitchen, interior and bar give the restaurant “everything it needs to create a perfect dining experience,” Page said.  The formerly white walls have been revived with cozy hues of blue and red, carefully selected to inspire an ambiance of comfort and warmth.  Gone are the dusty portraits of governors-past. Archival photos of downtown Dover now adorn the walls; a reminder of the capital city’s storied history.    The new Tavern on Kings shifted the building decor from down-home charm to a sleeker sophistication. Photo by Charlie Megginson One thing that won’t change at Tavern on Kings: The great front porch dining and schmoozing area. Photo by Charlie Megginson One thing that won’t change at Tavern on Kings: The great front porch dining and schmoozing area. Photo by Charlie Megginson Some of the art, co-general manager Jena Malago said, comes from the owner’s former business endeavor, 33 West on Loockerman, which was open for more than 15 years before closing in the wake of the pandemic.  With the new restaurant, Malago promises “elevated dining – not fine dining.”  Tavern on Kings seeks to create an experience to match the gravity of the historic mansion with the casual accessibility for which the cafe was long known.  The staff is dedicated to supporting the community by offering local produce and serving a selection of Delaware-based brews, among others. Their reasoning is simple: the local community has had their back, too.  “We want to thank them for supporting us and really for making this possible,” Malago said.  While Tavern on Kings is open for business, more changes are planned. The restaurant is still waiting on approval of its liquor license, after which Page plans to craft a select menu of in-house infused cocktails.  The room which was previously home to the coffee and pastry cafĂ© will soon feature a large dining table perfect for families, groups and meetings. The restaurant also plans to host events such as weddings and parties. And the tavern is committed to keeping one beloved aspect of The Governor’s CafĂ©: Its popular Sunday brunch.  Not just yet, though. Malaga said there’s still much to do before Tavern on Kings can focus on that.  

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  • ‘Secret Delaware’ uncovers First State’s fun facts, figures
    Secret Delaware

    A border marker buried under a manhole, a fiberglass presidential candidate and lots and lots of lima beans are some of the “weird, wonderful and obscure” elements that define Delaware in a new book. “Secret Delaware” is the second book written together by Rachel Kipp and Dan Shortridge, a married couple who have lived or worked in all three counties. They visited most of the sites, wrote all the words and took most of the photos in their journey from the first entry (the arts in Arden) to the last (one of only three art conservation programs in America). It is a fascinating book, worthy of the collection of any fan of the First State. That praise is not because this reporter’s work appears at least three times among the sources. It is because of how many interesting facts and figures – fun stuff not known to all natives – are packed into each two-page entry: the narrative, a photo or two, if-you-go info and a related factoid to start (or stop) a conversation. “Secret Delaware: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure” is the 53rd book in a series about regional secrets from Reedy Press and is a followup to “100 Things to Do in Delaware Before You Die,” their 2020 travel guide for Reedy Press. Kipp and Shortridge’s next book is about “lost Delaware.” “Secret Delaware” is “dedicated to the journalists – the writers of the first draft of history.” Searching for info For both books, they searched their memories, the internet and newspapers.com. It helped that when they were reporters for The News Journal, they wrote about some of the topics — “We know that they were reliable stories and had great information,” Shortridge said —  and they have worked with many of the other writers cited. Shortridge was born in Boston and grew up in Laurel. He also worked for the Delaware Department of Agriculture, Delaware State Housing Authority and Sussex County Vocational Technical School District. He now owns a rĂ©sumĂ© writing business and works for Hook PR & Marketing in Milton. Kipp was born in Cincinnati and moved to Delaware in 2006 to work for The News Journal. She also worked for the University of Pennsylvania and St. Joseph’s University and now works for the Philadelphia Bar Association.   85 insights into Delaware When asked to select a single highlight each from the 85 in the book, Kipp chose the story of Emily P. Bissell, who in 1907 printed the first Christmas Seals. She convinced the post office to let her sell the stamps in the lobby, raising 10 times the $300 that her cousin needed for his tuberculosis clinic. Shortridge chose how Wilmington illustrator Howard Pyle a century ago created the modern image of pirates, later pirated (sorry) by Disney. Shortridge also recalled the Pyle pirate paintings that used to grace the children’s room of the Laurel library STILL STANDING: A liquor store is the last site in operation at Tri State Mall The book characteristically offers more: Pyle drew the second Christmas Seals stamp, and he also created the modern “look” of Robin Hood, Pilgrims and Revolutionary war soldiers. And for some closure about the items mentioned in the first paragraph: The border marker under the manhole is part of the famed Mason-Dixon line from the 1760s, since buried under a highway turn lane near Newark. The fiberglass presidential candidate is Miles, the 46-foot-tall Dover Downs mascot. And Delaware’s lima beans represent a third of the nation’s crop, nurtured by the state’s moderate temperatures and high humidity. “Secret Delaware” is available at the Bethany Beach Books, Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach and the Hockessin BookShelf, plus Delaware libraries.

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  • Warehouse announced on 28 acres in First State Crossing
    This map spells out the plan for the First State Crossing warehouse.

    A developer has sold 28 acres in First State Crossing, a multiuse Claymont site that once housed a steel plant, and the buyer will build a 358,000-square-feet warehouse there. First Industrial Realty Trust is planning a rear-load facility with 68 dock door positions, a 40-foot clear height and parking for 241 trailers and 289 cars. The land is on the west side of Philadelphia Pike, just south of Naamans Road. “The building’s flexible design accommodates a single tenant or multiple users across a range of industries,” the announcement said. A rendering accompanying the announcement calls the building “speculative,” meaning that no company has yet signed up for it. “Our project offers efficient highway access to I-95 and I-495 and a strong local labor pool,” said John Hanlon, executive director for the Chicago-based First Industrial. “We are excited to bring this state-of-the-art facility to serve businesses in this high-barrier market.” A high-barrier market is one where high costs, limited resources or other obstacles make it difficult to compete. First State Crossing is is being developed by Commercial Development Co. of St. Louis “We understand there is high-demand for ready-to-occupy logistics facilities, and we are pleased to work alongside First Industrial to bring this project to Claymont,” said Stephen Collins, executive vice president at the privately held CDC. CDC in 2015 bought the 425-acre site, which once housed Evraz Steel, for a mixed-use project. It sold the steel company’s 18,000-square-foot headquarters  and five acres to Gaudenzia, which provides substance use disorder treatment services in Claymont, Ellendale and Wilmington “This transaction with First Industrial represents a major move toward developing the First State Crossing master plan,” John Kowalik, CDC’s marketing director, told DelawareLive. “There are over 170 acres of development-ready land available, and we expect additional sale and lease announcements throughout 2023.” Warehouses are a big trend now. Conditions during the pandemic accelerated the shift to online sales, and customers’ desire for fast delivery has increased the push for warehouses near population centers. It’s interesting to see what these buildings are called. The announcement, for instance, first calls it an industrial distribution center. It later calls it a warehouse. Amazon likes to call its buildings fulfillment centers. The First State Crossing warehouse is huge (it could hold more than 150 average-sized houses), but other warehouses are bigger. At 3.8 million square feet, Amazon’s Boxwood Road warehouse is Delaware’s largest building, and when it opened, it was also Amazon’s largest. It is also probably Delaware’s most expensive, selling last February for $392 million, sources told Delaware Business Times. Amazon has now become Delaware’s fourth-largest employer, according to Delaware Business Times. Also planned at First State Crossing The first big change in the site was the relocation of the Claymont train station, which had a single, frustrating road for access. When the $70 million transit center opens in August, it will be the busiest in Delaware, with 44 trains per day. First State Crossing is now projected to include 700,000 square feet of industrial space, 500,000 square feet of office space, 50,000 square feet of retail and 1,200 apartments and townhomes. CDC is in negotiations about donating 125 acres to become a park, Brett Sadler, executive director of the Claymont Renaissance Development Corp., told DelawareLive last year. Negotiations are continuing, he confirmed this week. The construction value of the project is expected to exceed $1 billion, making it Delaware’s largest economic development project, according to Saddler. The nearby site of the old Tri-State Mall is also being redeveloped, with owner KPR planning a 525,000-square-foot warehouse.

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  • Lawsuit filed to stop construction of Smyrna solar farm
    background pattern

    A Smyrna landowner has filed a lawsuit to stop the construction of a 200-acre solar farm behind Boondocks Restaurant and Store near Woodland Beach. Donald Goldsborough owns a 342- acre property across the street from Boondocks, in between Lighthouse Road and Woodland Beach Road.  He and a newly-formed group called Citizens Against Solar Pollution have filed suit against Kent County and its Levy Court, alleging that the proposed 100-megawatt solar farm would damage the environment, reduce property values, defile the area’s rural character and threaten historical artifacts believed to be on the property.  Developers say they’ve gone above and beyond to comply with county regulations and ensure the solar power generation facility doesn’t distract from the area’s natural beauty.  Among other things, the company behind the facility – Freepoint Solar – has committed to planting more than 4,000 trees to obscure the solar farm from public view. The firm has also pledged to retire the facility after the 25-year lifespan of the solar panels and restore it to agricultural use.  Proponents testified during Levy Court meetings that the solar farm would have no negative impact on the environment. On the contrary, its development is one of many steps Delaware – the lowest-lying state in the nation – should be taking in the fight against climate change, they said.  Attempts to reach Freepoint Solar for comment were not immediately successful. “If you’re in a downtown historic district, you can’t build a high-rise there because it’s out of character with the surroundings,” Goldsborough told Delaware LIVE News. “Well, this solar farm is definitely way out of character with its surroundings.”  He said that if the facility were producing power by any other means than solar, it would have been required to adhere to strict regulatory approval requirements.  Citizens Against Solar Pollution says the solar facility will result in an “industrial landscape.” Proponents argued during numerous public hearings that the facility should not be considered industrial. The Kent County Levy Court agreed.  For the property to be recognized as industrial, the business conducted on the property would have to involve the processing of raw materials or manufacturing of goods. Solar power generation involves no such processing or production, and would not result in any additional traffic, noise or emissions, a Freepoint lawyer testified.  But Goldsborough fears that if the project is allowed to proceed, he will face direct financial harm. “I don’t want to sell but if I really needed the money I could sell a few lots,” he said. “ This is still zoned residential, so if I had to do it I would do it. I don’t think my property would be nearly as marketable with that solar farm directly across the street.” At Levy Court hearings and elsewhere, Goldsborough said he’s been dismissed as a climate change denier who simply doesn’t want to have to look at solar panels, which some consider to be an eyesore.  “That’s not the case,” he said. “Actually, on the farm we’ve experimented with solar before and we also built a windmill. We’re definitely not against alternative energy.” Multiple Levy Court commissioners declined to comment citing the pending litigation.  A conditional use request for the facility was tabled on Dec. 21 by the Levy Court but ultimately passed in January by a margin of 4-2.  Commissioners Eric Buckson, Glenn Howell, Jeffrey Hall and Jody Sweeney voted in favor of the application. Allan Angel, Terry Pepper and Joanne Masten voted against.  The lawsuit, filed in the Court of Chancery, asks for a preliminary injunction to stop the solar facility’s construction, citing irreparable harm if the project is allowed to proceed.  The owner of Boondocks Restaurant and Store was unable to be interviewed because he’s preparing to open for the season Friday.   A GoFundMe has raised $5,000 to assist with legal expenses incurred by Goldsborough and Citizens Against Solar Pollution.

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  • Brandywine votes to join Wilmington Learning Collaborative
    a man in a suit standing in front of a building

      Gov. John Carney, left, and Dr. Mark Holodick, secretary of the Delaware Department of Education talk to the Brandywine School District board.   The Brandywine School District board voted unanimously Monday night to join the Wilmington Learning Collaborative, following the lead of the Christina district. The Collaborative, a idea lobbied for by Gov. John Carney’s office and the Delaware Department of Education, will create a new board that would oversee city students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the two districts. Carney has pledged an additional $7 million in state money to go to the program. The organizers are hoping that the Red Clay system board also will vote on Wednesday to join. All three districts have students in the city, but those kids represent less than 15% of each district’s student bodies. That means that when districts enact mainstream policies, they often do not serve the needs of city students as well as those in the suburbs, Collaborative organizers say. Among the issues that disproportionately affect city learners are poverty, crime, trauma, food insecurity, transiency as families move, and more teachers leaving city schools. The Collaborative will be charged with also reaching into the community to help solve problems there, too. If approved, the Collaborative board will oversee a small staff and report to the three district boards, but is expected to be able to operate independently. The idea, organizers say, is to take advantage of the knowledge and ideas of people who already are dealing with the city children to help them learn to the best of their abilities. How the board overseeing the Collaborative will operate will be decided by the representatives each district sends to discussions that will hammer out a memorandum of understanding governing it. The memorandum must be brought back to each school board to approve before it goes into effect. Organizers had hoped all three districts would approve joining the Collaborative in early January so a memorandum of understanding could be hammered out this spring and the board could go into effect by the start of the next school year. But they got a lot of pushback about the fast pace. Now, they hope the memorandum will be hammered out and approved in time to use the next year for planning so the program can start with the 2023-24 school year. In trying to sell the Collaborative, which is based on programs in other cities, Carney and the other organizers have had 150 meetings with teachers, board members and others. Carney has spent many weekends going through the city neighborhoods that are in the districts to spread the message and ask for support. Carney, Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Holodick and Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki spoke to the board about the need for the program. The governor said many people are worried that this is just another program that won’t work. “That’s the question,” Carney said. “How do you get everybody moving in the same direction, and that’s really what we’re proposing to do through the Collaborative.” Holodick pointed out that even in his 12 years as superintendent of the Brandywine District, several programs to help had been introduced, and just petered out. He sees the Collaborative as a “second shot,” he said. The problem with earlier programs, he said, was that all the programs were on top of what teachers and administrators already needed to do. It was a capacity issue, he said, with programs demanding too much of the people doing the work. “Can we really expect the schools themselves to do all of this work and really change what’s happening?” he asked? “The short answer is no. “And that’s the beauty of the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. It will engage community-based organizations, faith-based organizations. We need to launch summer programming bridge programs. When we do engage families in the community. we need to ensure that we have teacher agency and community agency in these schools by participating on councils where they actually have authority to make decisions.” Purzycki told the Brandywine Board that he thought most of the city’s problems come back to education. It hurts that Wilmington has so many fine qualities, but is constantly cited as one of the country’s more violent cities, he said. “The only thing that differentiates us from so many other cities is we have this bifurcated, fragmented education system that seems to divide our community or the way our kids live with one another day to day,” the mayor said. Kids and parents don’t go to games or events together, and that starts in elementary school, he said. The need for focusing on high school students rose again, and Carney agreed that those students also need to be focused on, too, but he wants to start with younger children who are learning the basics. One board member suggested letting high school students attend whatever school they want and making sure they have transportation to that school. Carney said that system essentially exists, and what he’d really like to see is students pick schools in the districts serving the city. Many high schools have capacity that’s not being used, he said.    

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