Odessa holiday tradition returns as foundation beats endowment goal early

Betsy PriceHeadlines

A display telling the story of “Little Women” lights up Odessa’s Wilson-Warner House this Christmas season.   The Historic Odessa Foundation has two things to celebrate this holiday season. First, Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” will be the basis for the return of the historic houses’ Christmas tradition of recreating scenes from classic literature to celebrate the season. Second, but …

Appo superintendent: Hiccups in strike plan, but we have a lot of heroes

Betsy PriceEducation, Headlines

In order to kids to make all their classes during a bus strike, some are having to arrive before buildings open and stay hours later.   By the end of the school day Thursday as the Appoquinimink system coped with the first day of a school bus driver strike, Superintendent Matt Burrows said the situation wasn’t ideal, but that the …

Newark man indicted for possessing, distributing child porn

Betsy PriceGovernment, Headlines

    A 34-year-old Newark man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Wilmington for distributing and possessing child pornography. Melvin Janvier III has been in state custody since his arrest on July 20, 2021, according to a press release from David C. Weiss, U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware. “The production, distribution and collection of child …

Appo, Christina families cope with bus strike; VoTech schools go virtual

Betsy PriceEntertainment, Headlines

Local 326 bus drivers went strike Thursday, affecting Appoquinimink, New Castle County VoTech and Christiana districts.   Appoquinimink Schools were working Thursday morning to get all their students into classes after some bus drivers went on strike. Appo schools planned to stay open, although spokeswoman Lillian Miles said that  New Castle County Vo-Tech high schools had chosen to go to …

Appo parents told bus drivers may strike as early as Thursday

Betsy PriceHeadlines

Appoquinimink has told parents it expects some bus drivers to be on strike Thursday.   Appoquinimink School District parents were told Wednesday evening that bus drivers had voted down a contract offer and may strike as early as Thursday. The system is now preparing for a strike, which will mean disruptions in bus routes and delays getting students to and …

Aubrey Plaza, Dan Murphy to read their book at Brandywine library

Betsy PriceCulture, Headlines

Actress Aubrey Plaza and writer Dan Murphy will read from their new book.     New Castle County natives Aubrey Plaza and her creative partner Dan Murphy will read from their new Christmas book Dec. 15 at Brandywine Hundred Library. The pair, who have known each other for 15 years including at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, …

COVID update: Still no Omicron; no indoor mask mandate planned

Betsy PriceHeadlines, Health

  It’s just a matter of time before the Omicron variant of COVID-19 shows up in Delaware, state officials say. The virus strain has been found in surrounding states, but has not yet been detected in Delaware, said Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Division of Public Health. And they’ve looked. The state lab routinely pulls random samples of positive …

Delaware men create pill bottle cap that uses thumbprint to open

Betsy PriceBusiness, Headlines

A FortisKap pill bottle cap will require a thumbprint to open and will automatically count remaining pills. Your bottle of prescribed pills may soon come with a cap that requires your thumbprint to open. The cap also will be able to scan the inside of the bottle to see how many pills remain and will be equipped to recognize any …

COVID cases, hospitalizations rise; no Omicron yet detected

Betsy PriceHeadlines, Health

    Fears of a COVID-19 winter surge in Delaware seem to be validated by quickly escalating numbers of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths in recent weeks. Vaccinations, while rising, are not keeping pace with the number of cases, hospitalizations and death, which are largely among partially or unvaccinated. The good news: The state has not yet found any cases …

Kennett book lover buys Hockessin BookShelf to keep store open

Betsy PriceBusiness, Headlines

Rebecca Dowling, left, has sold the Hockessin BookShelf to Jan Blab, right.   A Kennett Square bibliophile upset that the Hockessin BookShelf was closing now owns the store. Already among the independent book store’s clients and fierce fans, Jen Blab has spent a good chunk of her life managing book stores or working in libraries, so the idea of buying …