Delaware Roundup: Quick Reads (11/29)

The Delaware Roundup, a compilation of news briefs from across the state from the past week, is published every weekend. Send submissions for News Briefs and Calendar items to [email protected]. If possible, please forward submissions via email or in a Word document.

LEADING OFF: 

Workers at the Millsboro Ladies Auxiliary

Blessings for Badges volunteers cooked, served, and delivered a hot Thanksgiving meal for every first responder who had to work on Thanksgiving Day in Sussex and Kent counties in Delaware. Teams worked Wednesday night and Thursday to make sure every police officer, firefighter, paramedic, dispatcher, and correctional officer felt some love on Thanksgiving Day. The Sussex County team got ready at the Millsboro Fire Department with an all-volunteer army of people who wanted to help. The Kent County team was at the Leipsic Fire Department Wednesday night and Thursday with their all-volunteer army getting everything ready. This is our 7^th year in Sussex County, and our 5^th in Kent County. Mountaire organized the effort.

BUSINESS

Agile Cold Storage has quietly opened part of its $170 million state-of-the-art cold storage facility off Naaman’s Road, becoming the first business that has opened its doors at the site of the former Claymont steel mill.

Bank of America has introduced its new SafeBalance Banking for Family Banking account in Delaware to help address the financial literacy gap. The new account offers parents the tools and resources they need to help their children practice healthy financial habits and learn to manage their money as their child embarks on the path to financial health. Key features include a convenient, secure, and intuitive digital experience and financial education resources, including its easy-to-understand Better Money Habits educational resources help parents have personal finance conversations with a child.

Delaware’s Startup302 pitch contest is hosting a free online information session for prospective entrants to learn more about the competition’s requirements, prizes, presentation ideas, and more at 4 p.m. on December 5. Coordinated by Delaware Prosperity Partnership, Startup302 supports entrepreneurs seeking financial and networking boosts for their businesses. Startup302 aims to strengthen Delaware’s innovation ecosystem by improving access to funding and facilitators for underrepresented entrepreneurs while fostering diverse perspectives, promoting inclusive and equitable consideration and attracting diverse communities of founders to the region. DPP’s Startup302 partners include the Delaware BioScience Association, Chartline Capital, The Innovation Space, University of Delaware Center for Clean Hydrogen, Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance, True Access Capital’s Women’s Business Center, Pete DuPont Freedom Foundation, Small Business Development Center, Horn Entrepreneurship and The Emerging Enterprise Center. Contest details and application are at startup302.org. Info session registration can be found here. Questions may be directed to DPP’s Erica Crell at [email protected].

CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

The Delaware Hunters Against Hunger program, run by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, gives hunters a way to donate their excess deer meat to those in need. Hunters can drop off their extra take to walk-in coolers and participating butcher shops located in each county. The venison is then processed, ground and packaged by butchers and offenders involved in the Sussex Community Corrections Center butchery program. It is then picked up for distribution to food banks.

More than 200 people experiencing housing insecurity were treated to hot meals and essential supplies during the 4th annual Thanksgiving of Hope Dinner at the New Castle County Hope Center in an event that brought together hundreds of volunteers and community members.

Bloom Energy hosted the 3rd annual Stars and Strides Delaware 5K and Family Fun Day with the help of more than 30 sponsors and community partners over the past two years, organizers have raised more than $80,000 to support Delaware’s veterans and military families. More than 450 community members participated this year alone, and together, we raised more than $50,000 to support our beneficiary organizations: Delaware National Guard Youth Foundation, Stop Soldier Suicide, and The Food Bank of Delaware.

EDUCATION

Delaware State University (DSU) has received a $750,000 grant from the Department of the Interior, administered by the National Park Service to rehabilitate a house on the National Historic Registry on the DSU Downtown campus. The historic property has been named the Hope House by the University. It is used as a hub for student programming and social services, such as counseling services, self-care activities, and cultural connection. The local community will be included in many activities at the facility.

The UD Library, Museums, and Press has launched University of Delaware Pressbooks, a new user-friendly Open Educational Resources (OER) content publishing system designed to support UD faculty in creating dynamic, high-quality open resources and textbooks that can replace the traditional high-cost of course materials. The new University of Delaware Pressbooks aims to further reduce financial barriers in the classroom by equipping faculty with an innovative, self-directed, Canvas-compatible publishing platform to create original, free, open educational resources that can be shared and adapted to fit the needs of all Blue Hens.

The University of Delaware Police Department has received another four-year accreditation cycle from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA). The department’s 911 Communication Center also earned re-accreditation. This is the sixth consecutive cycle in which the UD Police Department has earned accreditation from CALEA, and the second such cycle for the Communication Center.

FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT

Dogfish Head and Lewes-based iconic independent grocery store, Lloyd’s Market, have teamed up for a unique collaboration beer inspired by WondeRoast rotisserie chicken. Since the 1970s, Lloyd’s Market has sold over a million WondeRoast chickens, a favorite of Dogfish Head Founder, Sam Calagione, who rallied the Dogfish Head brewing team to create its perfect beer pairing. WondeRoasty Stout (5% ABV), which will launch Dec. 6, is a semi-sweet, robust stout infused with the spices and herbs that season WondeRoast chicken. Brewed with sweet and smoked paprika, rosemary, black garlic, sea salt, and black pepper, its warm, roasty character is balanced with the subtle sweetness of Demerara sugar.

Grotto Pizza has introduced a limited-edition food and beverage menu that includes a new Cajun pizza, a Truffle Mushroom and Prosciutto Flatbread, two pasta dishes (Chicken and Tuscan Tomato Pappardelle and Mediterranean Pasta Salad), and a Chicken and Vegetable Grain Bowl. The chain’s Tito’s Cranberry Punch remains on the cocktail menu. Grotto and Tito’s Handmade Vodka have partnered to donate $1 from each cocktail’s sales to Meals on Wheels Delaware through Dec. 31.

Chick-fil-A will open a new location near University Plaza in Newark this spring. The chain, which is closed on Sundays, is also building a new location on North DuPont Highway just south of Wilmington.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Emergency dredging is finally underway to replenish the severely eroded north side beach in Delaware Seashore State Park after multiple occurrences earlier this year of the ocean breaching the dunes and spilling onto Coastal Highway. The project will dredge up to 400,000 cubic yards of sand from the Indian River Inlet Flood Shoal, just west of the Charles W. Cullen Bridge, to replenish up to 5,000 linear feet of the north side beach, a Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control news release said. The dredged material will be screened and then transported via pipeline to the north side beach, where it will be graded. The replenished dune will be 25 feet wide and 16 feet tall, the news release said, while the beach will be about 100 feet wide and 9.2 feet tall (about 7 feet above the average high tide). Replenishment will begin along the jetty and extend northward.

Marydel Volunteer Fire Company is under investigation by the Delaware State Fire Prevention Commission, according to a recent commission order. The order references claims of “financial impropriety” related to company funds and requires the fire company to conduct an internal audit by mid-December. The order comes after a similar audit into claims of financial impropriety by Mid-Sussex Rescue Squad in July 2023. However, the results of the audit were not published.

The State Fire Marshall has lifted the statewide outdoor burning ban announced on Oct. 15, 2024. Reminder: Open burning must comply with Delaware’s Open Burning regulations.

HEALTH

The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) announced today enhancements to the CostAware website, designed to help Delawareans understand how their health care dollars are spent by comparing the variation of average costs for different episodes of care and medical services based on actual medical claims in Delaware. In early 2020, DHSS and the Delaware Health Care Commission (DHCC) began working with Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) to develop and implement various health care cost and quality analyses. These analyses leverage data in the Delaware Health Care Claims Database (HCCD), established through legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2016. DHIN manages the HCCD and DHSS uses it to inform and support a variety of health care policy initiatives. The newest CostAware updates include the addition of data for calendar year 2022 and Medicare Fee For Service (FFS) beneficiaries, an enhanced report comparing costs for brand and generic prescription drugs by drug class and payer category (commercial insurance, Medicaid, Medicare), and new reports for treatment of psychosis and cervical cancer screening.

Sussex Pain Relief Center plans to open a new freestanding surgery center coupled with a pain management specialty to the Southern Delaware Medical Center in Lewes located at 17623 Shady Rd.

The Bayhealth at Blue Hen Medical Center Facility in Dover has remodeled its space, including its new Bayhealth Walk-in Medical Care; Blue Hen and Bayhealth Outpatient Center; Blue Hen and Bayhealth Occupational Health; Bayhealth Outpatient Rehabilitation (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy); and various Bayhealth Medical Group practices for primary care, endocrinology, gastroenterology, and pulmonology. The Bayhealth Neurology practice has also moved to the new space from its previous Dover locations.

RETAIL

Stores that have opened at Christiana Mall over the last 60 days include Dry Goods, one of the country’s fastest-growing new clothing stores as a contemporary young women’s store selling dresses, shoes, accessories, and gifts; Carhartt, the workwear company’s only store in Delaware; Abercrombie & Fitch, a collegiate lifestyle brand that converted its two Christiana Mall stores into Hollister and and Gilly Hicks in 2022;  and Portabello, a menswear brand that has 40 locations around New York City. No news yet when the new P.F. Chang’s will open in the former Panera location.

MILITARY

The 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron from Dover AFB, saddled up for an engaging training session intended to prepare Airmen for the future fight and meet Mission-Ready Airman (MRA) qualifications during a four-day MRA Rodeo competition in early November. “Basically, the first three days of the event was all practice and training,” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Benjamin Hoffner, 436th LRS material management flight commander. “It was on the final day that we had held the MRA Rodeo, which combined all the training into a competitive, engaging and safe competition.”

SPORTS

2025 Delaware State Parks annual passes and surf fishing permits will go on sale starting at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3. and may be purchased at any state park office and at DNREC’s Dover campus Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Passes and permits may also be purchased online at destateparks.com/passes-permits-and-fees/. Gift-givers can assume the passes and permits will be delivered by the holiday season.

Rainbow trout have been stocked in White Clay Creek in northern New Castle County to provide anglers opportunities to fish for trout in the fall and winter, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced. About 1,000 pounds of 12- to 13-inch rainbows were stocked in White Clay Creek by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife from near the Pennsylvania state line downstream to Newark.

TOURISM/HOLIDAY EVENTS

The “Gift of Lights at Dover Motor Speedway” drive-thru event has returned to the Monster Mile. The third annual Gift of Lights event runs every evening through Jan. 5, with more than 100 scenes and 2.5 million lights set up along an almost two-mile pathway winding through Dover Motor Speedway campgrounds. Gift of Lights is produced by Winterland, Inc., a holiday services firm headquartered in Marion, Ind., with more than three decades of experience, along with support from partners including Dover Behavioral Health System, Delaware Lottery, Carter Machinery and Visit Central Delaware. The schedule for the in-car experience includes Regular Hours (Sunday-Thursday: 5-9 p.m. and Friday/Saturday: 5-10 p.m. Holiday hours from Dec. 19 through Dec. 29 are 5-10 p.m. all nights.

The Delaware Blue Coats, NBA G League Affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers, have surpassed 200 events on the 2024 Neighborhood Hoops Tour, presented by AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware. The Blue Coats community engagement team hit the double-century mark in just 213 days since the team’s final game of the 2023-24 season on April 4. Across the 200 events, the team engaged more than 25,000 local youth in the tri-state area.

Avelo Airlines has announced that its service out of the Wilmington Airport will extend until Labor Day Weekend 2025. Flights that will be available through September include Atlanta; Charlotte/Concord, NC; four Florida destinations (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando/Lakeland, Orlando, and Tampa); San Juan, Puerto Rico; Myrtle Beach, S.C. and Wilmington, N.C. Flights to West Palm Beach, Florida; Sarasota, Florida; and Daytona Beach, Florida, can be booked through the end of April. All of the newly announced flight routes will fly out twice weekly, and flight fares start at around $41 and can be booked online at AveloAir.com through early September.

The Department of State’s Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the construction of a new John Dickinson Plantation Visitor Center. The visitor center, slated to open in 2026, will enhance the visitor experience and further highlight the site’s historical significance with various amenities, including an expanded exhibition space that will feature the exhibit “One Land, Many Voices,” which explores the complex history of all the people who lived, worked, and died on the John Dickinson Plantation.

PEOPLE

(L-R) Danielle Sarik and Michelle Collins

Michelle Collins, DNP, APRN, CNS, ACNS-BC, NPD-BC, NEA-BC, LSSBB, vice president of Nursing Professional Excellence at ChristianaCare and Danielle A. Sarik, Ph.D., APRN, CPNP-PC, a nurse scientist consultant at ChristianaCare, have been inducted as 2024 Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Collins established the Virtual Acute Care Network at ChristianaCare and developing partnerships to apply virtual nursing practices for the benefit of nurses, caregivers and patients. She has played a crucial role in improving how nurses practice and learn. Her leadership was significant in achieving ChristianaCare’s third Magnet® designation, highlighting her commitment to excellence. Sarik’s research contributions have been integral in shaping policies that improve healthcare outcomes for children and families. Sarik developed and implemented the Baby Steps model, recognized by the AAN as an Edge Runner designee. This award acknowledges innovative programs created by nurses that lead to significant improvements in addressing major health challenges. The Baby Steps model addresses health equity for neonatal patients and families following discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit.

Mona Parikh will be chief administrative officer for the new New Castle County Executive-Elect Marcus Henry’s administration. In this role, Ms. Parikh will assist in overseeing the executive, administrative, and operational functions, as well as help prepare and supervise the execution of the County’s budgets. Since November 2022, she has served as chief of staff to Wilmington City Council.

Peter Osborne

Peter Osborne has more than 15 years of experience as an award-winning business reporter and editor, leading two papers (the Delaware Business Times and Dallas Business Journal) to recognition as the nation’s most improved business publications. Osborne also helped launched The News Journal’s Business Monday section and worked in communications and business development for MBNA America and Bank of America.