Carney lifts school mask mandate while trial to end it is underway

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

LEFT: JANICE LORRAH. RIGHT: GOV. JOHN CARNEY A Hockessin mother suing to stop the state’s school mask mandate got most of what she wanted in the middle of trial Monday when the governor’s attorney informed the court that the mandate would be lifted on March 1 at 6 p.m.  Janice Lorrah appeared in the Delaware Court of Chancery at the …

Hockessin mom sues to end Carney’s school mask mandate

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

JANICE LORRAH A Hockessin mother has filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery challenging Gov. John Carney’s extension of the state’s school mask mandate. The universal indoor mask mandate for the general public expired on Feb. 11 following a sharp decrease in cases since the height of the COVID-19 omicron variant surge. Although that mandate was lifted, Carney …

Child care workers still waiting for promised $1,500 state bonuses

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Three months after Delaware’s child care workers were promised direct financial relief in the form of $1,500 individual payments, they haven’t received a cent. Those workers may not receive any money until as late as June because the state is constructing a new registry to track who’s working in child care centers throughout the state. That registry will also be …

Republican lawmakers to Carney: ‘End the mandates, restore normality’

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Twelve Republican state representatives on Tuesday sent an open letter to Gov. John Carney asking that he reconsider mask mandates in state buildings and schools and stop advocating for COVID-19 booster shots. They encouraged the Democratic governor to promptly end all pandemic-related restrictions, return state workers to their normal places of employment, and “restore normality” for all Delawareans. The legislators …

Carney allows McGuiness to hire outside lawyer for Medicaid audit

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

State Auditor Kathy McGuiness has been granted permission to hire outside counsel in her office’s ongoing subpoena case with the Department of Health and Social Services. Her office has been trying since May to get DHSS to hand over documents necessary to complete a performance audit of the agency’s Medicaid eligibility programs. McGuiness says she’s faced obstacles while conducting audits …

Delaware DOJ civil rights division secures felony hate crime conviction

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Attorney General Kathy Jennings on Thursday announced the Department of Justice’s first felony hate crime trial conviction by the agency’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust. Defendant Matthew Gregg was convicted by a New Castle County jury on charges of hate crimes, harassment, and terroristic threatening after repeatedly verbally attacking a member of Gov. John Carney’s staff, an African …

Red Clay joins Christina, Brandywine in Learning Collaborative talks

Betsy PriceEducation, Headlines

Gov. John Carney went door-to-door in Wilmington to sell his plans for the Learning Collaborative.   After making Gov. John Carney wait for hours at their January meeting and then raking him over the coals, the Red Clay School Board on Wednesday took only minutes to unanimously vote to join discussions to create a Wilmington Learning Collaborative. Red Clay now …

Delaware mask mandate to expire Friday, Feb. 11

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines, Health

Gov. Carney’s universal indoor mask mandate will expire Friday, Feb. 11/Getty Images Delaware’s universal indoor mask mandate will expire at 8 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 11. Gov. John Carney on Monday revised the State of Emergency order citing the sharp decrease in cases since the height of the omicron variant surge. While masks will no longer be required inside many …

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Delaware Restaurant Association issues dire plea for help

Charlie MegginsonBusiness, Headlines

The organization that represents restaurants in Delaware said the industry is far from being out of the woods after two years of the COVID pandemic. The Delaware Restaurant Association’s 2022 ‘State of the Restaurant Industry’ report found that restaurants continue to struggle to keep their doors open amid a surge in coronavirus cases, inflation, a labor shortage, and supply chain …

Carney still doesn’t support legal weed

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Photo/Office of the Governor Gov. John Carney said during Tuesday’s weekly COVID-19 briefing that his position on recreational marijuana legalization has not changed: he doesn’t support it.  The statement comes as a bill to legalize the cultivation, sale and possession of marijuana in Delaware makes its way through the General Assembly. House Bill 305, also known as the Delaware Marijuana …