Hell’s Belles is a new bakeshop on Union Street in Wilmington. (Courtesy of Yesenia Taveras, director of communications for Wilmington City Council)

Hell’s Belles becomes newest bakery on Union Street

Pam GeorgeCulture, Headlines

Wilmington’s Little Italy section has been home to some of Delaware’s most iconic bakeries. Take, for instance, DiFonzo’s, which opened here in 1945. After the Wilmington site closed in 2004, Black Lab Breads moved in. Meanwhile, Sheila Papa opened Papa’s Pastry Shop in 2001. Stephanie Grubb recalls each bakery. “As a kid, I remember coming down and going to all …

Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilmington. (Famartin photo from Wikimedia)

Wilmington gets $200,000 in Safe Streets and Roads funding

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

Wilmington has received a $200,000 grant from the new federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program. It’s the only Delaware grant among $800 million awarded for 510 projects nationwide. The city is partnering with the Wilmington Area Planning Council on the grant. The Delaware Department of Transportation and Delaware Transit Corp. (the DelDOT unit that runs DART buses) have …

What Fourth Street in Wilmington might look like, in the Wilmington Initiatives plan.

Wilmington Initiatives aim at transportation, quality of life

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

  Delaware’s largest city has a master plan to improve transportation and the quality of life, and it’s called the Wilmington Initiatives. Ten projects are listed on a landing page maintained by the Wilmington Area Planning Council. Creating a park over Interstate 95 is the most prominent and most expensive. The initiatives go back to 1996, when Wilmington started to …

Wilmington crime

Wilmington police chief selected to lead St. Louis PD

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki hasn’t yet said how the city plans to replace police Chief Robert Tracy, who on Tuesday was selected to lead the St. Louis, Missouri Police Department. Tracy’s selection as the Gateway City’s top cop was announced by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones Tuesday morning. It’s the first time in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s 214-year …

Orange Street between Seventh and Eighth streets with upcoming transit improvements, including a new bus shelter. (DelDOT)

Contract awarded to improve bus service in Wilmington

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

The Delaware Department of Transportation has accepted a $2.3 million bid to improve the bus system on four streets in downtown Wilmington. The Wilmington Transit Corridors Improvement project aims to reconfigure Orange Street (between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 10th Street) and also improve transit on King (between MLK and 10th) and Eighth and Ninth streets (between Adams and …

Wilmington crime

Wilmington police chief to step down

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

The city of Wilmington is in need of a new top cop. Police Chief Robert Tracy has been selected as a finalist to become police commissioner in St. Louis, Missouri, he announced Monday night. Whether or not he gets the job, Tracy will leave the Wilmington Police Department, the mayor’s office confirmed Tuesday. It’s not clear when Tracy plans to …

Latisha Bracy 1

Former U.S. Senate aide tapped to join Wilm. City Council

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Latisha Bracy, a former aide to multiple United States senators, has been selected to fill a vacant at-large seat on the Wilmington City Council. The seat was held by Councilwoman Loretta Walsh, a Democrat, who resigned in October and passed away later that month. Sixteen qualified candidates submitted applications to the Wilmington City Council Committee of the Whole, which is …

Norman Oliver Turkey giveaway

Stormin’ Norman gives away 1,400 turkeys, passes baton

Charlie MegginsonCulture, Headlines

After giving away 250,000 Thanksgiving turkeys over 40 years, Stormin’ Norman Oliver is passing the baton to DETV president and founder Ivan Thomas. Oliver — a locally-famed civic leader affectionately dubbed Stormin’ Norman — announced the 2022 Turkey Drive would be his last before distributing more than 1,400 turkeys to Wilmington residents Tuesday. “God just moved me to do it,” …

Ampitheatre 1

Wilmington wins $90K arts grant to create music series

Charlie MegginsonCulture, Headlines

Wilmington has been awarded a $90,000 matching grant to present a free, multi-year outdoor music series.  The grant comes from the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a social impact group that supports nonprofits throughout the country focused on music, public spaces, and community building. The matching funds will be used to present a 10-week live music series in 2023, 2024 …

A Rockford Park new traffic plan is proposed for Rockford Park in Wilmington. (Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control)

Some question need for one-way traffic in Rockford Park

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

  One exit, two entrances and three one-way streets are planned for Rockford Park in Wilmington. And the 133-year-old park is getting its first designated path for pedestrians and bicyclists. “The goal of this project is to address, and virtually eliminate, any high risk for a pedestrian accident through the section of Park Drive between Red Oak Road and the …