The Daily Scroll: May 16-17
Consultant: $300M required to support port growth
The state-owned Port of Wilmington will need up to $300 million for new warehouses, cranes and land to keep up with growing demands over the next two decades, according to a master plan that lays out options for future growth released Monday.
The blueprint calls for more investments from private sources and is the next step in a long-running discussion about how to grow the critical shipping economy.
"All the numbers you saw today are big. They are all a challenge to a state that has significant budget constraints. So if we are going to expand in a significant way, we are going to have to partner with other investors," said Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock, chairman of Diamond State Port Corp., the public-private board that oversees the sprawling complex.
16-year-old boy shot in Wilmington
Wilmington police responded to the 1000 block of N. Lombard St. on Monday night to find a 16-year-old boy had been shot in his right leg.
The victim was treated at the scene by New Castle County Paramedics and transported to the Nemours/A.I duPont Hospital for Children Emergency Room in good condition.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information in reference to this shooting, which happened at about 7:58 p.m., is asked to call Detective Pete Leccia at (302) 576-3647.
Residents nearby stood and watched the scene.
"When you hear one shot and somebody got hurt, that's personal. That hits close to home. I'm ready to leave here," said nearby resident Zillah Edwards, who was home planning her wedding when she heard the shot.
Delaware Memorial Bridge lost $204,544 after lane closures
Last month's traffic nightmare produced by three days of Delaware Memorial Bridge lane closures resulted in $204,544 in lost toll revenue, the agency that operates the span said Tuesday.
Three lanes on the 3,650-foot Delaware-bound crossing were closed April 19-21 after inspectors found 2.25- and 2.5-inch support cables connecting the roadway to the bridge needed to be fixed immediately. Only the far right lane was left open.
Motorists endured delays of 2½ to 4 hours in backups stretching up to five miles on Interstate 295.
The Delaware River and Bay Authority said 93,476 vehicles did cross during those days, but that's a 27 percent decrease from the prior year.
"If you want continued repair and maintenance on the bridge, you got to do what you got to do, and there's just inconvenience," said DRBA Commissioner Richard W. Downes on Tuesday.
Brandywine district's second referendum is Tuesday
The Brandywine School District is putting up a referendum on Tuesday asking residents to approve a tax increase of 28 cents per $100 of assessed property value to support its regular operating budget, plus approve funding for a special building project.
It will be the second time this year that the district has gone to voters with those proposals – the last time they were paired with a plan to install synthetic turf fields at some schools. All three of those proposals – for a tax increase to support the regular operating budget, for funding to cover the cost of the building project and for money to install synthetic turf fields – were bundled together in a single vote that was rejected by a very slim margin in March. The district decided last month to present the same plan again, without the synthetic turf project.
Districts can go out for a referendum twice in a one-year span, according to Anthony Albence, director of the New Castle County Office of the Board of Elections. Last year, the Christina School District was in a situation similar to the one Brandywine is in now – its first bid for an increase in taxes to support its operating budget failed, so it went out for a second one. That one failed, too. But, this past March, Christina got its 21-percent tax increase passed.
Brandywine has a $174 million budget for the next school year, but will have to slash $8 million if the referendum doesn't pass, according to Superintendent Mark Holodic
Del. sues massage parlors owner in prostitution sting
Delaware prosecutors are suing the owner of four massage parlors who was caught in an undercover police investigation into prostitution in 2014.
The lawsuit filed Friday seeks $700,000 in civil penalties from Smyrna resident Da Zhong Wang, 52, for violating state racketeering laws. It also seeks to stop Wang from owning and operating massage parlors in Delaware.
Wang, a Chinese citizen living in the U.S. on a work permit, previously owned Relaxed Spa in Rehoboth, Massage Center in Middletown, Wang's House of Acupressure in Smyrna and Da Wang's Bodyworks in Dover, the lawsuit said.
In November 2013, an undercover Delaware State Police trooper visited the Middletown location. The masseuse offered the officer a sex act during the massage, the lawsuit said.
Wilmington mayor, council president release budget compromise
Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams and City Council President Theo Gregory announced Monday they've agreed on staffing reductions, funding inefficiency studies for two departments and money for the city's land bank.
The proposal will be vetted by the Finance Committee on Monday at 5 p.m. and is scheduled to be voted on Thursday by the full 13-member City Council.
According to a news release, the $154 million budget now is $613,000 lower than the budget proposed by Williams in March.
Gregory said in a statement: "We were able to eliminate some positions which will produce longer term savings, identify new funding for the land bank and other neighborhood-based housing projects and we found money so we can finally move forward with departmental management studies to help us become a more efficient government. Budgets are all about compromising and that's what we've done in this case."
Bill would guarantee public defenders for juveniles
Top Delaware lawmakers want to guarantee juveniles have access to a public defender, regardless of family income or the level of their alleged crime.
The state Office of Defense Services already offers free legal representation to young people facing charges, even though it's not required by state law. House Bill 382 seeks to set the policy in stone so that future budget cuts or changes in leadership don't change that.
Speaker of the House Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement, "We can't rely on current practice as a guarantee for the future."
The change, if approved, would mean the courts and Public Defender's Office will be required to continue the practice.
"This legislation takes the small but important step of codifying an existing practice so going forward there is no question that minors being charged with a crime in our state have the same rights to public defenders as adults," said Senate President Pro Tempore Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere, lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate.
Lenore Matusiewicz dies while serving life sentence
After years of high-profile schemes and court battles over her grandchildren, Lenore Matusiewicz has quietly died in a Texas prison.
Matusiewicz, whose late husband fatally shot their former daughter-in-law at the New Castle County Courthouse in 2013, was sentenced to life in prison on harassing and stalking charges just three months ago.
The 71-year-old died at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 6, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons online inmate locator. A cause was not immediately available.
Lenore Matusiewicz's brother, Tom Kula, told the Associated Press he was notified of her death May 7.
She had been in ailing health since being sentenced in February by a federal judge who took the unusual step of conducting the hearing at her bedside at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
Thomas Matusiewicz opened fire on their ex-daughter-in-law Christine Belford and her friend "Beth" Mulford as they walked into the New Castle County Courthouse lobby for a child support hearing with David Matusiewicz on Feb. 11, 2013. David is Lenore and Thomas's son and Belford's ex-husband.
The federal government accused Lenore Matusiewicz and her children – Newark optometrist David and nurse Amy Gonzalez – of waging a campaign to harass, torment, stalk and spy on Belford and the couple's three daughters in the three years leading up to Belford's death.
Police identify construction worker on I-95
Police have identified the man fatally struck Monday night on I-95 northbound in the Wilmington area as 36-year-old Aleksandr Y. Mitishov, according to Delaware State Police.
A police investigation determined that the crash occurred around 7:34 p.m. when Mitishov exited the driver's seat of a 2014 Ford F-350 parked on the right-hand shoulder of I-95 on the Brandywine River Bridge, south of U.S. 202, police said.
Mitishov, who was employed by Enterprise Flasher Company of Wilmington, was preparing to set up construction warning signage and was wearing a reflective vest when he stepped out into the right hand lane of travel, police said.
He was then struck by the right side front of a 1998 Nissan Quest, driven by Victor M. Sitiriche, 35, of Wilmington, police said.
The Power of Food TV on Delaware chefs' careers
Can an appearance on a national TV culinary show change your life?
Yes, it can.
Just ask Newark pastry chef Dana Herbert, winner of "Cake Boss: Next Great Baker," a TLC pastry competition program hosted by star baker Buddy Valastro.
Herbert, who took home the title in December 2010, says the series gave him a national platform that showcased his baking and decorating skills. It also helped the University of Delaware graduate expand his thriving custom cake making business and eventually open a Newark dessert shop. And Herbert has been crowned with lifelong celebrity chef status.
"It definitely changes things," says the Bear resident. "What TV does, it puts a stamp on what you've already been doing. It introduces you to people that are outside of Delaware, and even inside Delaware. It really gets you out there and gets you known for what you loved doing."
GRADUATION PHOTOS!