DOVER — Delaware’s five most recent governors and three most recent chief justices, along with the Republican National Committee, the Delaware State Bar Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures and other organizations and individuals, filed briefs last week in support of a case set to be argued before the Supreme Court next month.

At issue is whether a Delaware law requiring the courts to be politically balanced is constitutional. The statute, which has existed in some form or another since 1897, currently requires the courts to have no more than a one-member majority from either of the two major political parties.

In other words, the five-member Supreme Court, for instance, must have three Democrats and two Republicans or vice versa. If the balance is three to two in favor of the Democratic Party and a Republican steps down, the governor must select a Republican as the replacement.

In 2017, attorney and registered independent voter James Adams filed suit, arguing the law strips many “Delaware lawyers of opportunities for judicial appointments because of their political affiliation, in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”

In response, lawyers for Gov. Carney wrote because judges are policymakers, political affiliation can be fairly considered. They also claimed the law ensures the courts are fair and impartial.

But a federal court disagreed, with Mary Pat Thynge, chief magistrate judge for the District of Delaware, striking down the law later that year.

Gov. John Carney subsequently appealed the case, and the court placed a stay on the decision to allow the governor to continue appointing judges during the process.

In early 2019, a three-member panel for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded “portions of Delaware’s constitution that limit Adams’s ability to apply for a judicial position while associating with the political party of his choice violate his First Amendment right.” The state subsequently elected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to hear the case March 25.
Although the ruling in effect gives the governor more power, Gov. Carney has maintained the law is part of what makes Delaware’s judiciary so highly respected.

“Delaware’s judiciary has a longstanding reputation as objective, stable, and nonpartisan,” he said in a statement. “That is largely thanks to the wisdom of those who wrote the Delaware Constitution.

“They understood the importance of keeping partisan politics out of Delaware’s courts, which are widely respected nationwide for their excellence and garner tremendous respect from our citizens and members of our bar. I believe it’s more important than ever to protect Delaware’s appointment process from the partisan infighting that has come to characterize the federal appointment process. We look forward to presenting our case to the Court.”

The governor’s office spent almost $376,000 in legal fees defending the law in 2018.

Ins and outs: A lighter side of budget hearings

The Joint Finance Committee hearings that began last week will continue through the end of the month. The 12-member panel of lawmakers is scheduled to meet Monday through Thursday this week to hear from various state agencies and members of the public as legislators work on the monthslong budget process.

Thursday, which will feature the Department of Education, will probably be the most interesting day. More than one-third of the state’s General Fund expenditures go to public education, and some lawmakers feel education in Delaware has become too centralized.
Budget hearings can be dull at times, but you never know when some brief levity might pop up.

Case in point: Sen. Trey Paradee wore a different tie for each of the three hearings on Thursday, matching the primary colors of the higher education institutions appearing before the panel. After starting the day with a green tie for Delaware Technical Community College, he wore a red one for Delaware State University and then changed to a blue and gold one for the University of Delaware.

DOVER — It would be a nearly unbelievable tale if not so tragically true.

The unfortunate twists and turns involving a high profile Dover murder 17 years ago has drawn unexpected interest from afar.

This fall, the Discovery Channel plans to revisit the death of 16-year-old Kimberly Holton at a motel next to U.S. 13 in an “American Detective” episode.

Condensing all the dramatic, traumatic details into a 60-minute show may prove quite challenging.

In a nutshell — the teen was with two young men she knew when fatally suffocated inside a Dover Budget Inn room on Sept. 30, 2003.

Her body was later dropped from a small chartered plane into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape May, N.J., detectives determined.

Michael E. Keyser, 23 at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder just over a year later, and co-suspect Jacob L. Jones, 20, committed suicide at his home before ever being charged.

Keyser had tried unsuccessfully to kill himself while being held without bail at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center shortly after his arrest, police said.

Ever on the lookout for a compelling crime story, Discovery Channel saw an opportunity to present the details to a national audience.

The network contacted Delaware State Police to gauge interest in publicizing the case; the agency called now-retired trooper William “Billy” Porter, who was a lead investigator along with fellow detective James P. “Pete” Fraley.

Initially apprehensive about joining the production, Mr. Porter said he’d “forgotten about the case” with a mindset that “it’s best not to look back on one like that.”

Since leaving DSP in 2016 after a 26 year-plus stint, Mr. Porter, 56, was mostly enjoying family time in Harrington and frequent camping trips.

“I was caught off guard for sure,” Mr. Porter said. “I was surprised that anyone would be interested in something that happened so long ago.

“The more I thought about it, though, I realized that so many people had worked hard on the case and it turned out in a good way.

“With the way the world is today I thought that this could shine a positive light on law enforcement, especially the Delaware State Police, for a job well done.”

The interview begins

So on Jan. 29, Mr. Fraley sat down for a three-hour interview with a four-member Discovery Channel crew at the Delaware Agriculture Museum in Dover. The location was chosen for its quiet and rustic setting, he said.

The start of 100-some questions began almost immediately with the crew’s explanation that “We want to do this unscripted.”

The interviewer “definitely had her stuff together” while pushing the ex-trooper for his remembrances. He’d reviewed the case file beforehand, but nearly two decades had passed.

Some troopers arrived for support and Mr. Fraley (with an ever so slight smile and wince) described the overall stress that day as “worse than (being on the stand) in court.”

Mr. Porter had just joined the homicide unit when Ms. Holton died, and it was his first ever case. A hundred or so would follow over the next 13 years, but none ever as complex.

Investigating the tragic circumstances — Ms. Holton was a Dover High junior when she died — proved to be personally challenging at the time.

“There was a lot of emotion involved in the case, but in the end it was satisfying to know that we got the right people, put the right person in prison,” he said. “In the end a lot of hard work paid off.”

Detectives Fraley and Porter were sergeants at the time of the investigation and knew each other from their days at Lake Forest High in Felton. They combined efforts with New Jersey State Police (also to be featured on the TV episode) to make the case.

“They were all extremely great to work with,” Mr. Porter said.

Chain in the water

The initial investigation spanned five weeks as detectives searched for clues, developed evidence and conducted interviews.

According to Delaware State News reporting at the time, police said Ms. Holton was lured to the motel at around 1:15 a.m. — the same day she was reported missing from her Dover Air Park neighborhood residence.

A story said police believed the girl thought the men could help her with trouble at home. Mr. Jones was dating Ms. Holton’s foster stepsister.

According to a DSP news release:

“Detectives believe Jones and Keyser murdered Holton because Holton and her foster stepsister strongly disliked each other, and that the foster stepsister did not like her being around.”

Following the death, police said, Ms. Holton’s body was wrapped in a blanket before being moved into the trunk of Mr. Jones’ car. The chartered flight lifted off later in the day, according to authorities.

The badly decomposed corpse was seen floating by fishermen in a private boat more than a week after the incident in Dover. The discovery was made 3.9 miles off the coast of Cape May.

The body had chains wrapped around the legs and the New Jersey medical examiner’s office listed the cause of death as “homicidal violence.”

The teen was identified through fingerprints, and New Jersey State Police contacted First State law enforcement about the discovery.

The chains proved crucial to investigation, since they were found to be the grade and type that manufacturers sold to Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores.

Detectives spent hours reviewing surveillance videos at the Dover Lowe’s store, which was next to the motel where Ms. Holton had died. Finally, two men were seen buying 15 feet of chain (weighing 11 pounds), five locks and two cinder blocks.

Three still images of the men were released to the media for publication, and one of them — who police said was not involved in the murder — recognized himself in the Oct. 17 edition of the Delaware State News and contacted authorities.

“He saw it when he went to work, then called Dover Police,” Sgt. Fraley said at the time. “We went and got him immediately. The clouds began to clear in the case.”

The man knew the person he was with at Lowe’s as “Jake” and police said a cell phone caller ID check identified Mr. Jones.

After an interview with Mr. Jones, police said Keyser was identified as a person of interest as well.

On Sept. 19, police had arrested a 65-year-old Camden man that Ms. Holton had been staying with, but determined he was not involved.

Persons of interest

Evidence pointed to Mr. Jones, a 2001 Polytech High graduate and sophomore aviation student at Delaware State University, who supposedly spent $88 to fly a small charter plane to dump the body, investigators said. Sgt. Fraley described him as an accomplished pilot with a 4.0 grade-point average at the time.

At trial, police testified that Mr. Jones chartered a plane from the Dover Air Force Base Aero Club, which he piloted toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Mr. Porter said the plane’s transponder was turned off at the time, but a civilian radar expert was able to track the majority of the plane’s airborne travel.

The radar information was taken from a station in Gibbsboro, N.J.

Using overlay maps shown on a television monitor through Power Point, the expert — employed by the U.S. Air Force Radar Evaluation Squadron at Hill Air Force Base in Utah — told the jury that the plane was detected taking off from Dover at 11:48 p.m. on Sept. 30.

The plane landed at Delaware Air Park in Cheswold after a six-minute flight, the expert said, and then headed south toward Cape May, N.J. After being lost on radar, the aircraft reappeared and was seen traveling over the city and then toward the water, according to testimony.

“We see here that the plane makes a sharp right turn and then makes two 360-degree (circles) before it pulls out and heads west over the ocean,” the expert explained.

While investigators did not prove whether or not pilot Jones was alone at the time, according to a DSN story, they theorized that the plane slowed “down to 30-40 mph, banked into the turns and either rolled or pushed Ms. Holton’s chained and weighted body out the door.”

Radar indicated that the plane returned over the Delaware Bay before landing in Cheswold. The aircraft departed five minutes later and then arrived at Dover at 1:39 a.m. on Oct. 1, the expert said.

Deputy Attorneys General Robert J. O’Neill and Marie Graham prosecuted Keyser’s case, with attorneys Beth Deborah Savitz and Joseph A. Gabay representing the defendant.

The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for 6 1/2 hours over two days before convicting Keyser (a 1999 Polytech High graduate) on a first-degree murder charge on Nov. 16, 2004.

At the time of conviction a jury heard testimony on whether Keyser should spend life in prison with no hope of parole or execution by lethal injection. He’s now incarcerated within the Delaware Department of Correction system.

DOVER — It was troubling enough when an indicator light lit up inside the cockpit of a C-5M Super Galaxy telling Capt. Geoff Howard, the pilot and aircraft commander, that one of the doors on the monstrous cargo airplane might have been open as he was ascending to 18,000 feet above the earth.

Not long after that loadmasters discovered that one of the 68 passengers aboard the plane bound from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana to Dover Air Force Base was unconscious after suffering an apparent seizure about 20 minutes into the flight.

Suddenly, what was originally thought to be a routine mission for the air crew from the 9th Airlift Squadron at Dover Air Force Base — initially scheduled to travel from Louisiana to Rota Naval Air Station in Spain — became an emergency in the very early hours of Jan. 17.

The crew had already made the call to divert to Dover AFB due to some mechanical problems with the aircraft.

However, in hopes of getting medical attention quickly for their ailing passenger, who is a member of the Air Force, the decision was made to divert again, this time to Memphis International Airport in Tennessee.

It turned out to be all in a day’s work for the air crew, who had all received training, both medical and procedural, for emergency scenarios just like this one.

Had one of the doors been open on the C-5 in mid-flight it could have potentially caused structural damage and pressurization issues with the aircraft.

Through it all, Capt. Howard and the other 11 members of his crew kept calm heads and steady hands.

“Our initial actions were we leveled out at the altitude we were at and let air traffic control know that we were just going to level off momentarily, and in order to comply with the procedure we needed to descend to below 10,000 feet, depressurize the airplane and get one of the flight engineers on a harness so she could inspect all the doors leading out of the airplane and, hopefully, secure the situation,” Capt. Howard said.

“It was in the midst of all that, including descending below 10,000 feet, that we had the passenger experience the seizure and lost consciousness. From that point on, the issues of the aircraft were really put to the side and it was all about taking care of the passenger.”

The decision was made to land the plane at Memphis, which had previously been a National Guard base for C-5s. It had a long enough runway to safely land the aircraft, which at the time weighed 770,000 pounds, as well as provide 24/7 medical care for the passenger.
The C-5 landed about 20 minutes after the man suffered his medical issue and he was quickly tended to by awaiting first responders on the ground at Memphis.

Capt. Howard said he wasn’t sure if the passenger’s medical trouble was related to the airplane’s issue or when the plane had to descend.

“I can’t speak to that,” he said. “I’m not a medical doctor, so all I know is one incident happened shortly after the other.”

First Lt. Eli Parsch, the co-pilot, said it took a team effort from the crew to get through the challenges.

“This is very uncommon for us,” he said. “We fly with passengers a lot of times but it’s very unusual to have a passenger that has a medical issue while we’re in flight.

“As a pilot our responsibility is to fly the aircraft and help manage the crew. We’re lucky enough to have really experienced loadmasters back with the passengers that were able to assist the passenger.”

For most of the crew’s members, it marked the first time they had experienced a medical emergency mid-flight. Capt. Howard said he was proud of the way they responded.

“I’m extremely proud of every crew member on board. Our training is exceptional,” he said. “The character of everyone in the Air Force, especially the character of every single one of my crew members that evening, is exceptional. We train for this quite often and I know it sounds like a very complex and hectic flight, but we train for this and honestly it was very benign.

“Everyone was extremely calm and confident, the loadmasters were extremely calm, the flight engineers were extremely calm trying to assess the issue with the airplane. It was a team effort all the way around. I couldn’t have done it without every single person on board.”

Addressing the medical issue

Master Sgt. Josh Cutrer, serving as a load master/flight examiner, was the first airman to tend to the passenger after he suffered his medical issue. He said he was notified of the man’s condition by one of the other passengers on board not long after takeoff.

“We don’t normally plan to deal with medical emergencies for our passengers, but I initially responded and went back and tried to locate the (man) and he was unconscious and the two individuals who were sitting next to him were assisting him and helping out,” he said. “The biggest thing was to keep him safe. I kind of just cleared out the area.

“We had 67 passengers on board that day, so it’s a pretty full troop compartment. There’s really not a whole lot of room back there so I tried to do my best to clear out the aisleways and the seats that are next to them. I just tried to keep him stable, comfortable, laid back with his feet propped up.”

Master Sgt. Cutrer said that as the passenger regained consciousness he appeared to be dazed and couldn’t recall much before he passed out and said it was something that had never happened to him before.

“I asked him how he was feeling and if this was something that we needed to go back to Louisiana or if we should continue to fly,” he said. “He didn’t want to go back, he wanted to continue on, and it was at that point I indicated with Capt. Howard our options.”
It didn’t take the pilot long to find a spot where the man could receive quick medical attention.

“Thankfully we were stateside and we told air-traffic control what the issue was and we needed to land immediately with some place with 24/7 medical care, so they recommended Memphis International Airport in Tennessee and it was fortunately right off our nose, just a few miles ahead of us, so I knew we could land there immediately,” Capt. Howard said.

“We were extremely heavy, about 770,000 pounds when we were landing so we needed an extremely long runway and thankfully Memphis has that kind of capability for us and landed uneventfully.”

Air traffic controllers gave the C-5 crew emergency priority to land at Memphis as the airport was busy with aircraft from FedEx, which also uses the facility.

A juggling act

Tech. Sgt. Alexander Barnes, one of two flight engineers aboard the C-5, said there was a lot taking place in a little space of time.

“We were dealing with another (possible mechanical) issue and it kind of popped up in the middle of it,” he said of the health emergency. “We just kind of had to juggle between those two.”

Tech. Sgt. Barnes said all the performance calculations that had set into the aircraft for where they were going (previously Spain and then Dover) had to change on a very short notice.

“It was a lot of juggling,” he said. “It was not like we could completely ignore any one (of the issues).”

First Lt. Parsch said preparation led to a positive outcome in an unusual situation.

“I’d say it’s a pretty clear demonstration of the training that we’ve had,” said First Lt. Parsch. “Basically, the Air Force did a good job of preparing us not only for our mission, but also for potential emergencies or abnormalities that could (affect) our mission.

“There’s a lot of work in between the plane landing and when we’re up at cruise (altitude). So, we’re basically trying to manage all the tasks that we have to achieve and make sure all the crewmembers are also handling all the things that they have to do while managing this emergency issue.”

Capt. Howard agreed about the preparedness of his flight crew.

“Every airman in the United States Air Force has some medical training, so that was certainly applied in this case to initially resolve the situation and hopefully stabilize the passenger,” he said. “Those actions were initially performed just like we’re all trained to do and then when we landed at Memphis International the first responders met us at the airplane and took over and provided much better medical care than we could provide.”

Upon returning to Dover Air Force Base a couple of hours following the unexpected landing in Memphis, the air crew got some rest, but were able to finish their mission and fly their cargo load and passengers to Spain the very next day.

This time with no incidents or diversions — though they would have been ready had they happened.

Dan Laughman of Magnolia took this photo of a snow goose flying overhead at Fowler Beach on Jan. 11.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded in a so-called insider attack in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province late Saturday when an Afghan dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire, the U.S. military said.

Afghanistan’s defense ministry said one Afghan soldier was also killed and three injured in the assault.

A member of Nangarhar’s provincial council, Ajmal Omer, told The Associated Press that the gunman was killed. Neither the U.S. military nor the Afghan defense ministry have confirmed the attacker’s fate.

There have been numerous attacks by Afghan national army soldiers on their allied partners during 18 years of America’s protracted war in Afghanistan.

Six U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of 2020, including Saturday’s casualties. Last year, 22 U.S. service personnel died in combat there.

An Afghan defense ministry official, who was not identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the shooter was an Afghan soldier who had argued with the U.S. forces before opening fire. He was not a Taliban infiltrator, the official said.

In a statement, the U.S. military said “an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun. We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time.”

Omer, the provincial council member, is from Nangarhar province’s Sherzad district, where he said the incident took place.

The U.S. military said American and Afghan military personnel were fired on while conducting an operation in Nangarhar province.

Last July, two U.S. service members were killed by an Afghan soldier in the southern Kandahar province. The shooter was wounded and arrested. In September, three U.S. military personnel were wounded when an member of the Afghan Civil Order Police fired on a military convoy, also in Kandahar.

The incident came as Washington has sought to find an end to the war in Afghanistan.

Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been meeting with Taliban representatives in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar in recent weeks. He’s seeking an agreement to reduce hostilities to get a peace deal signed that would start negotiations among Afghans on both sides of the conflict.

In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, President Donald Trump referenced the peace talks, saying U.S. soldiers were not meant to serve as “law enforcement agencies” for other nations.

“In Afghanistan, the determination and valor of our war fighters has allowed us to make tremendous progress, and peace talks are now underway,” he said.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Biden is facing increasingly formidable competition in South Carolina, a state his campaign has long assumed was safely in his column and one he’s repeatedly described as a “firewall” in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and billionaire activist Tom Steyer are challenging the former vice president’s standing in South Carolina. The Feb. 29 primary is the first contest in the South on the 2020 election calendar and serves as an important gauge of black support.

Sanders has generated enthusiasm from younger black voters in South Carolina. That could help him avoid a repeat of his dismal showing in the 2016 primary, when African Americans overwhelmingly backed Hillary Clinton.

Steyer, meanwhile, is flooding the South Carolina airwaves with millions of dollars in ads, building a robust staff and making numerous visits, including on Sunday and Monday while Biden others are in New Hampshire. The approach appears to have paid off: His support grew significantly in a Fox News poll last month, consistent with a steady momentum of endorsements that began in the final weeks of 2019.

Steyer is also seizing on Biden’s fourth-place finish in last week’s Iowa caucuses to undermine Biden’s argument that he is best positioned to defeat President Donald Trump. That’s important because many black voters in South Carolina have said they would back Biden because they view him as the most electable candidate in a crowded field.

“The presumptive front-runner who was leading in the national polls by 20 or something at one point, basically had a really bad night,” Steyer told The Associated Press. “That means that his firewall in South Carolina doesn’t exist. That means that really this race is going to come down to who can build a national, diverse coalition.”

Biden was on top in a January Fox News survey of South Carolina voters and polling suggests his standing among black voters remains steady. He has compiled the most endorsements from black lawmakers and other officials, and he’s tied with Sanders for the most supporters among the state’s Legislative Black Caucus.

But with his Iowa disappointment and the middling results expected in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, Biden probably will need a commanding victory by the time the Democratic contest reaches South Carolina. Any shifts in voter sentiment could narrow a hoped-for win or, in a nightmare scenario, relegate him to second place, threatening the viability of his campaign.

With three weeks to go, there are warning signs.

The campaign was caught off guard in January when Dalhi Myers, a Columbia lawyer who is vice chair of the Richland County Council, switched her support from Biden to Sanders.

“What’s best for all of us is electrifying enough people … who will go to the polls,” said Myers, who is black. “I don’t think honestly that Joe Biden can electrify the 400,000 African Americans in the state of South Carolina.”

Travis Lincoln, a 44-year-old from Charleston, attended Biden’s first rally in Columbia last May and said he was “all in” for the former vice president. But as the primary approaches, Lincoln said he has shifted his backing to tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
“Although I have enormous respect for Biden, I have been disappointed in his lack of empathy” on issues such as assistance for veterans or a criminal justice overhaul, Lincoln said. “I’ve grown weary of politicians. The same old formula will not defeat Trump.”

Before a Steyer town hall in Hartsville last month, 19-year-old Coker College student Alexis Schaub said she liked the activist’s focus on climate change and felt his campaign was an honest effort to appeal to South Carolinians.

“He feels genuine,” Schaub said. “I don’t want someone that I don’t really think I can trust.”

State Rep. Ivory Thigpen, a member of the Legislative Black Caucus who has endorsed Sanders, said Sanders is the only candidate who has made genuine strides to foster substantive connections within South Carolina’s black voters instead of relying on past support.
“The African American vote cannot be taken for granted,” said Thigpen. “Just the idea that we are a firewall, that our vote is already cemented. … I won’t go so far as to say it’s offensive, but I think it might be misconceived.”

Biden’s aides remain confident in his chances in South Carolina. Paige Hill, Biden’s South Carolina spokeswoman, said, “We’ve always known that the results of the first early voting states were not going to determine what happens here.”

“And at the end of the day, no one in this race can or should win the nomination without proving they have sweeping support from African American voters,” she said. “Vice President Biden is the only candidate who has already done so.”

Still, the emerging skepticism is frustrating for a candidate who views his ties to the black community — built over decades in the Senate, and solidified by serving as the No. 2 to the first black president, Barack Obama — as a central pillar of his candidacy.

Biden’s standing in South Carolina has long gone unquestioned, so much so that two prominent black candidates — Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey — dropped out of the race in part because Biden’s strength in South Carolina created insurmountable barriers.

The campaign is beginning to make some moves, announcing a shake-up of its senior ranks last week. Biden emphasized the importance of diversity in the Democratic Party during weekend campaign events. In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” that aired Sunday, he took particular aim at Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, for failing to attract black voters.

“He hasn’t been able to unify the black community,” Biden said of Buttigieg, who essentially tied for first place in Iowa with Sanders.

Still, Biden is being outspent and sometimes outmaneuvered by rivals with deeper pockets.

While Biden was in overwhelmingly white New Hampshire on Saturday, billionaire Michael Bloomberg was courting black voters in Alabama, which is among the states that vote on Super Tuesday in early March. Bloomberg toured the late Martin Luther King Jr.’s church, spoke at a Democratic party luncheon and held a rally at Alabama State University, a historically black college and university.

Sanders has made a $5.5 million ad buy in states that include South Carolina. Steyer has hired the chair of South Carolina’s Legislative Black Caucus to serve as an adviser, a $10,000-per-month gig that drew criticism among those who found it curious that a campaign would be paying a state lawmaker while receiving his endorsement.

A challenge for Biden is that he and his campaign has spent months raising expectations for South Carolina, in part to offset losses they anticipated in states that vote earlier and are less diverse. Biden has argued that his campaign would essentially begin in South Carolina, where a win would propel him into the clutch of states that vote in March where black and Latino voters will be key.

“People talk about South Carolina being a firewall,” Biden told the AP in October. “I kind of view South Carolina being a diving board. It’s going to catapult me into the Super Tuesday areas that are a lot of the South, from Georgia to Texas to Florida, across the board.”

His supporters say this strategy is still workable.

State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, a member of the Legislative Black Caucus who has endorsed Biden, said he was “a little disappointed” in Biden’s Iowa finish but was confident in a strong result in the state Biden needs the most.

“People are still fired up for Joe Biden,” said Kimpson, who on Friday said he attended an NAACP meeting where energy for Biden was high. “When I walked through through the office, folks were high-fiving me, for having given my endorsement. I’ve seen no one who is despondent.”

Ten Henlopen Conference teams made the DIAA wrestling dual meet state tournaments as the two eight-team fields were announced on Sunday.

Smyrna High is the top seed in Division I, leading six downstate squads in the tournament. Caravel is seeded first in Division II with Woodbridge the top Henlopen Conference team as the second seed.

First round action begins Wednesday with all matches at 7 p.m., hosted by the better seed. The semifinals and finals will take place at Smyrna on Saturday at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively.

Smyrna (12-2) will face No. 8 seed William Penn (11-5) in the Division I first round. Two Division I matchups feature all Henlopen Conference teams as fourth-seeded Sussex Central (8-3) hosts No. 5 Cape Henlopen (17-4) and Milford (20-1), the second seed, hosts No. 7 seed Sussex Tech (10-6).

Caesar Rodney (6-6) is the sixth seed in Division I and the Riders will travel to third-seeded Salesianum (10-2) for its first round matchup.

Woodbridge, Lake Forest, Laurel and Indian River are the four downstate squads who qualified for the Division II tournament.

Laurel (11-6), seeded third, hosts sixth seed Lake Forest (8-9) in an all-Henlopen first round clash.

Woodbridge (11-5), the second seed, faces No. 7 Archmere (9-7). Indian River (12-4) earned the fifth seed and travels to Delaware Military Academy (5-3), the fourth seed, in the first round.

Top-seed Caravel (9-3) meets No. 8 seed McKean (7-8) in the final Division II first round contest.

WRESTLING

DIAA DUAL MEET STATE TOURNAMENTS

DIVISION I

FIRST ROUND

Friday

8-William Penn (11-5) at 1-Smyrna (12-2), 7 p.m.

5-Cape Henlopen (17-4) at 4-Sussex Central (8-3), 7 p.m.

6-Caesar Rodney (6-6) at 3-Salesianum (8-2), 7 p.m.

7-Sussex Tech (10-6) at 2-Milford (20-1), 7 p.m.

SEMIFINALS

Saturday

at Smyrna, 4 p.m.

FINALS

at Smyrna, 6 p.m.

DIVISION II

FIRST ROUND

Friday

8-McKean (7-8) at 1-Caravel (9-3), 7 p.m.

5-Indian River (12-4) at 4-Delaware Military (5-3), 7 p.m.

6-Lake Forest (8-9) at 3-Laurel (11-6), 7 p.m.

7-Archmere (9-7) at 2-Woodbridge (11-5), 7 p.m.

SEMIFINALS

Saturday

at Smyrna, 4 p.m.

FINALS

at Smyrna, 6 p.m.

College basketball

WOMEN, Delaware 77, Hofstra 67: The Blue Hens out-scored the Pride by a combined 42-26 in the second and third quarters before posting their third-straight victory.

Delaware (5-6 CAA, 9-13 overall) got double-digit scoring from Nicole Enabosi (17 points), Abby Gonzales (14 points, 6 assists) and Jasmine Dickey (13 points, 11 rebounds). The Hens’ winning streak is its longest of the season.

Delaware led for over 28 minutes of the contest. The Hens sank 9-of-20 three-pointers, with Gonzales going 4-for-8.

College softball

Delaware 11, Long Island 2: The Blue Hens (4-1) wrapped up the Florida Gulf Coast Kickoff Classic with their third-straight win.
Delaware has started a season with at least four wins in its first five contests for just the fifth time since 1982.

UD exploded for 14 hits, including three apiece from Karolina Flores and Brooke Glanden (Lake Forest), and scored in each of its five at-bats. Glanden drove home three and belted the Hens’ first home run of the year, while Flores added a double and scored three runs.
Chayanna Gallardo delivered a pair of doubles on the day, Ali Davis also had two hits and crossed the plate twice, and Brittney Mendoza drove home three runs.

Freshman pitcher Emily Winburn earned her first collegiate victory as she allowed two runs on five hits while striking out four in a complete-game effort.

Delaware is supposed to have a projected 200 million dollar revenue surplus this year and the first thing Democrats want to do is keep spending, spending, spending. It’s as if we taxpayers are an endless money supply. In a recent article it was said, “It’s more difficult to run the Legislature when you have a surplus than when you have a deficit,” said House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear. “Everybody will be down in Legislative Hall putting their hands out.” However, its not the general public with their hands out, it is the current administration.

This administration wants to allocate $50 million, with a projection up to $500 million dollars, for the Clean Water Act Trust Fund. The federal government (also our tax dollars) has given the state of Delaware an average of $10 million dollars a year since 1997 or a total of $224 million dollars over a 22-year period.

What specifically have we done with that money? This new $50 million allotment of money is meant to be permanently funded. If you look back over time, our revenue sources are not exactly stable, so where will this money come from if we have a deficit year? How much will our taxes rise? This administration wants to take our tax dollars first then tell us how it will be spent. Is this the beginning of Delaware’s New Green Deal?

Don’t get me wrong. Everyone would like clean drinking water but 22 years and $224 million later, most of us have to buy bottled water or we have installed filtering systems because what comes into our houses we don’t even want to give to our pets.

Shouldn’t our focus have been on bringing clean water into our homes first? I understand that there are other projects such as wastewater, sewage and drainage projects that are to be included but there are currently other ways to access funds without increasing taxes and growing government.

Our current administration also wants to spend another $50 million under a partnership agreement to build a new school in Wilmington and to make renovations in other schools. No referendum and no local input. What is wrong with this picture? Is this to be a new precedent?

Delaware ranks sixth in the nation in spending per capita, more than Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts and other surrounding states. We have mandated pensions that are not funded and this amount keeps growing into the billions.

Where are the fiscal responsibility and the good stewardship of our taxpayer dollars? My suggestion for this $200 million projected revenue surplus is to find a way to reduce taxes. We need to get back to limited government and low taxes.

Cheryl Precourt
Dover

Cheryl Precourt is a candidate for the 32nd Representative District in Dover.

By Dave Rhodes

Here we are again for round three of the Indian River School District Referendum. It failed twice in 2019 and now we are faced with it again in 2020.

District residents pay state income taxes, local county taxes and now we are asked to pay a local tax for school issues. Three taxes in a state that is supposed to be tax-friendly.

Gov. Carney just allocated $50 million to build a new school in Wilmington and another $50 million to some clean water issue. Why couldn’t the same state’s tax dollars fund this new school in the Indian River District? They are our tax dollars going to Wilmington.

I feel certain that retires moving here from the high tax states like New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland are not bringing school-aged kids with them who are flooding our schools. The influx of legal and illegal immigrants. are the real impact of the overcrowding. I empathize with these children but at what expense to the citizens already living here?

There are three workshops scheduled in February trying to convince residents of the “critical”, “absolute necessity” to get this referendum passed. This problem has got to be addressed at the state level for all school districts.

There has got to be a better state revenue stream allocating funds for all school districts in the state. Retirees living on fixed incomes with no kids in school are asked time and time again to open their wallets and fund overcrowded schools. Whatever happened to the budget process?

Don’t believe that this tax if passed is only for three years at only a maximum of $63 per household. At the end of the three years there will be another school crisis that’s going to need extending this tax well beyond three years.

If this referendum passes and the new school construction begins, it will be overcrowded before the doors even open by the time construction is completed.

Hard decisions have to be made forcing the state to get involved to solve this overcrowding at our schools and that begins by defeating this referendum. In conclusion, all you citizens retired or not retired that are on fixed incomes trying to get by, get your butts out of your La-Z-Boy chairs, skip the “Price is Right” for one day and go to your voting precinct and vote no on this Indian River School District referendum.

Dave Rhodes is a resident of Georgetown.

DAGSBORO — Thursday is a pivotal day in the 50-plus year history of the Indian River School District.

The school district is seeking passage of a major capital referendum a new Sussex Central High School with a 2,200-student capacity, which district officials say will adequately address excessive enrollment growth that has spawned overcrowding in most schools.

“Overall, we build one school, we solve the entire overcrowding in the north and we provide sufficient room for growth that we think will last for at least eight to 10 years,” said IRSD Superintendent Mark Steele. “We only need one new school to impact all of the others. It’s very simple — you build one building and take care of everything else.”

If approved, the major capital improvement plan includes:

•Construction of a new Sussex Central High School;

•Relocation of Millsboro Middle School to the existing SCHS building;

•Conversion of existing Millsboro Middle School building into an elementary school.

A defeat would mark the third failed referendum in a span of about one year. Referendums held in February and May 2019 failed to pass.

“I said last year we were at a crucial point,” said Mr. Steele at a Jan. 29 public referendum meeting at Indian River High School. “Now we are at a critical point.”

About 20 members of the public were in the auditorium for one in a series of public presentations in the district’s informational campaign.

The need is due to continual enrollment growth, predominantly in the northern half of the district encompassing the greater Georgetown and Millsboro areas.

IRSD’s enrollment on Jan. 29 stood at 11,171 students, an increase of 129 from Sept. 30 unit count of 10,942.

Then Sept. 30 enrollment was reached six years ahead of the University of Delaware’s Unified School District Enrollment Projection of 10,957 for the 2025 school year.

Sussex Central High School, built for a 1,500-student capacity, has more than 1,800 students. Ten portable classroom units are being utilized on the SCHS campus and 22 “homeless” teachers at that high school must move to a classroom utilizing a cart.

Portables provide classroom space, but do not impact common areas such as cafeteria.

“Unless you see it, you just don’t understand how overcrowded it is,” Mr. Steele said.

Tax impact

The local share will be $58.4 million in the 60/40 state/local ratio.

Passage of the referendum will result in a maximum possible tax increase of $63.24 for the average district property owner. This increase will be phased in over three years in the 20-year bond period. The amount will decrease commencing with the fourth year.

Mr. Steele pointed out in his presentation that the district calculates the local tax impact at a 5 percent bond rate, which equates to 28 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Mr. Steele and district officials are fairly confident it will be much lower, possibly around 2.88 percent, which equates to 22 cents per $100 of assessed value, and ultimately less cost to taxpayers.

Additionally, IRSD is scheduled to retire seven construction bonds during the next five years.

According to Mr. Steele, Tammy Smith, the district’s business director who came to IRSD from the state auditor’s office, pointed out that Indian River is the only district paying off debt faster than it is borrowing.

Wealthy but not

At present, one penny of tax in the IRSD generates about $167,000.

“We are considered a wealthy district even though 56 percent of the kids that attend are people who live in our district and are socioeconomic disadvantaged. The beach areas bring in a lot of money,” said Mr. Steele. “The north is growing faster than the south. A lot of seniors have moved into the southern area. And it’s families in the north.”

Amid two referendum defeats in 2019, to address overcrowding, the district:

• Installed 10 portable classrooms at SCHS and two at North Georgetown Elementary;

• Closed the Georgetown Kindergarten Center, freeing up space at Georgetown Middle School;

• Implemented a three-tiered busing system.

Last year, the district signed a lease for five two-unit portables. Two single units were donated free from Cape Henlopen, costing the district only moving and set-up expenses. The total cost was $424,000, plus $25,000 for security fencing at SCHS. The monthly lease for the five rental units is $10,600.

Referendum defeat

If the referendum does not pass, Mr. Steele said:

• Overcrowding will worsen, adversely affecting educational environment;

• More portable classrooms will be needed;

• District reserves will be depleted due to high cost of renting portable classrooms;

• District attendance boundaries may be redrawn, forcing students living in the northern feeder patterns to attend schools in the district’s southern end.

“If we don’t pass this referendum, we’re going to have to move kids from the north to the south,” said Mr. Steele, noting increased ride time for bus students. “We do have a problem in this district. I’ve got 39 years here, and I can stand up here and tell you 11,000 kids isn’t too many kids for a school district to have. But 365 square miles, we’re too big. That is what kills us.”

Development means more homes, and increased tax revenue. More homes also mean more families, some with school-age children.

“We get reports in my office from the county, and it seems like every two or three weeks, I get another report … another 225 homes,” said Mr. Steele. “Everybody knows the more houses, more units you build, how much taxes we get, it goes up. For us, our enrollment is going up. It helps us and hurts us. As long as both are going up, we’re fine. We don’t have to come back and say ‘’I’ve got to have a current expense next year.’”

“The town of Millsboro – the No. 1-fastest growing city in Sussex – they have approved permits for over 3,000 new homes for the next six or seven years,” said Mr. Steele, noting development in Georgetown, Angola and other areas within the school district.

“Growth is not slowing down. All we can do is take whatever kid that walks in our door and lives in our district, and we have to educate them. And that’s what we do, and we do it well. And we’ll continue to do that well. But we’ve come to a point where we need help. Everybody wants to come live in our district. Your property taxes are low. You have no sales tax. Developers love it because there are no impact fees. That is the perfect storm, folks.”

“As superintendents we have lobbied our legislators to look at impact fees, because Sussex County is the only county in Delaware that doesn’t have them,” said Mr. Steele. “But unfortunately, that’s a decision that me or my school board … we have no control over.”

From the audience

Audience questions spurred brief discussion on a split schedule, online instruction and Gov. John Carney’s budget proposal to allocate $50 million for a new elementary school in Wilmington and other upgrades in the Christina School District with no referendum or local share.

Mr. Steele responded to Gov. Carney’s recommendation.

“That’s wrong,” Mr. Steele said. “If that was a special needs school like Howard T. Ennis or the Cape Consortium, I would say absolutely build the school. But that is a public elementary school. Those people should have to do what you have to do. And I will fight that. I know my other colleagues are not happy about this because that is setting a very bad precedent.”

“Now, three ago the state went through a financial hiccup and we had to give $2 million back to state each year. Guess what? We’re still giving $2 million back to the state every year. You know what that cost this district? This year it cost us five administrators, 13 teachers total, and over $560,000. That was our giveback,” said Mr. Steele. “But he (Gov. Carney) is going to build a new school, a public school in a district that should go out for referendum just like we’re having to do. But instead he continues to take our $2 million a year. All I am saying is, it is an election year.”

Voting

Voting Thursday is from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the following local polling places: East Millsboro Elementary School, Georgetown Elementary School, Indian River High School, Long Neck Elementary School, Lord Baltimore Elementary School and Selbyville Middle School.

District residents who are U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age are eligible to vote.

In the event of inclement weather, the referendum will be held on Feb. 20.

DOVER — Harrington Mayor Anthony Moyer abused his authority for personal gain, including having the city pay personal expenses, while fired City Manager Don Williams misused his flex time privilege and turned a blind eye to Mr. Moyer’s actions, according to the conclusions of an investigation by the state’s Public Integrity Commission.

The conclusions, which City Council voted to release Feb. 3, are the latest development in a months-long saga that’s put Harrington into the spotlight. The report is based off claims by city planner Jeremy Rothwell, who accused Mr. Moyer and Mr. Williams of varied misconduct. Among the allegations are violation of the Delaware Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, flagrant flouting of city code, time theft, bullying employees and use of office for personal gain.

After Mr. Rothwell presented the claims to City Council in October, council members voted to place Mr. Williams on paid leave, while Mr. Moyer voluntarily stepped away from his city duties.

In Mr. Williams’ absence, Police Chief Norm Barlow has served as acting city manager. Mr. Moyer returned to his role in December for unspecified reasons.

The Public Integrity Commission, which has jurisdiction over ethics complaints involving elected officials, agreed to look into the accusations after being approached by the city. While it’s unclear exactly when the investigation was completed — commission legal counsel Deborah Moreau said she legally could not offer any details — City Council voted Feb. 3 to make the conclusions public.

Following an executive session, which Mr. Moyer did not attend, the five members present voted in favor of making the findings public.

“It is more likely than not that Mr. Moyer and Mr. Williams both engaged in conduct that would constitute violations of the State Code of Conduct,” the conclusions state.

“However, Mr. Williams is no longer working for the city and the city may pursue civil remedies to recoup any monies owed. The issue with Mr. Moyer is more complicated because he holds an elected office. The PIC cannot remove an elected official, even if the allegations are substantiated after notice and a formal hearing.”

Mr. Williams’ attorney disputes most of the claims about the ex-city manager.

Chris Johnson, who is representing Mr. Williams, said Friday his client was fired in violation of the city’s charter, which states before the city manager can be removed, he or she must be given a written explanation and a public hearing. It does allow for the officeholder to be suspended before that hearing occurs, but Mr. Johnson said Mr. Williams was informed last month he was terminated with no reason detailed.

Harrington Vice Mayor Amy Minner said after a City Council meeting in January, Mr. Williams was given an unpaid suspension pending the hearing.

That hearing is scheduled for Feb. 18.

According to Mr. Johnson, the city isn’t the only party that kept Mr. Williams in the dark: The attorney said the Public Integrity Commission never approached the former manager for his side of the story. He also alleged Mr. Williams’ termination stems from an incident with Mr. Rothwell, though he declined to go into detail about the occurrence.

Specific findings

The conclusions made public also include 13 bullet points laying out the specific issues the commission found to be “more likely than not.”

The claims concerning Mr. Moyer are that he “regularly exceeded the authority granted to him by city charter,” used his position to block a stop-work order on a commercial property he owned, tried to have his driveway and the commercial property’s sewer line replaced, entered into a $3,500 contract with a friend without informing City Council and billed Harrington for a personal E-ZPass violation.

Mr. Williams, the findings say, “exhibited a conflict of interest as to Mr. Moyer that affected his ability to independently exercise his official judgment,” took “excessive” time off without reporting vacation time and should pay back the city for accommodations at a recent trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

The other bullet points state the city might have been billed twice for work on the gas lines at its Public Works Building, at least one city employee has leaked confidential information to Mr. Moyer, Harrington may want to be more stringent in who it contracts with and city employees are not aware of the proper division of power between City Council and the mayor.

Those statements from the report are in line with most of Mr. Rothwell’s allegations, claims made based off his employment by the city from December 2016 through June 2019 and by documents and video obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. Those documents, which were shared with the Delaware State News, appear to corroborate his allegations, although the video footage has not yet been verified.

“The city manager throughout his employment has shown disturbing trends in his work ethic that constitutes fraud,” Mr. Rothwell wrote in a letter he presented to council members in October. “The city manager would come into work late and/or leave work early almost every day.

“Since my office window and desk directly faced the rear employee entrance to City Hall, I can testify to having witnessed the city manager consistently coming into work hours late and/or leaving work hours early on a regular basis. From June 20th to September 13th he claimed to have worked 474 hours, but actually worked only 375 hours.

“This discrepancy of 99 hours at $31.97 per hour (based on his initial contract salary of $66,500 per year) amounts to $3,165.14 in fraudulently claimed wages in only a three-month period, and I can testify under oath to having witnessed the same behavior throughout his entire tenure as city manager. Under Delaware law, theft of anything greater than $1,500 is classified as a felony.”

At a City Council meeting, Mr. Rothwell said the city manager’s calendar and time sheets indicate he took 58 personal appointments and seven days off between his hiring in February 2017 and June 2019 but did not use any personal or sick time.

The ex-city planner also cited a fall conference in Nashville attended by Mr. Williams. While the event lasted from Oct. 20 to Oct. 23, Mr. Williams stayed for seven days, bringing his family with him. He charged their travel costs to the city, ultimately reimbursing it after Mr. Rothwell first presented the allegations to City Council, according to the documents shared by Mr. Rothwell.

“This all constitutes fraud, and he should be criminally prosecuted for the before-mentioned crimes,” he wrote in a letter distributed to City Council.

Mr. Rothwell was fired from the city — improperly and motivated partially by a personal vendetta by the manager and mayor, he says. He has since filed a lawsuit against Harrington.

Mr. Johnson admitted Mr. Williams mixed business with pleasure on the Nashville trip and was willing to pay back the total, which came to around $900, but never received a bill from the city. He disputed, however, the allegation involving abuse of flex and vacation time policies.

Mr. Williams was hired as city manager in February 2017 after nine years with Milford in code enforcement and building inspection. He received a five-year agreement worth $66,500 in the first year, with pay raises of at least 3 percent in subsequent years, according to a copy of that contract provided by Mr. Rothwell.

Although Mr. Rothwell accused Mr. Williams of acting subservient to the mayor, his contract states he answers to the council.

According to Mr. Johnson, City Council never requested Mr. Williams report solely to it.

Mr. Moyer, who declined to comment after Monday’s meeting, was first elected in 2013 and then reelected four years later. He mostly has ceremonial duties, presiding over city council and recommending committee appointments but lacking the power to vote unless there is a tie.

Building issues

According to Mr. Rothwell, Mr. Moyer rented out space in a building he owns without the proper permits and failed to meet city standards for upkeep. In August 2017, he allegedly allowed a potential business owner to set up in his property at 40 Commerce St. despite failing to first obtain permits for renovations and to change the zoning from residential to commercial. Mr. Rothwell said he confronted Mr. Williams about the lack of certification, only to be told the mayor claimed the city planner informed him he did not require permits.

The mayor continued to assert this, even after Mr. Rothwell produced documents contradicting his statement, according to Mr. Rothwell.

Mr. Moyer then allegedly pressured the city building inspector into withholding a stop work order, which Mr. Rothwell termed a “gross and inappropriate use of the authority and influence of both the Mayor and City Manager.”

Another issue involving the building at 40 Commerce St. later arose due to unpenalized violations of the International Property Maintenance Code, such as chipped paint and peeling siding, Mr. Rothwell wrote in a letter presented to City Council in October.

The mayor also allegedly used his status to bend the rules regarding residential property inspections. In early 2018, according to Mr. Rothwell, he missed four mandatory property visits by the code enforcement officer — two more than needed for the city to issue a fine.

After the code enforcement officer informed Mr. Williams, he was instructed not to penalize Mr. Moyer, Mr. Rothwell’s narrative states. An inspection was eventually held on a Saturday — the only one to take place on a weekend — more than a month after the other rental units in the city had been examined.

In 2018, according to the letter, Mr. Moyer used a trailer owned by Harrington Parks and Recreation for personal use, driving it to New York. In the process, he received an E-ZPass toll fine for $55.70, which he billed to the city, the letter states.

City documents indicate Harrington did indeed pay $55.70 in April 2018 to the collection agency New Jersey uses to issue fines for E-ZPass violations. The Public Integrity Commission’s conclusions say Mr. Moyer did not recompensate the city until than more than a year had elapsed.

MAGNOLIA — When World War II veteran John Gordon Blythe looks back on his service, he said it was an honor to serve his country.

For Robin Aschenberg, it was an honor to stitch his Quilt of Valor, which he received alongside nine other veterans during a ceremony last Tuesday night.

“I just feel terribly honored to be able to give him that,” said Mrs. Aschenberg. “I truly love making quilts and giving them because, to me, it shows a great amount of love. Even though I didn’t know him until tonight, it makes me feel good that I can pass on some gratitude to him for his sacrifice.”

1st Lt. Blythe, 98, piloted B-17 bombers and flew 35 missions in Europe during the war. He enlisted in 1942 when he was 21 and, nearly a year to the day after he began training, he graduated as a second lieutenant.

He joined his first crew as a co-pilot in the 398 Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force, First Air Division and was stationed at the Royal Air Force Nuthampstead, England, he said.

He flew several missions with that group of soldiers, before serving as a pilot with another crew.

“I was talking to my commanding officer one night at the officer’s club at the bar. I said, ‘When am I going to get my crew?’” he said, noting that he was only a co-pilot at the time.

But his commanding officer had faith.

“The next day I got my crew,” he noted.

Lt. Blythe served with those men until the end of the war. Their last mission was over Berlin, and that was the only time a crewmember was injured, he said.

Today, Lt. Blythe is the last survivor of a crew of nine members.

“The biggest thing I brought back was we beat the objective we went to defeat. We won the war. We knew it was evil,” he said. “We went out to fight it, and we defeated it. I have become a Christian since then; I know that, since God is in control, good is always going to conquer evil in the final analysis.”

On Tuesday, he said he was thrilled to be alongside other veterans as they received their Quilts of Valor, surrounded by friends and family.

“It’s quite an honor,” he said. “It was a combination of pleased, surprised and honored.”

Lt. Blythe has lived in Delaware since 1984, where he worked with Equitable Bank until retirement in 1988. He enrolled at Wesley College at age 70 to study history.

Cotton Club Quilters of Dover presented the quilts. Quilts of Valor, founded in 2003, is a non-profit which endeavors to honor veterans for their sacrifices.

Recipients also included Frank J. Roberts, Richard Lee Stewart, Johnathan R. Andrews, George Dorylis, Ronald Siebach, Roland Lomax, Dan Sloan, Gary Coy and Charlie Grant.

police

LEWES — A 30-year-old man was charged with felonies after he engaged in a physical altercation with his girlfriend and allegedly attempted to strike her with his vehicle Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Delaware State Police were dispatched to John J. Williams Highway east of Angola Road at 3:47 p.m., spokeswoman Master Cpl. Melissa Jaffe said. A 20-year-old female told troopers she and Terrance M. Weaver were involved in physical altercations on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, the female said, she was struck by Mr. Weaver with his steel toed boots and chased with a piece of solid iron. Mr. Weaver allegedly drove a pickup truck toward the woman and attempted to strike her, police said.

Mr. Weaver allegedly returned to the home Sunday and another physical altercation occurred, police said. The female declined medical treatment and Mr. Weaver was taken into custody without incident at the scene, according to authorities.

Police charged Mr. Weaver with possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony (two counts), aggravated menacing and related charges. He was arraigned before Justice of the Peace Court and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown on $135,100 cash only bond.

MILTON — The Delaware State Police have identified Steven M. Thompson, 75, of Frederica, as the driver of a Toyota RAV 4, who was killed in a crash at 2:51 p.m. Saturday on Coastal Highway in the area of Eagles Crest Road.

Police asked anyone with information on the incident to contact Cpl. K. Argo of the Troop 7 Collision Reconstruction Unit at 644-5020.

Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333 or online at delaware.crimestoppersweb.com.

FELTON — A 22-year-old Lincoln man was arrested after a traffic stop brought the discovery of drugs and a firearm, Delaware State Police said.

According to authorities, Raheem K. Fullman was initially seen driving a speeding Honda Accord at 2:18 a.m. in the area of U.S. 13 and Peach Basket Road. Upon contact with Mr. .Fullman, spokeswoman Master Cpl. Melissa Jaffe said, a trooper detected an odor of marijuana.

Police said a vehicle search yielded approximately 1.65 grams of marijuana, one oxycodone hydrochloride pill, a .22 caliber hand gun loaded with five rounds of ammunition, and drug paraphernalia.

Police said Mr. Fullman was a person prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition. He was taken into custody without incident.

Possession charges included firearm during the commission of a felony, firearm or ammunition by person prohibited (two counts), controlled substance, and drug paraphernalia, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and speeding.

Mr. Fullman was arraigned before Justice of the Peace Court and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown on $32,202 secured bond.

MILFORD — A policy seeking to protect undocumented students came before Milford’s school board with the goal to establish a protocol if an immigration officer were to come to a school.

“I think about my own experience when I was growing up. I had that mental kind of burden that, maybe when I came home, my parents would not be there. I can’t imagine what other students are feeling to this day. If I can do anything to help them in my position, then I will do so,” said board member Rony Baltazar-Lopez when he brought forth the idea of a policy in November.

Mr. Baltazar-Lopez, citing a Pew Research report, noted that about 725,000 K-12 students were undocumented in 2014, and that number is rising.

“Within the statistics, there are undocumented students within our school system,” he said.

After the initial discussion in November, the district brought a proposed policy before the board late January. The policy was a first reading, meaning that the board has not yet voted to adopt it. If adopted in a subsequent meeting, it would act as a subset under another policy that addresses student privacy that the board also reviewed in January in a first reading.

The proposed policy states that should an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent — including any other federal, state or local officer acting to enforce immigration laws — enter a school to ask about a student’s immigration status or records, that officer will be referred to the superintendent, or a designee.

The policy goes on to state that, should that occur, staff will protect students’ private information, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Further, the policy notes that the superintendent, or designee, will not allow ICE or other immigration officials entry without a valid court order, subpoena or other appropriate written authority. That documentation would be reviewed by the superintendent or designee.

The policy would extend to school buses, Superintendent Kevin Dickerson said.

When first discussed, the idea was met with some hesitation from other board members, who cited concerns that this would be too narrowly focused.

“I do worry about making board policy that’s specific to a certain subset of students instead of students as a whole,” board member Jason Miller said, noting that he would like for the district to consider its FERPA procedure, which covers all students. “Then, if we feel that is inadequate or we don’t have a policy to cover that, then we maybe look deeper into that. But I think first we should cover all students and then look to go deeper.”

Mr. Baltazar-Lopez cited policies passed by Christina and Red Clay school boards that addressed undocumented students.

Kristopher Thompson, school board member, noted that in Christina’s policy, it states that in the event of a threat, “the office of the Superintendent is charged with providing an expeditious response.”

“If it is something that’s an imminent threat, there shouldn’t need to be channels that have to be checked and people contacted,” he said in November. “I know what you’re looking at. You’re looking at trying to protect undocumented person. We have to look at protecting every kid in there. … If a law enforcement agent is coming to school to investigate an incident and that person is the threat, and is not just fearful because of their illegal status, but that person is a threat for another crime, and you delay that action or that investigation, I think that could be a problem.”

Dr. Dickerson said that the district lacked any policy that specified FERPA procedure, which he also brought before the board in January.

“We’ve had different things that have referenced FERPA, but not to this extent,” he said. “This is a brand new policy, much more extensive than we’ve ever had that covers a lot of different requests we ever have for student information.”

Dr. Dickerson noted that the district decided to pull the section pertaining to immigration officials into a subset so that it would be easier for staff to find if they needed to respond, rather than embedding it into the FERPA policy. He noted that the subset adds more specificity beyond the primary policy.

If adopted, the policies would be translated into Spanish and Creole, Dr. Dickerson said.

He added that as the board updates its various policies in the future, the district plans to translate those documents, too.

LAUREL — A Sunday afternoon traffic stop brought three arrests and the discovery of drugs and a weapon, Delaware State Police spokeswoman Master Cpl. Melissa Jaffe said.

Police said the incident occurred at 2:01 p.m., when a trooper observed a gray Nissan Altima traveling on Sussex Highway just north of Delaware Avenue, Laurel, with five young persons in the back seat. A traffic stop was initiated and contact was made with the driver, Jason A. Talley, 28, of San Francisco, California, when an odor of marijuana was detected, police said.

Contact was then made with the passenger, Tabius Cannon, 24, of Salisbury Maryland, who originally provided the trooper with a false name and Mr. Talley confirmed this false name, police said. Seated in the back of the vehicle was Cameron Patterson, 24, of Salisbury and four juveniles ranging from ages 11 to 6.

A search of the vehicle yielded approximately 912.75 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, police said. Police said Mr. Cannon proceeded to take off running and a foot pursuit ensued. He was apprehended a short time later, hiding in a vehicle that was parked behind a residence on Broad Creek, police said.

A further search of the vehicle led to the discovery of a silver, .380 semi-automatic pistol and a magazine containing three .380 rounds, according to authorities.

Mr. Talley, Mr. Cannon and Mr. Patterson were all charged with firearms and drug charges and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown on secured bonds. Mr. Cannon was held on $109,100 bond, Mr. Talley $85,150 and Mr. Patterson $74,050.

GEORGETOWN — A 57-year-old Georgetown woman was arrested on drug charges following a police pursuit Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

According to Georgetown Police, Mary Stroud was seen driving a vehicle flagged for suspended insurance at 3:30 p.m. on North Bedford Street. After an initial stop, spokesman Det. Joseph Melvin said, the vehicle sped away after Ms. Stroud refused to exit.

The vehicle was eventually stopped in the Redner’s Supermarket parking lot and Ms. Stroud was taken into custody without incident, police said.

Officers located drug paraphernalia and a small amount of crack cocaine, Det. Melvin said.

Police charged Ms. Stroud with resisting arrest, disregarding a police officer’s signal, tampering with evidence, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Ms. Stroud was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown in lieu of $7,000 secured bond.

DOVER — A mom’s intuition was spot on three years ago.

After a Drone Workforce Solution presentation at a Dover Capital City Rotary Club meeting, Deborah Edwards sensed her son would be interested in joining the rapidly growing industry somehow.

“He’s always been entrepreneurial, innovative and ambitious,” she said.

It was August 2017 and Kevin Edwards’ 5 1/2 year United States Marine Corps stint was complete; his life’s next step was undetermined.

Deborah let Kevin know about a course to become drone flying certified almost immediately.

“I said ‘Count me in’ almost before she was done with the sentence,” he said. “It just clicked.”

Kevin flew through a 10-week course in half the time to earn official Federal Aviation Administration remote pilot status.

Looking back now, Chief Operating Officer Kevin gets what his mom was thinking.

“I’d always wanted to start a business but didn’t know what it would be in,” he said. “I knew I had somewhat of an entrepreneurial spirit and like the thought of being my own boss.”

By that October, the mother and son partnership was official — Frontline Inspections LLC entered the business world fray. The company — named to salute its commitment to military-like efficiency and leading from the front while spearheading an industry — specializes in identifying moisture and energy efficiency solutions for facilities.

Through Infrared analytics gathered by a drone, Kevin (a certified thermographer) can identify a building’s shortcomings and provide solutions.

Among the clients are Capital and Caesar Rodney school districts, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation and Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village. Commercial building owners, architects, and roofers could benefit from the services, the co-owners said.

In a letter to the company, Capital School District lauded Frontline for locating points of entry for roof leaks while confronted with several pieces of equipment and material atop buildings.

“After your scanning and the report you provided, it gave me a clearer view of current and possible future failures that needed to be address(ed),” Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds Elliot Hardin wrote in part.

“I was also able to share the findings with our roofing consultant which allowed them to develop a more accurate course of action.”

Said Delaware Ag Museum and Village Executive Director Carolyn Claypoole, “The aerial infrared inspection performed by Frontline … enabled us to narrow our facilities project scope, target areas where we can realize immediate energy savings, and ultimately, save thousands of dollars on our heating and cooling bills.”

Noting his company’s expansion of renewables in its service territory, Chesapeake Utilities Engineer Brennan McKone said, “Frontline’s infrared inspection capabilities identified a series of panels that were not connected to a solar array we installed, which allowed our company to correct the fault and bring the system back to full capacity.”

Self sustaining operation

According to a Rotary Club news release Frontline can identify “hidden defects and leaks in industrial roofs and inoperative solar panels, spot overheated electrical connections, access equipment in difficult terrain, accurately map line corridors and identify insulation deficiencies without the cost or danger of physical inspections.”

A two-person operation in a largely undetermined market proved to be no easy sell, and Frontline’s first self sustaining year came in 2019.

“When you’re starting up you imagine all these endless possibilities and how quickly you’ll move on them but the truth is that it’s an absolute grind,” Kevin said.

Kevin is the operations manager and Deborah the chief strategic officer whose built a multitude of community relationships since moving to the area in 1973, including Rotary Club and Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce memberships and 15 years in the banking industry.

Deborah graduated from Dover High in 1981 and then Wilmington University, Kevin from Caesar Rodney High in 2010 before entering the military.

“We have a proactive service and the challenge we have as a company is that society is often reactive,” Deborah said. “We are looking to make buildings safer and more cost efficient.

“We can identify issues that if they are addressed now will save a truckload of money down the line.”

According to Kevin, “I wouldn’t classify myself as a dronist and this is not a hobby that I’m pursuing.

“This is absolutely about the end results, not the methodology of maneuvering a device in the air.”

More information is available online at frontlineinspects.com or by calling 272-9140 or emailing info@frontlineinspects.com.

Teresa Golden of Frederica took this photo of Lake Como in Smyrna on Dec. 26.