History April 20-26 from News Journal: Coastal growth concerns, schools close due to COVID
Pages of history features excerpts from The News Journal archives, including The Morning News and Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
April 20, 1978, The Morning News
Earle J. Lester, vice chairman of the Delaware Public Service Commission, said last night he failed to disclose his family's financial holdings in Delmarva Power & Light Co. because he forgot.
Lester said he was aware that more than a year ago the PSC adopted a strict code of ethics forbidding a commissioner to vote on a utility case if he or his family has a financial interest in the utility …
But he waited until Tuesday afternoon to reveal that his wife and 16-year-old daughter own about 630 shares of DP&L.
DP&L is currently seeking the commission's approval for a 17.6% electric rate increase and $2.3 billion capital expansion program over the next decade.
By revealing his family's holdings in DP&L, Lester in effect disqualified himself from voting on the rate request unless all parties to the proceedings agree he should remain involved.
Nearly all his fellow commissioners, however, said yesterday they felt Lester should keep out of the DP&L hearings …
More recent Delmarva Power rate news: Why are Delmarva Power bills rising so much? How to get some relief and learn more
April 21, 2004, The News Journal
Thirty years of coastal changes are clear from Fenwick Island to Lewes, where million-dollar houses now stand on land that in the 1950s supported a thriving fishery.
Today, those towns share the struggles of many coastal communities in the nation: coping with rapid growth, improving sewage treatment and supporting a thriving tourism industry. They are part of a coastal development boom that a federal commission says poses a mounting threat to coastal waters.
In a 500-page preliminary report on the state of the nation's coastal waters issued Tuesday…the commission's recommendations include:
Increased efforts to reduce ocean pollution from land-based sources such as farms, housing and industrial sites.
Better coordination of federal agencies that deal with ocean issues, partly by establishing a National Ocean Council and a Presidential Council of Advisers on Ocean Policy …
Growth along Delaware's coast has outpaced the national average. In Sussex County, the overall increase in population between 1990 and 2000 was 38 percent, according to the U.S. Census. The bulk of that growth came along the coast where the population grew by 59 percent …
Catch up on history: FDR proposes Supreme Court additions, King George VI dies: News Journal archives Feb. 2-9
April 25, 2020, The News Journal
All Delaware schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
Gov. John Carney made the announcement Friday afternoon at a daily press briefing on the coronavirus. Remote learning, which schools have shifted to, will continue.
'Today we're making it official that schools will remain closed for students until the end of this school year, but we expect that schools and teachers would finish out the last two months as they have been with remote learning and get as much instructional time and learning with their students as possible,' Carney said …
The news came as Carney announced coronavirus cases in Delaware had climbed to almost 3,500 with 100 deaths. Carney said the state will not reopen until the cases started to decline and widespread testing was available.
Carney first sent a notice to school districts Friday, March 13 about temporary closures until March 30 and later pushed the date back to May 18 ….
Delaware joins more than two dozen other states which have closed schools for the academic year …
Carney said he knew it was on superintendents' minds to recognize graduating seniors and urged them to think of ways to do so. Most districts have started planning.
Cape Henlopen School District Superintendent Bob Fulton announced that high school seniors would have a virtual graduation June 9 and that district leaders are working on the details …
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: History April 20-26: Coastal growth concerns, schools close due to COVID
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