Local News

A designated public safety building is a little closer to reality in the Town of Fenwick Island, although much still needs to be decided on the issue. Mayor Audrey Serio noted that it is something the town has talked about for years, and on Monday, the town’s Public Safety Building Committee had a meeting to discuss their next steps to make it a reality.

On Saturday, March 6, from 4 to 8 p.m., DiFebo’s Bistro on the Green at Bear Trap Dunes will be holding a Helping Hands for Haiti fundraiser.

First Steps Primeros Pasos – an early childhood education program located in Georgetown, Del. – on Monday took the opportunity to thank U.S. Sen. Tom Carper for his assistance with $194,800 in appropriations funding to support the construction of a new facility. The new facility will be able to accommodate five times as many children as the current facility.

The plan has had many incarnations, numerous public hearings and many discussions at town meetings, but Bethany Beach’s Streetscape project to beautify its downtown area has yet to see significant progress.

Trying to get your chocolate fix this weekend? Well, area chocolate lovers are in luck! On Saturday, March 6, the 20th annual Rehoboth Beach Chocolate Festival will be held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. The festival will benefit Rehoboth Beach Main Street and the Friends of the Rehoboth Beach Library, two area non-profit groups.

Unless your family has been affected by a horrific tragedy, chances are you have never heard of The Compassionate Friends.

The message is clear: for homeowners facing foreclosure or even just starting to feel the pinch of not being able to make mortgage payments: don’t give up. And no matter what, don’t just walk away. With the economy and housing industry still struggling, there are plenty of options out there and more ways to get help every day.

Although Delmarva is known for its chicken industry, the days of having backyard hens seemed to have gone the way of the dodo for a while. With the fast-paced life of ample development and grocery stores on every corner, rural Delmarva seemed to be taking a back seat. But a new trend on the peninsula is green living in the form of going back to basics. And, for some, that means once again having backyard hens that are free to roam, and enjoying the “fruits” of labor in the form of fresh eggs.

In the world of all things green, everybody’s an expert. Well, not everybody. As “green” has gotten more popular in the past few years, it has become increasingly hard to tell who really knows their stuff and who’s just jumping on a bandwagon. So, for cautious homeowners, the best bet could be going with a company that has been around for a while.

A coastal storm, combined with astronomical high tides and a full moon, has resulted in the National Weather Service issuing a coastal flood warning and a hazardous weather outlook for the Bethany Beach area. Minor coastal flooding during Wednesday morning’s high tide may elevate to moderate flooding on during the next high tide into Thursday.

Although snowflakes are few and far between in Delaware as of 3:30 p.m., Thursday, the National Weather Service predicts that snowfall will gradually increase over the state and continue through Thursday night into Friday. However, forecasts for accumulation have been lowered since early Thursday morning.

Just shy of five years to the day of being named defendants in a lawsuit regarding school prayer, the Indian River School Board has closed another chapter in the case, after Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr. ruled in favor of the district, stating that their policy regarding prayers before regular school board meetings is not unconstitutional.

Friends and family of Greg Forte, the Selbyville man who went missing more than two weeks ago in Fenwick Island, this week retained their hope and continued their prayers as state police and investigators searched for more clues.

This week saw new developments in the case of Earl Bradley, and the pain that has been felt in the community in the wake of allegations of child sexual abuse by the Lewes pediatrician has only become more far-reaching.

Rainfall earlier this week may have received a warm welcome from many area residents who had been fed up with the recent snow, but for some individuals, it made matters escalate from bad to worse. For Millville resident Thomas Burns and his neighbors, the rain accumulation and melting snow has caused a multitude of problems in terms of flooding and stormwater damage.

In recent weeks, while most people in coastal Delaware were snowed in, staying warm and cozy in their own homes, United States Post Office employees were reporting for work.

There are plenty of ways to figure out what people want or feel. There’s guessing, assuming, statistical comparisons and history – or there is, simply, the tried and true method of asking them directly.

The Millville Town Council’s monthly workshop was held Tuesday, Feb. 23, after the council canceled its monthly council and Planning and Zoning Commission meetings due to this month’s blizzards.

West 54 Café, one of the area’s breakfast and lunch hotspots, this Sunday is debuting their monthly art show, which will feature some of the area’s most respected and emerging artists. On Sunday, Feb. 28, the Fenwick Island coffee shop’s first free show will kick off at 5 p.m., and organizers are inviting the public to enjoy food and drinks while getting to know some of the community’s artists.

Despite wintery temperatures lingering outside, things got heated last Saturday at Indian River High School’s 2nd Annual Chili Cook-off, which garnered more than a dozen entries and helped raise hundreds of dollars for the school’s athletic department.

Two conference powerhouses collided on the hardwood Monday evening as Indian River hosted the Lady Bulldogs of Laurel to settle the score in the Henlopen South. Lady Indians’ Keeonya Shelton turned on a dominant offensive attack, leading the squad with a personal-best, career-high 22 points as the rest of her team supplied a brick-wall defense for a 64-40 victory.

This winter, Indian River fans have had a little more to cheer about, thanks to cheerleading coach Tori Abell, who has stepped in this year as the winter sports’ cheerleading and competitive cheerleading coach.

Indian River’s wrestling team might have come up short against Milford in their last regular season match. They might have erred against their opponents from Caravel this past Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the state duals at Delaware State University. But that hasn’t discouraged head coach Jeff Windish, who has vastly improved on last year’s record and will see eight athletes go to the state individual wrestling tournament this weekend at Sussex Central.

What began as a fun winter alternative has grown into a golden opportunity for five Indian River athletes, who posted qualifying times to the boys’ state preliminary swimming championships this past Wednesday, in the school’s first year offering the sport.

Soccer has been a passion for Indian River High School senior Jake Buchler as long as he can remember. He’s assumed every role on the pitch, and his experience has allowed him to excel with comparative ease. The four-year varsity letterman even showed off his boot on the gridiron as the kicker for the IRHS football team. And, this fall, Buchler will be headed to Lock Haven in Pennsylvania, where he will look to make a significant contribution to the Bald Eagles’ soccer team, which finished this past season 7-10-2.

For some people it takes years of schooling and maybe even post graduate education and a trip backpacking through Europe before they figure out what they want to do with their lives. Even then, some never figure it out. And yet, for others, it seems they are born knowing just what they want to do and exactly how to get there.

Search efforts to find a Selbyville man who went missing from a Fenwick Island condo on Feb. 9 have been scaled back, according to Delaware State Police, but friends and family remain optimistic and hopeful for his safe return. Police said 29-year-old Gregory Forte was last seen at a condo with friends on South Carolina Avenue in Fenwick Island last Tuesday night, and his family is now offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to his safe return.

At an Ocean View Town Council meeting on Feb .16, Mayor Gordon Wood read correspondence from former mayor Gary Meredith, encouraging the town to rescind the censure Councilman Bill Wichmann received in July 2006, after he admittedly authorized a generator installation without council approval.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, Sussex County Council members discussed two bills proposed in the Delaware General Assembly relating to the counties’ new dog-control responsibilities.