Our Towns

Following an executive session this week, Ocean View Mayor Gordon Wood told town council members that he had presented a written directive regarding the Ocean View Police Department.

They perform CPR. They investigate rape cases. They use kayaks to check on residents during hurricanes and floods. They also write grants and keep up with administrative needs, cover shifts, and go above and beyond their call of duty.

Any film buff who has been preparing for Oscar night has likely gone to the movie theater to see many of the nominated feature-length films. But it’s not as easy to see some of the other films nominated, so the Rehoboth Beach Film Society is offering two local screenings, to give locals and visitors the chance to experience this year’s Oscar-nominated short films.

The Ocean View Town Council this week voted to approve a schedule for hiring a new police officer, who would be sent to the state police academy for training. Councilman Tom Sheeran told fellow council members that the Town would have to extend an offer to the candidate by the end of business on Feb. 13, in order to ensure the candidate would have a spot in the upcoming academy session.

Delaware Department of Transportation officials, community leaders and state legislators gathered in Millville on Jan. 29 for the second Route 26 Working Group meeting ahead of construction of the Route 26 Mainline Improvements project. Even DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt attended.

Sussex County will hold an additional public hearing on the proposed expansion of the Millville Sanitary Sewer District. The expansion would include an additional 82 parcels located along Route 26 that are contiguous to the existing sewer district.

The Town of Ocean View is preparing to make one neighborhood a little more pedestrian-friendly. The Town and Delaware Department of Transportation have designed Phase II of the Pedestrian Improvements Project under the Federal Transportation Enhancement Program.

A high wind warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for 7 p.m. Wednesday evening to 4 a.m. Thursday. Winds are predicted to be from the south at 25 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 55 mph.

The strongest winds are expected between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday, just ahead of a cold front crossing Delaware and southern New Jersey.

The Indian River School District's public referendum meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 24 has been postponed due to inclemenent weather. It has been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. at East Millsboro Elementary School.

District officials will give a presentation outlining the various referendum initiatives and the public will have the opportunity to ask questions.

For the fourth year in a row, Beebe Medical Center has received the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. Beebe is the only hospital on Delmarva to receive the award four years running, and the distinction puts them in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide.