Delaware Public Media | by James Dawson For many, President-elect Donald Drumpf’s Electoral College victory conjures up visions of hanging chads and hurt feelings from the 2000 presidential election. In that race, Al Gore won the popular vote by about half a million people, but George W. Bush narrowly squeaked into the White House by one electoral vote This year – 2.6 million more people voted for Hillary Clinton than Drumpf, yet he will lead the country for the next four years. The Electoral College system has confounded people for […]

The News Journal | by Alonzo Small The Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence hosted a town hall meeting Tuesday in Newark to review the state’s gun violence legislation that has passed in the last couple of years. Sen. Bryan Townsend, Rep. Paul Baumbach, Rep. John Kowalko and Rep. Ed Osienski appeared before an “encouraging” group of locals at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark to discuss the 2017 legislative season and the “common sense” gun violence legislation that has passed since the tragedy of Sandy Hook, which was the catalyst […]

The News Journal | by Grace McKenna Three Newark-area state representatives — Republican Michael Ramone and Democrats Ed Osienski and John Kowalko — retained their seats with ease on Tuesday. In District 21, Ramone won a fifth term with 82 percent of the vote, compared to Green Party candidate David McCorquodale’s 18 percent. “The biggest thing I try to do is to be accessible,” Ramone said Tuesday night. “People come to my bi-weekly coffee hours, to my house or my business for questions. They come when they need me.” He attributed […]

The News Journal | by Jeff Mordock & Molly Murray Over the last four years, Delawareans have paid nearly $130 million in energy surcharges – a benefit used to attract fuel cell company Bloom Energy to the state five years ago in exchange for a promise of 900 new jobs. Counting the surcharge alone, to date, the cost for each one of those pledged 900 jobs for Delmarva Power ratepayers amounts to nearly $145,000 per post. But in reality, Bloom didn’t create 900 jobs. The real number is 277 positions, […]

Delaware Public Media | by Megan Pauly Christina School District officials feel they’ve been left out in the cold by the Dept. of Education regarding its potential changes to district funding allocations – changes Christina says could cost it $3 million. State education officials say there won’t be any changes in the state’s student funding formula this year, but Christina School District officials are still concerned. The state’s Education Secretary can’t change the formula that decides how much goes to charter schools, but can determine which line items are “inappropriate for […]

First State Update | by Staff Writer First State Update recently asked Delaware State Representative John Kowalko to share his vison for Delaware’s future. Here’s what he told us: “My vision for Delaware’s future hinges on a sea change in attitude by elected officials and government agencies regarding open and transparent government. The current system, often cloaked in secrecy and diminished access, has caused a disconcerting drop in public confidence and trust in government. Transforming the realities of the status-quo, which currently provides that those in power are allowed to […]

The News Journal | by Karl Baker A Chilean airline will pay two U.S. federal agencies $22 million in penalties for bribing union bosses in Argentina with the help of a Delaware company, authorities announced in a plea bargain last week. In 2006, LAN Airlines paid $1.15 million to “labor union officials in exchange for the union agreeing to accept lower wages,” a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice said. In order to conceal the “sham payment,” officials from LAN first transferred the money to their subsidiary, a Delaware-registered limited liability company, called Atlantic Aviation Investments LLC, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission statement. Atlantic Aviation Investments (not affiliated with New Castle-based Atlantic Aviation) then transferred the funds […]

Delaware State News | by Matt Bittle DOVER — Flanked by lawmakers, Gov. Jack Markell signed the budget bill just after 5:15 a.m., bringing to a close a day that began 17 hours before for some. Although lawmakers were optimistic the General Assembly would be finished earlier than last year, a dispute between the Senate and House of Representatives caused a significant delay, and the governor did not approve the three budget, bond and grant-in-aid bills until the sun began creeping up over the horizon. The $4.08 billion budget, the […]

Newsworks | by Zoë Read The Delaware General Assembly voted in a $4.8 billion operating budget Wednesday with a 31-8 vote in the House. “This was a difficult year, we had to make many difficult cuts, we had to make many challenging decisions about what to fund, and we respect the fact every decision we made had a real impact on peoples’ lives,” said State Rep. Melanie Smith, who heads the joint finance committee. “We thought carefully about what was in Delaware’s best interest.” Delaware’s budget has taken a hit […]

Delaware State News | by Matt Bittle DOVER — The House of Representatives approved the state budget Wednesday, sending it to Gov. Jack Markell ahead of the final day of the legislative session. Lawmakers have their last chance to approve any legislation today when they gavel in in the evening on what is also the close of the fiscal year. Wednesday was a late day with many legislators not leaving the state capitol until well past 9 p.m. They did make progress on the money bills, however, with the Bond Committee […]