WHYY | by Zoë Read Large retail stores in Delaware are required to have an onsite recycling receptacle so customers can dispose of their plastic bags responsibly. But volunteers collected 1,946 plastic bags during the state’s annual Coastal Cleanup Day last year. Moving to protect sea animals and wildlife from litter by reducing the use of plastic bags, Delaware’s House voted 33-7 to advance legislation limiting the availability of single-use plastic bags. If the Senate passes the measure, it would take effect in January 2021. The bill sponsored by state […]

Delaware State News | by Matt Bittle DOVER — The House passed legislation Tuesday that would bar certain stores from providing single-use plastic bags to customers. By a 33-7 vote, with one member absent, the chamber approved the legislation, which is supported by Gov. John Carney. It now goes to the Senate. House Bill 130 would restrict establishments from giving consumers bags that are “made from non-compostable plastic and not specifically designed and manufactured to be reusable.” The measure would go into effect Jan. 1, 2021, and would still allow […]

Delaware Public Media | by Sophia Schmidt The redevelopment of the former Boxwood Road General Motors plant in Newport is generating controversy. The dispute centers around abatement of the cancer-causing material asbestos. DNREC officials told members of the public at a Newport-area meeting Tuesday they are investigating the demolition of the former GM plant, which Newport-based developer Harvey Hanna plans to turn into a business, fulfillment and distribution campus. Union organizers and demolition workers claim unsafe and improper asbestos removal has occurred at the site. At the community meeting, officials […]

Delaware State News | by Matt Bittle DOVER — A House panel released to the full chamber Wednesday legislation that would create two new top tax brackets. Currently, all income above $60,000 is taxed at 6.6 percent. House Bill 15 would tax personal income of between $125,000 and $250,001 at 7.1 percent and above $250,000 at 7.85 percent. As of 2018, 16 states had a top tax bracket that exceeded $60,000, according to the Tax Foundation. The bill is the latest effort by Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark, and other Democrats […]

Delaware Public Media | by Sarah Mueller Agents of multiple Limited Liability Companies may soon be limited to just one vote in the city of Newark. As the city’s charter is currently written, each LLC owning property in Newark is legally allowed to cast a vote. People can vote as a resident and as a representative of an LLC. That’s how last June, an agent of 31 LLCs was able to vote 31 times. The property manager owned 31 parcels of land in the city. But under legislation sponsored by […]

Newark Post | by Josh Shannon City council on Monday approved a controversial hotel project, paving the way for Lang Development Group to construct a seven-story structure that likely will be the tallest building on Main Street. Council voted 5-2 in favor of the proposal, which includes 144 hotel rooms, a restaurant, 19,500 square feet of office space and a parking garage at 96 E. Main St., across from the Academy Street intersection. Several of the council members who voted in favor of the plan said they understood the concerns […]

Newark Post | by Josh Shannon Newark is one step closer to eliminating a provision in the city’s charter that allowed a developer to vote 31 times in last year’s referendum. City council on Monday voted unanimously to ask the state legislature to amend Newark’s charter to change the voting requirements for a referendum. The controversy traces back to the June 19 referendum in which voters gave the city permission to borrow $27.6 million for the Rodney stormwater pond/park and other capital projects. In Newark’s first referendum since 2001, the […]

The News Journal | by Karl Baker If you don’t have a heartbeat, you shouldn’t be able to vote in a Newark election, the city council unanimously agreed Monday. A resolution passed during its meeting aims to limit voting in local referendums to “every natural person” – the latest in a Delaware backlash against limited liability companies participating in the electoral process. The proposal approved Monday night officially asks the General Assembly for approval to change the city’s governing charter to add a clause. “What is the definition of a […]

Sussex Countian | by Submitted News The Delaware Public Service Commission on Jan. 31 approved an overall rate reduction for regulated utilities related to the overcollection of federal corporate taxes due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In 2018, the Public Service Commission approved an overall rate reduction for Delmarva Power electric and natural gas customers, which is already in effect. Federal tax savings realized by additional Delaware regulated utilities will be passed on to residential customers in the following average dollar amounts per billing cycle: Artesian […]