News

With the Memorial Day Weekend approaching, many will celebrate with family outings while others will pay tribute to those who have worn the uniform. Delmarva Public Radio Essayist George Merrill reflects on the monuments we build to the wars that have taken so many.

OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) - Ocean City officials are set to reopen the landmark fishing pier that was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.

Mayor Rick Meehan will make the ceremonial "first cast" from the reconstructed Ocean City Fishing Pier on Friday morning.

The resort town sustained minimal damage during the historic storm that battered the New Jersey shore last October. But the fishing pier, first built in 1907, collapsed into the ocean.

The nearly 500-foot pier has now been rebuilt and will be open to visitors for the busy Memorial Day weekend.

The Wicomico County community of Doe Run near Salisbury has been found to have contaminated wells.

Health Department officials say 8 of them contained low levels of 1.2 dichloropropane.

This is the second contamination incident but officials say it is not connected to the TCE that was found in the Morris Mill community.

WBOC reports that 19 homes were tested most of them in Doe run with 8 coming up positive.

The county health department is set to test more wells in the neighborhood.

So far, there is no source for the chemical.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at the U.S. Naval Academy's graduation.

The president's speech, his second to a graduating class at the academy, is set for Friday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

About 1,000 midshipmen are scheduled to be commissioned as officers in either the Navy or the Marine Corps.

With the state of Maryland firming backing development of a wind farm off the state’s coast…there is concern about how those turbines could affect the North Atlantic right whale.

Maryland News Connection report Allison Burns prepared this report.

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware's Board of Pardons has rejected a killer's request to commute his life sentence.

The board denied Robert Hassett III's commutation request Thursday based on written submissions and declined to hear oral arguments. Hassett was convicted of stabbing his stepmother to death in 2000.

Also Thursday, the board voted 3-2 to recommend that the governor commute the sentence of 60-year-old Edward L. Thompson.

OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) - The Coast Guard rescued an oil tanker crewman after he suffered a head injury about 60 miles east of Ocean City.

The Coast Guard says one of its helicopters picked up the 47-year-old man Thursday from the Hellas Endurance, a 500-foot, Greek-flagged tanker.

The tanker contacted the Coast Guard about 6:50 a.m. Thursday to report the man needed immediate medical attention. The Coast Guard sent a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City in New Jersey. Fog created low visibility, so pilots used radar to find the ship.

Harold Wilson, President of the Eastern Shore Writers Association discusses his short story, "Iced Tea".

DENTON, Md. (AP) - Maryland State Police say a trooper is in critical condition after he was dragged by a car while off duty in Caroline County.

Police say the trooper apparently confronted three juveniles in a car in Denton on Wednesday evening when they appeared to be involved in some kind of vandalism. The trooper approached group on foot and while he was speaking to them, police say the driver of the car accelerated and the trooper was somehow dragged. After a time, police say the trooper was dislodged and fell to the roadway and the driver fled.

BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler is considering whether to appeal a tax decision by the state's highest court.

If the court decision stands, Gansler says it could cost local governments between $40 million and $50 million annually.

Maryland's Court of Appeals ruled in January that the state must offer credits to taxpayers whose out-of-state income is subject to local piggyback taxes, but granted a stay. The court rejected Gansler's request to reconsider last week and he has 90 days to decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Somerset County

The departure of only the second African American superintendent in the history of the Somerset County public school system has cut deeply into the racial divide. Delmarva Public Radio's Don Rush spoke with Somerset County NAACP Branch President Dr. Kirland Hall about the fallout from recent events.

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Cape Henlopen

The Cape Henlopen School District is looking at splitting up its schools by grade to deal with a racial divide.

The Maryland Legal Aid Bureau is calling on public housing agencies to improve the way they communicate with those with disabilities.

It comes in the wake of a number of cases involving deaf and blind clients who were almost evicted from their homes.

Maryland News Connection’s Allison Burns.

No Pay Hike

Delaware state employees shouldn’t expect a general pay raise this year.

That’s the word from Governor Jack Markell and the legislature’s budget writers yesterday as the First State heads into the new fiscal year July 1st.

Joint Finance Committee Chair Representative Melanie George Smith added that it was something she hoped would be addressed next year.

Meanwhile, Markell said that other priorities outrank a pay hike . with a discouraging budget projection for 2015.

Come July 1st battery-operated smoke detectors must be run by ten-year lithium batteries in Maryland.

And by 2018 all homes in the state will have to have the new smoke detectors.

In Salisbury, fire officials told WBOC that the number of homes that catch fire because a non-working smoke detector is rising.

Salisbury Fire Chief Rick Hoppes told the station that the longevity and reliability of the new alarms could save lives.

FLINTSTONE, Md. (AP) - The newly christened Rocky Gap Casino Resort is opening its doors to the public in western Maryland.

The casino opened its doors Wednesday after winning approval from state gambling regulators. It is Maryland's fourth casino and will add 250 jobs to the resort formerly known as the Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort.

The new casino features more than 550 slot machines and 10 table games. The resort also is unveiling a renovated lobby, hotel rooms and restaurants, and it features an 18-hole golf course.

DOVER, Del. (AP) - A convicted killer is asking the state Board of Pardons to commute his life sentence for first-degree murder.

Robert W. Hassett III was convicted of stabbing his stepmother to death with a steak knife in 2000.

According to court records, the stabbing followed an argument between Hassett and his father over loud music and partying in the apartment where he lived next to his father's mobile home in Seaford.

Hassett claimed that a friend of his killed his stepmother, but the jury rejected the notion.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Wilmington's fire chief says he has begun carrying a firearm to protect himself after taking on more code enforcement duties.

Fire Chief Anthony Goode says he has been carrying a gun for about a month. He says firefighters are always in dangerous situations and don't know what they're walking into.

Goode has been involved in cracking down on three makeshift clubs run by the Thunderguards Motorcycle Club.

In advance of his multiple playing appearances here on the Eastern Shore (as part of the 28th Annual Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival), Kara Dahl Russell chats with Double Bass player Anthony Manzo about “the beast” he plays.   From detachable necks, to stick bodies, to sleek carbon fiber shaping, Kara and Tony “get physical” with one of the largest pieces of furniture in the orchestra.  Tony also talks about his extensive performance/travel career, what makes a good teacher, and what best prepares a student to have something to say, musically. 

Ocean City is gearing up for the summer crowds.

And, the resort is launching a pedestrian campaign for the busy tourist season.

Last summer two pedestrians were killed and 13 injured in the town.

Officials say that is a significant rise from the year before when there were no pedestrian deaths and only 8 injuries.

So in these past few months town engineers have been re-timing signals and studying the traffic at key intersections.

They have also been installing no pedestrian cross signs to get people to use the crosswalks.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Sen. Mark R. Warner says he's introduced legislation that would better track the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Virginia Democrat says the legislation would require the Office of Management and Budget to compare costs and the performance of restoration activities by various federal agencies involved in the massive environmental endeavor.

The multi-year effort to clean up the bay involves at least 10 federal agencies, Virginia, West Virginia, four other states, the District of Columbia and more than 1,000 local governments.

You’ll be paying more for parking in the coastal towns of Delmarva this summer.

Rehoboth

DOVER, Del. (AP) - A Rehoboth Beach resident has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the town's new $40 parking permit fee for motorized scooters.

In a complaint filed Monday, Lawrence Myslewski says the new fee is unconstitutional because residents do not have to pay to get parking permits for their cars or other motorized vehicles.

DOVER, Del. (AP) - State officials are hosting a two-day conference for police, educators, attorneys and others on Delaware's child protection system.

The conference that begins Wednesday in Dover is aimed at improving how Delaware professionals work together to respond to child abuse and neglect cases from both a civil and criminal perspective. Organizers also plan to discuss prevention efforts to reduce child abuse.

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Legislative budget writers have appropriated $200,000 for a gun buyback program that would be administered by Delaware State Police.

Members of the Joint Finance Committee voted 7-to-5 Tuesday to appropriate the money, the same amount appropriated, but never spent, last year.

It's unclear whether this year's appropriation will ever be spent, but some lawmakers say budget language should be added to prohibit police from reselling any guns acquired in a new buyback program and require instead that they be destroyed.

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Legislative budget writers have approved more than $1.5 million in new spending to beef up security at Delaware courthouses.

Among the spending approved Tuesday by members of the Joint Finance Committee is $1 million to hire 16 new Capitol Police officers in the fiscal year starting July 1. Lawmakers also appropriated $392,000 for eight security officers to be assigned to Justice of the Peace courts.

The budget bill is to be voted on next month.

NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) - Authorities say an explosion that left a New Castle man critically injured Tuesday appeared to involve an old military mortar round, and several other mortar rounds were recovered afterward.

Investigators said the man was injured when he an opened an old ammunition container that had been discarded in his neighbor's trash, setting off the explosion Tuesday morning. The victim was taken to Christiana Hospital, where he was reported to be in critical but stable condition.

Job cuts are coming to the Wicomico County Public Schools.

Six positions are in jeopardy including a teacher an instructional assistant and professional development coach.

That’s the message for more than 200 parents who signed a friendly petition protesting the proposed budget by Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt.

His spending plan cuts the county contribution to the public schools by over $2 million dollars from the $40 million requested by the Board of Education to $38 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) - Officials say a man has been injured in an explosion at a home in New Castle.

City police, firefighters and a state fire marshal responded to the home on Van Dyke Drive on Tuesday morning and several homes in the area were evacuated.

The man was taken to an area hospital with what officials at the scene described as shrapnel injuries.

There will be no hike in the property taxes for Sussex County residents.

The proposed $117-million budget unveiled this morning left the rate at 44.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

Meanwhile, the budget itself rose by 2.8 percent over the current fiscal year with general revenue funds up $3.7 million including a holdover of nearly $2 million from this year.

County employees would see a one-time bonus of 2 percent and a $5 million contribution to their pension fund.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The Anne Arundel County property owners are getting a break on a new stormwater fee.

The county council voted Monday to limit commercial property owners' fees at 25 percent of their property tax bill and phase in homeowners' fees.

The Capital of Annapolis reports that property owners with bills of $500 or more will pay 60 percent in 2014, 80 percent in 2015 and 100 percent in 2016.

The changes respond to protests to a bill passed over the county executive's veto last month.

The Salisbury City Council is looking to cutback a key development fee in Mayor Jim Ireton’s proposal for revitalizing downtown.

Ireton’s plan would set aside up to 317 credits for water and sewer connection fees.

But last night Council President Jake Day says he wants to make around 100 credits available for downtown projects leaving the rest for employers to bring in high paying jobs.

These fees are called equivalent dwelling units or EDU’s and run around $33-hundred each.