Latest news with #TheNewsJournal
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Matt Meyer's comments about port automation spark labor rebuke
A brief remark from Gov. Matt Meyer two weeks ago about what he said was 'the need for (an) automated container port' has reignited a backlash from the longshoremen's union that last fall went on strike over that issue, among others. The backlash adds to what have been months of tensions between the governor on one side and lawmakers and certain union officials on the other over how to carry out long-delayed plans to expand the Port of Wilmington through construction of a new container facility in Edgemoor. During a meeting May 19 of a state board that oversees the Port of Wilmington, labor leader William Ashe Jr. referenced Meyer's remarks before stating that Delaware needs a new container port, but not a fully automated one 'because that eliminates jobs.' 'We can't afford to have people going out saying to the public that you're going to build a fully automated terminal,' Ashe said to the board of the Diamond State Port Corp. – a state-chartered entity that oversees the Port of Wilmington and directs its expansion. In recent years, the use of autonomous or semi-autonomous technology on ports has become increasingly common in Asia and Europe, but less so in the United States – in part because of the opposition by unionized labor. Ashe's comments came in response to remarks Meyer made during a sit-down interview with Delaware Online/The News Journal earlier this month, when he said that 'automation and the need for (an) automated container port was recognized really a couple of decades ago in Delaware.' During the interview, Meyer also said he brought a new perspective and 'new attitude that we need to get this new container port done.' Meyer did not detail the ways in which his perspective differs, but did claim that there are people 'who aren't too happy that I won the election.' Meyer became Delaware's governor after a hard-fought and costly political campaign last year that featured much of the state's Democratic establishment supporting his opponent – then-Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long. Asked about Ashe's comments on May 20, a spokesman for Meyer said the governor had never said that Edgemoor should be a fully automated port – contrasting full automation with modern automated innovations that still require workers. The spokesman, Nick Merlino, also said that it was Ashe and another port labor leader who first told Meyer over a decade ago about a 'modernized container port that would create thousands of union jobs in the state of Delaware.' Ashe declined to comment on Merlino's statement. Officials from Enstructure, the private operating company at the publicly owned Port of Wilmington, did not respond to a request to comment for this story. READ MORE: Gov. Matt Meyer talks about his first 100 days. What's been done, what's left to do Debates over how or whether to automate, or use unmanned robots, for the Port of Wilmington's operations go back to at least 2018 when Delaware struck a deal with Emirati-based Gulftainer to privatize the facility. At the time, Gulftainer CEO Peter Richards insisted that the Port of Wilmington would need to automate in order to outperform its competitors along the Delaware River, according to a report then from the Delaware Business Times. In response at that time, Ashe publicly rejected automation at the facility, insisting instead that 'everything will be monitored' by a worker. In spring of 2023, Delaware officials ousted Gulftainer from the Port of Wilmington following years of mismanagement and millions of dollars of missed leased payments to the state. Enstructure took over the operations later that summer. It is unclear today how the state's new agreement with Enstructure guides the use of automated technology at the port. Its 50-year lease contract obtained by Spotlight Delaware requires the company only to hire all existing ILA employees at the time they took over the Port of Wilmington from Gulftainer. A two-page section regarding the development of the future Port of Edgemoor is almost entirely redacted. Enstructure's registered lobbyist in Delaware, Patrick Allen, is also a longtime lobbyist for trade unions in the state. In February, Ashe told Spotlight Delaware that Allen is representing his union local, which is part of the International Longshoremen's Association. In March, the International Longshoremen's Association finalized details of a new contract with shipping companies that largely prevents East Coast ports from using unmanned, autonomous off-loading equipment. The new contract, which remains in effect until 2030, followed months of contentious negotiations in 2024 that included a three-day strike. At the May 19 meeting of the Diamond State Port Corp. board, Enstructure officials revealed a construction timeline for the Edgemoor container terminal, saying they could complete the project by December 2028. That timeline is contingent on the state reacquiring a dredging permit that a federal judge invalidated last fall, following a legal challenge filed by competing port terminals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey owned by Holt Logistics. In the federal case, U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney ruled in October that Corps of Engineers officials had acted 'arbitrarily and capriciously' when issuing the approvals to the Port Corporation. Specifically, he said, they dismissed maritime safety concerns posed by ships turning from the Delaware River's shipping lane to the Edgemoor port. Last month, the container port project hit an additional snag after a Delaware judge ruled that a state board's decision to uphold another dredging permit failed 'to reflect a rational consideration of the evidence.' The sharply worded opinion placed additional doubt and uncertainty around the ambitious $635 million port construction project. Plans for the Edgemoor port call for a facility that could handle upwards of 1.2 million containers, or roughly three times the capacity of the existing Port of Wilmington. If successful, it would become one of the 15 largest ports in North America. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware governor's comments about port automation spark labor rebuke
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DE state rep working with expired teaching license removed from House Education Committee
Rep. Sherae'a "Rae" Moore has been removed as vice-chair of the state House Education Committee, according to a statement issued by Delaware House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown. Moore's removal comes a little over three weeks after Delaware Online/The News Journal published an investigation that found her among more than 400 public school educators who were working with expired or missing licenses in March. The Middletown Democrat had also not disclosed this while her committee considered legislation surrounding the same subject, as previously reported and noted by Minor-Brown. Moore could not be immediately reached for comment on May 14. READ THE FULL INVESTIGATION: Hundreds of Delaware teachers found to be working on expired licenses in public schools Minor-Brown, in her statement issued late May 13, said it was her responsibility to uphold the integrity of the state's legislative process, especially in areas that impact the lives of children, families and educators. Her decision to remove Moore from this committee came after consulting with House leadership. "Representative Moore has held a leadership role on a committee that plays a critical part in shaping the policies that affect Delaware's students and educators," she said in her statement. "With that role comes the duty to uphold transparency and serve as a model of accountability." Moore's actions did not reflect those shared values, Minor-Brown said, adding no one should be shaping state education standards if they are not willing "to hold themselves to those same standards." Moore's teaching experience began as a second career about seven years ago, but she came to Appoquinimink School District last school year. She was elected to her house seat for the first time in 2020. As Delaware Online/The News Journal's reporting began in March, the lawmaker appeared to be working as a special education teacher at Louis L. Redding Middle School on a paraeducator permit and a teaching license that had expired in 2020. She also did not appear to have achieved an active certification to teach students with disabilities at any point, according to the state database tracking this information. In an interview on March 28, Moore told Delaware Online/The News Journal she was accepted and enrolled in a Wilmington University ARTC program in August 2024, to begin satisfying state teacher licensing requirements. She shared a Student Enrollment Services email thanking her for her application. Some seven months into this school year, the Department of Education had no record of Moore starting a program, which should have resulted in updates to the state database. Then, on April 7, Appoquinimink uploaded a "Welcome Letter" from Wilmington University's Special Education Teacher program, dated April 2, 2025. The letter showed all upcoming courses and requirements unmet. As this developed, House Education Committee chair Rep. Kim Williams drafted legislation to tighten measures that any public school employee must have a valid permit or license to work unsupervised with students, with certain exceptions for support staff. Because the state provides 70% of a licensed public school teacher's salary, the proposal also gives the state the power to claw back money from districts and charters if they intentionally retain an employee for more than 90 days after hire without a valid, required credential. During an April 9 House Education Committee hearing discussing House Bill 97, Moore shared concerns about teachers caught up in delays on the part of universities. During that discussion, all of her questions surrounded this concern. But when prompted, she directly denied the issue being about her. "If she believed there were flaws or inequities, she could have used her position to advocate for changes," Minor-Brown said. "Instead, she remained silent until she proposed an amendment to an education bill that would have personally benefited her own certification status. That action undermined the integrity of our committee process." The bill is now on track to head to the full Senate floor, having already passed in the House. Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@ Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@ or (231) 622-2191. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware representative booted from state House Education Committee
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
History April 27-May 3 from News Journal: Explosion kills 2, lottery $186,000 over budget
"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal. See the archives at April 27, 1925, The Evening Journal With the death of William C. Taylor, 44 years, at the Homeopathic Hospital on Saturday night and the finding of the body of George W. Pitt, 60 years, in the Delaware River yesterday morning, two deaths resulted from the explosion of 3,000 pounds of black powder near the pier of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway at Pigeon Point, below the Wilmington Marine Terminal. The explosion occurred on Saturday morning while Taylor, Pitt and Napoleon Gagnon were removing the powder from a magazine where it had been stored by a construction company since the World War. Gagnon was outside the building when the explosion occurred. Pitt and Taylor were inside the magazine. Pitt's body could not be found Saturday after the horrible mishap, but after an all-night search on Saturday by his son, Tilghman Pitt, and J.J. Clark, a son-in-law of the dead man, the body was recovered in the Delaware River, 300 feet from the magazine that blew up. ... Gagnon was able to go to his home after receiving treatment on Saturday as he was only burned about the hands. Valuable service was rendered after the explosion by Thomas J. August, a member of the local fire department, who was with a party of friends out on the Delaware River in a motor boat near Pigeon Point at the time. August ran the boat to the pier and brought Taylor and Gagnon to the Marine Terminal where they were met by the police ambulance. April 29, 1950, Wilmington Morning News Chief Deputy Atty. Gen. C. Edward Duffy told the St. Georges Hundred Republican Committee last night that in less than a year the 'new Democrat majority in the State Highway Commission has increased its payroll by 127 persons.' Citing figures which he said he had just obtained, Mr. Duffy disclosed that the department payroll for March 1950 was $198,190.88, more than $13,000 over its March 1949 total of $185,036.36. 'Padding of the payroll by Democrats is scarcely new, but it is hard to conceive in a department that was a national model of efficiency under a Republican administration,' said Mr. Duffy. 'It becomes more and more apparent,' he continued, 'that the additional taxes insisted upon by the state Democratic administration as a prelude to any consideration of legislation by the 1949 General Assembly were to be used for the primary purpose of assembling a political machine." May 2, 1975, Evening Journal The state auditor charged today that lottery officials illegally spent $186,000 more than they had in their $400,000 budget. The special audit, released today, was requested by Democrat Gov. Sherman W. Tribbitt. Eugene G. Auen, lottery director, and the lottery itself have been under heavy political fire from Republicans almost since the lottery began. State Auditor Richard T. Collins, a Republican, said flatly at a Dover press conference that exceeding the amount authorized by the legislature 'is a clear violation of state law.' And, despite yesterday's layoff of half the full-time lottery staff, Collins said the debt will continue to mount even if the lottery operation is at a standstill. Delaware's unsuccessful Loto-Superfecta was halted April 16 after five weeks of declining ticket sales and without having once had a first-place winner. It first became known that the lottery has overspent its original $400,000 appropriation Tuesday when lottery officials had to borrow $3,000 from the governor's contingency fund to meet a payroll…. Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: History April 27-May 3: Explosion kills 2, lottery $186,000 over budget
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
Wilmington riots in 1968, school desegregation in 1975: News Journal archives April 6-12
"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal. April 6, 1950, Wilmington Morning News story An 8-year-old boy, who detectives said yesterday admitted accidentally setting off Wilmington's worst fire in the past 25 years last Sunday, was confined to the Detention Home on West Street last night to await further action by the Family Court. The suspect, it is reported, may undergo a sociological study and psychiatric examinations under the direction of the court. ... The boy said he dropped a lighted oil-soaked broom in a pile of loose straw in the yard of the Franklin J. Murphey feed warehouse on Lancaster Avenue near Madison Street. He said he had intended to play with the lighted broom but dropped it accidentally in the straw when the flames flared into his face. ... The fire spread from the feed company to destroy the Wilmington Sash and Door Company building and yard, four other business establishments and 16 houses. Damage is estimated at $700,000 to $1,000,000. Police talked to over 100 persons and learned that several boys had been seen on occasions playing in the yard of the feed company. They secured names of some of the boys in the vicinity, including the suspect, and on Tuesday night took him and four others to the police station for questioning. All were gradually eliminated with the exception of the 8-year-old. ... April 9, 1968, Wilmington Morning News story This archival story uses language that was common at the time. Police restored order in Wilmington last night after a 4-hour outbreak of sniping, looting and firebombing that put the city under a state of emergency. The disturbances began just before noon yesterday as ... young Negroes roamed Market Street following a memorial service in Rodney Square for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The wave of violence left 12 persons injured, one seriously. At least two persons suffered gunshot wounds. There were 13 firebombings and 19 reported lootings, mostly in a 12-block area of West Center City. Fifty-one persons were arrested. About 50 state troopers were ordered into the city by Gov. Charles L. Terry Jr. and 1,200 National Guard troops were activated. Neither the troopers nor the guardsmen were needed to quell the disorders. Terry sent 1,100 of the guardsmen home. A curfew from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. was imposed. Helmeted officers had little trouble clearing the streets. The curfew will begin at 7:30 tonight, according to Mayor John E. Babiarz. ... Recent Wilmington news: St. Francis Hospital to end ambulance service for Wilmington this summer April 11, 1975, Evening Journal story The state Board of Education yesterday publicly outlined a desegregation plan for New Castle County schools that would cost from $12 million to $18 million a year, mostly to equalize costs among districts. The plan is subject to change, and the state board still plans to appeal its case to the U.S. Supreme Court. ... Basically, the plan would draw six new districts from the current 12 as one way of meeting the federal court order. The proposal would include some busing but would not affect students until 1976. ... The plan was the first made public by state officials since a District Court ruled March 27 that state laws violated the rights of students in the 84% black Wilmington School District. Of the millions in increased costs, about $2.1 million would go for added transportation, with the rest to equalize pay, administrative costs and per-pupil spending. 'There is no cheap way to achieve desegregation,' said the board's attorney William Prickett. ... Last night, Wilmington City Council added a surprise by opposing the city school board's approach and endorsing the state board's plan for dissolving the city school district. The council said the schools take up a major part of the city's budget and it urged the city school board not to take on any new obligations beyond the 1975-76 fiscal year. Catch up on history: Space shuttle explodes, Ghandi assassinated: News Journal archives Jan. 26 to Feb. 1 April 12, 2000, story by The News Journal The University of Delaware spent $2.3 million to build a 166-acre research park at Lewes with the dream of attracting high-tech, marine-related businesses. Nearly two decades later, the park – complete with asphalt roads, landscaping and underground utilities – is still vacant. And the university may owe the federal government thousands of dollars as repayment for money invested in the development. Federal officials are investigating whether the university failed to meet the requirements outlined in a 1981 grant agreement with the U.S. Commerce Department. As long as the university continued to market the land as a research park or simply hold on to the property, the university owed nothing to the Commerce Department. But in 1997, the university sold 77 acres of the land to Beebe Medical Center. A citizens group asked for an investigation, prompting the federal government to consider asking for a refund.... Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: News Journal archives: Wilmington riots in 1968, desegregation in 1975
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
News Journal archives week of March 30: Wilmington's budget woes, Delaware's diploma tiers
"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and the Evening Journal. See the archives at March 30, 1982, The Morning News, story from Gannett News Service At last, Dean Smith is at the mountain top. North Carolina, battling the pressure of expectations all season, ended its coach's classic frustrations Monday by edging Georgetown 63-62 for the NCAA basketball championship. ... But it was a 16-foot jumper by freshman Michael Jordan from the left wing with 15 seconds left that gave Carolina its final one-point advantage. Then came the turnover. Hoya guard Fred Brown, trying to find an open man with the seconds ticking away, mistook Carolina's James Worthy for his own man and fired a pass right into the Tar Heel's hands with eight seconds left. ... March 31, 1995, from The News Journal 'This budget is going to hurt.' Wilmington Mayor James H. Sills Jr. spoke bluntly Thursday night while asking City Council to join him in prying a painful mix of tax and fee hikes from the pocketbooks of residents and business owners. Sills also proposed pain for his 1,138-person workforce, promising to slash 50 to 90 more employees from the payroll in fiscal 1996, starting July 1. But Council President James M. Baker said the plan – including a 15% property tax hike and 10% water/sewer rate increase – could be dead on arrival. 'The mood on council is not to raise taxes,' Baker said. 'Certainly 15% and 10% increases will not pass council.' Sills proposed a $61.9 million general fund, which pays for basic city services, up 0.4% from the 1995 budget. The growth, though modest, gave fodder to critics on council, who said Sills should have reduced spending. The budget 'will hurt those city workers who lose their jobs. It will hurt our citizens who will have to pay more for city services,' Sills said. 'It will likely prove politically painful for some of us. But we all have a job to do, however difficult, and I for one intend to do my part.' Wilmington is in its fifth straight year of deficit spending, a slide that began under late Mayor Daniel S. Frawley. The shortfall this year is estimated at $2 million to $5 million…. Catch up on history: FDR proposes Supreme Court additions, King George VI dies: News Journal archives Feb. 2-9 April 1, 2004, The News Journal, story by Dover bureau reporter Legislation to place a two-year moratorium on Delaware's three-tiered high school diploma system was released from the House Education Committee on Wednesday and could come to a vote as early as next week. ... If House Bill 357 becomes law, all graduating seniors this year will receive the same diploma. Without it, students will receive a distinguished, standard or basic diploma depending on how well they scored on the standardized state tests they took in 10th grade. The committee's action … came after a hearing in which legislators and parents faulted the diploma system as the unwieldy result of a political compromise …to head off a movement to establish exit exams students would have to pass to graduate. ... 'I know why I voted for three tier,' said Rep. Bruce C. Reynolds, R-Country Woods, the committee chairman. 'It was either three tier or an exit exam….' Parents complained that some students who excelled in their classwork but scored poorly on the standardized test will receive standard diplomas. Recent education news: Meet Delaware's Most Influential People in Education in 2025 April 4, 2005, from The News Journal Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford will open the first phase of a new $3.9 million emergency department Wednesday. And while the sunny lobby, the children's television-viewing area and high-tech equipment may be nice, the real benefit to area residents may be something less visible. 'We have a goal that every patient shall be greeted by a nurse within 10 minutes' of arriving in the emergency department, said Bill Hughes, the nurse manager in the hospital's emergency department. Nanticoke, like other area hospitals, has seen the number of patients using its emergency department grow significantly in the last five years. And the hospital expects to see the trend continue as the population in western Sussex County continues to rise…. As the new unit opens, the hospital will temporarily have a reduction in emergency department beds, from 14 to 11. But the hospital set up a special six-bed unit, called the rapid admission unit, that will free up emergency department beds…. The second phase of the project, expected to be complete this summer, is the renovation of the old emergency department, when the total number of emergency beds will grow to 23. Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: News Journal archives: Wilmington's budget woes, three diploma levels
