Wilmington News

DuPont Co has started the preliminary auction process for its vehicle paint unit, a business that may fetch the US chemicals giant as much as $4 billion, Reuters yesterday reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

It looks as though a Talleyville-area couple who were cited for having a pile of sticks and twigs in their yard have taken the 'instant' out of New Castle County's instant ticketing program. Damon and Roy Morris sued the county in 2010, saying the program was unconstitutional and violates due process because the $50 fine for a variety of property-code violations must be paid before an alleged offender can appeal a ticket. A U.S. District Court judge ruled in the county's favor in April, but then the county had a bad day before a three-judge panel in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia in December. The appeals court judges have not yet ruled on the matter, but their comments were so blistering that the county stopped issuing instant tickets within days after the hearing. 'This is patently an unconstitutional procedure,' Judge Dolores K. Sloviter said, according to a court recording of the proceedings. 'Anybody who has had Civil Procedure 1 or Common Law 1 will know you can't do this. ... You're charging people before they've had a hearing. Whether it's $50 or $1,000, the Constitution says you shouldn't do that.' The case has implications elsewhere in Delaware as well. News of the case caused Newark to halt the practice and Wilmington officials are deciding what to do. In response to the court's concerns, changes to county law will be introduced at Tuesday's County Council meeting. If the changes are approved, a ticket would no longer have to be paid before an appeal hearing. The Morrises and their attorney, Thomas C. Marconi, declined comment, as is standard procedure when a case is pending. County spokesman Jim Grant declined comment on the case, but said the proposed changes to the instant ticketing program will improve it. Attorney Richard Abbott, who was not involved with the Morris case, said he has argued with county attorneys about the constitutionality of the instant ticketing system for years. 'It's about time that some common sense from the Third Circuit got into the mix to end this practice,' Abbott said. 'Because county attorneys didn't do their homework, they end up with an embarrassment like this, when the Third Circuit effectively laughs them out of court.' If the county's changes to the system prompt a settlement with the Morrises, the court may drop the case. The county has issued 19,459 instant tickets since the program began in July 2008. Nearly $2.9 million in fines were issued. Of that amount, almost $2 million has been collected. The county obtains a lien against the property and attaches the debt to the owner's tax bill if instant ticket fines grow past $500, county acting Chief Financial Officer Ed Milowicki said. Grant said he couldn't say whether the county would have to refund any of the money from the tickets because of the case. Before the program began, residents who violated the county's property-maintenance code were charged criminally. But that process took time, so months often went by before an offender had to cut his grass or clean his yard in order to comply with the law. Instant ticketing was designed to quicken the process. The fine was reduced from $200 to $50 in an effort to speed things up as well. In a statement, county officials said the instant ticketing program accomplished that. 'We believe this administrative enforcement program has been an improvement over the alternative of criminal charges in the Justice of the Peace Court,' the statement says. Before the practice was suspended, violators had 10 days to fix the problem. If they did, the case was closed. If they didn't, they had 30 days from when the $50 ticket was issued to pay it. The fine doubled to $100 if the ticket remained unpaid. If someone wanted to appeal the ticket, the fine had to be paid in full before the appeal could be heard by a county administrative hearing officer. The $50 was refunded if the person who got the ticket won the appeal. Under the proposed new law -- which would remove the word 'instant' -- the ticket would not have to be paid in order to appeal it. A new $20 hearing fee would be charged if the person lost the appeal. The fine would still double to $100 if the ticket isn't paid in 30 days. Unchanged is a separate law requiring that anyone who appeals the administrative officer's ruling to the Licenses/Inspection Review Board pay a $500 fee. The fee is not refundable, even if the person who got the ticket is exonerated. The Morrises refused to pay that fee, so they couldn't appeal, which led to their lawsuit. Grant said the county is considering reducing that fee to $250, which would be refundable if the appeal is successful. During the December appeals hearing, county attorney James Edwards noted that Wilmington and Newark have similar programs. Judge Sloviter intimated that they could be unconstitutional as well. Wilmington's instant ticketing program started in May 2007. Newark began issuing instant tickets in 2009. Newark Mayor Vance Funk said the town in December stopped making people pay the tickets before an appeal could be heard. An ordinance to stop that practice entirely is being drafted by the town's attorney, he said. Funk said he's always been troubled by the immediate issuance of fines. 'You just can't tell somebody they have to pay a fine before they have their day in court,' Funk said. In Wilmington, 32,935 instant tickets have been issued. The fines have totaled nearly $2.3 million, of which $1.4 million has been collected. Unlike the county's law, Wilmington's does not give offenders 10 days to fix the problem before the fine is assessed. The fines are issued on the spot. City officials said they were not aware of the suit against the county until this week. 'We ... have not determined at this time whether we need to alter our instant ticketing law,' Wilmington spokesman John Rago said.

A man has been given a three-year suspended sentence for a hit-and-run collision that injured two Johns Hopkins University students last year.

The Rev. Dianne Loufman, who last served as interim pastor of St. Marks Lutheran Church in Conshohocken, Pa., will be installed as the new pastor of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Officiating will be Bishop Herz-Lane from the Maryland Delaware Synod, along with the Rev. David Mueller, who has served as interim at St. Stephen's. Loufman holds a master of divinity degree from Luther Theological Seminary. She first served as pastor at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Jersey City, N.J., from 1987 to 1996. Her new church is located at 13th and Broom streets in Wilmington. An energy-saving workshop, which had to be rescheduled because of snow, will be held Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Limestone Presbyterian Church, 3201 Limestone Road, in Wilmington. The cost is $10 and includes a light lunch. Registration: Info@deipl.org, 581-9007, or PO Box 911, Dover, DE 19903. Visit www.limestonepresbyterian.org A choral evensong will be held Sunday at 4 p.m. at Immanuel Church on the Green, 100 Harmony St., in New Castle. Under the direction of Jack Warren Burnam, The Immanuel Mixed Choir will perform music in the English cathedral tradition. Following the service there will be a short program of chamber music for flute, viola and harpsichord, presented by Musick on the Green. An informal reception will follow. The event is free. Wilmington's Cathedral of St. Peter's will throw a fundraiser called 'Mardi Gras with Ol Blue Eyes' on Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. Singing will be Sean Reilly as Frank Sinatra. Tickets for the event, at the Knights of Columbus Hall at Lancaster and Scott streets in Wilmington, are $50. Call Jean Manning 654-5920. The workings of Delaware's civil union law will be explained on Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. at an event sponsored by Unitarian Universalists of Central Delaware. The congregation meets at 340 N. Queen St., in Dover. Call 233-7754. On Sunday, Scott Ward celebrates 20 years as music director at First Unitarian Church in Sharpley. In 1996, the congregation gave him the title of honorary minister of music. Ward studied church music and classical voice at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. Ward will be honored during a 10:30 a.m. service entitled 'When in Our Music.' A party will follow in the parish hall.

Fish like herring, perch and striped bass don't do as well when land uses shift from rural and forested streams to those found in suburbs and cities, which puts at risk things like a multibillion-dollar fishery in Maryland and Virginia.

Artist Rachel Milano answers questions from a few Girl Scouts -- including Hannah Jones , 7, and Sarafina Mustafaa, 8 -- at the dedication of Milano's artwork at FilmBrothers studios in Wilmington.

A group of Wilmington folks learned a couple of things last week during their visit to High Point, N.C.: Barbecue is debated with almost religious fervor, the iced tea comes already sweetened and the issue of take-home police cruisers can get people riled up.

Fisker Automotive Inc. said it halted work on a Delaware auto factory to make plug-in sedans after the U.S. Energy Department blocked access to its federal loan, citing unmet milestones.

The Laurel School District is no longer in immediate financial crisis although officials say there will likely be staff cuts in the next school year.

Credit Suisse Group AG , taking aim at the "overreaching and egregious control that the lenders are trying to exert on the company."In a Thursday filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., Buffets' official committee of unsecured creditors said that, while it understands Buffets needs money to stay in business, it thinks th... ... Read ... (more)

Anybody who knows Clark Bar and Chuck 50 knows two things for sure; that they have a kinship and camaraderie that is truly in the ride-or-die spirit of hip-hop, and that they rep Concord Ave. to the fullest. On any given day, you can ride by the urban clothing store Caveman Apparel on Concord Avenue, just between Washington and Jefferson streets, and find either or both chillin’ inside or near the store. They even filmed their segment of the documentary “What's Really Hood?” inside Caveman Apparel. There seems to be an unexplainable draw and sense of comfort connected to the area. It is, in essence, their nexus. In addition to filming the documentary there, one of their most recent videos, “Saw It All” – a gritty tale that pits the law against the unlawful – was shot on the corner nearest to Washington Street. The video resembles a short film in its cinematography and its clean and concise storyline. But movies aren't unfamiliar territory to Chuck 50 and Clark Bar. In addition to numerous videos and the documentary, both Chuck and Clark starred in 2009's “Game of Death,” a feature film by Rennie Rox about corrupt cops, drugs and an unsolved murder. The movie was shot in Wilmington and displays impressive acting, directing and should be applauded for its ambitious cinematography and overall production as well, especially considering it is a small budget, independent film. With such an impressive filmography it's hard to believe that their film careers are second to their music careers. Chuck 50 and Clark Bar are hip-hop artists on OT Records, headed up by Matty Gates. Their latest project is a collaboration called “Caveman Music,” which comes on the heels of the OT compilation, “On Deckery 2.” “On Deckery 3” is slated to be released soon. OT's most prolific artist is Shizz Nitty of “Sox In Da Air” fame. The single is arguably the most successful by a Delaware artist, and after several years still garners club play nationally. Chuck 50 is a stand out on the remix of “Sox” by Punjabi MC, which appears on his album “The Raj” and was released internationally by the renowned Indian-MC under Universal. Shizz released another club banger called “That Booty” that was outpacing “Sox In Da Air” with radio and club spins. But sadly, as the momentum for the OT front-running artist, Shizz Nitty, was approaching new heights, he was incarcerated in 2011. This was a major setback to the momentum and morale of OT Records, which had already survived a major tragedy in 2009 when it lost co-founder Artega Green to the streets. OT dedicated the first of the “On Deckery” mixtape series, “On Deckery (In Tega We Trust),” to Green. The credibility, pain and analysis in the lyrics they share comes from a place that is real to them yet surreal to most. Clark Bar is a self-proclaimed realist and only spits what he has seen and lived. And what he has lived through is difficult to fathom. In 2008, Clark was the victim of a drive-by shooting and was hit 10 times. Ironically, the shooting took place on Concord Ave., and Chuck 50 was nearby and first on the scene. Miraculously, Clark survived without permanent injury and though the crime was never solved, he has grown more insightful and wiser from the incident. So it is no wonder their single is called “Saw It All.” What have you been up to? Chuck 50: Other than Caveman Music, we're finishing up “On Deckery 3” as a OT Records compilation. My solo mixtape “#NewzFlash” is being recorded as we speak. I'm just tryin' to stay busy and give the people what they've been asking for. Remind us of some of your past projects. Clark Bar: Well we just did the hottest thing in the city with “On Deckery 2” and then came right back at you with “Caveman Music.” Are you two soloists collabin or a duo? Chuck 50: Clark and myself are two solo artists from the same cloth ... We both represent Concord Ave., northside Wilmington, Delaware. We decided to collab 'cause we wanted to display our everyday living situations where we're from. So tell us about the new project. Chuck 50: “Caveman Music” is like the streets on a compact disc ... It’s raw, it's disrespectful, it's the truth. Most people who have been through any sort of struggle will be able to relate. Clark Bar: “Caveman Music” is a classic. You have to hear it to believe it. Who do you like in the game right now as far their movement? Clark Bar: Honestly I like what Concord Ave. got going on and what O.T. got going on. Yeah! What drives you? Chuck 50: My drive is motivated by my will to win. No matter the situation I just wanna be the best. On top of that, I actually have an audience that wants to hear my music. Who am I to lead them wrong? I believe that with the right support I can become one of the greatest that ever picked up a microphone. Clark Bar: The basic things in life; my family and the fact that I love what I'm doing.

Delaware State Police are investigating a single-car crash this morning that has caused major delays on I-95 northbound.

"Help Me Grow will bring together all the services that are very important to young children under one umbrella," said Lt.

Donald Lee Slayton, 87, of Wilmington, Del., went to be with the Lord on Feb. 2, 2012, at home with his family by his side.

Valentine's Day is extra sweet at the Wilmington Library's sixth annual Chocolate Festival, which takes place Tuesday.

Three-year-old Saniyah Harrison and her 1-year-old brother, William, have improved with the help of therapy after being rescued from the fire just two months ago.

A settlement has been reached in the defamation lawsuit filed by former Widener University School of Law professor Lawrence J. Connell against the law school's dean, Linda L. Ammons, and two of his former students.

Charles Jackson, a 38-year-old Wilmington man, was arrested Wednesday for stealing HVAC units from an apartment building near Wilmington.

A 38-year-old Wilmington man was arrested Wednesday for stealing HVAC units from an apartment building near Wilmington. The thefts happened on Jan. 18 at the Lancaster Court Apartment Complex. New Castle County police Cpl. John Weglarz said two units had their HVAC units taken. Weglarz said a dark-colored SUV with a yellow light on the roof that read “Rescue Rangers,” was seen leaving the complex. That led them to Charles Jackson, of the 100 block of City View Ave. in Wilmington. Weglarz said Jackson sold aluminum and copper condenser coils from the HVAC units to a local business. Jackson also is wanted by the Philadelphia and Salem County police departments. He was charged with two counts of theft and committed to Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $3,000 cash bail.

The World Cafe Live at the Queen in Wilmington is offering weekly, 1-hour Vinyasa yoga sessions that will be followed by a tasting of four beers along with some light snacks.