News Briefs 3/29/22

Lewes BPW to discuss Sussex offer March 31

The Lewes Board of Public Works will hold a public workshop at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 31, at the Rollins Community Center to discuss with customers an opportunity to partner with Sussex County to satisfy both parties’ wastewater demands. The BPW recently decided to pursue a evaluation of its long-range plan for the wastewater treatment plant, which will also be discussed.

The meeting will be held in person and via Zoom. A link to the meeting can be found on the agenda at lewesbpw.delaware.gov.

Sussex council awards grants to nonprofits

Sussex County Council awarded the following councilmanic grants during its March 22 meeting: $1,000 to Cape Henlopen Senior Center for its Rehoboth Concert Band fundraiser; $1,500 to Cape Henlopen School District to help cover costs to send the H.O. Brittingham Elementary School robotics team to the national competition in Texas; $500 to Friends of the Georgetown Public Library for its annual 5K fundraiser; $1,500 to Mariner Middle School in Milton to help defray expenses for the Business Professionals of America conference; and $4,000 to Pop Warner Little Scholars Inc. to help purchase equipment, uniforms, snacks and sanitizing needs for the Woodbridge Youth Football Association.

CIB, Sussex reforesting parcel

Sussex County officials and Delaware Center for the Inland Bays staff are working together to reforest an area west of Fenwick Island. At its March 22 meeting, Sussex County Council voted to approve matching funds of $10,635 toward the $47,295 project.

Volunteers and a contractor are in the process of planting 7,800 trees on a 6.5-acre parcel along Lighthouse Road off Route 54.

The restored area will include a mixture of hardwoods and pine trees to create a wildlife habitat. The project also includes 3,000 tree tubes to protect trees from deer that are drawn to new saplings’ bark.

The center was awarded a $25,000 Community Water Quality Improvement Grant to help with the costs of the project.

Officials appointed in Dewey Beach

Dewey Beach commissioners voted unanimously March 18 to appoint Jack Redefer to the planning and zoning commission for a three-year term, and to renew Jim Bielicki’s term on the commission for another three years.

Countering Hate Crimes town hall set

The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice will host an online town hall meeting, Countering Hate Crimes in Delaware, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 12.

Guest speakers include Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings, Deputy Attorney General Nicole Mozee, and Calum Farley, investigative researcher for the Anti-Defamation League.

The program is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Sussex County and will be moderated by Lori Yadin, founder of Creating Safe Space and an active member of both the alliance and the league.

The panel will discuss hate crimes in general, what is being done in Delaware and what ordinary citizens can do to help counter such crimes. A hate crime is a criminal act against a person or property in which the perpetrator chooses the victim because of the victim's real or perceived race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability or gender. Hate crimes based on race, ethnicity and ancestry represented 62% of the hate crimes tracked by the FBI in 2020.

This year in Delaware, a New Castle County jury convicted a man accused of hate crimes for terroristic threats against a Black woman who works in Gov. John Carney's office.

The felony conviction marks the first time the Delaware Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust has secured a conviction for a hate crime.

To register for the town hall, go to sdarjhatecrimes.eventbrite.com; for more information, go to sdarj.org.