Delaware Way

Paul Clark Gets A Primary Opponent!! Bill Shahan's Presser Is Set For Noon Saturday In Bellefonte

2012-01-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

(NJ image)

(Middletown Transcipt) Kim Manahan reports ~ Bill Shahan announces plans to run for County Executive

Wilmington — Democrat Bill Shahan, a county Land Use Department employee, said today that he will be announcing his candidacy for New Castle County Executive Saturday at a press conference in Wilmington.
Shahan will campaign against current County Executive Paul G. Clark, also a democrat.This will be Shahan’s first time running for office.

I saw Bill in Wilmington last night and he told me his presser is set for noon in Bellefonte.

Location: BELLEFONTE PARK - WILMINGTON, DE 19809 (CORNER OF ELIZABETH AVENUE & ROSEDALE ROAD)

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A True Picture Of The State Of New Castle County? Some Facts You Will Not Be Hearing From Paul Clark

2012-01-23T04:13:00.000-08:00

(Middletown Transcript) Kim Manahan reports ~ Residents express concerns and raise complaints at Civic League panel -
New Castle County union leaders at the Civic League for New Castle County shared their concerns:

...such as being short staffed in areas where more manpower is needed. - "We're short staffed," Dan Tharby, president of Local 349- skilled trades

- Joe Lavelle, a retired county police officer who represents the police officers through FOP Lodge 5, said that he feels a sense of frustration when dealing with the county. A county police officer's starting salary is lower than that of a University of Delaware officer's, he said. The force is also 22 officers short.

- There also aren't enough paramedics in the field, said Local 3911 President Kenneth Dunn who represents the paramedics. There are about 100 personnel total, with only about 85 on the streets

- there was a five-percent raise for all appointed county positions last year and that county council has never amended the executive's budget when put before them.

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Please Ask NCC Council To Deny The Lifting Of Deed Restrictions On 20 Montchanin Road

2012-01-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

Update: R12 -015 is tabled until February. Click here to read Janet Kilpatrick's response to my email asking NCC Council to deny the lifting of the deed restrictions.
~~~~~
www.facebook.com/saveourcounty
From the inbox ~

To: Members of the Civic League and concerned citizens in NCCo.
From: Christine Whitehead, Member of the Board

Lifting deed restrictions on 20 Montchanin Road and in the future rezoning of the parcel for commecial uses.

Last year a group called Save Our County came to the Civic League for help in fighting the Barley Mill Plaza rezoning and the commercialization of 20 Montchanin Road. The Board voted to support them. Both sites are located on Route 141, but this smaller parcel is
important in its own right. It is located at the beginning of Route 100 as it winds its way through the Brandywine Valley. It sits across from 2 cemeteries and churches and at the entrance to Hagley Museum. Mansions that were once large estates (but are now put to charitable uses) surround it. This is not only the route the tour buses take to visit our museums and historic areas, but for many people who grew up in Wilmington and its suburbs, it was the gateway to the fun of exploring the natural wonders of the region when they were young.

Perhaps we should have put a historic overlay on the properties along this route years ago, but none of us thought, I'm sure, that deed restrictions and wealth would not be enough to protect the stretch that establishes the unique historic atmosphere from Greenhill Avenue out Routes 52 and 100.

Now the Stoltz organization is determined to remove the deed restrictions that allowed Columbia Gas to build a low, unobstrusive office building hidden by trees and berms decades ago, so that they can put the property to commercial uses in the
future. This site is part of Delaware's most significant heritage.

http://www.co.new-castle.de.us/countycouncil/Home/fileuploads/images/Resolution/2012/R12-015.pdf

I hope we will not sit still and allow commercialization to take over the land piece by piece. What was once preserved by wealth now needs to be preserved by policy, but it will not be unless people speak up.

We need to flood County Council with e mails of objection. Below is a draft that you may want to customize for your own use and send as soon as possible. Be sure if you only contact your own Council Member that you let him or her know in which area you live. Every contact will make a difference, but hearing from people outside the
immediate area affected will mean much to the recipient. Showing up for the Council Meeting on the 24th would be very important. We are in a situation where the Council Members for the immediate area have demonstrated that they are in support of whatever Stoltz wants to do, so others must be convinced to fight for this site. Ask them to say no to lifting deed restrictions and putting on new ones. If you like, copy the message below and use it. Thank you for helping to preserve what makes Delaware special.

Save Our County writes ~

Stoltz's plans for 20 Montchanin come before County Council for a final vote on Tues Jan 24. We have a fundamental choice...

-to preserve the highly protective deed restrictions put in place 43 years ago, or

-to give up these important protections and allow Stoltz to add retail, restaurants and other inappropriate uses at the site

Please read the details below and contact County Council today to demand that the existing restrictions be preserved. Your voice needs to be heard!

Current Deed Restrictions - Stoltz has very limited rights under the current, highly protective deed restrictions at 20 Montchanin. The existing restrictions, which date from 1968/1969, were purposely made much more restrictive than the Office Regional (OR) zoning at the site. They mandate- a single office building, not multiple buildings- traditional office use only- very limited ability to expand...and only to the existing building- a building height of 2 stories maximum.

Stoltz's Proposal - Stoltz is asking the Council to- drop the existing, highly protective deed restrictions that have endured for 43 years- replace them with permissive new restrictions that - expand the
footprint allowed at the site - allow multiple buildings - allow a host of inappropriate uses at the site - envision a potential rezoning of part of
the site to Commercial Neighborhood(CN).

How do you feel about restaurants, retail stores, lodging facilities, drive-ins, banks and funeral homes at 20 Montchanin? Is this your vision for the gateway to the historic Brandywine Valley? Well that and more is possible under the Stoltz plan.

The Facts are Clear - The current deed restrictions are highly protective and must be preserved. Lifting the existing deed restrictions and rezoning the site opens the door to unwarranted and inappropriate uses. And once 20 Montchanin falls, it's easier for nearby properties like the Raskob site and others to be commercialized.

How You Can Help - The incredible beauty and heritage of this area is owned by all Delawareans. Please write or call County Council today to demand that the existing deed restrictions be preserved, and please
attend the hearing at 7 PM on Tues Jan 24 in the City-County Building, 800 French Street in Wilmington. Speakers are encouraged...3 minute max.We can make a difference. Thank you for protecting our community. Your neighbors at Save Our County

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email for the full County Council is below

tkovach@nccde.org; jmreda@nccde.org; rsweiner@nccde.org; jkilpatrick@nccde.org; phollins@nccde.org; ediller@nccde.org; wepowersjr@nccde.org; gsmiley@nccde.org; jjcartier@nccde.org; tpsheldon@nccde.org; jpstreet@nccde.org; dltackett@nccde.org; jwbell@nccde.org;

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CLNCC Discussion With New Castle County Union Presidents Set For 7PM Tuesday In Bear

2012-01-15T07:00:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, the Civic League for New Castle County will host a panel discussion with various union presidents with New Castle County government at their monthly meeting.

AGENDA

Discussion with New Castle County Union Presidents
With some regularity, the Civic League has discussions about County government operations and subsequent costs, and inevitably, taxes. The leadership and elected officials of the County come and talk from time to time, but we have never gotten input from the rank and file employee groups that represent where the rubber hits the road.

Accepting this invitation are:
Kenneth Dunn, AFSCME Local 3911, Paramedics;
Joseph Lavelle, FOP Lodge 5, Police;
Marc Klinefelter, AFSCME Local 1607, salaried positions
Frank Gentry, Local 2270 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Dan Tharby, AFSCME Local 459 - skilled trades

This segment will begin at 7 PM and will include their comments on staffing and funding issues in New Castle County government, from their prospective.

The meeting will be held in the Paris Community Room, Delaware State Police Troop 2, 100 LaGrange Avenue in Bear.
Prepared by
Chuck Mulholland
President, Civic League for New Castle County
378-4216

~

DelDOT Secretary Bhatt is the scheduled CLNCC speaker in February - he will attend our meeting at Troop 2 from 7-8:00 PM on Monday, February 20th.
Check the CLNCC web site for more details.

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Occupy The Dream: MLK Day Rally Set For Noon Monday At Spencer Plaza In Wilmington

2012-01-13T11:03:00.000-08:00

OBSERVE MLK DAY WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES AND OCCUPY DELAWARE
Occupy Delaware joins with African American Churches for King Day:
Call for $100 Billion Wall Street investment in
cities, foreclosure halt, higher ed grants.

UPDATE: Come to the 11AM Rally to Support An East side African-American Heritage Center

Reflecting a broadening support for the Occupy Wall Street Movement in Delaware, a group of African American Clergy and Churches have joined with Occupy Delaware for an “Occupy the Dream” rally at 12 noon January 16, Martin Luther King Day. The rally will take place at Spencer Plaza, in the 800 block of French Street, where Occupy Delaware has maintained an encampment for two months.

Occupy the Dream was launched on December 15 by Rev. Jamal Harrison-Bryant, pastor of the 10,000 member Empowerment Temple in Baltimore and Rev. Ben Chavis, former executive director and CEO of the NAACP in Washington, D.C.
Local efforts have been lead by Rev. Donald Morton, pastor of Perfected Life Church, and Rev. Lawrence Michael Livingston, pastor of the Mother African Union Church, which was founded by Peter Spencer, namesake of Spencer Plaza, in 1813.

The national Occupy the Dream movement is calling for three things to happen that will be faithful action towards the vision of MLK: A moratorium on mortgage foreclosures; more resources being put in to Pell Grants to make college education affordable for more people; and a call for a $100 mllion economic development investment from Wall Street back into the neighborhoods and communities of U. S. cities.

Delaware organizers will introduce a corresponding challenge to the business and political institutions in our state.

Occupy Delaware comprises a broad variety of voices. Anyone in Delaware who is fed up with a national agenda that is rigged in favor of the wealthiest one percent at the expense of the other ninety-nine percent is welcome to participate.
Webpage: http://www.occupyde.org/Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/occupydelawareFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/OccupyDE
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City (Occupy Wall Street):
http://occupywallst.org/forum/first-official-release-from-occupy-wall-street/.

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Local Black Heritage On The Line?

2012-01-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

(WNJ images)

Two local stories of interest this week were the decision by Wilmington's Mayor Baker to allow the Delaware Historical Society to have control over the African-American Heritage Center of Delaware [ Afro-American group not happy with Mayor's Heritage Center with Allan Loudell's blog post] and that two 'angels' have swooped down and put together a last minute plan to save the former #107 school house in Hockessin [Group hopes to raise $201K to save Hockessin Colored School #107 ].

Both stories have uncertain endings.

The black community wants the control of the AA museum to go to city blacks and plan to fight the Mayor and take the issue to the city council [(News Journal) Esteban Parra's coverage: Wilmington's decision on where to house new African-American Heritage Center sparks debate ] while to secure the fate of Hockessin Colored School #107, the angels will still have to raise 100K in public funds.

Vying for keeping the museum on the city's East side has been poignantly covered in letters from Jim Sills, Josie Roy, Harmon Carey, Peggy Shane, John Watson and Kay Lacy ~

Black Heritage Center's location is important
I was born on Wilmington's eastside and grew up during the 1940s and 1950s. As such, I have vivid memories about Market Street. I remember not being able to have a sundae at Govato's, breakfast or lunch at Woolworth's and not being able to go in movie theaters like Loews and Queen. I have other memories about this so called "Street of Dreams" as well. Not all of them are negative but most are because I was black. Recently, I had an epiphany reflecting on the exhibit of Market Street, that the Historical Society consciously or subconsciously failed to portray one of the most defining characteristics of Market Street -- its segregationist history. Now that organization wants to operate the Black Heritage Center in the society's chosen site on Market Street and not in the black community. Where the Heritage Center is and who is involved in the decision making process matters. If the city accepts the Historical Society's proposal over that of the board led by former Mayor Jim Sills, it would represent a travesty. I appeal to the fair-minded members of the Historical Society of Delaware's Board of Directors to listen to the voice of reason and recognize the unfairness of the quest to take over the preservation of Black history and withdraw their proposal. And if they persist, City Council should reject it. Kay Lacy, New Castle

One outrageous meme has formulated around the placement of the heritage center: If we want any white people to visit and appreciate black heritage, put it on Market. If we want only blacks to visit and appreciate black heritage, put it on the East side.

FYI - the East side IS the established home of AA heritage such as the Louis Redding house and People's Settlement Association not to mention Jazz-central Clifford Brown's birthplace: (Hockessin Community News) Andre Lamar reports ~ Delaware author reflects on Wilmington’s rich jazz culture

Steven Leech’s research on Wilmington’s now-defunct jazz scene.
1. During the late 1930s, the thing that really made Wilmington a jazz city was the rise of three artists: Clifford Brown, Lem Winchester and Betty Roché, Leech Said. Brown, aka “Brownie,” was an acclaimed trumpeter who grew up on the East Side of Wilmington. Brown’s style was very impressive, since he was able to hold long notes and was skilled at improvisation. Legend has it that Dizzy Gillespie gave Brown his start, Leech said. In 1949, Gillespie was scheduled to perform at the Odd Fellows Hall on West 12th Street, but one of his musicians didn’t show up. A friend then referred Gillespie to use Brown as a replacement. Gillespie gave Brown a shot and his performance blew him away, Leech said.
“Musicians had problems keeping up with Brownie,” Leech quipped.
...3. Betty Roché grew up on East 12th Street. When singer Ivie Anderson left Duke
Ellington's band in the early 1940s, Duke was on the lookout for a good singer. He found Roché at the Savoy Ballroom in New York, Leech said. Roché also had a small role in the 1943 film “Reveille with Beverly,” which featured music legends Frank Sinatra, the Mills Brothers, Louie Armstrong and others, he said.
4. The East Side of Wilmington was a hotbed for jazz music and the Baby Grand became a premier venue for musicians. Notable musicians graced the stage at the club, including organist Jimmy Smith, singer Dinah Washington and one of the greatest trumpeters of all time, Lester Young, Leech said. Young was responsible for nicknaming singer Billie Holiday “Lady Day,” he said.
5. An urban renewal project in Wilmington during the 1960s brought the demise of the city’s jazz scene, he said. Due to the project, Leech said “the East Side of Wilmington was torn down” and temporarily became a “barren waste land.” The lack of jazz venues forced musicians and singers to get 9-5 jobs.
For Leech, all that remains of the city’s jazz scene are his fond memories of the era.
“Wilmington still hasn’t recovered,” he said. “You go there on any night of the week and look around…it’s a dead city.” To download the “Wedgehorn Manifesto” for free visit www.brokenturtle.blogspot.com.

Plus on the East side: (from this skyscrapercity blog) - the Knotty Pine restaurant at the corner of 11th and Wilson Streets. this restaurant is the oldest continuously operating black-owned restaurant in the city. Over the years, the Knotty Pine has attracted quite a few celebrities, including Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, and Lena Horne. Knotty Pine's two famous dishes are well-known mid-atlantic specialties, chitterlings and muskrat.

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NCC Planning Board Chair Heeds Citizen Complaints, Pushes Back Deadline For Public Comment On The 2012 Comprehensive Plan Update To 4PM February 2nd

2012-01-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

(News Journal) Melissa Burke reports ~ NCCo growth plan review extended - Land-use map complaints lead to longer public comment period

The community has about three more weeks to comment on the proposed update to New Castle County’s Comprehensive Plan, a blueprint that would guide land-use decisions in the county for years to come. At a hearing on the draft document last week, county planners voted to extend the period for public comment by 30 days after complaints that GIS maps affiliated with the plan arrived too late in the process to allow for sufficient review.The new deadline is 4 p.m. Feb. 2. “They wanted more time to provide detailed, public comments on the record,” said Richard Killingsworth, who chairs the Planning Board and made the motion to extend the comment period.“That is a very basic request. It doesn’t encumber anyone, and we want to hear from the public on these issues.”

“The initial maps were very deficient. You couldn’t tell what was going on,” said Jeff Peters, president of the Pike Creek Valley Civic League.

...David Culver, general manager of land use for the county, could not be reached for comment. He has said the public had sufficient information to submit comments on the plan at the Jan. 3 hearing hosted by the county Planning Board and Land Use Department.

...At Killingsworth’s request, the county last week posted a link to GIS maps among documents related to the comprehensive plan update. The county also included directions for accessing the comprehensive-plan data in the county GIS system, as well as a contact phone number to reach the Land Use Department for help.

The nonprofit preservation group Delaware Greenways didn’t have time to gather and submit formal comments on the plan, said Andrea Trabelsi, the organization’s director of programs and community planner.“It was a really tight deadline at some points in the last year, so we’ll definitely be looking to submit comments with the additional time,” she said.

The planning board now won’t consider the draft plan until its business meeting Feb. 21, Killingsworth said. Next, the County Council reviews the draft and will likely hold its own public hearings and offer time for public comment. The updated comprehensive plan is due to the state in July.

Comment period extendedThe New Castle County Planning Board has extended by 30 days the time for the public comment on the proposed 2012 update of the county’s Comprehensive Plan. The new deadline is 4 p.m. Feb. 2.A copy of the plan is on the county’s website at www.nccde.org. Follow the link under the “NCC Spotlight” area of the home page. For detailed maps down to the parcel level, click on “Draft Documents” and follow the directions to view map layers through the GIS mapping system.All county libraries also have a copy available. Comments on the plan should be sent to compplan12@nccde.org or to NCC Department of Land Use, Attn.: D.J. Guthrie Carter, 87 Reads Way, New Castle, DE 19720.

(Dave Carter image taken at 2012 CPU kickoff)

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NCC Council Meetings: Stoltz's Plans For 20 Montchanin Set For January 17th And 24th In Wilmington

2012-01-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

(WNJ image)

From the inbox ~

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Over the next two weeks, Stoltz's plans for 20 Montchanin will come before the Land Use Committee of County Council (on Tues Jan 17) and the full Council (on Tues Jan 24 for a final vote). Stoltz is proposing significant changes at the former Columbia Gas/MBNA office property at Routes 141 & 100. Please read the details of the changes below and plan to speak at one of the hearings and contact County Council by email or letter.

Current Deed Restrictions - Stoltz has very limited rights under the current, highly protective deed restrictions at 20 Montchanin. The existing restrictions, which date from 1968/1969, were purposely made much more restrictive than the Office Regional (OR) zoning at the site. They mandate - asingle office building, not multiple buildings
- traditional office use only
- a building footprint limited to 1.70 acres
- a building height of 2 stories maximum

As a result, any expansion at the site would have to be added to the existing building and would be limited to ~12,000 sq. ft.

Stoltz's Proposal - Stoltz is asking the Council to
- drop the existing, highly protective deed restrictions that have endured for 43
years- replace them with permissive new restrictions that
- expand the footprint allowed at the site - allow multiple buildings - allow the
commercialization of the site

The current Office Regional (OR) zoning at the site is quite expansive, allowing restaurants, retail stores, lodging facilities, drive-ins, banks and funeral homes--among other uses. In addition, the proposal contemplates a potential rezoning of part of the site to Commercial Neighborhood (CN), which would permit even more intrusive and inappropriate commercial uses.

The new restrictions were introduced without appropriate notice at a Nov 15 meeting of the Planning Board and without a required public hearing contrary to long standing practice and County law. Planning Board members were given all of 5 minutes to read them, and the public was specifically excluded from review and comment.

The Facts are ClearThe current deed restrictions are highly protective and must be preserved. Lifting the existing deed restrictions and rezoning the site opens the door to unwarranted commercialization at the very gateway to the Brandywine Valley. And once 20 Montchanin falls, it's easier for nearby properties like the Raskob estate and others to be commercialized.

The incredible beauty and heritage of this area is owned by all Delawareans. Has the world changed so much that we must lose it parcel by parcel, not for the greater good, but for simple economic gain for a few? When the community gave an inch 43 years ago at 20 Montchanin, the door was opened for those who would take a mile today. Enough is enough.

Please contact County Council to demand that the existing deed restrictions be preserved, and please attend the hearings scheduled for this month. The Land Use Committee meets at 3 PM on Tues Jan 17 and the Council hearing will be at 7 PM on Tues Jan 24 -- both in the City-County Building downtown.

Thank you for protecting our community.

Your Neighbors at Save Our County

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Email address for the full County Council is below
tkovach@nccde.org; jmreda@nccde.org; rsweiner@nccde.org; jkilpatrick@nccde.org; phollins@nccde.org; ediller@nccde.org; wepowersjr@nccde.org ; gsmiley@nccde.org; jjcartier@nccde.org ; tpsheldon@nccde.org ; jpstreet@nccde.org ; dltackett@nccde.org; jwbell@nccde.org

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What's Shakin'?

2012-01-09T05:45:00.000-08:00

Some wowsa items from (FDL) David Dayen's ~ Roundup
• Contra Bill McBride, I don’t think these imminent housing policy changes will make much of a difference (moronic James Pethokoukis blog posts notwithstanding). I’m convinced there won’t be an AG settlement, and according to McBride the HARP changes won’t even begin to make a dent until March. Without a concomitant PSA campaign to educate borrowers of the possibilities, that’s going to fall totally flat. I don’t see the Freddie Mac forbearance program for the unemployed having much of an impact either. What does seem to be changing is the willingness of policymakers to step out from the orthodoxy. At the Fed, Sarah Bloom Raskin vowed to fine mortgage servicers for what she specifically called deceptive practices. At the NY Fed, Bill Dudley endorsed principal reductions. The ultimate policies that result may be miniscule, but this is a sea change in how the foreclosure crisis is being viewed in the corridors of power.
• In a follow-up to the situation in Dimock, PA, where the fracking company that contaminated the water supply refuses to ship in water to residents, the EPA may get involved.
• Shades of Judy Miller: The NYT flat-out lies as part of an effort to gin up a war with Iran. There was no International Atomic Energy Agency assessment that Iran’s nuclear program has a military objective. Leon Panetta was extremely careful this morning to say that Iran sought a “nuclear capability” and not a nuclear weapon. The Times disappeared this line in their story for the online edition.

Meanwhile (Politico) Maggie Haberman writes ~ Christie to protesters: Jobs not going down, sweetheart

...[W]hen Christie talked, he chose his own way of dealing with [protesters]. "Somebody's going down tonight, but it ain't going to be jobs, sweetheart," he said to one woman chanting "Christie Kills Job" at the Romney town hall in Exeter. He went on to describe the woman as "disoriented by the loss of hope and change." Earlier, Romney said Christie would show them how to win "Jersey style," essentially warming up the crowd for his surrogate before he handed Christie the microphone as the main attraction.

And there's always Biden news floating around near the surface: (Kilroy's Delaware) ~ WTF !!! Joe Biden’s brother Frank heads a charter school chain in Florida
Plus, DialogueDel Blog post: NY Times columnist lays out scenario for Obama to dump Biden, add Clinton to ticket delonline.us/wv52K1

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Petition Nemours Foundation Board To Save The Historic Murphy House

2012-01-06T13:57:00.001-08:00

Update: Confirmed: La Grange granary is gone without a demolition permit. I registered complaints about the granary and manor house decay and there is supposedly an inspector going to the property this week. I am also trying to FOIA the Murphy House demolition documentation and the La Grange record plan files. But staffers report that Paul Clark is short-staffing land use and there's no one full time for Historic Preservation or FOIA duties! Only a planner and a secretary both with full plates otherwise. The FOIA requests are not getting done. Yet, over the holidays, Paul Clark hired Terry Reilly as Executive Assistant under David Culver. Lsst week Terry said " I am going to help Paul" when asked what she would be doing in land use. NICE ONE CLARK (for those who haven't heard, Clark's high school buddy, Reilly, was the rubber-stamping Chairperson for NCC Planning Board while she worked for MBNA getting their various corporate campus sites constructed during the 1990s. When that job ended she went to work for Roger Roy and took over as Transportation Management Assoc. Executive Director until that organization went belly up this fall. This is the second $100K+ find-a-friend-a job Clark's hired that I know of (and yes, I have filed FOIA to confirm Jim Grant and Terry Reilly's salaries).

Meanwhile, Murphy House torn down Historic building's site will be open space
~~~~~
A friend sent the bad news about a historic granary at La Grange a few weeks ago (you know, the heritage farm Pam Scott all but drove the bull-dozer through while Paul Clark enjoyed the benefits of the payoff): Well, unfortunately, the neglect of the La Grange manor house and outbuilding that we once feared is starting to take its toll. In recent weeks, the historic drive through granary has fallen in and was demolished. The rain gutter is falling off of the manor house and the roof appears to be in bad condition. It's just a matter of time before the current owner gets their apparent wish for demolition by neglect for this historic property. Very sad.
(image: WNJ: Nemours, Murphy house; Granary )
Were your hackles raised by this (News Journal) letter from John W. Martin? ~ Del. history is slighted with just a signpost

Since when is demolition considered a "new use?" ("A new use for Murphy House," Saturday) Such a loss is shameful and should be termed "DelDOT business as usual." Will the result be the one desired all along?
First, the state does very little to maintain the house after signing a memorandum with several agencies that included a preservation easement on the property. Next, the Nemours Foundation gets the property for $10 and promises to rehabilitate the house. More years of neglect pass, and Nemours decides the cost to unnecessarily transform the house into Class A office space would take too much from its mission. It proposes to tear down the house or have someone move it. Now DelDOT's secretary comes in and signs an agreement that will ensure the foundation keeps the previously ignored property, and it can be cleared and a sign erected (a condition from the Historic Review Board, by the way). So, let's check the scorecard. State agreement: failed. Nemours agreement: failed. Any predictions for the new DelDOT agreement should something else be proposed?
Rehabilitation and use should be the option sought by all, especially the Nemours Foundation with support from the state. It is unfortunate that the only choices examined seem to be complete restoration or demolition. I hope that preservation will be allowed as the community was promised. However, given the players and intents, it looks like Delaware's history and public once again get the shaft, or in this case, a signpost. - John W. Martin, Delaware City

John Martin probably hasn't heard the rumors that Pam Scott is involved with the Murphy House fiasco. I heard she called the land use department last week to push through the demolition permit. I do know that Scott's been up to her old tricks -- meeting at least once for 'Wellness' (she told me pro bono) with the NCC Historic Review Board off agenda while I happened to be there to look in on Tom Prusak, the President of Landmark Engineering, handling the newest La Grange record plan application [Nichols/McCoy and Friendship Baptist Church]. The Friends of Historic Glasgow documented Scott's off agenda meeting with the NCC HRB when she was first trotting out her plan of destruction of La Grange farm [RE: PLUS review - PLUS 2005-06-15; La Grange]. Mr. Prusak was with Pam Scott for each of the other La Grange NCC HRB meetings so it was strange to see her appear during the most recent application well after she'd ostensibly QUIT representing Nichols.
As it happens, the heritage structures at La Grange that Paul Clark supposedly took an oath of office to secure and protect, have been demolished and degraded through demolition by neglect RIGHT AT THE VERY SPOT where Prusak secured his 2011 minor record plan. (Land Use confirmed that the HRB did not recommend that this plan go forward. I have FOIA'd the documents).
The 2011 La Grange application is for a roadway and land divisions on the supposedly protected manor house - granary parcel. Prusak claimed that DelDOT MADE HIS CLIENT put a huge road through.....yeah riiiiiiiiiiiight. I am seeking FOIA for any demolition permit or complaint for this incredible destruction of our heritage in the name of development.
Once again DelDOT is sticking its nose in the demolition of New Castle County heritage structure? Or they're in the business of coming to the 'rescue' of poor put upon wealthy people? hmmmmmm (News Journal) Estaban Parra reported ~ New use for Murphy House? DelDOT changes rules on land; trailhead considered

The fate of the Murphy House, an 1840s farmhouse across from the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland, is closer to being known.Delaware Secretary of Transportation Shailen Bhatt signed paperwork changing usage of the property, which could mean the house will be razed."This is something that I do not undertake lightly," said Bhatt, who sat on preservation boards before coming to Delaware. "It's just with this one, with the time and deterioration, and the fact that it's landlocked, there's not a lot of viable uses for it."

The Murphy House came under threat of demolition after the state sold the property to the Nemours Foundation, which initially promised to restore the building. But after studying the cost of fixing it, the foundation said it could not justify the expense, even though a decades-old deed restriction called for exactly that, foundation spokeswoman Grace Gary said.The foundation has received a proposal from Delaware Greenways and other nonprofits to rehab the building as a trailhead, with rental bikes. Gary said the foundation's chief executive officer is expected to respond to the proposal."We will do nothing until such time as that response has been made," she said. "And at this time, we are in a holding pattern similar to the one we have been in up until now." The foundation offered $50,000 toward moving the building, but no one came forward. Nemours applied for a demolition permit on Nov. 3, 2010. A public outcry followed the foundation's decision not to keep its public promise to restore the building, saying it could not justify spending projected renovation costs determined in an evaluation of the property last year.The Historic Review Board of New Castle County held the permit for nine months, the most it can do legally. The building could have been razed as early as Aug. 3.

Residents, elected officials, the nonprofit Preservation Delaware and others have urged Nemours to reconsider demolition.In addition to the Murphy House's razing, the modification Bhatt signed will make sure the property remains with the foundation and that it is only used as open space. If the property is torn down, a plaque must be posted saying the home was there at one time.The foundation is expected to receive the paperwork next week. State officials had promised since the 1990s to preserve the house in connection with area road work. The Department of Transportation acquired the house after performing road work on the site, a farm pared over time to a little less than an acre.
Let me suggest that when you email members of the Nemours Foundation (below) , you also email the Delaware Historical Society and protest Pam Scott's seat on their Board of Trustees deinfo@dehistory.org

From the inbox ~
Re: Save the Murphy House. Mail Campaign. Nemours Board is making a decision now. Friends, I posted a message on the FaceBook page regarding starting an email campaign directed at the Nemours Board of Directors who are still in the decision making stage regarding the fate of Murph. I made it very easy; I found out the direct contact to the Board and I put a sample message on the page to cut and paste. Please go to this link and send a message right away, it's very easy. Tell as many people as you can to do the same. It doesn't matter if all the messages are the same, as long as the senders give their personal information: http://savethemurphyhouse.org/mailnemours.html
Direct emails to: Marylynn Girouar, Executive Coordinator for The Board: mgirouar@nemours.org

~*~

Bogus Economic Claims For Army Corps Delaware River Deepening Project?

2012-01-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Corps of Engineers Uses New Recipe to Cook the Books – Again – To Push Wasteful Delaware River Deepening Project
Taxpayer and Environmental Groups Release Report on Updated
Economic Analysis

Bristol, PA; Washington, DC: Responding to renewed economic claims for Deepening the Delaware River, a coalition of taxpayer, community, and environmental organizations issued a new independent analysis they say proves once again that the deepening project is an economic loser. The groups issued the analysis and an accompanying report titled “Army Corps Cooks the Books Again,” in response to a May 2011 analysis issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. (Copy of the reports can be obtained at www.delawareriverkeeper.org.)

“The Army Corps once again tried to mislead Congress and the public about the deepening project – a renewed analysis by Dr. Bob Stearns clearly demonstrates how the Army Corps manipulated their calculations so as to present a false picture for the project,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. “The inappropriate calculation was not hard to find. The Corps’ own report provides the analysis and numbers. Without deepening, shippers will use the feeder port approach which is far cheaper than trucking, and when all matters are considered, is also cheaper than deepening. The Corps’ assessment pretends that without deepening, shippers would use the far more expensive trucking option to get goods to the Philadelphia area markets. But the Corps’ own practices and procedures make clear that the shipping alternative is the best alternative and the one that would be selected, thereby supporting and encouraging port jobs without the need for a nearly $300 million, environmentally devastating deepening project.”

According to the new Cooked the Books report, correction of the shipping vs trucking error alone reduces the benefit-cost ratio for the project to, at best 1.1 (or to below 1 to 1, depending on a shipping diversion assumption) -- far below the 1.64 claimed by the Army Corps’ May 2011 report. Supplemental information in the report provided by the coalition of organizations identifies a number of additional errors they say, when included in the calculation, revive the GAO finding that deepening would provide less than a dollar of benefit for every $1 of cost paid for by the taxpayers.

“The Corps’ economic analysis deserves to be on a Chinese menu under twice-cooked pork. The errors were too obvious and too basic to be a mistake” says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “But more importantly, the new report is being used to justify renewed funding for a project that doesn’t meet the Federal Government’s basic criteria for ensuring tax dollars are invested only in those projects that will generate clear economic value for the country.”

“This new economic analysis makes it clear that the Delaware River Deepening project is an economic looser, which poses substantial environmental risks. The Army Corps needs to take a hard look at its project review practices if projects like this, that don’t meet the Corps’ own basic economic standards, are getting the green light,” asserts George Sorvalis, Coordinator with the Water Protection Network.

In a report issued in April, 2010, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its third challenge to the reliability and accuracy of the Army Corps economic claims for deepening (the first GAO report being issued in 2002, the second challenge in the form of Congressional testimony given in 2006). The Army Corps 2011 report was issued in apparent response to the less than glowing, GAO 2010 report. The May 2011 Army Corps analysis was its 8th economic analysis of the deepening. “But no one ever learned of this report or got an opportunity to review it until we secured the report through a Freedom of Information Act request,” says van Rossum. “As soon as we received a copy we pursued an independent review of its claims. We think our findings clearly demonstrate why the Army Corps felt the need to keep this newest analysis an apparent secret – because it’s clear that once again they cooked the books, a practice far too common with the Army Corps and one that demeans the entire federal government.”

“With the nation staring into a $15 trillion chasm of debt and Congress looking for deficit reduction, there is no place in the budget for this boondoggle,” says Ellis. “For years, the Delaware River Deepening survived on a steady diet of parochial earmarks. The current earmark moratorium provides Congress the perfect opportunity to stop wasting tax dollars on this economic loser.”
Plus,

Additional Findings: Impact of Pending Clean Water Rollback Bill Will Cost Over $1 Billion

Trenton – A coalition of New Jersey’s13 leading environmental groups released a report by a hydrogeolist today, building on the report the groups released yesterday by Dr. Stephan Souza, which showed how pollution to state waters could significantly increase under a bill pending before the New Jersey Legislature. The additional analysis was prepared by Peter Demicco of Demicco & Associates, LLC, a hydrogeology firm that specializes in ground water resource engineering. According to Mr. Demicco, the bill (A4335 and S3156) would burden residential and industrial consumers of New Jersey’s water with between $217 and $435 million in additional water treatment costs annually. In addition, by allowing development in lands that are ecologically critical to maintaining our water supply—as this bill proposes—up to $17 million of water resources would be lost annually.

“The water resources of New Jersey are held in trust on our behalf by the State. To allow development on the lands that are necessary to maintain our water supply is betrayal of that trust, and an unacceptable give-away to the building lobby,” said Elliott Ruga, Senior Policy Analyst, New Jersey Highlands Coalition.

“The Dirty Water bill will degrade our environment, pollute our drinking water, and pass major clean up costs onto the people of our state. There could not be a worse deal for the people. Legislators should vote no, or they will be responsible for more than doubling water pollution in affected areas and increasing drinking water treatment costs by 20%. That's a terrible legacy to pass on to the people of this state. We urge the Legislature to look at the science and the consequences of this bill and reverse course,” said Dena Mottola Jaborska, Executive Director, Environment New Jersey.

“It is shocking that the Legislature would even consider taking action that will increase water treatment costs for New Jerseyans. This Bill is a double whammy – it dirties our water and it makes us pay more for it. And for what? So developers can make plenty of money expanding into the last open areas of the State, degrading it? We can’t live without water; none of us can escape the harm this Bill brings. The Legislature needs to stop the Dirty Water bill”, said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

The report assessed the financial impacts of allowing development in the 300,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands that would lose protections under the proposed legislation. Mr. Demicco evaluated the costs of additional treatment of drinking water, the permanent loss of water resources, and the socioeconomic impacts to the recreational and tourist economies.

The report utilizes established formulas to reliably assess cost impacts of the bill, such as a 2004 Trust For Public Lands/American Water Association study, which found that for every 10% decrease in forested watershed lands, water treatment costs rise approximately 20%. Peer reviewed studies by NJDEP, The NJ Water Supply Master Plan and the University of Delaware are referenced in determining the true dollar values that would be sacrificed if A4335/S3156 succeeds.

~*~

Pacem In Terris' IRAQ WAR REMEMBRANCE Set For 7PM Thursday In Wilmington

2012-01-04T04:52:00.000-08:00

From the inbox ~

THE IRAQ WAR
REMEMBER, REFLECT AND RE-COMMIT

Please join us to
Remember all those killed and injured in the Iraq War,
Reflect on the 8 years of the war and what happens now in Iraq and to the troops who have come home, and
Re-commit ourselves to working for peace.

The event will be held from 7-8 pm. on Thursday, January 5th, starting with a service at Hanover Presbyterian Church, 18th Street & Baynard Blvd, Wilmington (for directions, go to http://www.hanoverchurch.org/).
After the service, there will be a procession to the Vietnam memorial, across the street from Hanover, where there will be a short candlelight vigil. If the weather is bad, the entire service will be held at Hanover.
Some info on what is really happening in Iraq: Last Thursday, just days after the final withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, the New York Times reported that the Obama Administration is pushing ahead with $11 billion in arms sales to Iraq. The U.S. State Department is brokering the deal that would deliver to the Iraqi military of the Shiite dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki a host of advanced weapons including Raytheon M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, cannons and armored personnel carriers, as well as F-16 advanced fighter jets made by the world's largest weapons producer, Lockheed Martin. Read the complete story here, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/world/middleeast/us-military-sales-to-iraq-raise-concerns.html?_r=2&hp.
The U.S. State Department maintains in Iraq the world's largest embassy with a staff of 16,000 - half of which are armed para-military "security" contractors. Here is another recent article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/25/us-departure-iraq-illusion

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"AN EVOLVING LEGACY: THE STORY OF THE COASTAL ZONE ACT"
Wilmington in Transition, a project of Pacem in Terris, will host a public showing of "An Evolving Legacy: the Story of the Coastal Zone Act," a documentary made by Michael Oates and narrated in part by Russ Peterson, on Thursday, January 26, at 7 pm in The Meeting Room at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1502 W. 13th Street, Wilmington.
Michael Oates, the filmmaker, will introduce the film and make some remarks afterwards and June Peterson, the widow of the late former Governor, will also make some remarks. There is no admission fee, but a freewill offering will be collected after the showing.

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ROBERT GATTIS TO BE EXECUTED IN DELAWARE JANUARY 20
Please go to http://www.robertgattisclemency.com/ and read the information about Gattis' upcoming execution in Delaware. We hope you till sign the petition, after reading the information.

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SEPTEMBER 11TH COALITION FOR JUST & PEACEFUL INITIATIVES

(the anti-war arm of Pacem in Terris)
This Coalition is the group which organizes everything to do with the peace/anti-war issues of Pacem in Terris. It was organized as a result of September 11th. We are having a meeting on January 30th at 7 p.m. at the Pacem in Terris office, 1304 N. Rodney Street, Wilmington, to discuss future plans and where we should go from here.
It is important that this group continue its mission, as it is such an important part of Pacem in Terris. We invite anyone who has an interest in this to please come to the meeting.

**********************************************************

Plus, Commit to fighting indefinite detention for as long as it take - Sign the ACLU pledge right now.

The new year has just begun and we've already got our first big challenge. On New Year's Eve, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. It contains a sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provision. And it has no time or geographic limits. It can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield. Despite initial assurances that he would veto this outrageous bill, President Obama will now be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law. He signed it. Now, we have to fight it wherever we can and for as long as it takes. Make it clear you won't rest until this outrage is reversed. Sign the ACLU's pledge to fight worldwide indefinite detention for as long as it takes.

Under the Bush administration, similar claims of worldwide detention authority were used to hold even a U.S. citizen detained on U.S. soil in military custody. The ACLU believes that any military detention of American citizens or others within the United States is unconstitutional and illegal, including under the NDAA. With your help, we will fight worldwide detention authority wherever we can, be it in court, in Congress, or internationally. If you believe that no American citizen or anyone else should live in fear of this President or any future president misusing this new detention authority, now is the time to act. Commit to fighting indefinite detention for as long as it takes. Sign the ACLU pledge right now. Now more than ever, the defense of freedom is up to us. Let's prove that we're up to the task.

~*~

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T03:19:00.000-08:00

(Olbermann images)

Delaware Insurance Commissioner Announces Conditional Approval Of Blue Cross Blue Shield / Highmark Merger

2011-12-30T08:19:00.000-08:00

(presser)

INSURANCE COMMISIONER KAREN WELDIN STEWART ANNOUNCES BCBSD AND HIGHMARK AFFILIATION DECISION

Dover, DE – December 30, 2011 – Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart announced today that she has approved the proposed affiliation of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware with Highmark, Inc., of Pennsylvania. Commissioner Stewart imposed 49 Conditions on the transaction, which added many protections not included when the application was first filed with her Department in October, 2010. Many of the conditions were included in the findings and recommendation to Commissioner Stewart by Judge Battle R. Robinson, who acted as Hearing Officer. In November, Judge Robinson announced her findings, recommending that Stewart approve the transaction.

Under the arrangement as approved, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware will remain a separate, Delaware based, non-profit health service corporation, with its corporate office and most of its Delaware functions and character to be maintained. Under the arrangement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware will share in the financial strength and administrative functions of the much larger Highmark. The Conditions that accompanied the approval meet a variety of concerns that became evident in the fourteen (14) month process of analysis and public hearings that preceded today’s decision.

Commissioner Stewart stated: “With these protections, I find that the affiliation should go forward and I hereby approved the application early this morning. I am confident that this affiliation will prove to be in the best interests of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware and its subscribers.”

At today’s press conference in connection with the announcement of her decision, Commissioner Stewart elaborated on her concerns for the Delaware Company and its subscribers, and for other citizens of Delaware, as the health care insurance markets change in the future: “I have watched with great concern as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware and other small health insurers have struggled to compete with large national insurers who have billions of dollars of capital and resources. These small companies have limited ability to make the changes required by today’s health care reform.” Stewart agreed with the Delaware Company that it will benefit from the following advantages of the affiliation: expanded research and development of new products, prompt payment of claims, enhanced technology interface, regulatory compliance improvements, and immediate access to professional expertise.

Commissioner Stewart stated, “I am also very concerned for the many people who do not have health insurance, and the difficulties that this tragedy imposes on them, and on the entire health delivery system. As part of my approval, I have imposed certain conditions to help with this concern.”

With the conditions, Commissioner Stewart addressed the following:

BCBSD will remain in Delaware. Its corporate office will stay here and the people that Delaware subscribers interact with will be here. Employment in Delaware will be continued.

The Board of Directors will include independent Delaware residents who have lived in Delaware for at least five years and are not employees of BCBSD, Highmark, or any of its affiliates. This important class of independent directors will have substantial influence over the operations of the company.

The assets and reserves of BCBSD will be fully protected and can be used only for the benefit of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware or its subscribers.

The important community contributions that BCBSD has made in the past will continue; indeed, in many cases they will be expanded.

All operations will remain under the direct regulatory control of the Delaware Insurance Department.

Commissioner Stewart also approved an additional condition last night to make Delaware’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) affordable to families slightly above the federal poverty level. BCBSD has agreed to add $3 million dollars to their commitment to subsidize the CHIP program until June 30, 2014, or until the federal program goes into effect, whichever occurs first.

To obtain a copy of Commissioner’s Stewart’s Decision and Final Order and a copy of her press conference statement, visit the Delaware Department of Insurance’s website at www.delawareinsurance.gov/.

~*~

New Castle County Residents File Suit To Overturn Rezoning Of Barley Mill Plaza

2011-12-28T02:04:00.000-08:00

From the inbox ~ “Save Our County” on their Delaware Chancery Court Barley Mill Plaza Lawsuit - We are asking the Court to overturn this rezoning and send it back to Council for an informed debate and vote. This would provide the opportunity for a full and frank discussion of the true traffic impact on our community and whether this proposal would need to be downsized. The timing and scope of needed road improvements, and who pays for these upgrades, would also be identified -- all based on thorough, in depth traffic analysis. Council would then be in a position to make an informed decision as to whether this rezoning should occur at all or on what terms.

New Castle County Residents File Suit To Overturn Rezoning of Barley Mill Plaza

Wilmington, Delaware-- The civic association “Save Our County” and four individual plaintiffs filed suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking to overturn New Castle County Council’s approval of Commercial Regional rezoning at Barley Mill Plaza. Among other things, the suit contends that the County should not have granted the zoning change from Office Regional requested by the Stoltz real estate organization ("Stoltz") without following the mandate of Delaware law to first consider existing and projected traffic impact.

On October 25, the County Council approved, by a bare 7-6 majority, developer Stoltz’s proposal calling for a more intensive, commercial use at the site it purchased from DuPont in 2007. The Council’s decision capped several years of local and regional opposition to various plans for the site by Stoltz, which represented the owners and wealthy investors in the parcels.

Stoltz proposes to build a large regional mall with high traffic pad sites along Route 141 at the site. The suit alleges that Commercial Regional zoning, the most intensive commercial zoning status available and intended to attract retail activity from throughout the region, was inappropriately granted to a site primarily surrounded by residential and low impact use uses, and where significant traffic congestion and other problems already exist. Plaintiffs claim that state law required Council to consider effects of existing traffic, projected traffic growth in the area, and projected traffic generated by the proposed Barley Mill development as a regional shopping area. Neither the Council nor the County Department of Land Use, which recommended approval of Stolz’s proposal, had done so.

David Culver, general manager of the Land Use Department and who reports directly to County Executive Paul Clark, is also named as a defendant in the case, as well as New Castle County, the Department of Land Use, County Council, and Barley Mill LLC, applicant for the rezoning and property owner of record. The individual plaintiffs of record are local residents whose homes are located at various points near the Barley Mill Plaza site.

Attorney Joseph Kelly, a leading member of “Save Our County,” said, “Residents throughout New Castle County are quite frankly shocked that aproject of this magnitude and precedence was approved without regard to expert traffic data, despite clear state law requirements. The lawsuit seeks simply to ensure that our decision makers follow the law and review all relevant and appropriate data in order to make informed decisions on behalf of county residents. I am convinced that once a full traffic analysis is presented, it will show that this project or any alternative project must be significantly downsized or scrapped altogether.

”Plaintiff Thomas S. Neuberger, an individual plaintiff in this case, stated, “It was irrational and arbitrary to rezone property bigger than 5 football fields, found along two major highways and in our home neighborhoods, without first requiring a completed traffic study, as state law requires. But instead the County narrowly gave in to the big bucks pressure and threats of the Stoltz machine which never saw a quiet residential neighborhood it did not want to destroy. Fortunately, the Delaware courts will not be bullied or outsmarted by Stoltz, as were the politicians. The other plaintiffs and I will never give up and will fight Stoltz to the end on this new battlefield where the law and not politics will decide this David and Goliath battle.
Mail contributions toward this legal action to: Save Our County, PO Box 4164, Wilmington, DE 19807-0164. soc@hushmail.com - The future of our County is in our hands.

More from (News Journal) Adam Taylor today ~ Group files suit seeking to overturn Barley Mill development vote

...County Attorney Gregg Wilson said Tuesday he hadn’t seen the suit, so it was difficult for him to comment in detail. But Wilson said the intersection has been sufficiently studied by DelDOT for years. In addition to the county government, the suit names County Council, the county Land Use Department, Land Use Department General Manager David Culver and Barley Mill LLC, the owner and developer of the site, as defendants. The suit identifies Keith Stoltz of Stoltz Real Estate Partners as member of Barley Mill LLC.

... The suit also alleges other “procedural irregularities,” such as adding on 10 deed restrictions late in the process that the suit says “turned the tide” of the Oct. 25 council vote. The legal action is also critical of the Land Use Department’s recommendation that council approve the rezoning. The suit claims that the report, and by extension the council’s vote, could have been influenced by the fact that Pam Scott, County Executive Paul Clark’s wife, was Stoltz’s attorney for three years, until March. Scott resigned from the Saul Ewing firm after the county Ethics Commission said either Scott or Clark would have to step down from their positions to prevent a conflict of interest on Clark’s part. Because Scott was Stoltz’s attorney for so long, the suit claims that the “orientation and mindset” of the Land Use Department officials who authored the report was skewed because of Scott’s former role as Stoltz’s attorney. “The departmental review should be conducted and then reported with total impartiality,” the suit says.

~*~

2011 Top Whoppers

2011-12-26T03:11:00.000-08:00

(The National Memo) Jonathan Alter writes ~ Lies, Damn Lies and the Four Whoppers of 2011

No. 1. “The financial crisis was caused not by Wall Street but by the federal government, namely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
No. 2. “Republicans voted to end Medicare.”
No. 3. “Democrats’ tax increases on millionaires are a ‘job-killer’ for small business.”
No. 4. “We’re inches away from no longer having a free economy.”

Plus, (Think Progress) Travis Waldron, Tanya Somanader and Pat Garofalo write ~ The 10 Craziest Economic Policy Ideas Of 2011

~*~

What's Up For The Holidays At Fair Hill's Painted Horse Ranch

2011-12-24T04:51:00.000-08:00

This little ranch is right down the road from me.

http://paintedhorseranch.net/

I'll be heading down to Elkton to see the riders from the Painted Horse Ranch parade through town this afternoon!

(Check out the farm web site above for free ponie rides through the rest of the year at Elkton and Oxford's Tractor Supply)

~*~

Merry Christmas Everyone

2011-12-24T04:29:00.001-08:00

(image: Marielle Solan)

Happy Holidays!

~*~

Victory For Wilmington's Office Cleaners As 32BJ SEIU Bargaining Committee Negotiates Four Year Wage Advancement Deal

2011-12-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

NEW CONTRACT FOR OFFICE CLEANERS SECURES WAGE INCREASES FOR NEXT FOUR YEARS
Strike Averted before Expiration

Wilmington, DE – The 32BJ SEIU Bargaining Committee has announced tentative agreement on a four-year contract, subject to ratification, covering more than 450 commercial office cleaners in Delaware that provide cleaners with an average yearly wage increase of 5%. Union members must still ratify the tentative agreements.

“This is a win-win agreement that benefits businesses, workers and tenants alike,” said Wayne MacManiman, 32BJ Mid-Atlantic Director. “Helping hard-working men and women better support their families and our economy is an investment to secure the future for all Delawareans.”

Over the next four years, cleaners in Wilmington will see their average yearly pay increase from $8.70 per hour to $10.40 per hour.

32BJ members clean prominent buildings in Wilmington including the Bank of America Building, the DuPont Building, Brandywine Building, Chase Manhattan Center, Citizens Bank Center, and I. M. Pei Building.

Negotiations began on November 15th between 32BJ and top cleaning contractors such as ABM Industries, Inc., Bravo Building Services, and GCA Services Group. The contract was set to expire at 12:01 AM on January 1, 2012.

More than 60,000 property service workers from Hartford, Conn., to Virginia are united in a campaign to secure new contracts that raise wage and benefit standards.

With more than 120,000 members in nine states, including 10,000 in Philadelphia and Delaware, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property services union in the country.

~*~

June Eisley Writes: THE TROOPS ARE COMING HOME FROM IRAQ

2011-12-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

From the inbox ~

Peaceful friends,
The Iraq War is officially over. We are planning a service of Remembrance, Reflection and Hope at the beginning of 2012. You will hear about it soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to send the following message and article. This is a message from "Win without War" but I'm borrowing it to send to you from Pacem in Terris:

As you read these words, the last US troops are finally coming home from Iraq. The US war in Iraq is coming to an end. Nearly a decade ago, we came together to stand up against an unnecessary war, built on lies and fear. We understood that this war would endanger our national security while threatening countless American and Iraqi lives while wasting our nation’s limited resources.

Today we come together again to mark the culmination of our struggle for peace, honor those who served and recommit to fully turning the page on a long decade of war.The end of the Iraq War would not have been possible without the principled advocacy of millions of Americans. What began in 2002 as an effort to avert George W. Bush’s march to war in Iraq grew to a chorus of millions who changed the political landscape and kept fighting until all of our troops came home.

It was the tireless work of advocates like you that made this day possible.Even while we welcome our troops home, we must remember the painful costs of war.

Unfortunately, the end of the Iraq war comes far too late for the nearly
4,500 American soldiers who lost their lives, the tens of thousands wounded in combat, and the untold number of Iraqi civilians killed or injured in the war. Unconscionably, those who led us into this war, also refused to pay a single dime of its costs, placing the entire war on our nation’s credit card, wasting trillions of taxpayer dollars.

Above all, we honor the brave men and women who served in Iraq. For the more than 1 million Americans who served in this war, we owe both a debt of gratitude and a commitment to honor their service by fighting against current efforts to balance the budget on the backs of our veterans.

As the final US troops leave Iraq, we recognize there are many challenges that remain for both Americans and Iraqis. We hope that you will continue to lend your voice to the struggle for peace and recommit to the work that remains ahead. Thank you for all your work to end this war. It would not have been possible without you.

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(In the Middle) Raed Jarrar writes ~ The Iraq War Disaster
Millions of Iraqis are celebrating the U.S. withdrawal this month, in what is widely viewed as a condemnation of the U.S. military involvement in Iraq. This is especially true with the final attempt by the U.S. government to maintain troops under NATO being rejected by the Iraqis. While President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and other U.S. officials are trying their best to make the U.S. involvement in Iraq sound like a success, the vast majority of Iraqis see the 20 years of war with the U.S. as a major disaster that has destroyed their country.
There is no victory and no victors in the 20-year war. Except for a few war profiteers, everyone has lost. The U.S.-Iraqi war that started in 1990 has destroyed Iraq’s infrastructure and damaged the Iraqi social fabric. Iraq is far from having a functional democratic government. It is the fourth most corrupt country in the world according to Transparency International, and Baghdad is the worst city in the world according to Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living rankings. One million Iraqis have been killed in the last eight years alone, and another 5 million displaced. Millions of others have been injured and traumatized for life. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have been killed and wounded, and hundreds of thousands are back home with mental injuries. Iraq and the U.S. lost hundreds of billions of dollars because of the conflict.
While ending the U.S. military occupation is a step in the right direction, the U.S. will continue its intervention in Iraq through 16,000 State Department personnel — half of whom are armed mercenaries. Downsizing the U.S. State Department’s mission in Iraq is very important to insure a balanced bilateral relationships is built on mutual respect. There is no reason for the United States to have a larger mission in Iraq than the Iraqi diplomatic mission in the U.S., which is estimated to consist of a few dozen employees.
Today’s withdrawal is great news for the millions of Iraqis and Americans who have opposed this war all along. But ending the occupation does not end the U.S. moral and legal obligations to compensate Iraq and Iraqis for the crimes and mistakes committed in the last two decades. In addition, holding U.S. officials who caused this mess legally accountable will help achieve U.S.-Iraqi reconciliation, and it will send a strong message to future U.S. politicians that they will be held accountable.
Raed Jarrar is an Iraqi-born political analyst, and a Senior Fellow with Peace Action based in Washington, DC.

~*~

Occupy Delaware Writes: Wake For The Bill of Rights Set For 6PM Tonight At Peter Spencer Plaza In Wilmington

2011-12-15T03:41:00.000-08:00

Occupy Delaware to Mourn Death of Bill of Rights:
Visitors invited to leave signs and mementos to pay their respects

WILMINGTON, DE. Occupy Delaware is holding a wake for the Bill of Rights Thursday, December 15, on the 220th anniversary of its ratification. The wake will take place all day at Peter Spencer Plaza, culminating at 6 p.m., when people are welcome to say a few words about the dearly departed. Visitors are also invited to bring flowers, wreaths, notes, signs, and trinkets to pay their respects.

The action is prompted by a number of recent events, including the expulsion of several Occupy Wall Street encampments around the country, the brutal use of pepper spray against peaceful protestors, the repression against journalists, and the insidious encroachments on the Bill of Rights in the War on Terror.

Explains organizer for the memorial Meshal Riveria, "On this the anniversary of adoption of the Bill of Rights, we the members of Occupy Delaware are mourning its passing. It's clear looking around that our right to freedom of speech is being limited. Members of the press are being arrested. In a nation filled with turmoil, we of Occupy Delaware, fondly remember the glory that was once the pinnacle of democracy. With its passing, so too passes the very things that make us all Americans."

Occupy Delaware comprises a broad variety of voices. Anyone in Delaware who is fed up with a national agenda that is rigged in favor of the wealthiest one percent at the expense of the other ninety-nine percent is welcome to participate.
Webpage: http://www.occupyde.orgTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/occupydelawareFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/OccupyDE
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City (Occupy Wall Street):
http://occupywallst.org/forum/first-official-release-from-occupy-wall-street/.

Plus, the Occupation of the New Castle County's Sheriff's Foreclosure Sale got some press yesterday ~ Occupy protesters disrupt NCCo sheriff's sale

~*~

Nuke News Update With Frieda Berryhill

2011-12-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

Not all is well in Japan:
Fukushima fallout: Japanese company recalls powdered baby milk after detecting high levels of radioactive cesium Natural News.com
Japanese Tests Find Radiation in Infant Food Dispatch
Japanese Document Radioactivity In Food : NPR

TEPCO: 45 Tons Of Radioactive Water May Have Reached Pacific Ocean - More bad news from TEPCO: TOKYO — At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi buclear power station, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said on Sunday. The new radioactive water leak called into question the progress that the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to have made in bringing its reactors under control. The company, known as Tepco, has said that it hopes to bring the plant to a stable state known as a cold shutdown by the end of the year. The trouble on Sunday came in two stages, a Tepco statement said. In the morning, utility workers found that radioactive water was flooding a catchment next to a purification device; the device was then switched off, and the leak appeared to stop. But the company said it later discovered that leaked water was escaping through a crack in the catchment’s concrete wall and was reaching an external gutter. In all, as much as 220 tons of water may now have leaked from the facility, according to a report in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper that cited Tepco officials. The newspaper says the water may have contained up to one million times as much radioactive strontium as the maximum safe level set by the government, and about 300 times as much radioactive cesium. Both are readily absorbed by living tissue and can greatly increase the risk of developing cancer.
Japan Split on Hope for Vast Radiation Cleanup
CBSNews - Radioactive water leaks inside Japan nuclear power plant bit.ly/t2xV4Y - In meltdown, Japan dodged even bigger disaster bit.ly/tKu4ck

Washington DC dramatics: The Raw Story: Commissioner battling nuclear regulatory chairman has ties to Fukushima -

One of the commissioners upset with the behavior of Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), served as a consultant for the Japanese company that owns the Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to the Huffington Post. The five-member NRC regulates the 104 nuclear power reactors in the United States. Democratic Commissioners William Magwood and George Apostolakis and Republicans Kristine Svinicki and William Ostendorff wrote a formal complaint to the White House on Friday, claiming that Jaczko’s “behavior and management practices have become increasingly problematic and erratic.”
But documents released by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) suggest the conflict between the
commissioners and the chairman are about more than just management. According to Markey, the four commissioners have been trying to delay and weaken nuclear reactor safety regulations in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.
... Commissioner Magwood, who would be the leading candidate to take Jaczko position, has ties to Japan’s nuclear industry. TEPCO, the company that owns the Fukushima plant, was a client of the energy consulting firm he founded, Advanced Energy Strategies. The company provided “strategic advice to domestic and international organizations,” according to his official NRC bio. The watchdog group Project On Government Oversight opposed his nomination to the NRC in 2010,
claiming that he was too close to the nuclear industry to properly regulate it.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has scheduled a Wednesday hearing on NRC leadership, and all five members are expected to testify.

Washington's Blog: Nuclear Agencies Are Wholly Controlled By (and Serve) …
The Politico: W.H.: Jaczko apologizes
The Hill: White House: Nuke commission infighting won't jeopardize nuclear safety

Can you imagine evacuating NY City?
New York Nuclear-Accident Evacuation Would Work, Jaczko Says - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said Entergy Corp.’s Indian Point plant, about 24 miles (39 kilometers) north of the most populated U.S. city, should be closed because it isn’t feasible to evacuate about 20 million residents of the metropolitan area in the event of an accident.. Josh Vlasto, a Cuomo spokesman, declined to respond to Jaczko’s comments. “The governor’s position is clear,” Vlasto said today in an interview in Albany. “He wants to shut it down.”
HE WANTS IT SHUT DOWN
IN TODAY'S CLIMATE IT SEEMS ONLY GOD ALMIGHTY CAN DO THAT

Has the "blame game " begun?
Issa: Nuclear chief Jaczko is driving regulatory commission to ‘catastrophe’ -
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) escalated his criticism of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, arguing in a new report that he is driving the agency toward “catastrophe.”The report, which was written by Republican committee staff and released Tuesday, alleges that Jaczko is overstepping his authority as head of the commission and undermining his colleagues.
Let them fight with each other, I guess its a power struggle as the building of new nukes has stopped. It's a shame what we did to this beautiful planet in the meantime
Nuclear power report: 14 'near misses' at US plants due to 'lax oversight' - Nuclear plants in the United States last year experienced at least 14 "near misses," serious failures in which safety was jeopardized, at least in part, due to lapses in oversight and enforcement by US nuclear safety regulators, says a new report.
Ugly divide at NRC pits Jaczko vs. fellow commissioners - A war among the five commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission broke into the open Friday night when Republican Rep. Darrell Issa released a letter in which four of the commissioners said they have “grave concerns” about NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko.

Here we go - the billionaire nuke club?
guardian.co.uk - The billionaire investor Warren Buffett has agreed to buy a solar power farm in California worth $2bn (£1.3bn). Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings will take over Topaz Solar Farm, which is expected to produce enough power to run 160,000 homes when it is up and running in 2015. The farm, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is the world's second-largest photovoltaic plant under construction and is expected to generate 550-megawatts of electricity or about half the power of a nuclear reactor.
Bill Gates in discussions to develop nuclear reactor with China

Oh Yes the French ~~~~ Greenpeace activists break into French nuclear plant - PARIS — Activists from environmental group Greenpeace managed to sneak into a nuclear power plant near Paris on Monday in a move they said highlighted the dangers posed by France's reliance on atomic energy. Police confirmed the intrusion and said activists had tried to break into two other nuclear sites in the south of France.
Bravo ~~ Obama orders upgrades to energy efficiency of federal buildings
By Charles S. Clark cclark@govexec.com December 2, 2011
President Obama on Friday issued a presidential memorandum implementing a $2 billion plan to upgrade federal buildings for energy efficiency. The move follows the administration's earlier jobs push and Obama's more recent efforts to draw attention to the jobs bills stalled in Congress.
"Upgrading the energy efficiency of America's buildings is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now," Obama said in prepared remarks. "But we can't wait for Congress to act. So today, I'm directing all federal agencies to make at least $2 billion worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years-- at no up-front cost to the taxpayer. Coupled with today's extraordinary private sector commitments of $2 billion to upgrade businesses, factories, and military housing, America is taking another big step towards the competitive, clean energy economy it will take to win the future."

So what did I tell you: Watchdog says Ga. nuclear plant faces delays - ATLANTA (AP) — A state watchdog says the Atlanta-based Southern Co. may miss its deadline to build two nuclear reactors near Augusta and is under pressure not to exceed its budget. Nuclear engineer William Jacobs said in a report released Monday that the utility faces "significant challenges" making the first of two planned reactors at Plant Vogtle operational by April 2016. The current project schedule shows that deadline has slipped by five months [I predict a cancellation very soon.]
Water is our coming problem: Danube's near-record lows strangle shipping -
Severe drought has hit Europe's second largest river, the Danube, turning it into a navigation nightmare for shipping companies all the way from Germany to Bulgaria. [There is just no water! The situation is critical not only here on the lower Danube but also upriver in Hungary, Austria, Germany,] " Nuclear Plants can not operate without water Bucharest also feared it would have to shut one unit of its sole nuclear power plant at Cernavoda if levels dropped further, as the reactor uses water from a Danube-Black Sea canal for cooling.
Such a shutdown already occurred in 2003 when the river level hit an all-time low, a record now less than half a metre away.
Fighting on: More than 1300 protesters were arrested as police tried to clear the way for a train carrying nuclear waste from France to continue its journey. Most of the 3500 protesters remain (Getty image). GERMAN police battled thousands of protesters trying to stop a train bringing radioactive waste from France. - Security forces told at least 3500 demonstrators around the northern town of Harlingen to move out. With most activists remaining where they were, the police began to remove them one by one. No violence was reported while around 1300 people were detained by police.
Atomic Workers Health Cost to American Taxpayers
Statistics from the Department of Labor tallied the health cost of workers at selected atomic sites. A total of 87,585 individual atomic workers are represented by the 148,694 reported. The cost to American taxpayers was $7,575,946,888.
This is not all atomic workers since this cost does not cover current workers who are being exposed nor those workers not covered under Section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act implemented in 2001 (part B) and 2004 (part E). Claims involving sickness and death involving all nuclear fuels and enrichment process workers not covered under part B & E are not available.
Its time to close them all down

And in Delaware: How Much Can Solar Save You? Take a look !!!

~*~

John Kowalko Writes: On Smart Meters, Depreciation Writeoffs And Delmarva Power Company's Insidiously Greedy Behavior

2011-12-11T11:40:00.001-08:00

Representative Kowalko's letter to WDEL radio news anchor Allan Loudell today ~

Allan,

I’m sure you’ve noted the article in the News Journal by Aaron Nathans [Smart meters may cost you $39M - cites lost value of old meters, other issues ] on the DP&L request before the PSC to recover the costs of “smart meters” and (more significantly depreciation costs on the old ones being removed).

I have fought and debated before the PSC on numerous occasions (as a public member and on a few occasions as an intervener) against burdening ratepayers with new infrastructure and equipment that provides a preponderance of benefit (almost wholly) to the utility, its parent company and its shareholders.

Once again I am filing for intervener status in the De. PSC Docket No. 11-528 to vigorously oppose this burden of recovery expense being foisted on the defenseless ratepayers. I stress “defenseless” since the “Public Advocate” Michael Sheehy seems to have interpreted his responsibilities as defending the excesses of the utility rather than the interests of the ratepayers. This is one of a many recent instances when Public Advocate Sheehy has been more than a little disappointing and I’ve stated that (on the record) at PSC hearings on multiple occasions.

I find it particularly onerous that DP&L and its parent company “Pepco Holdings Inc.” have enjoyed a multi-hundred million dollar tax windfall at the expense of ratepayers over the years abetted by the long-term depreciation of infrastructure and equipment written into federal tax code and still hope to recover a $28.5 million junking of the old meters on the backs of ratepayers.

These new meters were not sought by ratepayers nor were they given an option nor will they benefit financially from the installation. I will continue to fight this abhorrent anti-consumer behavior and requests being made before the PSC and hope to enlighten the ratepayers and public to this insidiously greedy behavior.

As usual if you wish to discuss this important subject on the air I will make myself available to you at 302 737 2396 or 302 547 9351 to talk. I have an important “single-payer” meeting set for noon Monday but otherwise my schedule is flexible.
As always I am appreciative of your service to the public.

Respectfully,
John Kowalko

~*~

America's Poverty Belt

2011-12-09T03:42:00.001-08:00

AtlanticCities: Map of the Day, @Richard_Florida: America's Poverty Belt bit.ly/sGZ9af

The map above, from a Census special briefing report [PDF] released today, maps poverty by state. Immediately apparent is a broad "Poverty Belt" - states where more than three in ten people live in high poverty areas - stretching from West Virginia through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. The states with the lowest concentrations of poverty, where less than 10 percent of the population live in high poverty areas, are Wyoming, New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware and Maryland.
~*~

Petition For Exceptional Value Status For Delaware River And Tributaries - Disaster Relief --Clean Water Deliveries--To PA Fracking Victims

2011-12-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Over 20 Groups Petition PA Dept of Environmental Protection for a Regional Upgrade of the Delaware River and Tributaries
to Exceptional Value Status

12/8/11, Bristol, PA – Delaware Riverkeeper Network, American Rivers, Clean Water Action, Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited and over twenty local, state, and national organizations are submitting a regional stream upgrade petition to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to urge the Commonwealth to redesignate the Upper and Middle Delaware River and all tributary streams flowing into the River in these reaches on the Pennsylvania side to “Exceptional Value” status. This designation is reserved for the cleanest streams of the Commonwealth and only about 4% or 3,076 miles of Pennsylvania’s 86,000 miles of streams have received this designation (2009 data). Many of the streams of the proposed upgrade area have High Quality designation because of the clean streams in this region. The petitioners are submitting a 70-plus page petition that highlights water quality data from agency and non-agency sources and other qualifiers that they say, make this watershed deserving of an upgrade to Exceptional Value - the highest designation available to Pennsylvania streams. With this designation should come stronger protections to ensure this region’s water quality does not degrade in health over time.

According to Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, “our petition makes clear, the current designation given the Upper and Middle Delaware and its tributaries do not reflect the unique and important attributes of this River region as a whole.” The petitioners are requesting the PADEP expedite the petition due to proposed drilling in Marcellus shale deposits anticipated for the region which is underlain by the Marcellus Shale.

“The streams and River subject to this petition are highly vulnerable from both development and drilling; in order to honor its commitment to the public to protect the health of the Commonwealth’s streams this petition must move forward and be granted as quickly as possible,” states van Rossum.

“The Delaware River Basin provides drinking water for millions of Americans. An Exceptional Value designation is not only warranted, but essential to safeguard the health of the people, fish, and wildlife that rely on the clean water that the Delaware River provides every day.” Jessie Thomas-Blate, American Rivers.

“The Delaware River is a National Wild and Scenic River, designated by Congress for its outstanding resources. The River is the largest undammed River east of the Mississippi, flowing freely for 330 miles, and it is home to threatened and endangered species including diverse populations of native freshwater mussels, forty species of resident and migratory fish, and a valuable wild trout fishery in the
upper reaches.” Ken Undercoffer, PA Council of Trout Unlimited.

A recent report by the University of Delaware shows this River Basin provides the
region $22 billion in economic benefits from activities like hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, and farming. The Delaware River Basin is one of the largest water supply basins in the mid-Atlantic, providing drinking water for more than 15.6 million Americans.

(Kim Burdick image)

~*~

Celebrities, Elected Officials Bring Disaster Relief to PA Fracking Victims; Call on EPA and Inspector General to Take Action
Mark Ruffalo, Josh Fox, Senators, City Council Members to Announce NYC Water Delivery to Affected PA Residents

City Hall, New York City— A bipartisan group of elected officials from across New York State joined actor Mark Ruffalo, “Gasland” Director Josh Fox, and Pennsylvania fracking victims to announce the delivery of emergency water aid to families suffering from fracking-related water contamination in Dimock, PA. In what has become a pivotal showdown in the national controversy over the safety of fracking, a 5700-gallon water truck delivered clean water sourced from the New York City watershed to eleven affected households. Speakers from national and local environmental groups also called on Pennsylvania Inspector General Kenya Mann to investigate undue influence on Pennsylvania regulators, and appealed to U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to intervene in the case.

Clean water deliveries to the Dimock residents ceased on November 30th with approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, despite the DEP’s finding earlier this year that Cabot Oil and Gas, the drilling company operating in Dimock, was at fault for the contamination. Affected residents have complained of health problems after bathing in and drinking the water, which contains unsafe quantities of methane gas, heavy metals, radioactive material, and toxic chemicals such as ethylene glycol—otherwise known as antifreeze.

The Pennsylvania DEP had previously ordered Cabot to provide regular deliveries of replacement water to the affected residents, and planned the construction of a water pipeline from a nearby town, but later scrapped the pipeline plans during the transition to Governor Tom Corbett’s administration. Corbett received $1.6 million dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, out of the $747 million dollars on campaign cash and lobbying expenditures spent by the oil and gas industry on Pennsylvania state and Congressional elected officials, according to Common Cause PA.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has been prohibited from regulating hydraulic fracturing operations because of loopholes and exemptions for the gas industry, but earlier this year EPA Administrator Jackson vowed before Congress that “EPA will step in to protect local residents if a driller jeopardizes clean water and the state government does not act.” In calling on the EPA to intervene, advocates cited a recent incident in which Dimock resident Craig Sautner was threatened with arrest by the DEP, simply for calling the agency to ask for help. In recent days Dimock residents have also accused local elected officials of collusion with industry, citing the rejection of a mutual aid agreement proposed by Binghamton, NY mayor Matt Ryan, who attempted to deliver clean water to the affected residents. Township supervisors of Dimock rejected the offer of assistance, after a meeting with Cabot officials and a pro-industry advocacy group, in an apparent violation of Pennsylvania ethics laws.

At the City Hall press conference, speakers vowed to continue water aid to Dimock and demand accountability from both Cabot and the DEP.

“This past summer I took a trip to Dimock, PA to see for my own eyes the effects that fracking has had on Pennsylvania property owners. I visited families who had their drinking water contaminated with the toxic concoction natural gas companies use and who saw the values of their homes drop by 90 percent. It is imperative that clean drinking water be brought to our neighbors in Dimock. Here in New York, I am working diligently to make sure proper regulations are put in place to prevent big gas companies from doing the same thing to our homes and landscape,” said New York State Senator Greg Ball (R-40).

“Water is a universal necessity and a right. It’s downright shameful that the state agency that is supposed to protect the health and well-being of citizens would instead protect the corporation that caused this devastation. Thankfully, citizens from across this region and the country are stepping forward to help the residents of Dimock in their time of need,” said Mark Ruffalo, actor and founder of WaterDefense.org.

“What is happening in Dimock is a clear example of how natural gas companies will recklessly cut corners and risk the health of families and communities for the sake of profit,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “As Pennsylvania's state leadership fails to hold Cabot Corp. accountable for poisoning Dimock's drinking water, the Sierra Club will be there to help support the people of Dimock and expose corporate polluters like Cabot for putting profits before people,” said Sierra Club CEO Michael Brune.

“This is about standing up to the government when it abandons its people. It’s about defending the basic human right of access to clean water. These are American citizens that are so desperate for clean water that they’re pumping the water out of ponds and mixing it with bleach because they believe it’s safer than what’s coming out of their tap. We cannot allow this to happen here -- America is supposed to do better,” said Kate Sinding, Senior Attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“We need EPA to hold Cabot Oil and Gas accountable and continue the water delivery to Dimock. And we need EPA to join us in asking that Tom Corbett and PA DEP be investigated by the PA Inspector General for corruption and violation of the state constitution,” said Gasland Director Josh Fox in a letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

“Pennsylvania clearly has failed its citizens, and put the profits of a powerful industry before the health and safety of ordinary people. Carter Road in Dimock should be considered a disaster area, and residents impacted by fracking should receive immediate assistance. Instead, the Pennsylvania DEP has threatened residents with arrest simply for seeking aid. The case for EPA intervention in Pennsylvania is indisputable and urgent, as is the need for an investigation by the PA Inspector General,” said Claire Sandberg, Executive Director of Frack Action.

"This emergency is intolerable and must be permanently rectified by the State and
Cabot; in the meantime, if the State won't order clean water for Dimock residents, we will bring Delaware River drinking water as neighbors, knowing that anywhere gas drilling goes, this pollution can follow," said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper.

"Pennsylvania and Cabot say the toluene-laced water in these families' wells is safe. This is a new low in the already shameful history of fracking. Riverkeeper today stands with the people of Dimock. They were the first to suffer the terrible consequences of fracking gone wrong, but if the drillers have their way, they won't be the last,” said Paul Gallay, President of Hudson Riverkeeper.

“In a world where access to clean safe drinking water is causing a crisis in undeveloped countries we have the State of Pennsylvania and Cabot conspiring to bring that crisis to America,” said Wes Gillingham, Program Director of Catskill Mountainkeeper. “Cabot and PA DEP shirking their responsibility in this outrageous manor deserves a thorough criminal investigation.”

“Dimock, Pennsylvania has become ground zero for all that is wrong with hydraulic fracturing and an out of control political system dominated by corporate greed. As if it’s not bad enough that this toxic practice of gas drilling poisoned these families’ water, the government watchdogs in the PA DEP and in Governor Corbett’s office have turned a blind eye and allowed the polluting companies off the hook. Worse, they have abandoned the people they are sworn to protect. We are standing here in New York City today to make sure that Governor Cuomo doesn’t make this mistake, and take us down the same path. Our water is still safe, but for how long?” said David Braun, co-founder of United for Action.

~*~

32BJ SEIU Negotiations Get Some Traction Today - Occupy Update

2011-12-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

Update: OFFICE CLEANERS GIVE BARGAINING COMMITTEE AUTHORITY TO CALL A STRIKE –The region’s office cleaners today voted to authorize their union’s bargaining committee to call a strike, if necessary at a downtown rally and march. Negotiations for a new contract covering 450 commercial office cleaners in Delaware began on November 15th between 32BJ SEIU and Delaware’s major commercial cleaning companies. The contract is set to expire at 12:01 AM on January 1, 2012. “Industry should create the kind of family-sustaining jobs necessary to boost our economy," said Wayne MacManiman, 32BJ Mid-Atlantic Director. "I urge companies to avoid an unnecessary strike and sign a fair contract our city’s hard-working cleaners.”
~~~~~

OFFICE CLEANERS TO HOLD STRIKE VOTE AT DOWNTOWN RALLY
Cleaners to March through Downtown after Vote

Wilmington, DE –The region’s office cleaners will today hold a vote on whether to authorize their union’s bargaining committee to call a strike, if necessary at a rally and march downtown. Negotiations for a new contract covering 450 commercial office cleaners in Delaware began on November 15th between 32BJ SEIU and Delaware’s major commercial cleaning companies.

32BJ members clean prominent buildings in Wilmington including the DuPont Building, Brandywine Building, Chase Manhattan Center, Citizens Bank Center, and I. M. Pei Building. The contract is set to expire at 12:01 AM on January 1, 2012.

WHAT: Office cleaners hold strike vote and march through downtown
WHO: 32BJ Executive Officer, Larry Engelstein, 32BJ members and office cleaners
WHEN: Thursday, December 8, 2011 4:00 PM
WHERE: Rodney Square - corner of 10th and Market Street, Wilmington, DE

More than 60,000 property service workers from Hartford, Conn., to
Virginia are united in a campaign to secure new contracts that raise wage and
benefit standards.

With more than 120,000 members in nine states,
including 7,450 in Philadelphia and Delaware, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property
services union in the country.

If you listen to WDEL you have heard the 32BJ ads - they are evidently getting under some conservative's skin.

Here's the latest post on Charlie Copeland's blog ~ Who is Behind the Local Radio Ads About Chase Janitors by lowdigitplates I was wondering who was paying for these ads that talk about these folks who had agreed to work for a low hourly wage cleaning some of the bank buildings. The ad finishes saying that it is paid for by 32BJ which did not illuminate.Turns out that 32BJ is SEIU. SEIU is, of course, one of the hundres of ACORN affiliated organization.By the way, it was in today’s news that some Occupy group in California has taken to occupying bank owned foreclosed properties now.Funny, wasn’t that something that ACORN was promoting before they went underground? Probably just a coincidence.

and a funny by Jason at Delaware Liberal

Plus, speaking of occupying foreclosed properties:

Occupy Delaware to Occupy Sheriff’s Sale;
Highlighting bank fraud, plight of the homeless

WILMINGTON, DE. Occupy Delaware is planning to peacefully occupy the NCC Sheriffs Sale Tuesday, December 13, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the City/County Building in Wilmington. The action is intended to emphasize how major banks abandoned their fiduciary responsibilities to borrowers, committed every investment malfeasance up to fraud, intensified the crisis of homelessness, and precipitated a worldwide financial melt-down.
Occupy Delaware expects to fill the hall with members of the ninety-nine percent outraged at the response to the crisis that throws families out of their homes while banks rake in profits, pile on executive bonuses, and shrug off accountability.
According to Mark Perri, member of the Occupy Delaware’s Action Committee, "We are joining in solidarity with eleven million homeowners across the country who are being threatened with the loss of their homes, as well as with the several million more who have already lost them. With the rapid increase of families becoming homeless and a vast number of young people living on the streets, we must put a moratorium on foreclosures and minimize the damage being done to the ninety-nine percent of Americans who are not the super-wealthy. Big banks created this crisis with significant help from our government. They got bailed out, we got sold out.”
Those wishing to join Occupy Delaware in this action are asked to meet at Spencer Plaza (800 N. French St. in Wilmington, DE) at 9 a.m.
Occupy Delaware comprises a broad variety of voices. Anyone in Delaware who is fed up with a national agenda that is rigged in favor of the wealthiest one percent at the expense of the other ninety-nine percent is welcome to participate.
Webpage:http://www.occupyde.org/; Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/occupydelaware; Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/OccupyDE

Meanwhile, MotherJones It's not wealth per se that pisses off the 99 %. It's how fully wealth has fused with political power. bit.ly/rxsDaU

CBSNews Occupy D.C. targets lobbyists' offices; dozens arrested on K Street- bit.ly/u275eq #ows

The #Occupy March On Washington: Behind The Scenes: #ows #wearethe99percent wp.me/p32GF-63l

TPEconomy Gap btw. rich and poor widening across the developed world as bankers and executives reap more income bit.ly/sVRd12

(NYT) Al Baker writes ~ When the Police Go Military

~*~

Delaware Land Use And The Law - A Never-Ending Saga?

2011-12-06T03:35:00.001-08:00

(News Journal - Delaware Voice) Vic Singer writes ~ County violating own law by approving Barley Mills rezoning (with Del Code and County Code section references)

Perhaps FIASCO is too strong a term for the Barley Mill Plaza rezoning. Maybe not. Judge for yourselves.
New Castle County Council's rezoning of 36.8 acres of the 92.1 acre Barley Mill
Plaza parcel from Office Regional to Commercial Regional violates portions of the Unified Development Code and State law.
Council accepted the Land Use Department's favorable recommendation, not the Planning Board's unfavorable one.
All Delaware public officeholders are by oath bound to uphold the law. Therefore
they must read and understand it. Ignorance doesn't excuse malfeasance. They
needn't be attorneys; the words were given force by lay legislators.
The UDC constrains land use intensifications initiated after its effective date
(12/31/1997) according to the capacity of infrastructure already in place,
under construction, or under contract for construction. For land uses that
became nonconforming when the UDC became law, a "Nonconforming Situations"
Article allows lawful continuation of prior lawful uses without full compliance with the UDC's adequate infrastructure provisions. But redevelopment with a use (zoning) change thereafter had to comply fully with the UDC use provisions (ref: Section 40.08.110).
That was in the UDC at its beginning, and hasn't been amended. Years later,
however, Council added subsections (Subsections 40.08.130.B.6.a thru h) establishing for "all major redevelopment plans . . and any plan that is also requesting a rezoning" (Section 40.08.130.B.6.d) that "a traffic impact study (TIS) shall only be required if requested by DelDOT" (Section 40.08.130.B.6.e.7).
The first section of the "Transportation Impact" Article of the UDC (Division 40.11.000) states: "No major land development or any rezoning shall be permitted if the proposed development exceeds the level of service set forth in this Article unless the traffic mitigation or the waiver provisions of this Article can be satisfied."
The Article requires that "the transportation capacity for a proposed development shall be based upon the available capacity as determined by a traffic impact study" (Section 40.11.110). No redevelopment exemption is among waiver provisions (Section 40.11.121), but staging to coincide with transportation system improvements and developer contributions to improvement costs are addressed.
Our nation is ruled by law, starting with the Constitutions of the US and each State. Each State makes rules governing its Counties and Municipalities. New Castle County Council and the Land Use Department occasionally forget to comply with State law. Delaware State law demands that when a new County Ordinance repeals or amends prior County law, the new Ordinance must set out in full both the prior language and the new language (Ref. 9 Del. C. 1152).
The recently added UDC subsection clearly authorizes redevelopment with a use
change, which had been forbidden earlier. At the very least, the phrase "except as provided elsewhere in this Chapter" should have been - - but wasn't - - added to the UDC's "Nonconforming Situations" and "Transportation Impact" Articles.
Violation of this procedural requirement alone is sufficient to void the UDC change enabling a rezoning without a TIS.
A deeper issue also applies.
State law designates that among the purposes of the County's zoning regulations is promoting the safety and convenience of the state's inhabitants by limiting congestion in the streets and roads (Ref. 9 Del. C. 2603(a)).
It prohibits any zoning change that doesn't follow an agreement between the County and DelDOT ensuring that while the rezoning is being sought, traffic analyses must be performed that "consider the effects of existing traffic, projected traffic growth in areas surrounding a proposed zoning reclassification and the projected traffic generated by the proposed site development for which the zoning reclassification is sought" (ref. 9 Del. C. 2662).
That State law provision requires the County and DelDOT to share responsibility for congestion on the transportation system.
HOW to share - - rather than WHETHER to share - - is left to the County and
DelDOT to work out.
The County cannot discharge its SHARING responsibility by legislating that it won't think about congestion while giving redevelopment rezonings a free pass.
Even if the State's procedural requirements for changing the UDC had been followed to the letter, the recently added UDC changes are voided by their substance.

Plus, (News Journal) Harry Themal writes ~ New Castle County residents must scrutinize county's development plans

News Journal once again demonstrated the real and possible friction between state
government and the counties.
A story detailed how the State Supreme Court is trying to decide whether Sussex
County or the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
can fix the width of buffers along the inland waterways ['Zoning' at issue in court hearing].
In an op-ed column, Victor Singer, former chairman of the New Castle County Planning Board, said the county violated its own Unified Development Code in approving the massive rezoning of DuPont's former Barley Mill Plaza -- in part
because it did not get a new appraisal from the state on the transportation effect.
Readers of this column might be aware of my strong feelings that Delaware has
too many layers of bureaucracy, and that, as small as our state is, we may not
need the three county governments. But I know that nothing will ever change that
constitutional order, which makes it even more important that residents of the
counties pay close attention to what's happening on that level.
Perhaps nothing is more important to our way of life than the provisions of the New Castle County Development Plan.
Exactly a year ago the county started a series of steps, including many public hearings, which have now produced a blueprint due to be debated and adopted next year.
The challenges faced in drafting this plan are far different from the last time revisions were made five years ago.
Especially crucial is that the economy has largely tanked, resulting in crisis in the
housing market and a sharp drop in much needed revenue for the county and the state.
One result is that planning for the next 10 years is not only difficult but also more vital to the future of New Castle County. Land use manager David Culver believes the document does that planning more smartly than the similar work in the past.
Among the changes Culver and the draft see is a lesser need for suburban developments on large lots, which in this economic climate has resulted in what
are often called zombie subdivisions, where infrastructure exists but few houses are occupied. The plan sees a demand for more smaller lots with houses that young families can afford and older ones desire.
Then there are older houses and businesses, an aging stock in real estate terms
that had to be grandfathered because the present zoning laws would not have
permitted them. These aging communities, urban transition zones, need special
attention and could be redeveloped into sustainable walking communities.
The plan calls for a new commercial zoning designation, between regional and local zoning, where people could live, work, shop and send kids to school without requiring cars or even public transportation. Such a community is now being developed just below the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
That southern part of the county, mostly between Routes 1 and 896, is the new
community development area, which should include low-density suburban
neighborhoods but also more innovative development, including building mixed-use communities, building more densely to allow for small lot sizes and more flexibility to meet the need of an aging, changing population.
Today about one-eighth of the population is over 65; by 2030, more than a quarter will be over 60.
Culver says care must be taken to protect the 300 active working farms with increased rural preservation steps.
Then there are all the other varied factors that impact any planning, many of
which have to be coordinated with the Office of State Planning Coordination,
particularly adequate highways and public transportation, and new schools. So
that thin line between the county and state is seen again. This column has not
even touched on planning for businesses, industry and economic growth.
If you are an involved New Castle County resident, you will go to a county
library to see all the details and accompanying maps or see them by logging on to nccde.org.
Then you may want to attend the first public hearing Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. in the
county's Gilliam Building, at 77 Reads Way in New Castle Corporate Commons.

With Charlie's comment and letter from Saturday: I usually agree with Harry Themal, but he is a defeatist on the belief a Constitutional change could not occur on land use. Moreover, the Coastal Zone Act did not require a Constitutional change. Correct me if I am wrong. The only impediment to County change is ourselves----resistence to such needed change must be coming from the quarters that have been accepting Federal and State money for local/parochial desires for over a half a Century---with change, the County direct avenue to such funds could then be denied
Many parties involved in land use battle

In regards to the recent article "Fight for control of land use heads to Supreme
Court," the issue before the court is major. Clearly, the state, having earlier delegated such land use control to the individual counties and incorporated jurisdictions, must now reassert its prerogative, whether through judicial mandate or new legislative change.
For Sussex County, land owners, including the chicken/dairy/crop farmer, could
earlier rule the day, in being a prime economic generator -- whether or no, the seasonal, vacationing resident might bellyache about nearby stench or reported pollution to recreational waters. Meanwhile, those latter visiting dissidents were, in turn, churning up the bay with their "stink pots" and ignored their
sewer overflow during storms.
"The overpopulated geese were the problem." Few were thinking of the fishing economy. Despite earlier court decisions upholding local, political subjective decisions in land use, the Coastal Zone Act has interceded within its boundaries, such law a basis for counterargument.
Beyond the immediate issue, what entity pays for this residential growth and the requisite roads, schools, etc.? Not the county government. It is time to stop this land use dalliance and place such direction strongly to a professional,
nonpartisan group, one well-grounded in econometrics -- purpose being long-term [planning], the environment and a prerequisite, viable economy.
Let's hope DNREC has their facts straight to every detail. We're now beyond just tree-hugging.
Charles M. Weymouth,
Wilmington

~*~

The New Battle Of Princeton - New Housing Development Planned For Battlefield Area

2011-12-06T03:11:00.000-08:00

(wiki image: A painting of George Washington rallying his troops at the Battle of Princeton)

WTF? Princeton Battlefield Area Threatened by a Housing Development ???
By Kim Burdick, Advisor Emeritus National Trust for Historic Preservation

The Institute for Advanced Study wants to build on-campus faculty housing, but faces opposition from many across the nation who want to preserve a potential extension of Princeton Battlefield State Park.
Safely across the Delaware River and out of the line of fire, I am wondering why the Institute for Advanced Studies is being so short-sighted.
By shifting their thinking only a little bit, they could easily emerge as the real heroes of the Battle of Princeton instead of looking like a bunch of goons and bullies.
Is the Institute for Advanced Study’s goal really to destroy an important piece of history? Probably not. However.....
Damage the environment? Probably not. However.....
Did that dude really, truly, say that Einstein is more important than George Washington? Probably yes. Obviously an Idiot. Meh-if George hadn’t been there first, would Einstein have had a safe harbor during WW2.?
I can see why the opposition to the Institute’s lovely housing development is rising—not only in Princeton, but across the Nation.
This situation reminds me of my mother who used to scold her brilliant and beautiful honor roll children by remarking: “Guys. If this is what the smart kids are doing today, I’d hate to see what the dumb ones are doing.”
The Institute’s goal is housing, right? OK. Imagine easy pedestrian access to schools, libraries and grocery stores. Imagine living in beautiful Victorians, brick colonials, charming wood framed houses with spacious porches.

The real deal—authentic—keeps its value; appeals to scholars, preservationists, environmentalists, geeks of all sizes and shapes. The members of the Institute for Advanced Study would look like good neighbors and superior citizens. They could get positive press not only nationally but internationally. As it is, they are being slapped upside the head and irritating potential partners.
Housing is easily come by. Land swaps are cool. Destroying a potential part of an important historical region is stupid, dumb and vulgar.
For the same amount of money the Institute plans to spend on legal fees and new housing construction they could circumvent a lot of ugly publicity and put a positive spin on the situation.
My suggestion, and only a suggestion, is that Institute of Advanced Study take advantage of the bad economy. Tap into Preservation Trust Fund, get business tax credits, and buy up some of the lovely old homes in the Princeton area that are languishing in this economy.
Surely the so-called “smartest people in the world” should have enough brains not to act like such losers. One thing Americans learned from George Washington is that sometimes retreat is an excellent war tactic.
Public Hearing at 7 PM Dec 8 at 400 Witherspoon St., Princeton Township Town across from Conte's.

For more information on the new Battle of Princeton contact: Jerry Hurwitz President, Princeton Battlefield Society ( c )609-947-6574 (w) 609-243-6190
- Princeton Battlefield Society is a 501 c 3 (charitable) corporation.

Institute's Housing Plan Gets Tough Introduction princeton.patch.com.

Kim Rogers Burdick, MA, MPA
Newark, Delaware

~*~

June Eisley Writes: Delaware Pacem In Terris News Update - Must See "Margin Call" Dec. 16-18th At Theatre N In Wilmington

2011-12-04T06:35:00.000-08:00

Pacem in Terris: Peacemaking since 1967
302-656-2721 http://www.depaceminterris.org/

"Margin Call" coming soon to Theatre N - From Occupy Delaware - For your information "MARGIN CALL" (2011) - not to be missed at Theatre N - December 16-18 Friday 2 pm - Saturday 2 pm and 8 pm - Sunday 5:30 pm
A Wall Street thriller/drama that revolves around the key people at an investment bank over a 24-hour period during the early stages of the financial crisis. Starring Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker (the "Mentalist"). This is a current movie but did not play in the larger theatres. Thanks to Theatre N for showing it.

http://www.margincallmovie.com/

************

From Occupy Delaware 1 - Please come out for the next NCC sheriff sale on Tuesday, December 13 in the City/County Bldg at 8th & French Streets (directly across from Spencer Plaza/Occupy Delaware). It begins at 10 am and will likely run until 11:30-12 noon. If you are able, please meet at Spencer Plaza at 9 am. They are hoping to fill the auditorium (152 seats) to show concern/outrage at all the homes being foreclosed on and sold at auction. If you have any questions, email Jen Wallace of Occupy DE at jenwallace@comcast.net

2 - Occupy Delaware has begun having rallies every Wednesday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on the sidewalk along Delaware Avenue at the I-95 bridge to raise awareness about Occupy Delaware. Come and bring a sign. (note: this is where we had our peace vigils for many years)

3 - Also, every Friday Occupy Delaware rallies in Newark at the intersection of Main Street and South College Avenue from 4-5:30 p.m. to raise awareness of Occupy Delaware.

**********************

Senate approves indefinite detention and torture of Americans A terrifying bill that will turn the US into a battlefield with dire effects for Americans has snuck into the Senate, and as lawmakers rush legislation through Congress, the nightmare National Defense Authorization Act is close to becoming a law. Visit link: http://on.rt.com/sfc76y Both Chris Coons and Tom Carper voted in support of the NDAA!!

More military assault on the environment. A 51st State for Armed Robotic Drones http://davidswanson.org/node/3432

PEACE IS NOT A SEASON

IT IS A WAY OF LIFE

Plus, Food Democracy Now! writes ~ Join us, Sunday December 4th for the Farmers March on Wall Street!

Farmers March on Wall Street - farmers, activists
and ranchers will travel from as far as Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Wisconsin and Upstate New York to participate in the Occupy Wall Street Farmers’ March to call
attention to the gross inequities and inherent degradation caused by industrial agriculture and begin efforts to transform food and agricultural production into ways that are economically sustainable for farmers and farm workers, protect biodiversity and the environment and enrich our citizen’s health and communities.

Please click here to commit to attending the Farmers March, a day of action, dialogue, healing and finding common solutions.
Details : THE FARMERS MARCH - A gathering of farmers, community gardeners, food workers and activists for dialogue, solidarity and solutions to corporate control of our food system.
2:00 PM Public gathering and panel discussion at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden (632 - 650) E. 9th Street, (between Avenues B & C)
Google map: http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/501?akid=418.94810.Kef_ez&t=8
Speakers include: Karen Washington - Founder of City Farms Market and board member at NYC based organization Just Food; Jim Gerritsen - a Maine organic farmer and lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against Monsanto and was named one of 25 World Visionaries by Utne Reader in 2011; Severine von Tscharner Fleming - Food advocate and producer of the film “Green Horns”, profiling young farmer entrepreneurs; Jalal Sabur - Founding member of the Freedom Food Alliance, an alliance of black urban communities with black rural farmers; Mike Callicrate - Colorado rancher, entrepreneur and rural political activist; Andrew Faust - World renowned permaculture expert and educator.
4:00 PM Farmers March to Wall Street! Zuccotti Park (aka Liberty Plaza) b/w Broadway, Trinity Place, Liberty Street and Cedar Street
Google map: http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/502?akid=418.94810.Kef_ez&t=10
5:00 PM Circle of Solidarity and Seed Swap at Zuccotti Park - Open to the public
Google map: http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/502?akid=418.94810.Kef_ez&t=12

Today farmers need you more than ever, please join them for the Occupy Wall Street Farmers March! Today food and agriculture production is controlled by a handful of agribusiness monopolies that increasingly corrupt the public policies safeguarding our food and the environment. In the past month agribusiness lobbyists have helped stop reforms to food and ag policies in the U.S. that are harmful to America’s health and the survival of family farmers.
Did you know?
Since 1980 more than 600,000 independent hog farmers and 500,000 cattle producers have been forced out of business.
Today with unfair giant food monopolies, only 4 companies control 84% of beef packing and 66% of pork production.
One company, Monsanto, controls the patents on genetically engineered seeds for corn, cotton, soybeans and sugar beets that are planted on more than 90% of the acres farmed in the U.S. We are committed to this fight now, more than ever - please join us. Together, our voices will create the future we deserve.

~*~

Open House - Saturday, Dec. 3rd From 11-5 Hale Byrnes House In Stanton

2011-12-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

Kim Burdick writes ~

As you are making your rounds of holiday house tours today, Saturday Dec 3, be sure to swing by the historic Hale Byrnes House at 606 Stanton-Christiana Road, Newark, DE 19711. http://www.halebyrnes.org/

This 1750 brick house was the site of a Council of War in the days following the Battle of Cooch's Bridge in the fall of 1777.

Ladies spinning, a colonial gunsmith, and re-enactors from the Delaware First Regiment will be on hand to greet you.

Open House is free. Children are welcome.
Hours 11am-5pm

Also: Coffee and dessert at 7:30 pm. $5 at the door includes a talk on George Washington's Generals by William Welsh, Chair American Revolution Round Table of Richmond, Virginia.

Exit 4B off I-95, then 7 N to old Stanton-Christiana Road. Stay right and dip down to the old road near White Clay Medical Center, Shones and Bells Supply. - From Newark take Rt 4 until it dead-ends in Route 7 N.

32BJ SEIU: Office Cleaners To Urge City Of Wilmington Council Members To Support Campaign For Good Jobs

2011-12-01T09:04:00.001-08:00

From the inbox ~ SEIU writes: Office Cleaners to Urge City Council Members to Support Campaign for Good Jobs

Wilmington office cleaners will tonight urge City Council members to sign a pledge of support (pdf): for their efforts to win an agreement Delaware’s major commercial cleaning companies that includes a fair pay raise. 32BJ SEIU's contract expires at 12:01 AM on January 1, 2012.
“Hundreds of men and women who work for cleaning contractors are earning as little as $8.00 per hour doing backbreaking work cleaning the same big banks that everyday Americans bailed out after the financial crisis of 2008,” said Evelyn Malone, a downtown cleaner and mother of four. “Many of us earn poverty-like wages, so little that we qualify for public assistance, putting taxpayers on the hook again.”
According to the statement, the Chairman and CEO of PNC Bank was paid more than $16 million in compensation in 2010. An office cleaner at a PNC building in Wilmington would need to work more than 850 years to earn what the head of the bank made in one year. Cleaners maintain prominent buildings including the DuPont Building, Brandywine Building, Chase Manhattan Center, Citizens Bank Center, and I. M. Pei Building.
More than 60,000 property service workers from Hartford, Conn., to Virginia are united in a campaign to secure new contracts that raise wage and benefit standards. With more than 120,000 members in nine states, including nearly 7,500 in Philadelphia and Delaware, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property services union in the country.

CONTRACT TALKS OPEN FOR 450 DELAWARE OFFICE CLEANERS - Union Proposals Focus on Fair Wage Increases as Office Market Strengthens
Negotiations for a new union contract covering 450 commercial office cleaners in Delaware began on Friday between 32BJ SEIU and Delaware’s major commercial cleaning companies such as ABM Industries, Inc., Bravo Building Services, and GCA Services Group. 32BJ members clean prominent buildings in Wilmington including the DuPont Building, Brandywine Building, Chase Manhattan Center, Citizens Bank Center, and I. M. Pei Building. The contract is set to expire at 12:01 AM on January 1, 2012.
“We offered realistic proposals to ensure hard-working men and women receive the livable wages critical to supporting their families and strengthening our economy,” said Wayne MacManiman, 32BJ Mid-Atlantic Director. “The multi-billion dollar real estate industry can afford to give workers better than poverty-like wages and to ensure that tenants receive the professional service they want.”
More than half of the Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware, where wages for part-time workers are only $8.70 per hour ($9,048.00 annually). The federal poverty line for a family of four in the United States is $22,350 annually. With declining vacancy rates and rents on the rise, the commercial office market in Northern Delaware counties remains among the strongest in the metro area according to according to Marcus & Millichap.
"We work hard every day cleaning taking the trash out in this big bank,” said Emiliano Ortiz a cleaner of 5 years working at the Chase building. “We need a fair raise, our wages are not enough to support our families." Ortiz who earns just $8.70 per hour, works two jobs to support his family.
Ad Reveals Office Cleaners’ Poverty-Like Wages - below is text from a radio advertisement scheduled to run all week on WDEL 1150 AM Wilmington – listen here: http://www.seiu32bj.org/32BJAD.mp3. The ad calls on listeners to support over 450 commercial office cleaners in Delaware, in their fight for a good contract and stronger communities.

The ad reads:
HUSBAND: Did you know that the contracted office cleaners at Chase Bank here in Wilmington are making just $8.70 per hour?
WIFE: $8.70 per hour? How can anyone put food on the table on such wages? And they're working at the same big banks you and I bailed-out to get the economy back on track? Look how well that worked out!?
HUSBAND There’s no way our economy can get out of the ditch as long as men and women aren’t getting the fair wages that enable them to support local businesses.
WIFE: What’s going on in this country? It wasn’t so long ago when working hard meant you could get what you needed to support your family.
ANNOUNCER: In Wilmington and Newcastle County, contracted office cleaners are demanding the fair contract they deserve for their hard work. Help support these men and women in their fight for family-sustaining wages.

PAID FOR BY 32BJ

~*~

Andye Daley Writes: Join Me As I Take You In The Room With Me As I Met Sec. Of Transportation Shalien Bhatt.

2011-11-30T06:36:00.000-08:00

(Townsquare Delaware) Andye Daley writes - Didn’t We Learn that in 3rd Grade Economics?

Remember 3rd grade economics, Wants vs. Needs? The Markell administration may WANT the new Rt. 301 bypass, but we certainly don’t NEED it. And, we definitely can’t afford it!

Meeting the new Transportation Secretary, Shailen Bhatt was at the top of my WANT list this year. The Secretary of Transportation is in charge of a third of our State Budget and is pivotal to Delaware’s economy for (at least) the next two years.

As a self appointed watchdog of DelDOT, in 2005, I founded the Middletown Corridor Coalition to review and analyze the ongoing process of the US 301 Bypass Project. I am a firm believer that the DelDOT is the most important agency in our State. Without a well run DOT we are doomed for failure and statewide bankruptcy. From congestion to commerce we depend on our roads, rail and buses and put our future in the hands of those that run our transportation agency.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I met Secretary Bhatt (pronounced Bat), I just knew I NEEDED to see what he and his administration were going to mean for Delawareans.

As he entered the room, he made me feel at ease right away. He is not a small man, that’s for sure, his stature is commanding. He choose to sit right next to me on a cushioned chair placing one foot up on the cocktail table and reclined back, as if he was there to listen to me. I quickly realized he WANTED to show me what he knew about the agency he just inherited. Which I guess was ironic, because that is what I WANTED to show him.

I cut to the chase immediately. The $700 million dollar Rt 301 bypass Project. Just two days earlier I received FOIA’d, copy (not publicly available) of the US 301 Traffic and Revenue report (T&R rpt.) dated 9/2011. It was timely that I got the report when I did. As I always do, I poured through the 116 pages and pulled out the essential points for my meeting. I love to use the DOT data for my argument. It makes it almost impossible to argue back, when it’s their own data I am using.

At first we discussed the Project and why the Minner and now Markell administrations claim the NEED for this venture. I began by explaining the consultant aspect of this and other projects and brought up RK&K engineers (where our now former DOT Secretary Carolann Wicks is now employed).

In our conversation, he quickly told me that one of his first experiences with Delaware roads was with the current Rt 301/896. He correctly noted that the current road goes from a 4 lane facility and then oddly transitions into a two lane facility. He continued by saying, “I thought, ‘How does that make any sense whatsoever?’” Of course, I agreed with Sec. Bhatt. The Middletown Corridor Coalition (which I founded in 2005) has been arguing that point for years. He agreed that the design of the current road is lacking and would cause congestion and accidents. (Holy Moly …Did we just agree on a point already?)

We talked about the NEED for safety, and that being yet another reason DelDOT originally said we NEEDED the bypass. They contend that the 18-wheelers were the main threat to the safety of the drivers on the current 301. The T&R report and the report on DelDOT’s website, the US 301 Spur Monitoring Report, show that is not the case at all. This is a fact that WILMAPCO (NCC MPO) would agree with as well.

Our conversation turned to the time savings for the Truckers, yet another reason we’ve been told the bypass will work. We’ve been told truckers will WANT to save time and take this new road (and pay a toll). The T&R report shows that not to be the case. It was said that truckers will want to get off of current I-95 (a toll road) and get on another toll road because it will save them time and money. The time issue is also squashed in the T&R report stating….

“On US 301, the travel times ranged from 109 to 128 minuets – averaging 117 minutes; while on I-95 the range was much broader: from 93 to 125 minutes depending on Baltimore/Washington traffic conditions, averaging 104 minutes. Note that the US 301 routing is six miles longer than the I-95 route. Generally, the I-95 routing is both shorter and faster by approximately 13 minutes, but this route does include significant additional toll costs.

In 2010, the travel time runs were repeated with largely similar
results where the I-95 routing was generally 15 minutes faster than the
times using the existing US 301 alignment during the off peak and non peak directions of travel. During the peak periods in the peak direction,
congestion in the southbound direction during the a.m. peak on I-95 results in this route being approximately five minutes longer than the US 301 route. During the p.m. peak, I-95 is only eight minutes faster than US 301.

It is significant to note that the US 301 travel times were recorded
on existing US 301 in Delaware. If opening today, the US 301 Main line project would likely reduce approximately seven minutes off the present 117 minutes, reducing the US 301 travel time to 110 minutes, and its average speed to 60 mph (matching that on I-95)”
So, according to DelDOT’s own report, and after spending $700 million dollars, this new road would not save the Truckers any time.

If truckers get off of 95 and onto the new road we lose money that would normally go directly into the transportation trust fund (money allocated for road improvement and operations throughout the state.) The money from 301 tolls has to go directly to paying back the debt service on the sale of the Toll Revenue Bonds, until the debt is paid off in 40 years. So for 40 years we lose money that would otherwise be directed to all of Delaware’s roads. When I pointed this fact out to the Secretary, he said, “Well, it is a shell game!”

We continued our conversation and got to the point why I was there….Financing, Money, M00lah, Dinero! I told Sec. Bhatt that we could not build the road unless it was a toll road. That means that we would build the road, by selling Toll Revenue Bonds. He quickly stopped me and said, “That’s not true, we could build it in phases the traditional way” he meant that we could get 80% federal financing and The State would pay 20%. He may WANT to pay for the road that way, but evidently he has not done his research, or he would have known that 80/20 was the original way that DelDOT WANTED to build the new bypass. That was squashed years ago. The State gets a limited amount of funds from the feds each year (which by the way is unsustainable at the current level we receive). If we used the 80/20 method to build the New 301, all the federal funds we get every year would have to go directly to the construction of the new road and for the duration of the build and no other road project in Delaware would be completed during that 5-6 years time frame. We NEED those federal funds for far too many other projects to place them solely on one WANTED project.

He responded by saying, “Toll backed bonds may not be an option.” Of course, that is true, because of the number of cars and trucks that go over the Maryland/Delaware border. The main factor in toll revenue projections is traffic counts. As of now we have 10,800 vehicles that go over the border. 21% are trucks. If you use DelDOT’s own numbers (and projections that 60% of the 10,800 will get on the new road) and calculate the tolls paid, (which is unlikely) you come up with approximately $13 million in revenue. That may seems like a lot until you realize that the debt service on the bonds sold to build the road is $25 million each year for 40 years. Or to put it another way, the cost will be $1 Billion dollars, leaving the residents of the State of Delaware, holding the bag for the remaining debt of $480 million dollars. Not to mention the $5-6 million a year for operation and up keep once the road is opened.

I asked the Secretary where we would get the missing funds to cover the debt
service. He quickly said we would get it from the Transportation Trust Fund. Really? He hadn’t yet really delved into the actual funding issues or he would know the dire straits of our Transportation Trust Fund. Per DelDOT’s own report to the Office of Budget and Management, “About 37 percent of the agency’s spending goes to payments on past bond sales, (Debt Service) and another 22 percent for transit services.” That’s nearly 60% of our Budget leaving 40% for operations and road work. I told him, “I guess we could do that, but we would be spreading ourselves awfully thin!” and He agreed. Again he was suggesting that we may or may not build this road.

He said that quite a few times in our meeting: “we may or may not build this road,” or “toll revenue bonds may not be an option.” He told me at the end of our meeting that he wanted to speak to those in favor of the road project and those against and to look at all the data. This is where I hope he spoke truthfully. Mainly, because I know once he really looked at all the facts, that this road would be a fiscal liability to the State of Delaware.

Here’s hoping Secretary Bhatt is a man of his word and takes a serious independent look at this project and others the DOT has had in their sights. He NEEDS decides what the State of Delaware NEEDS to get done, not what folks necessarily WANT!

Plus, on Saturday, (News Journal) Jeff Montgomery reported ~ NCCo planners back deed change for Stoltz US 301 timetable in doubt

Delaware Department of Transportation officials are preparing new financial forecasts for the U.S. 301 construction project amid renewed complaints the proposed new toll road could siphon away funds for other transportation needs despite assurances the highway will be self-supporting. Currently forecast to be the state's largest highway project through the year 2040, the $747 million project was once expected to go out for bids in stages, starting early next year. But the nation's
recession and a lost bid for federal aid could threaten that timetable. Details
are expected to be released next month, when DelDOT issues updates to traffic
and toll-revenue forecasts.

"It's absolutely a fiasco for them. To even think that it's a good idea is mind-boggling," said Andye Daley, a Middletown-area resident and longtime opponent of the highway. "There's no fiscal way to do it. You have to know what your needs and your wants are, and 301 is a want."

...[DelDOT] project consultants already have sharply cut projected activity along the proposed highway, reducing traffic projections by 18 percent and revenue forecasts by 20 percent compared with June 2010 estimates. And earlier this year, agency officials acknowledged that some worst-case traffic and toll forecasts could jeopardize plans to operate U.S. 301 as a self-supporting toll road. Although not easily apparent in DelDOT's earlier public accounts of the traffic study, consultants have predicted that thousands of trucks and cars eventually will shift from Interstate 95 to U.S. 301 each day to reduce the overall toll cost of their trips.The traffic diversions could cost the Transportation Trust Fund about $3.5 million during the first full year of operations, with the loss climbing to $4.2 million by 2020 and $6.5 million by 2025, according to a report dated Sept. 20, 2011, and recently made public.

DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt said last week that his agency is still developing another update of toll and revenue forecasts in preparation for a new round of public discussions. Agency officials said later that traffic and revenue projections recently released by the agency are only the finished version of a report released earlier this year; more current estimates are expected to be released in coming weeks. Even the earlier numbers are continuing to raise questions, said Chuck Mulholland, president of the Civic League for New Castle County and the Southern New Castle County Alliance."I do believe that there are people in public office who do not want to accept the reality of the current economic situation because they want to create jobs," Mulholland said. "You can put people to work, but the end result is going to be more calamity than you would have had without it."

...Although DelDOT was allowed to sell federally backed bonds for U.S. 301 right-of-way purchases and is actively buying land, the state did not win a hoped-for $240 million federal loan for the project. Without the loan, some revenue forecasts released earlier this year showed the project falling short of self-supporting cash flows, with the darkest outlook putting the annual shortfall at more than $22 million. Even those predictions were based on an uncertain financing plan that included a proposed lien on uncommitted cash in Delaware's already cash-strapped Transportation Trust Fund to cover shortfalls and give bond-rating agencies and bond buyers more confidence.

"I don't see how the Trust Fund can really do much to help the 301 project. The Trust Fund isn't getting in any better shape as it is," said Sen. Robert L. Venables, D-Laurel, who co-chairs the Legislature's capital budget committee. "It doesn't look like there's going to be any extra money to put into 301. With the economy the way it is, I think it's going to continue to linger out there as a project that we'll do someday."

With some comment rescues ~

Rhinobo - This is a good example of Delaware politics at work. Back in the 60's when Maryland had the vision and probably Federal help to build their version of a four lane expressway, Delaware lawmakers yawned since anything in southern New Castle county at the time was considered nothing more than idle farmland. As others note, that was the time to undertake this project and long before Middletown underwent transformation into the bedroom community we know today.

wallyone - Amazing Wicks ends up with the consulting firm she hired for all the consulting contracts while at DelDot!!!

DEoLOpinion- It's part of our impotent government/aka DelDOT and the Dover boneheads to ruin this state with unnecessary roads and allow developers free rein, building whatever, where the existing roads are inadequate.

thunder_taker- I travel this route often. It is obvious the 18 wheelers are all basically "toll dodgers" from 95, many are long distance haulers. They make traffic crawl on 301/896 through middletown and the resdients suffer, making a ten minute trip 30 minutes or more as they go 25 mph in a 40 mph zone for almost the whole trip. I propse putting a toll plaza up NOW, and charge cars 25 cents and trucks a hefty toll. That will eliminate the whole issue. Why are we disrupting the whole community for "pass through" traffic from regions far away. Make them pay, and they will go away.

Delby 1. - Upgrade the existing 301 to 4-6 lanes 2. Bank all of the land for the bypass. 3. When or if upgraded 301 fails to serve, build the bypass. I think it will come down to a bypass once the existing 301 is upgraded, but that could be 30 years out. In the meantime real estate is so cheap, best to buy the rights of way now.

DelDotFan- I agree with widening a couple of miles of road, versus a 1 billion dollar road (after paying interest) as a very good inexpensive alternative. I think even Secretary Bhatt can see that. I think the really funny part is that Wicks now works for RKK engineers, the very company that made a large fortune designing and redesigning the 301 route OVER and OVER and OVER again. I mentioned putting a toll up at the public meetings YEARS (2005?) ago to project manager Tudor. Why don't we do that first and see if traffic counts remain the same with trucks paying an equal toll on 301 as they would on 95? Charge cars 50 cents and trucks- 11 bucks and see how quickly the truck traffic disappears....

Fluffin- Look at the money for land purchases. $10 million was paid for $6 million
appraised.

A few more of the News Journal's recent articles on DelDOT ~
DelDOT plans flat budget for next fiscal year
Feds demand DelDOT changes - State must reform oversight of land transactions in wake of Tigani deal

~*~

To All Who Use The Internet: Fight Congress On Protect IP Legislation - Call Sens. Coons And Carper Today

2011-11-30T04:53:00.001-08:00

Daily Kos writes: please take a moment to email your senators and ask them to oppose the so-called "Protect IP Act." ~

Protect IP is legislation that would -- no exaggeration -- destroy the social web as we know it. In short, this proposed law would allow corporate copyright holders the ability to cut off funding and compel the government to shut down websites they deem infringing, without the need of a court order. (See here for more information on this devastating bill.)

This poorly conceived piece of legislation has been rushed through Congress without proper debate, with only Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon standing between it and the president's desk. Pro-censorship forces have spent over $90 million to get this bill passed, we have, well, social media to fight back.If you value Daily Kos, or Facebook, or Twitter, or any website which invites your participation,

please take a moment to contact your senator.

~*~

Walmart Watch Writes: Vote For The Walmart Heir As The Face Of The 1%

2011-11-29T04:43:00.001-08:00

From the inbox ~

Vote for Rob Walton, chairman of Walmart and an heir to the Walton’s family fortune, as the worst of the one percenters.

Brave New Films, the film studio that brought us “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” is holding an online vote to pick the worst of the 1%. They’re looking for the person who is doing the most with their wealth to exploit the rest of the country.When it comes to the 1%, Rob Walton and the Walton family are it. The Walton family has amassed more than $93 billion in wealth, making them the richest family in the country.The Waltons inherited that wealth, much of it was created by paying many workers at poverty-level wages, offering poor benefits, and lowering conditions in the supply chain by demanding ever-lower prices. Walmart’s trade deficit with China alone eliminated hundreds of thousands of US manufacturing jobs.Rob Walton, himself, has an overall estimated worth of $21 billion running the world’s largest private employer. It is estimated now that 1.4 million people work for Walmart or 1 out of every 222 Americans. The dividends of the Walmart stock the Waltons own alone could go a long way toward making Walmart jobs good, living wage jobs. Instead he chooses to keep the average employee below the family poverty line and cut health benefits for hundreds of thousands employees. Associates at Walmart are coming together to make their jobs and their company better through the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart). Stand with them in helping expose the impact of Walmart at the Waltons by voting for Rob Walton.

The Waltons have used the Walton Family Foundation to advance a right wing agenda and fund right-wing organizations. In the last five years, the Walton Family Foundation (where Rob sits on the board) has given money to the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the anti-union National Right to Work Foundation and other groups that advance the conservative agenda. In 2010, the Walton Family Foundation spent more than $157 million to support the so-called school choice movement. This movement generally seeks to divert money from public schools to private schools through policies such as vouchers and charter schools. These donations make the Walton Family Foundation one of the largest funders of efforts to undermine public education. Rob Walton has earned your vote. Be sure the rate just how much of a one percenter you think he is. Cast your ballot today!

~*~

Tell Coons And Carper To Support Amendments To Repeal 2002 Authorization For The Iraq War And To Accelerate The Drawdown Of Troops From Afghanistan

2011-11-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Last week we told you about an important opportunity in the Senate to turn the page on a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate can vote as early as today on these important amendments.

Call the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at 1-877-429-0678 to be connected to your Senator and tell them: "It's time to turn the page on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Please support Amendment 1174 by Sen. Merkley and Amendment 1064 by Sen. Paul to the National Defense Authorization Act."

The Senate is currently considering the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, and will vote on amendments as early as today. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has offered an amendment to accelerate the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has offered an amendment to repeal the 2002 authorization for the Iraq War.

Today is the best chance to ask your Senator to stand with the American people by finally putting a long decade of war behind us. The Senate can vote at any time on these amendments so please call your Senator now at 1-877-429-0678 and ask them to vote yes on Amendments 1174 and 1064 to the National Defense Authorization Act.

P.S. You can read Sen. Merkley's amendment and see a list of current co-sponsors here.

~*~

Will News Of Secret 13 Billion In Fed Loans To 'Trillion' Too Big Too Fail Banks Unite Tea Party And Occupy Movements?

2011-11-28T03:57:00.000-08:00

When I was in Dover the other day, I saw an assembly of tents on the mall near Legislative Hall. I wonder how many other Delaware cities are being occupied.

Occupy Delaware is going strong. There is a Legal & Security committee meeting scheduled on Tuesday 11/29 following the General Assembly. They are getting ready to winterize their site. You can check out the various activities, like the successful Green Friday event, at their web site: http://www.occupyde.org/

Meanwhile ~
Cities spending millions to shut down Occupy while ignoring homeless

CBSNews #Occupy L.A. defies eviction order, mood remains peaceful, even jovial: bit.ly/vqpdUX #OWS ; Eviction deadlines for Occupy protesters in L.A. and Philly have done little so far - bit.ly/v2OJnJ #ows

nytimes Occupy Newark Is Met With Mostly Warm Response nyti.ms/uOwHFs

There was also an interesting controversy over the weekend about a Naomi Wolf article in the Guardian centered on an anonymous report of the FBI and Homeland Security involvement in orchestrating the OWS crackdowns.

But the big news is via downwithtyranny Sherrod Brown: “An issue that can unite the Tea Party & #OWS...lawmakers in both parties who'd change their votes now.” :

(Bloomberg News) Bob Ivry, Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz report ~ Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B

The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing.
The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn’t mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue.
Saved by the bailout, bankers lobbied against government regulations, a job made easier by the Fed, which never disclosed the details of the rescue to lawmakers even as Congress doled out more money and debated new rules aimed at preventing the next collapse.
A fresh narrative of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 emerges from 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid
a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo
and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger.
‘Change Their Votes’
“When you see the dollars the banks got, it’s hard to make the case these were successful institutions,” says Sherrod Brown, a Democratic Senator from Ohio who in 2010 introduced an unsuccessful bill to limit bank size. “This is an issue that can unite the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. There are lawmakers in both parties who would change their votes now.”

...Geithner, Kaufman
On May 4, 2010, Geithner visited Kaufman in his Capitol Hill office. As president of the New York Fed in 2007 and 2008, Geithner helped design and run the central bank’s lending programs. The New York Fed supervised four of the six biggest U.S. banks and, during the credit crunch, put together a daily confidential report on Wall Street’s financial condition. Geithner was copied on these reports, based on a sampling of e- mails released by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.
At the meeting with Kaufman, Geithner argued that the issue of limiting bank size was too complex for Congress and that people who know the markets should handle these decisions, Kaufman says. According to Kaufman, Geithner said he preferred that bank supervisors from around the world, meeting in Basel, Switzerland, make rules increasing the amount of money banks need to hold in reserve. Passing laws in the U.S. would undercut his efforts in Basel, Geithner said, according to Kaufman. Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Geithner, declined to comment.
‘Punishing Success’
Lobbyists for the big banks made the winning case that forcing them to break up was “punishing success,” Brown says. Now that they can see how much the banks were borrowing from the Fed, senators might think differently, he says.
...Below Market
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, says banks “were either in bad shape or taking advantage of the Fed giving them a good deal. The former contradicts their public statements. The latter -- getting loans at below-market rates during a financial crisis -- is quite a gift.”
The Fed says it typically makes emergency loans more expensive than those available in the marketplace to discourage banks from abusing the privilege. During the crisis, Fed loans were among the cheapest around, with funding available for as low as 0.01 percent in December 2008, according to data from the central bank and money-market rates tracked by Bloomberg.
The Fed funds also benefited firms by allowing them to avoid selling assets to pay investors and depositors who pulled their money. So the assets stayed on the banks’ books, earning interest.
Banks report the difference between what they earn on loans and investments and their borrowing expenses. The figure, known as net interest margin, provides a clue to how much profit the firms turned on their Fed loans, the costs of which were included in those expenses. To calculate how much banks stood to make, Bloomberg multiplied their tax-adjusted net interest margins by their average Fed debt during reporting periods in which they took emergency loans.
Added Income
The 190 firms for which data were available would have produced income of $13 billion, assuming all of the bailout funds were invested at the margins reported, the data show.
...In the September 2008 meeting at which Paulson and Bernanke briefed lawmakers on the need for TARP, Bernanke said that if nothing was done, “unemployment would rise -- to 8 or 9 percent from the prevailing 6.1 percent,” Paulson wrote in “On the Brink” (Business Plus, 2010).
Occupy Wall Street
The U.S. jobless rate hasn’t dipped below 8.8 percent since March 2009, 3.6 million homes have been foreclosed since August 2007, according to data provider RealtyTrac Inc., and police have clashed with Occupy Wall Street protesters, who say government policies favor the wealthiest citizens, in New York, Boston, Seattle and Oakland, California.
The Tea Party, which supports a more limited role for government, has its roots in anger over the Wall Street bailouts, says Neil M. Barofsky, former TARP special inspector general and a Bloomberg Television contributing editor.
“The lack of transparency is not just frustrating; it really blocked accountability,” Barofsky says. “When people don’t know the details, they fill in the blanks. They believe in conspiracies.”
In the end, Geithner had his way. The Brown-Kaufman proposal to limit the size of banks was defeated, 60 to 31. Bank supervisors meeting in Switzerland did mandate minimum reserves that institutions will have to hold, with higher levels for the world’s largest banks, including the six biggest in the U.S. Those rules can be changed by individual countries.
They take full effect in 2019.
Meanwhile, Kaufman says, “we’re absolutely, totally, 100 percent not prepared for another financial crisis.”

.....On Nov. 26, 2008, then-Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis wrote to shareholders that he headed “one of the strongest and most stable major banks in the world.” He didn’t say that his firm owed the central bank $86 billion that day.....

Plus, (Business Insider) Julia LaRoche reports ~ REVEALED: More Details On The Fed's Breathtaking $7.7 Trillion In Loans To Large Banks

~*~

Frieda Berryhill's Nuke Power - Alternative Energy Update

2011-11-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

Nuclear Power Kills

A letter from a friend

Think about the trust citizens are demonstrating concerning our political leadership Nuclear Power Kills- This week's statistics from Department of Labor relating to those workers at "selected" atomic energy sites: A total of 87,585 individual atomic energy workers are represented by the 148,694 cases reported, costing U.S. taxpayers $7,575,946,688 . Link: http://www.dol.gov/owcp/energy/regs/compliance/weeklystats.htm This is not all of the workers as these statistics do not cover current workers exposed nor those workers not covered under Section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act who are being exposed at the atomic fuel fabrication facilities and associated refinement activities. These statistics cover workers involved in nuclear fuels and enrichment processes covered under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act implemented in 2001 (part B) and 2004 (part E). The totality of claims involving sickness and death involving all nuclear fuels and enrichment process workers not covered under part B & E listed are not available. In the aftermath of the Fukushima, Japan disaster; how many more warnings will it take to stop the madness and greed for money? Disaster on our homeland? For the Christians amongst us this should be particularly appalling to you. If not, I suggest you reexamine your faith and purpose on God's good earth. Is nuclear power worth the deaths and the cost in human suffering?
Have a nice day, GARRY MORGAN, U.S. Army Medical Department, Retired BEST/MATRR http://www.matrr.org/

We can do it without nukes
SCE pioneering rooftop photovoltaic power in game-changing solar energy effort
Edison construction manager Gary Rue walks atop the solar-paneled rooftop of the ProLogis warehouse Friday in Rialto. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff Photographer)
RIALTO - The next time you feel the strong ray from the sun know that across the San Bernardino County solar panels on large industrial warehouses are delivering electricity - possibly to your home.
Recently, some 26,880 solar panels have been installed at a 1.2 million square foot warehouse structure here owned by Prologis Inc.
Southern California Edison officials say this is likely the largest roof-top installation of solar panels in the country
Home wind turbine - Merrillville High School could get a wind turbine, solar panels

Massachusetts Camp Plans To Build State’s Largest Solar Array. New England Cable News (11/19) reports, Treasure Valley Scout Reservation in Rutland, Massachusetts announced Friday that they “plan to build a 25 acre solar array, the largest in Massachusetts.”

Analyst Says Solar Price Declines Will Spur Rising Market Demand. Bloomberg News (11/18, Tracer, Martin)

And on and on it goes, Clean Energy is winning
We are getting there Metachem, Delaware Site To Be Considered For Renewable Energy. The AP (11/20, Dominguez) reports that the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are both considering one “of Delaware’s most troubled environmental sites, the abandoned Metachem site, is being considered by state and federal officials for its potential to produce clean energy.” The AP reports that the “65-acre site near Delaware City is being paved over to keep chemicals spilled at the plant from continuing to leach into groundwater.” The AP adds that both agencies “announced earlier this month that they plan to assess 26 sites over the next 12 to 18 months. Other sites include an open-pit copper mine in southwestern New Mexico; a former lead smelter in Montana; and landfills in Arizona, Louisiana and New Jersey.”

Del. chemical site eyed for renewable energy - One of Delaware's most troubled environmental sites, the abandoned Metachem site, is being considered by state and federal officials for its potential to produce clean energy. The 65-acre site near Delaware City is being paved over to keep chemicals spilled at the plant from continuing to leach into groundwater. That has limited possible reuses for the property, which was the site of several large chemical spills and was placed on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's list of most hazardous waste sites in 1987.

How to use solar energy at night or during rainy days - In Granada- Spain, German scientists of Solar Millennium AG, have developed a solar-thermal power plant called Andasol 1. The most interesting thing about this power plant is that it can produce energy even when the sun is not shining: at night, on clouding or even rainy days. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogE3DTRkpq4
Just pictures: http://cryptome.org/eyeball/daiichi-111911/daiichi-111911.htm

TELL YOUR SENATORS TO STOP, TAKE A LOOK AROUND, AND START WORKING FOR AMERICANS, NOT THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY!
Certainly, a lot of Senators haven't gotten around to understanding that there just may be some lessons from Fukushima we need to learn--and quickly. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it is likely that a bill to encourage the development of "small modular reactors" will be voted on this month. So the first post-Fukushima legislation to emerge from the U.S. Senate will be a bill to force taxpayers to pay for development of new nuclear reactors? Click here to send a message to your Senators and tell them to wake up: not one more taxpayer dime for nuclear power--small, large or in-between! The text of the bill, S. 512, is here.

No Nukes please - This one seems to be falling apart
New crack at Crystal River nuclear plant casts doubt on repair plan - On July 26, monitors detected something amiss in the already crippled building that shields the reactor at Progress Energy's nuclear plant. The pile of shattered concrete outside meant the utility faced a new problem.

Truck With Uranium Fuel Rods Wrecks on I-40A truck carrying uranium fuel rods was rear-ended on I-40 near U.S. Highway 64. Emergency crews responded quickly to assess possible radiation exposure.
Don't forget, if they ever decide on a permanent resting place for this deadly stuff our highways will become dangerous
Just picture this : Dover to Philadelphia being declared a "dead zone"
Around the Fukushima plant, a world left behind
Namie, JAPAN — Eight months ago, people left this place in haste. Families raced from their homes without closing the front doors. They left half-finished wine bottles on their kitchen tables and sneakers in their foyers. They jumped in their cars without taking pets, and left cows hitched to milking stanchions.
Now the land stands empty, frozen in time, virtually untouched since the March 11 disaster that created a wasteland in the 12-mile circle of farmland that surrounds the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Some 78,000 people lived here; only a handful have been permitted to return. Cobwebs spread across storefronts. Mushrooms sprout from living room floors. Weeds swallow train tracks. A few roads, shaken by the earthquake, are cantilevered like rice paddies. Near the coastline, boats borne inland by the tsunami still litter main roads.

The China Syndrome
Architect of Reactor 3 warns of massive hydrovolcanic explosion
Posted by Mochizuki
Architect of Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 3, Uehara Haruo, the former president of Saga University had an interview on 11/17/2011.
In this interview, he admitted Tepco’s explanation does not make sense, and that the China syndrome is inevitable.
He stated that considering 8 months have passed since 311 without any improvement, it is inevitable that melted fuel went out of the container vessel and sank underground, which is called China syndrome.
He added, if fuel has reaches a underground water vein, it will cause contamination of underground water, soil contamination and sea contamination. Moreover, if the underground water vein keeps being heated for long time, a massive hydrovolcanic explosion will be caused.
He also warned radioactive debris is spreading in Pacific Ocean. Tons of the debris has reached the Marshall Islands as of 11/15/2011.

Excellent, even the Secretay of Energy said so !!!
Chu: “We Can and Must Compete in Clean Energy – and I Believe We Can Win”
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his remarks after touring the GE solar manufacturing facility in Arvada, Colorado today, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu highlighted the choice America faces on whether we should accept defeat and watch solar jobs go overseas, or play to win in the $240 billion clean energy market and create jobs here in the U.S.
I have no coubt we can win this, our survival depends on it
Powerful video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogE3DTRkpq4

Hear no Evil see no evil
Uninformed parents - Just meters from where a hot spot of radioactive cesium was confirmed days before by a private laboratory, a Little League baseball game was underway Sunday. A family strolling past the Edogawa City Baseball Stadium, near where high levels of radiation has been detected this month, Japan, October 15, 2011.
The players, their parents and the spectators, mostly neighborhood residents, unaware that some of the dirt here has tested equivalent to four times the minimum level of the contaminated zones from the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine. While the news about the Edogawa municipal ballpark complex had been reported overseas, including on the front page of Saturday's New York Times, it had yet to be mentioned in Japan's mainstream media.

Very strange :
In the first days of the disaster the US’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) posted a warning to all US citizens in Japan to evacuate Americans who were within 50 miles of Fukushima. It should be noted that the NRC only requires evacuation around US reactors for the closest 10 miles. Organizations and individuals across the country immediately filed Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the NRC to obtain details of why the NRC would do this. As always it is profits over lives

O, that "cheap clean" nuclear power
Fukushima Cleanup to Cost Minimum of $13B - The Japanese government said it anticipates spending a minimum of $13 billion to rehabilitate all of the territory exposed to radioactive contaminants from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, Reuters reported on Thursday (see GSN, Oct. 17).

~*~

A Feast Of Financial Crisis Posts For Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-24T04:49:00.002-08:00

Via Memeorandum ~

Free exchange: Faster toward the end - THE bad news out of Europe is coming fast and thick now. Markets were still digesting news of Spain's terrible bond auction yesterday, in which the yield on its 3-month debt more than doubled, from 2.3% to over 5%.
James Joyner / Outside the Beltway: Eurozone Too Big To Save?
Reuters: EURO GOVT-Spain bill yields soar, pressuring periphery
Izabella Kaminska / FT Alphaville: Interventions and bank queues in Eastern Europe
Wall Street Journal: German Bond Sale Spurs Worries
Martin Wolf / Financial Times: To the eurozone: advance or risk ruin
Jack Ewing / New York Times: Europe's Banks, Squeezed for Credit, Borrow From E.C.B.

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online: German Bond Auction Fails
+Discussion: FT Alphaville, Firedoglake, Reuters, Political Mojo, Spiegel Online, Via Meadia, Financial Times and Marginal Revolution

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml: Sarkozy: Europe's “Liquidity Run” Has Begun Because There Is An Unsolvable $30 Trillion Problem
Michael Barone / Campaign 2012: Want to read something scary about Europe?
Carl / Israel Matzav: Oy vey: Who will support the ‘Palestinians’?
Directorblue / Doug Ross: Brother, can you spare $2.1 trillion? Eurozone needs a cash infusion “ten times bigger than TARP”

Tyler Durden / ZeroHedge: Dexia Bailout On Verge Of Collapse, Threatens To Take France AAA Rating Down With It
+Discussion: Power Line

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog: Jon Huntsman declares war on big banks and Too Big To Fail — With a brand new proposal, Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is the only GOP 2012er to have moved beyond “repeal Dodd Frank” (which sounds like a return-to-the-status-quo) and fashioned a serious and comprehensive — and bold — financial reform plan.

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress: The Average Bush Tax Cut For The 1 Percent This Year Will Be Greater Than The Average Income Of The Other 99 Percent — As Occupy Wall Street protestors continue to demonstrate across the country, congress' fiscal super committee failed to craft a deficit reduction package due to Republican refusal …
+Discussion: Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

~*~

Markell: "Fracking" Proposal Will Not Get State's Support - Decision Causes DRBC To Cancel Monday's Vote

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

(presser)

“Fracking” Proposal Currently Lacks Sufficient Health and Safety Protections - Delaware will vote “No” at Monday meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission

WILMINGTON – The proposed regulations that would authorize drilling and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) to begin in the Delaware River Basin lack critical details on how public health and safety would be protected, Governor Jack Markell wrote today in a letter to the other voting members of the Delaware River Basin Commission. In the letter, Markell made clear that Delaware’s representative would vote against the Natural Gas Development Regulations at the Commission’s meeting in Trenton this Monday.
“Instead of beginning the exploration in the Delaware River Basin and hoping we get a proper regulatory framework in place after-the-fact, it is Delaware’s view the Commission has an obligation to ensure that critical issues regarding well construction and operation are finalized first and not subject to subsequent dilution,” Markell wrote.
Over 3,000 wells have already been drilled in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to harness natural gas out of the Marcellus Shale. While the watershed area that would be opened up to drilling under the Commission’s proposed regulations covers only a small portion of the Shale, it serves as the primary water supply source for at least two-thirds of Delaware’s citizens.
“By far, the single most important issue for a downstream state like Delaware is whether the wells are being drilled, constructed, and operated in a manner that adequately protects our public and private water supplies. Once hydrofracturing begins in the basin, the proverbial “faucet” cannot be turned off, with any damage to our freshwater supplies likely requiring generations of effort to clean up. In this case, it is more important to get it right, than to be fast,” Markell wrote.
Markell made clear that he believes the nation can pursue the promise of this important domestic energy source without compromising the quality of our water supply. However, doing so demands the close coordination of multiple regulatory bodies including the state and local governments of Pennsylvania and New York, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, and the Commission. Some of these regulatory offerings under consideration in each of these jurisdictions have (1) yet to be finalized; (2) have just been finalized but not fully evaluated; or (3) are final but inadequate to protect public safety.
For example, Pennsylvania’s legislative bodies are currently debating the science that underlies two separate pieces of legislation that would strengthen the rules regarding well construction and operation. In New York, scientists and citizens are still reviewing and commenting on New York’s draft regulations regarding well construction. Because those and other regulatory debates are still underway, Markell continues “to have significant concerns that the regulations may not adequately safe guard our regional water supply by adopting best practices for water withdrawal, siting and setback requirements, drilling and construction standards, ongoing operational protections, and clean up protocols and financial assurances should a release occur.”
The text of the letter is below:

November 17, 2011
The Honorable Governor Chris Christie
Office of the Governor
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625

The Honorable Governor Thomas W. Corbett
Office of the Governor
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

The Honorable Governor Andrew P. Cuomo
Office of the Governor
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Colonel Christopher J. Larsen
Army Corps of Engineers
North Atlantic Division
302 General Lee Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11252

Re: Delaware River Basin Commission’s Natural Gas Development Regulations

Dear Commissioners:

The Delaware River Basin Commission (the “Commission”) is scheduled to vote on the revised draft Natural Gas Development Regulations this Monday, November 21, 2011. This is an important issue and many of you have asked about Delaware’s intentions. This letter outlines Delaware’s position in advance of Monday’s meeting and the rationale for that position.

It is without question that the decisions we make regarding this issue can have a profound impact on the Delaware River Basin for generations to come. While I believe our nation can pursue the promise of this important domestic energy source without compromising the quality of our water supply, doing so in this case requires a thoughtful regulatory balance and coordination between several states, the federal government and the Commission. For the reasons stated below, I am not convinced we have yet struck that balance or have demonstrated that coordination, and that is why, after careful and deliberate consideration, Delaware will vote no on the adoption of the Commission’s draft regulations at this time.

On one hand, the Marcellus Shale formation offers the promise of providing a critical source of domestic energy, with its enticing potential to provide local, low-emission, and cost-effective energy. In addition, hydrofracturing in the Delaware River Basin has the potential to create significant numbers of direct and indirect jobs in Pennsylvania and New York, not to mention potential tax revenue for states struggling to meet budget shortfalls. On the other hand, as Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley of Pennsylvania has stated, “no amount of economic benefit would justify the degradation of our land, air and water.”

For the past seventeen months of the Commission’s rulemaking process, Delaware’s interest has been simple. As a downstream state that could be adversely affected by poorly crafted and/or executed regulations, Delaware is focused on protecting the water quality throughout the Delaware River Basin. While this watershed only covers a small portion of the Marcellus Shale, it serves as the primary water supply source for at least two-thirds of Delaware’s citizens. For this reason, we have worked to ensure the Commission’s regulations strike an appropriate balance between potential economic development and responsible stewardship of our precious natural resources.

Striking this balance has proven to be very difficult and complicated because it requires the close coordination of multiple regulatory regimes: the state and local governments of Pennsylvania and New York; coupled with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and this Commission. Some of these regulatory schemes have (1) yet to be finalized; (2) have just been finalized but not fully evaluated; or (3) are final but inadequate. As such, we continue to have significant concerns that the regulations may not adequately safe guard our regional water supply by adopting best practices for water withdrawal, siting and setback requirements, drilling and construction standards, ongoing operational protections, and clean up protocols and financial assurances should a release occur.

One only has to look at the prior experience in Pennsylvania to determine that the
Commission should not adopt regulations without fully addressing critical issues regarding well construction and operation. After Range Resources announced it had discovered a large gas field in southwestern Pennsylvania in late 2007, businesses big and small inundated small towns in Pennsylvania, seeking permits to drill in the Marcellus Shale. More than 3,000 wells were drilled in just over three years, and only after the fact, in 2011, did scientists, environmental and business leaders convene as part of Governor Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission and offer recommendations regarding the safe, efficient and environmentally responsible extraction and use of natural gas reserves in Pennsylvania. In its final report, the Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission noted several high profile incidents that underscore the potential impacts on ground and surface water caused by irresponsible hydrofracturing. As a result of its comprehensive and thoughtful review, the Commission offered 43 separate recommendations in July 2011 on how to better protect the public health and environment in Pennsylvania, many of which are not yet adopted by law, regulation or policy.

Instead of beginning exploration in the Delaware River Basin and hoping we get a proper regulatory framework in place after-the-fact, it is Delaware’s view the Commission has an obligation to ensure that critical issues regarding well construction and operation are finalized first and not subject to subsequent dilution. By far, the single most important issue for a downstream state like Delaware is whether the wells are being drilled, constructed, and operated in a manner that adequately protects our public and private water supplies. If the Commission is going to rely on the regulatory schemes of state and local governments on such issues, the Commission must review and evaluate such schemes in each of those states.

Otherwise, as EPA Regional Administrators Garvin and Enck properly noted in comments to this docket, the Commission should establish a minimum set of standards that any state requirements must meet. Because these state standards are still under development, Delaware has worked to improve the regulations with additional requirements for monitoring, financial assurance, site investigation following a release and remedial action; however, many smaller drilling operations will fall below the DRBC thresholds and will thus be governed by state regulations that are not yet final. Without a clear understanding of the legal and regulatory requirements regarding well construction and operation in New York and Pennsylvania, either through finalized and/or enacted state law or regulation, or through the Commission establishing minimum standards that must be met, I cannot conclude that the water resources in the basin will be adequately protected.

This does not mean that Delaware will refuse to move forward under any circumstances. In fact, I agree with Governor Corbett that the decision makers at all levels of government with respect to hydrofracturing should be guided by science, not emotion or desire for profit. But in Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth’s legislative bodies are currently debating the science that underlies two separate pieces of legislation that would strengthen the rules regarding well construction and operation. Further, in New York, scientists and citizens are still reviewing and commenting on New York’s draft regulations regarding well construction. Thus, the very efficacy of the Commission’s regulations depend heavily on state law or regulation but the decision makers in each state have yet to determine whether sound science will ultimately prevail. As such, this Commission is simply not able to properly evaluate these regulations based on the science at this time.

One final note on the process moving forward: the DRBC regulatory process has been a deliberate and thoughtful seventeen month process in which multiple public comment sessions were held, and more than 68,000 public comments were received and reviewed.

The Commission’s rulemaking process and the intense public interest on both sides of this issue reflect the importance of the decision the Commission will make.
Delaware has repeatedly raised the issue of ensuring that the public has the opportunity to review and comment upon significant revisions to the draft regulations. However, the regulations presented for adoption on Monday, were released publicly on November 8 with very significant substantive changes upon which the public should have the ability to comment. Indeed, as recently as November 16, additional changes were made, and it is doubtful the public will have an opportunity to review them, let alone comment, before the public meeting. In the end, if we want the residents of our four states to have confidence in the final product, we must be completely transparent, including providing sufficient public comment opportunities in a manner similar to Federal and state regulatory processes.

In closing, the decision whether to allow hydrofracturing in the Delaware River Basin is a decision that will affect multiple generations of Delawareans. Once hydrofracturing begins in the basin, the proverbial “faucet” cannot be turned off, with any damage to our freshwater supplies likely requiring generations of effort to clean up. In this case, it is more important to get it right, than to be fast. As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated, “[b]ecause full-scale development of natural gas exploitation in the watershed could degrade water quality, a rush to regulate and drill risks the long-term viability of one of the most important drinking water sources in the United States.” This risk is a significant concern for Delaware and therefore, until we have confidence that the Commission’s Natural Gas Development Regulations, coupled with the state and local regulations upon which they rely, are adequately protective of this water supply, I have a duty to current and future generations of Delawareans to vote no.
Sincerely,
Jack A. Markell
Governor

~*~

June Eisley Writes: Last Chance To Help Save The Delaware!

2011-11-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

Update: MARKELL ANNOUNCED HE IS VOTING AGAINST THE FRACKING. AND THE VOTE FOR MONDAY HAS BEEN CANCELLED. YAHOO!! GOTTA THANK THE GOV
~~~~~
From the inbox ~

Friends of Pacem in Terris, If you haven't already done so, PLEASE take a moment to Call Governor Markell by Friday on the fracking issue. According to the Governor's office, the majority of calls he has received have been from people not living in Delaware. WE are the ones he will listen to before anyone from out of state. We MUST act now. This is a crucial decision.

Please read below Four governors, inluding our own Gov. Markell, and President Obama will ultimately decide the fate of drinking water for 15 million people on November 21st when the Delaware River Basin Commission meets in Trenton, NJ for a vote that could begin fracking in the Delaware River Basin.

Call Gov. Markell's Wilmington office 577-3210 and tell him Don't drill the Delaware, and Don't approve ANY regulations to permit fracking! If you want to say more, tell him to oppose adoption of the proposed natural gas regulations by the DRBC and keep the moratorium in place for more studies. If you are in Pennsylvania, call Gov. Corbett's office at 717-787-2500; in New Jersey, call Gov. Christie's office at 609-292-600. For more info, visit http://www.savethdelawareriver.com/ . We are the 99% and we will no longer remain silent.
Also, the CLNCC took a position on Tuesday night ~

N.C.C. Civic League Resolution # 11-11-02
Adopted - November 15, 2011
Regarding the proposed Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) regulations for hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Valley

WHEREAS, the Delaware River Basin Commission's proposed fracking regulations utilized by oil and gas industries are unacceptable because of the absence of sufficient controls over the chemistry of liquid and gaseous injectants and because of the absence of appropriate controls to prevent the escape of natural gas into the water table;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CIVIC LEAGUE FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY stands in opposition to the proposed Delaware River Basin Commission's authorization of hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Valley until appropriate regulations and oversight are required and guarantees are established to protect the water quality of the basin from unforeseen contamination by the industry.

Chuck Mulholland, President
Civic League for New Castle County

~*~

Occupy New York Stock Exchange!

2011-11-17T04:23:00.001-08:00

Update: Occupy Delaware Reminder: Newark Rally, November 18th from 3-5pm Members of Occupy Delaware will gather on the Main Street sidewalk in front of Old College.
~~~~~

(MotherJones) Josh Harkinson reports ~ Occupy Wall Street Gears Up for the Big Day

At 7 a.m. [today] Occupy Wall Street will attempt to live up to its name. Hundreds of activists will converge upon the Street's most famous address—the New York Stock Exchange—in a coordinated attempt to shut it down. The blockade will be the first protest in a long day of carefully-planned demonstrations to mark what would have been the two-month anniversary of the occupation of Zuccotti Park.
"Most of the focus has been to figure out how to take this pretty radical action and figure out how it can help us build our movement and make OWS more accessible," says Logan Price, a protest organizer. In particular, organizers want to make sure that lingering
outrage over the eviction of the occupiers doesn't lead to violent confrontations with police. "If we aren't careful those actions can undermine the 99 percent thing."
To keep that from happening, experts in nonviolent protest techniques held trainings [Wednesday] evening in a nurses union office a few blocks from the park.

Plus, thinkprogress - Karl Rove meets Occupy Baltimore protesters, flips out: "Who gave you the right to Occupy America?" thkpr.gs/rvrnX3 and AdamWeinstein - Just heard @7im nailing it on Fresh Air. His expose on how GOP taxbaiting gave the rich all the power: rollingstone.com/politics/news/…

(MoJo images:)

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Jud Bennett Writes: Republicans Eat Their Own In Sussex

2011-11-17T03:18:00.000-08:00

From the inbox ~

This dissertation will raise some eyebrows. One would think from the recent events that powerful, democrat, Representative Pete Schwartzkopf has considerable influence over the Sussex GOP. Indeed, the popular 14th District Representative and State House majority leader seems to have influenced the decision of the Sussex Republican Chairman Glen Urquhart and his executive committee to oust the 37th District GOP Chairman, Eric Bodenweiser from his position based on a scathing letter to the Editor in the Cape Gazette by Rep. Pete Scwartzkopf about public comments made by Bodenweiser. Schwartzkopf who will be elected as long as he wants to be, because the majority of Republicans in his district always vote for him, apparently hit a nerve with the right wing, social conservatives that are controlling the Sussex Republican Party these days; causing them to fire one of their hardest workers.

Frankly, the Sussex GOP is fast going backwards and the next elections will in my opinion most likely reflect the disarray with democrat victories. The bottom line is that the Sussex GOP eats its own, destroys its own, and is at its absolutely lowest point in our history in my educated opinion as a former Republican leader and operative--now enjoying being a pundit of sorts. What a pleasure for me these days not to have to answer to anybody except my God. It all sounds convoluted and complicated, so further explanation is necessary. Here it is folks:

Apparently, due to conflicts between the Sheriff of Sussex County, Jeff Christopher and Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips over expenditures for the Sheriff's department, Sussex Chairman Glen Urquhart, according to my sources, arranged a meeting at the Sussex GOP headquarters between the two men. Interestingly Urquhart did not show up to referee the meeting. The conversation became heated and Councilman Phillips hit the Sheriff in the eye with a notebook and then kicked him in the groin. Well folks, according to the Delaware law, if a person assaults a peace officer or specifically a "Sheriff", it is a felony. Talk about embarrassing the Republican Party--how come Vance Phillips has not been sanctioned by the party for his aberrant behavior? How come Chairman Urquhart wasn't at the meeting? Of course we should all remember that Vance Phillips was Glen Urquhart's paid consultant during his unsuccessful bid for the US Congress. Hmmmm, had to throw that out there for consideration ?

Bodenweiser, who believes in the Delaware constitution, which clearly states that the Sheriff is the "Conservator of the Peace", made an ill conceived, public, tongue in cheek statement, that "if Phillips gave the Sheriff what he wanted, perhaps the felonious charges might go away". Whoops--not good,Rep Schwartzkopf wrote about it, embarrassed Urquhart, and former Senate candidate, 37th district chairman Eric Bodenweiser suddenly found out that his 1st amendment rights of free speech can have dire consequences ! Bodenweiser found himself- now a person "without praise"-- and was suddenly ousted from his position as Chairman of the 37th district.

Ironically, when 41st District Representative John Atkins, a former Republican, now a Democrat found himself in some difficulty, Councilman Vance Phillips, among others, led the charge to dispose of Atkins. Big John left the GOP, joined the Democrats and was elected again to the same position. Interestingly, like Pete Schwartzkopf, John Atkins will remain in office as long as he wants to. Will Bodenweiser perhaps switch parties and become a democrat ? Unlikely, knowing Eric, however my point is, that instead of circling the wagons and protecting their own, the Christian, right wing that runs the show in Sussex is stoically unforgiving, relentlessly punitive, and consistently self destructive. Hypocrisy is the name of the game with this bunch--"Praise the Lord."

So be it in Sussex County Delaware-never a dull moment.

~*~

No Vote Demanded On Controversial Fracking Regulations At Army Corps Of Engineers Presser Today

2011-11-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

Tens of Thousands of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware Leaders and Activists Demand “NO” Vote on November 21st Decision Regarding Controversial Drilling and Fracking in the Delaware River Watershed
November 21 decision would allow tens of thousands of fracking wells in the Delaware River Basin; risks drinking water source of over 15 million people

On Monday, leaders of the organized labor, faith-based, sportsmen, business, national organizations and college/university populations from the states that make up the Delaware River Watershed – New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware – held a press conference at the office of the Army Corps of Engineers asking that Colonel Christopher Larsen, as a voting member of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), vote against regulations that would allow controversial gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin for the first time. Gas drilling and the use of the new, largely unregulated practice of high volume hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, could pollute the Delaware River – a drinking water source to over 15 million people living in the region.

"Leaders from many faiths are joining forces to call for a continued moratorium on gas drilling along the Delaware River watershed to protect our fresh water supplies and public health. Our children and grandchildren do not need natural gas to survive, but they do need clean water to drink. The members of the DRBC have the opportunity to act ethically and courageously and stand up for what's right. We must change the paradigm of extracting natural resources without attention to the long-term consequences," said Rabbi Melissa Klein, a Reconstructionist rabbi living in Philadelphia and the mother of a young child.

"The continued support and pursuit of extractive, environmentally destructive fossil fuel processes impedes the necessary transitioning to renewable energy. On November 21st, the Delaware River Basin Committee must listen to the public and deny the proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Valley. We will not accept the approval of irresponsible regulations that directly
contradict our efforts toward safe, just, and renewable energy," said Morgan Bartz, student, Swarthmore College.

"Fracking is about creating super profits for the 1% by poisoning communities and exploiting workers," said Jed Dodd, General Chairman of the Pennsylvania Federation of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, speaking on behalf of the Labor contingent. "We call upon our elected leaders to represent the millions who depend upon the Delaware River Basin to protect us from their corporate greed and ensure that this public resource remains protected for now and for future generations."

“No human right is more important than the right to LIVE. However as we are all aware, life requires the ability to breathe clean air, drink clean water and feed ourselves non contaminated food. Unfortunately, it is these basic requirements of life, that the actions and policies of these industries deny us all, and they have been doing so for well over a century”, said John F. Scorsone, President of SolareAmerica and father of two young boys.

"Drinking water contamination from gas drilling has now been documented by both the EPA and CDC, and hundreds of doctors, nurses and public health advocates have spoken out against fracking. This isn't just "slickwater" -- it is SICK WATER. Philadelphia and all the downstream millions demand, loud and clear, 'Keep it clean! Don't frack the Delaware!'” said Iris Marie Bloom, Director, Protecting Our Waters.

“We are here today to bring these various constituencies to the federal representative, the Army Corps of Engineers, a crucial voting member of the DRBC, to share the unified voice of the broad public that opposes drilling and fracking in the Delaware River Watershed,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network. “Students, faith leaders, labor, businesses, sportsmen and outdoor recreators, river based and national environmental and conservation organizations, are all saying to the Obama Administration and the Army Corps ‘We want a healthy river and clean water for our communities and for future generations. Don’t Drill the Delaware!’” concluded Carluccio.

“There is broad public support for keeping fracking out of the Delaware River Basin, which I have seen at events we have been holding around the region about these plans and you can see that opposition here today with all the letters and petitions our volunteers helped to collect,” said Karina Wilkinson, Regional Organizer with Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy organization. “Many people I have spoken to are outraged that President Obama hasn't spoken out against fracking the Delaware, with the serious risks it would pose to public health and the environment.”

Fracking to extract natural gas involves injecting large quantities of water, sand and over 600 chemicals underground to break up shale and rock. Many of the chemicals are known carcinogens. The resulting wastewater is toxic; ten times more toxic than that produced by oil extraction, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and no treatment facilities exist to remove all of these pollutants. Numerous studies by government bodies, universities and media outlets have documented fracking’s adverse impacts on public health, air quality, waterways, and drinking water.

National and local groups, legislative officials and activists have opposed the DRBC regulations, which will receive a final vote on Nov. 21. The regulations would lift a 3-year moratorium and allow between 18,000 and 64,000 fracking wells to be placed in the Delaware River Basin, opening New Jersey and New York up to horizontal fracking for the first time, bringing more fracking to Pennsylvania and exposing Delaware, the most downstream state in the Basin, to water quality degradation, coastal disruption, threats to the Delaware Bay’s oyster habitat, and sprawling gas pipelines and related infrastructure.

Fracking in Pennsylvania has already caused numerous problems. A blowout at a Chesapeake Energy gas well in Bradford County, Pa. in April 2011 forced the evacuation of seven families from their farms and caused toxic fracking wastewater to flow into a nearby stream. In nearby Dimock, Pa., fracking chemicals have contaminated the drinking water, leading to a public health crisis and numerous spills and accidents have dumped chemicals into creeks there. The PA Department of Environmental Protection website reports that in 2010 there were 2,759 violations of environmental permits by drillers, about 7.5 per day; this year through September 2011 there have been 2,859 violations - that’s about 10.5 per day, nothing short of an environmental calamity.

In addition to the letters, the organizations delivered anti-fracking petitions with signatures from citizens living in the region to the Obama Administration, represented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Hundreds of people are expected to join the protest from throughout the Delaware River Watershed at the Nov. 21 10:00 am public meeting of the DRBC at the War Memorial in Trenton, N.J. where the voting DRBC commissioners will vote.

Food & Water Watch lists a bus locator tool on their website at: http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/salsa/event/common/public/index.sjs?distributed_event_KEY=647

The day before the vote, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network will host a training session for the protestors on lawful, peaceful, first amendment activity. For more information, overnight accommodations, parking and other logistics visit: http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/about/event.aspx?Id=160

~*~

Fracking/Gasland With Director Josh Fox 7PM Tonight In Newark

2011-11-14T03:45:00.000-08:00

Update: 6PM Presser ~ Will Jack Markell show up?

A press conference will be held at the University of Delaware where Governor Jack Markell has been invited to attend so that he, as a voting member of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), can receive letters from various constituencies asking him to vote against regulations that would allow a controversial gas drilling method known as fracking in the Delaware River Basin for the first time.

Fracking to extract natural gas involves injecting large quantities of water, sand and over 600 chemicals underground to break up shale and rock. Many of the chemicals are known carcinogens. Fracking could pollute the Delaware River – a drinking water source to over 15 million people living in the region. The DRBC regulations, which would lift a 3-year moratorium and allow between 18,000 and 64,000 fracking wells to be placed in the Delaware River Basin, will receive a final vote on Nov. 21. If the regulations are passed, they will pave the way for horizontal fracking in New Jersey and New York, bring more fracking to Pennsylvania and expose Delaware, the most downstream state in the Basin, to toxic fracking runoff and the impacts of infrastructure development.

SPEAKERS:• Josh Fox, writer/director of the film "Gasland"• Adam Holubinka, a 2012 Energy & Environmental Policy Major and President of the Students for the Environment at the University of Delaware• Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network

~~~~~
From the inbox ~

Amy Roe writes: Reminder: Fracking/Gasland with director Josh Fox on Nov 14 at 7 pm at the Trabant Theatre in Newark

University of Delaware's Students for the Environment, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Delaware City Environmental Coalition and some other environmental groups are coming together to sponsor a FREE FILM SCREENING OF GASLAND with a fracking discussion to follow with the film's director Josh Fox. Monday, November 14 7 pm at Trabant Theater, University of Delaware Main and S. College Streets, Newark. I hope you will be able to come.

This is an opportunity to engage this issue just one week before the Delaware River Basin Commission will vote on whether it will permit fracking in the Delaware Basin. Without any public hearings in Delaware, I have serious concerns aboutthe transparency and outreach by the DRBC. We are downstream! Please come to the film screening/discussion to learn about this issue, what is at stake, and to strategize how to take action.

Plus (FDL) David Dayen writes ~ The Roundup for November 13, 2011 - I finally caught Gasland over the weekend, which is great. But I didn’t know that the White House will have a decisive vote on opening the Delaware River Basin to natural gas fracking in just a week. When thinking about this, consider that the EPA just found fracking chemicals in an aquifer in Wyoming, and that the Delaware River Basin provides water for 15.6 million people, including the cities of New York and Philadelphia.

~*~

Award-Winning Historian John A. Nagy's Investigation Of Espionage In Colonial Pennsylvania 7:30 Tonight At Hale-Byrnes house In Stanton

2011-11-12T07:16:00.001-08:00

From the inbox ~

Please join us this evening at the Hale-Byrnes House
606 Stanton-Christiana Road Newark, De 19713 at 7:30 p.m.
Author John Nagy presents the third in his series of books on Revolutionary War Spies.
$5 at the door includes coffee & dessert.
Mr. Nagy will have copies of his books for sale and autographing.

Review (and image) from Amazon.com ~

"Well-researched and presented, it reminds one how muddled and dangerous the revolutionary landscape was."—American History
It did not take long after the Seven Years’ War—the French and Indian War in North
America—for France to return spies to America in order to determine the likelihood of regaining the territory they lost to Britain. One of the key places of French espionage was the colony of Pennsylvania since its frontier had been an important crossroads of French influence in North America. The French recognized then that there was a real possibility that the colonies would seek their independence from Britain. Against this backdrop, award-winning historian John A. Nagy begins his investigation of espionage in colonial Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia played a key role in the history of spying during the American Revolution because it was the main location for the Continental Congress, was occupied by the British Command, and then returned to Continental control. Philadelphia became a center of spies for the British and Americans—as well as double agents. George Washington was a firm believer in reliable military intelligence; after evacuating New York City, he neglected to have a spy network in place: when the British took over Philadelphia, he did not make the same mistake, and Washington was able to keep abreast of British troop strengths and intentions. Likewise, the British used the large Loyalist community around Philadelphia to assess the abilities of their Continental foes, as well as the resolve of Congress. In addition to describing techniques used by spies and specific events, such as the Major André episode, Nagy has scoured rare primary source documents to provide new and compelling information about some of the most notable agents of the war, such as Lydia Darragh, a celebrated American spy.
An important contribution to Revolutionary War history, Spies in the Continental Capital: Espionage Across Pennsylvania During the American Revolution demonstrates that intelligence operations on both sides emanating from Pennsylvania were vast, well-designed, and critical to understanding the course and outcome of the war.

~*~

Happy Birthday, Dad

2011-11-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

My father would have been 95 today.

(mom and dad are on the far right)

Dad grew up off Lake Erie in Ashtabula, Ohio. His grandparents got wealthy running one of the town's utilities: the coal and ice business. Dad's father continued the family good fortunes for a time. We'd hear stories of the Pierce Arrow automobile, the family airplane and my father's speaking two languages thanks to his Finnish nanny. My grandpa Willing was in real estate, at one time "owning half of Ashtabula county". His vast wealth was on paper --all lost in the great market crash of 1929. That experience gave my generation the constant reminder of what it was like growing up in the great depression. My parents were conservatives in the true sense of the word. Bless you dad!

~*~

Demand Progress Declares Net Neutrality Victory, Urges Rejection Of Pending Internet Censorship Bills

2011-11-11T09:59:00.001-08:00

From the inbox ~

Demand Progress Declares Net Neutrality Victory,
Hails Senate & White House Defense of the Internet
Group - Urges Consistency, Rejection of New Controversial Internet Censorship Bills

WASHINGTON -- Thursday 600,000-member civil liberties advocacy group Demand Progress applauded members of the United States Senate who voted down a new effort to repeal Net Neutrality legislation. Backed by threats of a Presidential veto, 52 Senators defeated Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinon's resolution criticizing the FCC's rules prohibiting Internet providers from blocking legal content.

In the days leading up to the Senate vote 70,000 Demand Progress members emailed their senators in opposition to the resolution.

Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal stated, "Today's action by members of the United States Senate is a huge affirmation of the importance of protecting the Internet for America's vitality and innovation. But the threats to Internet startups and jobs continue every day. Demand Progress and its 600,000 members call on President Obama and members of Congress to reject the new Internet Blacklist Bill -- PROTECT IP (Sen) and Stop Online Piracy Act (House) -- circulating in Congress. To do so would be to affirm our Secretary of State's recent attempts at breaking down Internet censorship walls around the world and ensure that the Internet remains a free and open platform for communication."

(The Hill) Brendan Sasso reports ~
Senate rejects bid to overturn net-neutrality rules

The Senate rejected a bid to repeal the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules on Thursday. The measure passed the House in April, but failed in the Senate on a vote of 52 to 46. It needed 51 votes to pass and was not subject to a filibuster. President Obama had promised to veto the measure if it had cleared the Senate. The FCC’s net-neutrality regulations prevent Internet service providers from slowing down or speeding up access to websites. Wireless carriers are banned from blocking lawful websites or applications that compete with their services.

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Occupy Delaware Is On The March Friday And Saturday - Join In!!!

2011-11-11T06:38:00.001-08:00

June Eisley writes - from Pacem in Terris - and don't forget the People's March tomorrow at noon. If you believe with what the Occupation Movement stands for, try to come and show your support.

Occupy Delaware is doing a March for Veterans today, starting in Spencer Plaza and walking to the 4 memorials for veterans in the city. We will be laying wreaths at each location. Starts at 11am, bring signs if you want, not sure of the state of art supplies at the occupation.

And from Phil Bannowsky -

If you are like me, you are amazed by the ability of Occupy Delaware to keep pushing on against every attempt to block their rights to assemble for the redress of grievances in Wilmington. City and state have attempted to exile them to out of the way parks or forbid their overnight occupations at Spenser Plaza. But they gave resisted, camped out, filed suits, marched in front of banks, showed up at a sheriff’s sale, and continued to show “what democracy looks like” in their General Assemblies. They have got the nation finally talking about economic justice.
Now is the time for you to show your support. Join the People’s March this Saturday, Nov 12 at noon in Spenser Plaza.

More from the News Journal ~ Occupy Delaware wins ruling, leading to tent camp - The judge's order was to last one day, but later negotiations between Wilmington, the ACLU and Occupy Delaware will permit the protesters to remain in the plaza without need for a hearing today .

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John Kowalko Asks The Governor To Oppose Weak Gas Drilling Regulations

2011-11-11T06:09:00.000-08:00

From the inbox ~

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATE OF DELAWARE
LEGISLATIVE HALL
DOVER, DELAWARE 19901

Dear Governor Markell,

I am reaching out to you today since you are one of the five voting members of the Delaware River Basin Commission. I am asking you to vote in opposition to the weak gas drilling regulations being considered at a special November 21 DRBC hearing in Trenton N.J.

I am urging you, on behalf of all my constituents and their families, to protect the water supply of over 15 million people and cast your vote against weakened natural gas drilling regulations.

I am asking that you vote to require thorough cumulative impact studies so that we might consider and fully understand the impacts that allowing tens of thousands of gas wells would have if permitted in the upper and middle Delaware River Basin.

It would put our water, air, land and health at risk to consider drilling before necessary science is explored and federal studies are completed. In addition loopholes available to the industry allowing them to act without proper responsibility must be closed.

There have been very serious concerns raised about the economic viability of shale-gas drilling and the public health and environmental impacts that would result with slick-water hydraulic fracturing in shale. Numerous academic studies, governmental investigations and substantial investigative reporting over the past two years have documented serious concerns with this practice. There is strong evidence that voting for these weak regulations would put the residents and constituents of the Delaware River Basin at considerable risk and could result in irreparable harm to public health and the environment. We can certainly live without this finite amount of gas but our citizens cannot live without clean, drinkable and usable water.

I respectfully urge you to vote against this proposal which would put our citizens and environment at risk.

Respectfully yours,

John Kowalko
State Representative 25th District
CC: Secretary Collin O’Mara, Tom McGonigle, All Senators and Representatives

~*~

Plus, MotherJones Next Frontier in Natural Gas Wars: Psy Ops mojo.ly/tPwPla #fracking

New Waterless Fracking Method Avoids Pollution Problems, But ...

Propane Gel Could Eliminate Water Use In Fracking - Satisfy ...

~*~