Dagsboro News

If you’re still in the Christmas spirit, then you may want to put off taking down your Christmas tree and consider attending Prince George’s Chapel’s annual Olde Christmas Musical Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 8.

Delaware State Police troopers are investigating the armed robbery of Holts Liquors located on Route 26 on Friday evening.
 

Selbyville police arrested Jeffrey Paddock, 49, of Ocean View on Wednesday, Nov. 23, for his alleged involvement in a string of local burglaries.

If the mayhem of Christmas shopping, planning and baking is just a little too much this season, there is another way to get into the holiday spirit, without lifting a finger. In fact, people can just sit back and relax with a good old-fashioned movie at a good old-fashioned movie theater.

Once local holiday celebrants have finished their big Thanksgiving meal and shopped ’til they dropped on Black Friday, they can continue the holiday weekend by spending Saturday evening at the Town of Dagsboro’s annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.

The Town of Dagsboro was recently the recipient of some needed man-hours, thanks to the Lord Baltimore Lions Club. Members of the club, as well as Kyle Hoyd, the Urban Forestry Coordinator for the state of Delaware, and E.J. Chalabala and Eric Buehl from the Center for the Inland Bays, planted 10 Tonto crape myrtles along Main Street and six eastern red cedars in the park.

More than 17 years ago, Roger Marino had a vision of helping the less fortunate around the holiday season. Today, his food drive initiative, Thanksgiving for Thousands, has helped countless families throughout the Delmarva peninsula enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday, as well as bringing together hundreds of volunteers to help their neighbors – a particular priority now, as families continue to suffer in a difficult job market and slow housing market.

“Is the glider chair upstairs really only $20?” asked Janice Tunell, who spends her time between her homes in Dagsboro and Wilmington.

Dressed in hardhats, gloves and reflective vests, a group of 20 civilians crossed the new Indian River Inlet Bridge, from end to end, for the first time. They grinned as a DelDOT tour guide led them across the newly completed 10-foot closure pour, which connected the two halves of the new bridge. Motorists had become accustomed to seeing the incomplete north and south sections move closer together until Oct. 18, when the closure pour was completed.

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, Delaware will join all other states in conducting the first nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) test. At 2 p.m., radio, television and cable stations will broadcast the familiar alert warning sound. Following the alert sound, the recorded message on broadcast media will state, “This is a test.” The audio message will be the same for both radio and television.

Dagsboro citizens are not excited about a possible increase in water rates. Town Council hosted a public hearing and workshop Nov. 1 to begin addressing the many issues, from budget deficit to a possible faulty water meter.

Delaware’s Department of Transportation has announced that beginning this evening, Wednesday, Nov. 2, there will be a shift in traffic patterns on Route 1 just north of the Indian River Inlet Bridge. The shift will be implemented to ensure continued road safety due to dune erosion adjacent to the northbound lanes, they said.

Both the northbound and southbound lanes of Route 1, near the Indian River Inlet will close at approximately 9 p.m. tonight, due to high storm tides, report  officials from the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT).

In a chemical-laden world – from the cosmetics women wear and the chemicals in dry cleaning to the more obvious pollutants, such as smoke stacks and cigarettes – it is easy to get exposed to something dangerous. What’s not as easy is knowing if and/or when that something could lead to serious and lasting side-effects, or even disease.

In an effort to slow down the rampant prescription drug abuse plaguing both this community and the nation as a whole, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is holding another national drug take-back event on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It’s getting a lot harder for people driving across the Indian River Inlet Bridge to see through the gap between north and south sides of the new bridge as they drive past, with the time for the final concrete pour of the project nearing and just 10 feet of space remaining between the two cantilevered portions of the bridge deck.

Delaware Hospice volunteer and Dagsboro resident Nancy Palmer was recently able to join a select few Americans chosen to stitch the New York Says Thank You Foundation’s National 9/11 Flag.

Coastal Delaware began its recovery from Hurricane Irene as torrential rains and gale-force winds cleared on Sunday morning, dealing generally with localized flooding and power outages, as well as downed trees and broken limbs – a considerably lesser impact than had been feared from the first hurricane to hit the state in recorded history.

Coastal Delaware began its recovery from Hurricane Irene on Sunday, dealing with localized flooding and power outages, as well as downed trees and broken limbs. Gov. Jack Markell lifted a travel ban and evacuation orders for at-risk areas as of 11 a.m. on Aug. 28, advising caution for those who did choose to travel.

From Ocean View Police Chief Ken McLaughlin (7 a.m. Sunday):

At this time, no damage to property has been reported in Ocean View.  Power outage remains east of West Avenue in Ocean View and throughout Bethany Beach.

From Ocean View Police Department (11:45 p.m.):

Over the past hour, winds and rain subsided.  Police patrols were initiated and all roadways in town are reported to be open.  Power is still out on the east side of West Avenue and in Bethany Beach.  Many trees have fallen, however, at this time there has been no report of damage.

Level 2 driving restrictions will be in place in Sussex County starting at 6 p.m.; then in Kent County starting from 8 p.m.; and in New Castle County starting from 10 p.m. This means that non-emergency travel will be prohibited.   Those who are evacuating from flooding or flood-prone areas, including to shelters, are exempt.
 

Indian River Inlet Bridge closing, conditions deteriorating as Irene approaches

As conditions across Delmarva have started to deteriorate with the approach of Hurricane Irene, the Delaware Department of Transportation has announced that the Indian River Inlet Bridge could be closed as early as 3 p.m. on Saturday but would definitely be closed by 4 p.m.

Hurricane Irene begins making its way into Sussex County
Those evacuating at-risk areas should be out; conditions will worsen quickly as day progresses