THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2008
VOL. 12 NO. 49
50 cents
NEWS HEADLINES
Spring Home Improvement Inside this Edition
WOMEN SERVED AS WELL - Area woman was Army dietician during World War II. Page 8 NEW DIRECTION - Area businessman sets out on a fresh venture. Page 10 ANNEXATION - Some sharply contrasting viewpoints are expressed regarding the upcoming annexation election. Page 12 NEW RESTAURANT - The Seaford Council approves the site plans for a new restaurant. Find out what’s coming on page 12. RED CROSS SEEKS HELP - Aid organization needs to raise $500,000 in three months. Page 15 UP FOR AUCTION - Local company donates its services as part of Nanticoke Health Services fundraiser. Page 16 FURNITURE STORE HELPS - Johnny Janosik’s assists in furnishing Extreme Makeover house in Wilmington. Page 53 CONTROVERSIAL PASTOR - Calio comments about the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s pastor. Page 54 SPRING SPORTS - The final Seaford Star spring sports previews begin on page 41.
INSIDE THE STAR AUTO ALLEY BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD CHURCH CLASSIFIEDS EDUCATION ENTERTAINMENT FINAL WORD FRANK CALIO GENE BLEILE GOURMET HEALTH LETTERS LYNN PARKS
49 6 17 24 32-37 38 28 55 54 45 40 22 30 29
MOVIES 7 OBITUARIES 26 37 ON THE RECORD 21 PAT MURPHY 13 PEOPLE POLICE JOURNAL 50 PUZZLES 51 REAL ESTATE 11 SNAPSHOTS 52 SPORTS 41-48 TIDES 7 TODD CROFFORD 25 TONY WINDSOR 54 VETERANS OF WWII 8
GALESTOWN UPDATE - Progress is being made on the Galestown Millpond and the townspeople are hoping that this year they will have their pond and roadway back. The Galestown Millpond Association is raising money for educational activities to preserve the Galestown Millpond. They are taking part in the annual United Methodist Church indoor yard sale at the Galestown Community Center Saturday, March 29. See page 3. Construction on the new dam and roadway, washed away in June 2006, is about 50 percent complete and they expect the millpond to be restored by mid-May. Photo by Daniel Richardson
Nemours sets legislative priorities Mission is to make Delaware’s children the healthiest in the nation By Lynn R. Parks The Nemours Health and Prevention Services is asking for a 50-percent boost in state funding next year, from $200,000 to $300,000, for its Delaware Physical Education/Activity Program. The additional funding would allow up to 25 more schools to join the program, which encourages at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week for all school-age children. Now, 41 schools, including all schools in the Woodbridge School District, Central Elementary School in Seaford and Laurel Middle School, participate in the program. “All early indications are that the students are really responding well,” said John Hollis, community relations director with Nemours. “There are fewer discipline problems and better student performance.” On Monday, Nemours announced the legislative and regulatory changes that it will fight for over the next couple of years. In addition to more money for the school programs, the group,
dedicated to helping children grow up healthy, would like for good student health to be a part of the official policies of Delaware’s school districts and for the state, when it rates childcare facilities through its Delaware Stars for Early Success program, to look at whether the facility promotes good health. Nemours would also like to see the Delaware health care community adopt recommendations from the American Medical Association on how to best help overweight and obese children and their families. The recommendations were released last year following a two-year study by a committee of health-care experts, put together by the AMA. At that time, Cecil B. Wilson, chairman of the committee, called childhood obesity a “major public health problem.” According to Delaware Health and Social Services, 12.2 percent of children in Delaware aged 15 or younger are overweight. The percentage of overweight young people in the United States has tripled in the last 20 years,
to 35 percent. Overweight children can face many health risks, including asthma, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. “There is no single cause of childhood obesity, and no single cure,” said Debbie I. Chang, Nemours senior vice president and executive director of health and prevention services. “What we are trying to create, with the help of dozens of partners, is a cultural shift in Delaware that places the health of children at the top of the agenda.” She added that schools, childcare facilities and doctor’s offices are on the front line in fighting childhood obesity. Hollis said that making student health part of a school district policy ensures that that focus will continue, even as the school staff changes. “A policy governs what a school does,” he said. “When something is part of a policy, it makes it more permanent.” Bringing a focus on health to childContinued to page 12