THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008
VOL. 13 NO. 2
50 cents
NEWS HEADLINES
SENATE - Christine O’Donnell announces her bid to unseat Senator Joe Biden. Page 3 SCHOOL - Superintendent Russell Knorr is recommending against a new high school. Page 4 BUDGET - Dr. Kevin Carson raises the issue of budget concerns at the Woodbridge meeting. Page 5 WORLD WAR II - She survived an explosion at a munitions plant. Find out how. Page 8 RELAY - The annual Relay for Life of Western Sussex has a lofty goal. Page 9 LAYOFFS - Delaware’s teachers and state workers are protected from mass layoffs. Page 13 CONSERVATION - A Sussex farmer and an engineering firm earn conservation awards. Page 14 THEFTS - You won’t believe what thieves are targeting now. Page 37 UPSET - The Seaford varsity softball team knocks off Caesar Rodney. Page 49 OPENING - Woodbridge Little League opening day ceremonies coverage begins on page 49. STARS - A Seaford boys’ tennis player and a Sussex Tech softball player are Stars. Page 51
INSIDE THE STAR BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD CHURCH CLASSIFIEDS EDUCATION ENTERTAINMENT FINAL WORD FRANK CALIO GENE BLEILE GOURMET HEALTH HONOR ROLL
6 21-24 26 38-42 30-31 47-48 67 66 53 20 62-63 43-46
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LETTERS 58-59 LYNN PARKS 19 7 MOVIES OBITUARIES 28 PAT MURPHY 25 POLICE JOURNAL 60 PUZZLES 61 SPORTS 49-56 TIDES 7 TODD CROFFORD 27 TONY WINDSOR 66 VETERANS OF WWII 8
STARRY STARRY NIGHT - Delaware Tech held its annual fundraising event, Starry Starry Night, on Saturday, April 28. This year’s event featured the culture of Italy. Delaware Tech vice president and Owens Campus director, Dr. Illeana Smith, is shown with Delaware Tech Mascot “Roady” and a human statue, played by actor David Engel. More on page 18. Photo by Daniel Richardson
Budget cuts could have cost Seaford 50 teachers public school districts in Delaware, is still facing a possible three- to fivepercent cut in its state funding. Seaford schools received about $28 million from the state this year. In comparison to what it could have been, a three-percent cut does not seem so bad, superintendent Russell Knorr told the Seaford School Board Monday night. “We’d love to get this down to three percent,” he said. “This is still a very unpleasant situation,” he added. “But it’s not as unpleasant as it was a week ago.” Knorr said that a five-percent cut in the district’s budget would mean a loss of about 18 teachers. “We would have to cut the current staff,” he said. “That could mean RIFs (reductions
By Lynn R. Parks Citizens of Seaford will vote Monday on a city plan to borrow $1.62 million from the state for improvements to its sanitary sewer lines. Voting will be from 2 to 6 p.m. in city hall, High Street. The loan would be paid back over 20 years, city manager Dolores Slatcher said. The interest rate would be set by the state at the time of closing; the city’s last state loan, for improvements at its wastewater treatment plant, had an interest rate of 3.99 percent. Slatcher said that the city is hoping for “something in that region or less.” The planned project would improve the sewer main that crosses Williams Pond and upgrade the sewer lift station on Norman Eskridge Highway. Director of public works Berley Mears said at a public hearing held March 25 on the city’s plan to borrow the money that the project would include the installation of about a mile of new pipe. It would also include adding a force
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State had asked districts to cut budgets by 10 percent By Lynn R. Parks The good news is, the Seaford School District is no longer facing a 10-percent cut in its budget. That cut, which superintendent Russell Knorr said could have meant the loss of about 50 teachers, was put to rest Thursday when the General Assembly came up with a plan to limit the state’s education budget cuts for next year to $30 million. Earlier, Jennifer Davis, director of the state Office of Management and Budget, had said that the cuts would total $80 million. The state had asked school districts to come up with ways to cut up to 10 percent from their budgets for next year. But the bad news is that the Seaford School Districts, like all
$1.6 million borrowing plan goes to the voters