A beginning
By Andrew Sharp
The newly minted Delaware Independent has been underway for about a week and a half now, and we're grateful for all the support. People have said they appreciate the local news stories and a number of you showed that appreciation by signing up for paid subscriptions, even though all stories are still free at this point.
We appreciate the love on social media, too.
Been on a hiatus of sorts but had to crawl back shortly to shout out @buckeye_201's new venture. Andrew is incredibly passionate about true local news and I am so excited that southern Delaware has someone this dedicated. Can't wait to read. https://t.co/7FC3PRJBJA
— Marina Affo (@marina_affo) August 11, 2021
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We even got a shout out from a similar startup across the pond in Manchester, England.
Amazing! A new local paper for Delaware based in newsletters. Good luck Andrew. https://t.co/rNmcm2higY
— Joshi Herrmann (@joshi) August 13, 2021
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Just as we launched, a local favorite restaurant, Tamburelli's, relaunched too, so that was our first story.
Instead of vanishing like so many other eateries in Delaware during the pandemic, Tamburelli’s, which closed earlier this year, is now under new ownership and reopened Aug. 9.
New owner Sabri Cengiz Karayilan, of East New Market, Maryland, said he has spent years in the restaurant business, starting as a dishwasher and busboy and working his way up to chef. Now, he’s launching into ownership.
You can read the full story here.
Also, a local bar that had been the subject of controversy — and which subsequently burned down in an arson — was ordered completely demolished by the town of Greenwood. The owner says that means he won't be able to reopen. We delved into some of the details of this story.
We also examined western Sussex County's low vaccination rates and helped squelch some rumors about a PNC Bank branch in Bridgeville. Our latest story is on long-awaited projects in Harrington that may finally get $10 million in funding.
If you want to help us bring more local news stories like these to southern Delaware, please consider subscribing, and many thanks to those of you who already have.
In other news:
Bridgeville reopened the town hall in May under restricted hours and planned to increase those hours, but because of the COVID delta variant the town will keep restricted hours for the time being, according to the town manager’s report. Hours are from 9 to 2. You can make an appointment if you need one between 9 and 4. The town asks residents to use online or phone payment options if they or close family show any signs of illness, or the drop box. The town also continues to hold its commission meetings over Zoom.
Bridgeville's town hall.
Upcoming events in Bridgeville include a town-wide yard sale on Sept. 18 and the return of Apple Scrapple Festival after a year off because of the pandemic. Apple Scrapple’s website, which memorably features a blue-eyed cartoon pig holding a bunch of balloons and looking unexpectedly cheerful given the ingredients of scrapple, says the event starts Friday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. and wraps up Saturday at 10 p.m. It includes vendors, live entertainment, a Little Miss Apple Scrapple contest, a mayoral scrapple sling and of course lots of eating.
Although it lacks a beaming mascot, Harrington is also holding an upcoming festival. Its 43rd Heritage Day starts with a parade at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28. Per the town’s website, it will feature crafts, food, free entertainment, a kids zone, demonstrations and three museums filled with local history.
Speaking of the Harrington city website, it doesn’t seem to have a lot of fans. Doug Poore with the city’s Parks and Rec department gave a presentation to city council this week about possibilities for redoing the site and moving to a new web host. It’s currently hosted by the state and is difficult for staff members to update. The new site would cost only a few dollars more over three years, he said. During the meeting the website faced numerous unkind words, including accusations of being difficult to navigate, and this reporter, having tried it out recently, does not see any reason to defend it. “I hate the website that’s there now,” council member Darren Simpson said. “I think our website ought to be more than what it is. I think it ought to be more user friendly and it ought to market the city better.”
Milford holds its farmers market downtown every Saturday from 9-1 at South Walnut Street and the Mispillion River Walk, running through October. Greenwood also started a farmers market downtown on West Market Street this summer, but the August event was canceled. It is slated to be back Sept. 11 for the last time this season so if you’ve been wanting to go, you have one more chance.
Brandywine School District canceled a school board meeting Monday night after about half the crowd refused to put on face masks, which were required in the school building where the meeting was being held, Delaware Online/The News Journal’s Jeff Neiburg reported. The move was met with both boos and cheers from the crowd.
Last night, the Brandywine School District board meeting, which was slated to have a public comment full of mask and race theory issues, was cancelled after some attendees refused to wear masks https://t.co/JnDbRzteM4
— Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg) August 17, 2021
Dewey Beach is bringing back its Running of the Bull on Saturday, Aug. 21. It’s another annual event that was canceled last year because of the pandemic, but has returned. It’s basically an excuse for people to get together at the beach and party and includes conflict with a suspiciously fake looking bull.
Tim Bennett and Mary "Toni" Sharp won three-year terms to the Rehoboth board of commissioners in the city’s Aug. 14 election. The city said 1,190 voters participated. Sharp got 622 votes and Bennett got 621. Richard Byrne got 559 votes and Rachel Macha got 491. Bennett and Sharp will be sworn in Sept. 17.
If you're interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine, there are a number of vaccination events in southern Delaware in the coming days. They include these back-to-school vaccination clinics held at local schools on Thursday, Aug. 19, from 4 to 8 p.m. The clinics are open to the public and will offer the Pfizer vaccine.
Lake Forest Elementary, 5424 Killens Pond Road, Felton
https://mhealthsystem.com/lakeforest to register.
Seaford Middle School, 500 E. Stein Highway, Seaford
https://mhealthsystem.com/seafordmiddle to register.
Other upcoming vaccination events include:
Thursday:
Coverdale & Sussex Housing Community, 4 to 6 p.m., Route 18 and 404, Bridgeville
Friday:
DiFebo’s Market, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 788 Garfield Parkway, Bethany Beach
Freeman Arts Pavilion, 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., 31806 Lake View Drive, Selbyville