Here is an email WGMD News just received from Milton Police Chief, William Phillips regarding the possible gang-related crimes that took place recently in Milton. Included are names and additional information on the case (Things to notice -I highlighted with bold print).

 

 Mr. Ciccanti,

“We are still attempting to locate Mr. Nelson Torres (18-year old) and the other guy from Texas. We are checking to see just what gang from the Wilmington area that Mr. Torres is with, but it will take a few more days to confirm same. Mr. Torres may be back in the Wilmington area, and we have people looking for him up there (warrants on file). The 15-year old suspect’s name is Mark Zavala and is from Texas and is still on the run also. We know that he is living in the lower part of the State of Texas and Mexican border. We are attempting to get him picked up and sent back to Delaware (warrants on file). We received information from other people and family members that he may be involved in a gang from Texas, but we have not confirmed same at this time. Some of the tagging that was done is consistent with a Wilmington gang tagging and some other tagging that we are attempting to learn what gang it is from, maybe Texas.

The two boys that have been arrested–names are: Mr. Christopher Garcia, 15-year old of Milton DE, and Joshua E. Lofland–17 year old from Milton, DE. were the ones who were arrested for the car break-ins (burglaries), thefts, and graffiti. All four suspects were hanging out with each other in the beginning and did the gang Tagging & burglaries etc…around the town of Milton. Then they had a failling out over money and Lofland then attempted to assault Torres but did not get the chance. The next day on Saturday, the suspect–Torres entered the Milton Library and hit/assaulted suspect Lofland with a rock. Milton Police executed two search warrants at two different dwellings in the town of Milton and located stolen property from different burglaries etc. I believe that more charges are coming to all the suspects in this email. We are investigating other issues as we speak. I will be glad to share more information as we get it, but I just cannot share everything, you understand. Thank you…”

 Delaware Republican State Representative Gerald Hocker has decided to comment on the blogger-wanna-be-governor Burris comment calling former State Rep. John Atkins a “disgraced piece of human garbage“.  He seems to be taking the same approach as Sen. George Bunting;  the ol’ “we know you come from better stock than that, Davey boy” attitude.  These men seemed stunned that a son of John Burris would stoop to this level of gutter language politicking.  Is this the new “Delaware way?” 

Dan, 

I am in Nashville to attend a Beth Cayhall show case and received a call telling me of the Dave Burris comment. 

Although I do not want to see John Atkins run this term, especially as a Democrat, I do not agree with any such statement.  I have known the Burris family for many years.  They were one of my main suppliers when I first purchased my business in 1971. They were just a great family to do business with and I am sure Dave was not raised in any such way, and I do hope an apology is made to John. As a Republican I am very sorry for such a comment from our previous county leader. 

Gerald 

 

Delaware State Senator George Bunting (D) has called on former Sussex Republican Chair, and blogger-wanna-be-governor  Dave Burris to publicly apologize to John Atkins and his family for referring to Atkins as  a “disgraced piece of human garbage”.

 

“This comment is unacceptable in any forum” , said Bunting while noting that this kind of commentary reflects on Atkins young children.  “Dave Burris wasn’t raised to make these kinds of comments; he wasn’t brought up that way”

 

Will Burris follow Mr. Buntings request, and apologize?

Bunting made his comments on Mondays Dan Gaffney Show.  (92.7 WGMD)

 

On WGMD’s Maria Evans show this morning, former State Representative John Atkins says he is running again:

 

“Because I have a passion for the people…”

“I had many phone calls– from people–people I have run into around town–not just family and friends, a lot of Mayors, former Mayors that I worked with, state policemen, municipal police officers, fire company chiefs…asking me to run again.”

“Everybody deserves a second chance. I’ve given people second chances…”

“It’s not my ego, and I don’t need the money, but I want to serve, because in my heart, I know that I can represent the people better and did than what we are getting right now…”

“I don’t know how many times I can apologize. And WGMD has accepted the apology. I know all my local papers have. The News Journal –it seems like they still have an axe to grind.”

Atkins, who plans to register with the Delaware Department of Elections this week as a Democrat, says he will become a “conservative Democrat.”

 ”I will go back to Dover and represent the same conservative views that I did as a Republican.”

So it’s official. Is he deserving of a second chance? I believe so. We all make mistakes. All people fall short of perfection no matter who they are and what they do. I’ve made mistakes. God, who is a God of second chances, has given me numerous chances. I have gotten second chances from other people before, and I myself have given people second chances. We’ve all had bad days and have made bad choices, but you move on and learn from those mistakes.

The reaction on WGMD’s Maria Evans show from WGMD listeners was mixed—a little disappointment over his decision to run as a Democrat, but most said they don’t have a problem with him representing the 41st again. Is there any other reaction out there?

 

House leader responds to State News…. 

Dear Editor,
 

The State News recently ran an opinion column by State Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf on manufactured housing issues that, through errors and omissions, unfairly characterized the efforts of some of my colleagues.
 

In his column, Rep. Schwartzkopf stated that “a legislator, who owns a manufactured hous­ing community, is allowed to be a member of the Sub- Committee on Manufactured Housing”.  This is absolutely false.  There are nine members of this sub-committee, including Rep. Schwartzkopf.  None of these legislators owns a manufactured housing community.
 

Rep. Schwartzkopf also unjustly asserted that a House Subcommittee Meeting on Manufactured Housing (Jan. 9^th) was intentionally held in a fashion intended to shut the public out.  In fact, the meeting was open to the public and was held in the largest meeting room in Legislative Hall, with a seating capacity of approximately 50.  Among those in attendance were the leadership of the Delaware Manufactured Home Owners Association and more than a half-dozen TV, radio and newspaper reporters.  The meeting came about only after public hearings were held in each county to gather public input on the manufactured housing bills before the committee.  No rational person can legitimately claim that the Jan. 9^th meeting was conducted in anything less than an open, public fashion. 
 

Another unsupported allegation by Rep. Schwartzkopf bordered on libelous.  In his column, he indicted all State House Republican legislators by implying that their reluctance to pass the poorly crafted legislation he supports is to protect state GOP chairman Terry Strine, who is a manufactured housing community owner.  
 

What Rep. Schwartzkopf omitted was that it has been Republican House members who have successfully sponsored the laws that have aided manufactured housing residents in recent years.  Those reforms include: rewriting the state’s outdated Landlord-Tenant Code to improve lease agreements; establishing a relocation fund to help displaced homeowners when a community closes; and limiting lot rent increases to once per year.  Republicans also sponsored a new law to help homeowners resolve disputes without costly litigation, a process that just began within the last few months.
 

Another fact conspicuously absent from the original column is that the areas of the state where manufactured housing is prevalent are predominately represented in the State House by Republicans.  In other words, Republican lawmakers are actively motivated to help the people residing in manufactured housing because these are their friends, neighbors and constituents. 
 

Someone more cynical than I might suggest that misrepresenting Republican legislators’ track record of progress on manufactured housing issues is a political tactic intentionally designed to alienate voters in an election year. 
 

Fortunately, I’m not that cynical.
 

Sincerely,
 

State House Majority Leader Richard Cathcart

For those of you that saw the post below relating to 41st District Rep Greg Hastings, here is some more information sent to me from DE House of Representatives Communications Officer Joseph Fulgham 

:

Jared, 

 

I caught the beginning of your show on Monday (2/18) when you were discussing the possibility that John Atkins would run for the 41^st Representative District seat.  The discussion revealed that a few of the callers were unfamiliar with the record of current State Rep. Greg Hastings and some questioned his accomplishments in office. 

I think it’s important that Rep. Hastings get his due credit. 

Rep. Hastings is a prime sponsor of legislation to protect private property rights.  House Bill 289 would prohibit state, county and municipal governments from using their eminent domain authority to seize private property for economic development purposes.  Because of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Delaware governments can legally do this.  In fact, the City of Wilmington is currently threatening to condemn the properties of dozens of small businesses so they can turn the land over to a private developer working on a high-value riverfront project. 

Rep. Hastings has also started a task force to investigate the health threat to high school athletes from illegal steroid use and to determine what steps should be taken to combat it. 

Understand, Rep. Hastings took office only nine months ago (May 8, 2007) and that the General Assembly has been in session for only 10 weeks during that span.  Overall, given his short tenure as a freshman legislator, Rep. Hastings has been very active and effective.    

Rep. Hastings is continuing to build on his promising start.  In the next two weeks he will mail a survey to every household in his district to gauge the opinions of his constituents on 20 public policy questions.  The survey is being printed and mailed at Rep. Hastings’ own expense so he’ll be able to better represent the interests of his district.  

He’s also diligently dealing with constituent matters and funding local road projects.  Neither of these activities is especially newsworthy and goes largely unreported, but forms part of the core of legislative service.   

It is unfortunate that Rep. Hastings’ ability to serve the 41^st District in a manner that has not generated any controversy has actually worked against him.  John Atkins’ troubled past and uncertain future has unfairly overshadowed a man who has ably done the job the people of the 41^st District sent him to Dover to accomplish. 

Sincerely, 

Joseph Fulgham
Communications Officer
DE House of Representatives 

I’m joining the McCain camp.  There have been a few weeks of careful consideration.  In the past when I’ve faced this dilemma I’ve voted Libertarian and considered the Constitution Party.  These outfits have an issue with war.  McCain has no issues with the overriding challenge of our day.  He wants to win.  He doesn’t see surrender as an option.  His two potential major party opponents are just warmed over Chamberlain.  Come to think of it we’re at that point where in the 1940s and 1950s that many were talking accommodation with communists.  McCain won’t accommodate.  Ask the fellows who were his roommates at the Hanoi Hilton. 
 We can lose this war.  It’s a protracted conflict that is realistically centuries old but the enemies now have weapons that can alter the playing field. 
Today the leftist columnist, Eugene Robinson, excoriated John McCain in a Washington Post piece seeking appeasement.  From Robinson’s perspective McCain represents what has been wrong about America since its founding.  White men have a lot of power.  Never mind that if the early colonists had been green that green men would hold a great deal of power.  For full disclosure I’m a middle aged white man.  I should also note that middle to older aged white men have cured polio, eradicated smallpox and sent rocket ships to the moon. 
From Robinson’s perspective white men are evil.  White men impose western culture on peaceful regimes in Asia.  The argument being the desperate Chinese, Burmese and al Qaeda need Obama to free their cultures as well as our own. 
Let me tell you that without McCain, or other older white men, there won’t be healthcare, the Bill of Rights or free association.  If we lose this war we’ll be subject to the whims of Asia and from what I’ve read the whims of Asia come with a yoke, a lash and sometimes the loss of limbs, organs and heads.
McCain also has enemies on the right.  I’ve always believed a great deal of the anger from my peers to the right-of-center was masking other truths.  McCain supported limiting the impact of money in political campaigns, yes, but money often corrupts the system.  Damn McCain in his quest to find a solution.  What effort did you make?  McCain also opposes pork-barrel spending.  Damn him again.  Money spent on hippie museums could be better spent on armor for our troops.  McCain went to war and paid a terrible price.  I was at home playing with Tonka trucks.  Where were many of McCain’s critics on the right?  Trick knees, studying in France and recruiting for The Church of Latter Day Saints.  John McCain is a real man.  His critics? 
Immigration.  Yes, I want controls if not a stone wall 75 feet high.  I want English as an official language and you’ve got 12 months to learn the ropes.  I want my culture to survive.  McCain’s crime?  He suggested the problem was very complex.  So let’s adopt some of our own angry solutions and watch the courts shoot us down.  Should we shelve the courts?  Then who will be the last arbiter when someone comes for your guns?  When someone breaks down your doors in the middle of the night?  When someone comes for your organs, your limbs or your head?
Call me a McCainanite.  I’m not looking for the Promised Land.  I’m voting for survival.  To quote Christopher Hitchens writing of Churchill; He was right about the thing that mattered most.  McCain can see the threat and knows the meaning of sacrifice.
 

An unusual call-in to my radio program today, the 41st District Representative Greg Hastings. This was actually one of the first times I’ve spoken with Hastings since the election. Seems very personable and polite and called in to answer the question “What has Greg Hastings Done?”

With all the hub-bub recently about John Atkins, It was good to hear the person who is actually representing the 41st on the air.

So what has Hastings done for the 41st? Well, if you listen to the below interview, what you’ll hear is.. “It’s only been 9 months” — but, he speaks a lot about getting out to meet people in his district and fixing roads and potholes. He also spoke about getting in on the eminent domain issue, needing educated on the manufactured housing issue and possibly creating a task force to look into the use of steroids in local high schools.

Enjoy the phone-in here…

Here are some details regarding the Bethany Beach Town Council’s decision to ban smoking. There will be a total ban on parks throughout town including Loop Canal Park on Pensylvania Avenue, The Nature Center, The park on the east side of Town Hall, the Children’s Public Playground, and the Bandstand area of the boardwalk. The balance of the boardwalk will have a ban only seasonally from mid-May to mid-September, which will correspond with the parking meter season. The beach will have ban during that same period of time, but there will be 7 or 8 designated smoking areas about 100 feet from entrances. So some parts of the ban will be seasonal and other parts will be year-round. The Town Solicitor will draw up the ordinance, and come back to the Council for a first and then a second reading a month later, followed by a vote. Assuming that the votes were as they were last night, it would then be passed and put in place by mid-May.

Health issues and the issues regarding secondhand smoke are what brought this to their attention, and that has been the predominant response from the public, according to Tony McClenny of the Bethany Beach Town Council. One argument against all this was–if there is a ban on these wide open areas, it would bring the smokers into more congested areas. There are other arguments against the ban as well, which has to do with enforcement.

Before they came to an agreement, the Council was split on the seasonal ban as well as the total ban and could not come to a consensus. It only took a couple of people to speak out for the Town Council to reconsider and then finally go to a vote. One resident stated this:

“I think the smoking on the beach is horrific! Cigar smokers should be banned and sent to Ocean View or wherever. It is disgusting!” She goes on to say, “I think it is incredible that in a place that considers itself a family resort, we can’t have 4 people on this Council that want to uphold a ban on smoking.”

Another resident said this:

“I am one who has to sit on the beach and suffer with smoke…and… you can’t easily move. I would much rather have that ban in place in the summer than not at all. Is it possible for you to reconsider as a compromise? That would be much preferrable to us voters and taxpayers.”

Council members in support of the ban also mentioned the kids that could be affected by it. A ban at least in the summer months when it is crowded is a wise decision. And it’s not like smokers wouldn’t be able to smoke at all. There will be 7 or 8 ‘designated’ smoking areas. I think this should make most people happy–at least on the beach.

 

Ever since John Atkins resigned his 41st District seat in the state House, it’s been rumored that Atkins would run again in the future – possibly switching to the other side of the aisle and becoming a Democrat. 

That’s either been the worst kept secret or the best possible speculation – though he did run for to regain his former seat in the special election as an independent candidate.  He had plenty support from people, but when it came time to actually step into the voting booth – that support was flagging. 

With November drawing nearer, and a Republican still seated in the 41st District seat, Democrats in the district are looking for a candidate to run against Greg Hastings.  However, if Atkins is still looking to switch allegiances to the Democrats – he may find the reception rather icy. 

This was the email WGMD News received today, regarding John Atkins, the possible Democrat. 

41st District Democratic Committee

February 15, 2008

To Whom It May Concern:
Please be advised that the 41st District Democratic Committee held a special meeting on Wednesday evening, Feb. 13, at the Gumboro home of former State Representative and Mrs. Charles P. West. The meeting was held for the purpose of considering a resolution, submitted by Rep. and Mrs. West, both of whom are committee members, concerning the proposed Democratic candidacy for the office of 41st District Representative of former State Representative John C. Atkins, a long-term Republican who resigned his office last March rather than face an expulsion vote in the House of Representatives.

A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order by 41st District Committee Secretary Vanessa S. Deloach, who served as acting chair in the absence of the committee chair and vice-chair. Following a discussion of the matter, the resolution was duly approved. The resolution text follows:
_________________________
41st District Democratic Committee
RESOLUTION REGARDING THE POSSIBLE CANDIDACY OF FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE JOHN C. ATKINS FOR THE OFFICE OF 41ST DISTRICT STATE REPRESENTATIVE.

WHEREAS, former 41st District State Representative John Atkins was the subject of a news article in a recent issue of a local weekly newspaper, The Sussex Countian, entitled “Atkins to run again…as a Democrat?”; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins, as noted in the article, resigned his seat in the House of Representatives in March, 2007, after a House Ethics Committee report found that he had brought that body “into disrepute” because of his behavior during and after an Ocean City, Maryland, traffic stop and a subsequent domestic disturbance in late October, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins’s decision to resign from the House of Representatives was due, at least in part, to the clear knowledge that, had he not done so, many of his fellow Republicans and a substantial number of House Democrats, having been fully apprised of the details of his case, were prepared to vote to expel him from that body; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins has now let it be known that he is seriously considering leaving the Republican Party and running in the 2008 general election as a Democratic candidate for the seat he formerly occupied; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Atkins was quoted in the newspaper article as saying “I’ve been asked by a lot of Republicans and Democrats to consider running”; and

WHEREAS, he was further quoted as saying that “Obviously Republican party officials have discouraged me from running…[but] I’ve been courted by some Democratic officials”;

NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the 41st District Democratic Committee that they do hereby state and aver, clearly and unequivocally, that the Committee does not encourage or support the candidacy of former Representative John Atkins, running as a Democrat, for the office of 41st District State Representative.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the members of the 41st District Democratic Committee that, while the United States of America remains a free country and as a citizen thereof, Mr. Atkins has every right to register as a member of any political party he so chooses, and to run for any office for which he meets the legal requirements, if he decides to run as a Democrat for the 41st District Representative seat, he will do so without the official endorsement of the 41st District Democratic Committee.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 41st District Democratic Committee does not feel that it would be helpful to the cause of good government, to which we have always been committed, for any other outside “Democratic officials” to inject themselves into the internal affairs of the 41st District by urging Mr. Atkins to pursue a Democratic candidacy that the 41st District Democratic Committee declines to support.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, upon its adoption, suitable copies of this Resolution be made available to Mr. John Atkins, to the local and state news media and to other interested parties. 

APPROVED ON THIS 13TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2008