Possible Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Alan Levin, was live and local on WGMD Radio Wednesday. Levin was joined by Costal Conservative Judson Bennett and a friend, and Sussex County Coulcilman Vance Phillips stopped by before we went on the air to show his support for Levin. 

The questions I asked Mr. Levin came from people around Sussex County…some were submitted by e-mail, some I sought out, some questions were asked by live callers, and Mike Protack, who may face Levin in a primary, stopped by the station earlier in the day to drop off his question.

HIGHLIGHT CLIPS: 

Alan Levin expresses his displeasure at the deal made between DNREC and NRG Energy, calling it “wrong.”  You can check out what he said HERE.

If you want to know if Alan Levin’s campaign contributions are a reflection of his voting record, you can LISTEN HERE.

A short and sweet summary of what Levin thinks should be done about the DSTP (the Delaware State Testing Program), can be heard by clicking HERE.

My favorite clip from Mr. Levin’s visit has to be when he urges Delawareans not to be “embarrassed” by Delaware Senator Joe Biden.  You can LISTEN to that classic clip HERE.

THE INTERVIEW:

I’ve broken down the interview by question, and it’s in the order the questions were asked, so without further ado, here is Alan Levin answering Delmarva’s questions:

Are you running for Governor?  LISTEN

If you run, what would prompt you to do it?  LISTEN

Question from a Cape educator on the DSTP:  LISTEN

Local Sussex Countian, Bob Coleman’s question about illegal immigration:  LISTEN

A live caller asks about the cigarette tax:  LISTEN

Rich Collins from the Positive Growth Alliance has a question about free enterprise:  LISTEN

Alan Levin answers Judson Bennett’s question about infrastructure:  LISTEN

Most Frequent Caller, Frank, asks Levin about his campaign contributions to Delaware Democrats and about casino gambling in Delaware. LISTEN

Sussex County doctor and small business owner, Dr. Jeff Hawtoff, has a question about health insurance:  LISTEN

A question from a “concerned citizen” about the deal between DNREC and NRG Energy:  LISTEN

Steve Elkins from Camp Rehoboth has a question about civil rights:  LISTEN

Mike Protack, who Alan Levin will meet in a GOP primary for Governor if Levin decides to run, has his question answered:  LISTEN

A live caller asks Levin a more in depth question about illegals:  LISTEN

Captain Bill Baker’s question was about the new salt water fishing license, and Mr. Levin admitted to not knowing the answer, he’ll get back to us on this one:  LISTEN

Levin answers Dr. Jeff Hawtoff’s question about the 2 hour delay for emergency neonatal transportation in Sussex County:  LISTEN

A “concerned citizen’s” question about nuclear power in Delaware is addressed:  LISTEN

And these are Mr. Levin’s final comments to the people in WGMD’s listening area:  LISTEN

I’d like to thank everyone who submitted questions for Alan Levin, some of which I didn’t get a chance to ask…but maybe next time….

Last minute negotiations in Pennsylvania have failed and the government will be partially shut down:

Pennsylvanians will no longer be able to take driver’s license tests and state-run museums will be shuttered. Highway maintenance and a range of permitting and licensing functions will be stopped or severely curtailed, and the lights illuminating the Capitol’s dome were to be turned off.

Pennsylvania has a “$650 million surplus” but negotiations are falling apart over the Governor’s energy plan which imposes a “surcharge on electricity use.” Meanwhile campers are being told to get out of the state’s parks today:

At Gifford Pinchot State Park in Lewisberry, 70-year-old retiree Janice Sorgen and her family were among those who will have to vacate the park’s 10 cabins and 100 camping spots first thing Monday morning.

Attempts to go through the courts to “put furloghs on hold” for state employees will have to wait, but the courts did have the time to stop the closing of the state’s casinos:

A Commonwealth Court judge, however, halted the closure of slots parlors at least until a Tuesday hearing, said Doug Harbach, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Maybe the state employees living from check to check, who can’t afford to miss a day or so of pay, should give the slots a try.

Miss Delaware 2007 Brittany Dempsey

WGMD’s Joe Ciccante was on hand Saturday night for the crowning of the new Miss Delaware, Brittany Dempsey, at the Dover Downs.

You can listen to audio of the big announcement and her reaction HERE.

Listen to Dempsey talk about the “CATCH” program (Coordinated Approach To Child Healthcare), and her goals HERE.

And you can hear former Miss America 1981, Susan Powell, send off Miss Delaware 2006, Jamie Ginn, and talk about cow bells HERE.

I’m seeing a loophole in the recent “No Limit Texas Hold Em” poker tournaments the Delaware Legislature recently approved. A loophole that could mean a new casinos in Delaware. These “poker” events are now allowed in Delaware for charitable fundraising under very “strict” rules. One of the rules placed on sponsoring charities is:

Ҥ 1827. Limitations of Texas Hold’em Poker tournaments.
No sponsoring organization shall conduct more than 4 No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker tournaments per year with each tournament by the sponsoring organization to be held at least 75 days apart. Texas Hold’em Poker tournaments shall not commence prior to 1:30 p.m. and shall be limited to 6 consecutive hours. (75 Del. Laws, c. 117, § 1.)”

The idea of waiting 75 days was to prevent a new “casino” from opening in a town near you.

Along comes a retired doctor, and a retired pharmacist in Rehoboth Beach forming a group called the Delaware Fundraising Charity Inc. They call themselves an “umbrella” charity organization. This Sunday they will have a poker tourney for American Cancer Society, and next Sunday another tourney for Knights of Columbus. Both events held at the Atlantic Sands, downtown Rehoboth’s casino hotel apparently. This group claims they would like to produce a new tourney every week. The Delaware Gaming Board says the 75 day wait between events does not apply because the Delaware Fundraising Charity Inc. is a “third party vendor” and the applications for the event are under the name of the charities and not DFC Inc. Fifty percent of the proceeds are promised to the charity…the other 50 % will be to cover expenses. Let’s crunch some numbers:

It costs $150 to enter. 180 people can play, for a potential of $ 27,000. Maximum prize award is $8,000, leaving us with $19,000. 50% to the charity leaves $9,500 for the day to cover “expenses”, not counting drinks, food, etc. Hey, the Sands may be giving the room for free, in exchange for selling the booze.

The point is, according to the Gaming Commision this group, or any other group can do this every day, as long as a new charity is involved. Anyone want to open up a casino?