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WEEKEND #11, 2019

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

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REHOBOTH GETS MAJOR MEDIA COVERAGE FOR 2ND WEEK!

This past Friday, KYW-TV (CBS 3 from Philadelphia) sent an army of news people to extensively cover Rehoboth Beach for its evening "SummerFest" newscast segments. They set up a studio on the boardwalk and dispatched crews across town.

The top story at 4 p.m. asked tough questions like whether it was appropriate to dip Thrasher's fries in ice cream to make them sweet!

Mayor Paul Kuhns was featured at the top of the 5 p.m. newscast live from the boardwalk. Watch the three-minute interview here.

Dolle's, Funland, Browseabout, the Rehoboth Beach Museum, Dogfish, Salty Paws, Grotto's Pizza, Outlet shopping, ladderball, biking, Thrasher's, Rehoboth Beach Patrol and more shopping were covered by the CBS3 team.

All this publicity not only required a lot of staff but also quite a bit of parking. The live trucks and support vehicles parked at the bandstand where the city provided parking. Even so, two media vehicles were ticketed; one had been parked in a handicapped parking spot. The city made good and canceled the citations but officials had them move from the handicapped parking spot!

The previous Friday, WPHL-TV (PHL 17) provided similar in-depth reports featuring Funland, The Ice Cream Store, The Point, Dolle's and Browseabout.


 

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FUDGE, TAFFY OFFERED AS REWARD FOR ARREST OF MAN WHO SMASHED CANDY STORE WINDOW

This man was captured on video seconds after he allegedly smashed the window of Snyder's Candy around 1:24 a.m. this past Friday. Jeff Balk, owner of the popular Rehoboth Beach candy shop, says he is offering a reward of a pound of fudge and a pound of taffy per month for a year to anybody who provides police with tips that lead to an arrest. Watch the video on the shop's Facebook page.

He notes that the suspect is looking at his hand because "it must have a pretty good cut as there was blood on our glass." Balk added that he was not positive, but it appears as if the man punched the window where the "Donald Trump troll" doll was placed.

Balk says he is required to obtain a permit to replace the glass and must pay a fee to the city, in addition to having to pay to replace the $1280 glass pane. Since this was an emergency, he was allowed to get the window replaced before he obtains the permit and pays the fee.

Anyone who can provide any information as to the identity and/or location of the suspect is asked to please contact Rehoboth Beach PD at (302) 227-2577 or submit a tip online.

Photo courtesy Jeff Balk


 

HOMELESS MEN ARRESTED FOR SLEEPING IN ANNA HAZZARD HOUSE

The Anna Hazzard House, the original camp meeting house from 1895, is one of the best recognizable historical landmarks in Rehoboth Beach. This past week, homeless men were arrested on two separate occasions taking refuge on its porch.

Lt. William Sullivan says the one man who was arrested on Friday was charged with trespassing, criminal mischief and littering. A second homeless man was found by police around 7 a.m. Saturday and has been charged with trespassing and littering.


 

ANOTHER SCOOTER CRASH OUTSIDE REHOBOTH
Turning car collides with scooter on "bus lane," similar to previous accidents

Last Tuesday the woman driving this Honda motor scooter (moped) north on the Coastal Highway "bus lane" collided into a Ford Fusion which was making a slow left turn onto Church Street from southbound Coastal Highway around 4:20 p.m., says MCpl. Melissa Jaffe, state police spokeswoman.

This spot, just outside of Rehoboth, has been a chronic problem for such accidents. The scooter drivers on the "bus lane" often outpace the vehicles on the roadway. When they come to a cross street or driveway, vehicles turning from Coastal Highway sometimes fail to see the scooter coming up the "bus lane" and cut in front of them.

The 57-year-old woman on the scooter was taken to the hospital with wrist and hip injuries. The 31-year-old Florida man driving the Ford Fusion was not injured and was issued a citation for failing to yield the right of way while turning left.


 

TEENS WANTED FOR REHOBOTH BIKE THEFT

Rehoboth Beach police released these photos yesterday of two bike theft suspects, probably in their mid-to-late teens. Police say the duo stole a bike from the boardwalk rack at Wilmington Avenue last Tuesday just before midnight.

Anyone who can provide any information as to the identity and/or location of the suspect is asked to please contact Ptlm. Dominic Scarpone of Rehoboth Beach PD at (302) 227-2577 or submit a tip online.


 

MOTORCYCLIST KILLED IN CRASH ON COASTAL HWY IN O.C.

Ocean City police had attempted a traffic stop on a motorcyclist in the area of 45th Street this past Tuesday, but he fled from officers, says Ashley Miller, police spokeswoman. She says officers did not chase the motorcycle and lost sight of the biker. But at 9:44 p.m., police received reports of a serious accident on northbound Coastal Highway at 59th Street involving this motorcycle.

The preliminary investigation, according to police, reveals that the motorcyclist ran a red light and collided with a Ford Explorer that was attempting to make a U-turn northbound onto Coastal Highway. The motorcycle involved in the crash was from the attempted traffic stop at 45th street, she said. CPR was initiated, but the motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. The three occupants of the Ford Explorer declined an ambulance.

The Maryland Coast Dispatch says the motorcyclist has been identified as Brian Douglas II, 27, of Mechanicsville in Saint Mary's County, Maryland.

Photo courtesy Cesar Campos, Campos Media


 

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PONTOON BOAT CAPSIZES IN O.C.
15 people tossed overboard quickly rescued

Multiple agencies and Good Samaritans came to the rescue when this pontoon boat capsized just before 1 p.m. this past Thursday near the U.S. Route 50 bridge in Ocean City. It was a miracle that nobody was seriously injured.

One witness told the Maryland Coast Dispatch that the rented 22-foot pontoon boat nearly collided with another vessel and it capsized when the operator over-corrected to avoid a collision. The swift current in that area near the bridge carried the pontoon boat into the bridge pilings.

Photo courtesy John Middlebrook (@jmiddlebrook)


 

WEST O.C. RESTAURANT GOES UP IN FLAMES

Firefighters were called to the Mad Fish Bar & Grill on Harbor Road in West Ocean City after fire broke out early this past Friday. The call was dispatched at 4:37 a.m. and within 10 minutes it had escalated to a third alarm. It was finally brought under control by 5 a.m.

The fire was determined to be accidental, caused by a faulty electrical service under the second-floor walk-in refrigerator/freezer. News reports indicate that the owners intend to reopen. Video is on WGMD.com. Also see these drone shots on Facebook from Ideal Drone Services.

Photo courtesy Cesar Campos, Campos Media


 

CAR RUNS OFF HEBRON ROAD CURVE, GETS STUCK

There were no injuries and no charges after this car missed the curve and drove off the roadway on Hebron Road outside Rehoboth during the storm this past Wednesday.

State police responded to this car around 5:45 p.m., says MCpl. Melissa Jaffe, state police spokeswoman. No crash report was taken, she said.

Photo courtesy A.C. Miklovis


 

ART FELLOWS EXHIBITION OPENS AT CAMP REHOBOTH

An exhibition at CAMP Rehoboth recognizes the 20 Delaware Division of the Arts individual artist fellows for 2019. It includes everything from literature, music, crafts, painting, works on paper, poetry, photography to sculpture. Every year the Delaware Division of the Arts works with the Delaware State Arts Council to select the fellowship winners through an application pool of hundreds of applicants, explains Ryan Grover, Biggs Museum of American Art curator.

The winning artists are awarded the fellowships ranging from $3,000 to $10,000, Grover added. "I feel like every year the fellows sort of see everybody's [works] from last year and push up their game a little bit further," he said.

Among those attending Friday night's opening was Shawn Faust from Bear, Delaware who has been painting for 30 years. He explains that his work was inspired by his love of nature. "It's about human nature reciprocity," he points out. The colors are vitality for life, he says. Because of the sun we see light, therefore we experience color. "No matter what I am painting," he points out, "I like to really use the gesture of the paint, and vitality of the color to bring my message across." The shapes represent the branches of a tree, he says. That's a metaphor on how everything is connected.

This fellowship, Faust said, has allowed him to diverge from representation and go into abstraction. "That's a new world for me," he said. "I feel like I have been a chef for 30 years with the same ingredients but I am learning how to use them in a different way, to speak a different language."

Billie Travalini, who received a fellowship award for fiction, read from her writings during the program. "For me," she explained, "all my writing is about giving voice to those who have been left out of the conversation... I was an abused child and taken away from my parents. I had lupus at 12, so I did not have a voice. But I still had dignity. I lived in a state-operated facility... where many children did not have a voice at all. So I watched them being marginalized and I was determined at that point to be a writer. So that those who did not have the abilities to speak for themselves that I could do it [for them]."

Lewes artist G.W. Thompson, who won the emerging artist award, explained how this particular piece is part of a larger series of environmental works that he has created. This one is called "Refused, Reduced, Recycled," he says.

It plays into the process where it is all plastic and paint waste from his studio practice. "So I refused it. It's refuse from my studio practice, that I then reduced down by chipping it into pieces of plastic so you see bits of stuff that I can't get rid of in an environmental way otherwise." A lot of the paint is paint he collected from his other artworks. He uses the paint to provide color as well as to hold the plastic waste. "It's very much about the process of the studio and my drive this year to reduce the overall waste that I produce as an artist," he added.

Kaitlyn Evans is another Lewes fellowship artist. She specializes in jewelry and metalsmithing. She has two necklaces on display here at CAMP Rehoboth and a solo show that also opened last Friday at Rehoboth's Heidi Lowe Gallery (see below).

This exhibition will remain at CAMP Rehoboth through September 1. Then it will appear at the Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington. See the DelawareScene website for more info.


 

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"WAYS OF UNTANGLING" OPENS AT HEIDI LOWE

Rehoboth's Heidi Lowe Gallery opened "Ways of Untangling," a jewelry show by Kaitlyn Evans who received one of the Delaware Division of the Arts grants. In addition to this show, she has the two necklaces on display at CAMP Rehoboth.

Evans says the DDA grant gave her the opportunity to create a new body of work and to explore a lot of ideas that she had been thinking about and ideas that helped her move through expressing emotion without fear and to do so openly.

Lowe points out that Evans' pieces in this exhibition are all silver hallow forms that fit in the hand or against the body. They are connected with red thread and they all have places where it "feels good" to hold them. "It is a visual expression of emotion," she explains, "You have to see it to really appreciate it." Her show runs through September 1.


 

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REHOBOTH DREAMING OPENS AT CITY HALL

Rehoboth Dreaming, one of the themed shows from the Rehoboth Art League, tries to capture the essence of Rehoboth. RAL received quite a few entries, says Nick Serratore, RAL exhibition's director, but the judge, Katie Cassidy, an instructor at the Academy Art Museum, selected these 15 pieces for the show in city hall.

"For me it is kind of like 'how do you reinvent the wheel,'" states Rodney Cook, explaining his water-color painting. "This was meant to be an unusual point of view... the point is, this has got all of the things that you want every beach day to be part of. You have clear blue skies, you have birds, you have people swimming, you have boating, you have beautiful umbrellas, and you're at rest and you are also relaxing, reading if you want," he points out!

Cook says he tries to make a composition that is a little more unusual. In this case it also has deep space, and goes from close to distant in the same piece. It's a circle on top of a rectangle, he says.

Cook's and the other artworks will be on display at city hall through October 20, 2019.

RAL offers a plein air painting class with Brian Murphy starting today and tomorrow and an oil painting class starting August 20. See the Cape Gazette for info on the current Members' Fine Art Exhibition. Also, the league's outdoor art show continues next weekend.


 

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WHOSE SIGNS ARE IN FRONT OF R.B. COMMISSIONER HOMES?

With the exception of Suzanne Goode, the other five Rehoboth Beach commissioner candidates now have yard signs. This past Saturday, one week from election day, was an appropriate opportunity to check what signs appear in front of current commissioner homes.

Mayor Paul Kuhns, former Mayor Sam Cooper and Comm. Stan Mills had no campaign signs in front of their properties. Comm. Richard Byrne said he had no campaign signs either, but pointed out that those which appear along State Road are erected in the public area and are not affiliated with him or the condo association.

Commissioners Pat Coluzzi, Stephen Scheffer and Lisa Schlosser all have Chrzanowski/Garlow signs.

Comm. Toni Sharp has a Susan Gay sign.


 

REHOBOTH BEACH COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE UPDATES!

With the election less than a week away, candidates are still pushing to get out the voters!

This past Friday, the Cape Gazette endorsed Mark Betchkal and Susan Gay, whose signs had a few pairings already in town.

 

Mark Betchkal--- Betchkal said Sunday that he has been concerned and wants to "dispel some nasty politicking." Some people who oppose him are spreading a rumor that, if elected, he will be unable to fulfill his term because his house is for sale, he said. He has pointed out that he previously addressed that. He hopes to sell his home on Sussex Street and buy something smaller, "in town of course, and better suited to one person." He says his current 3600-square-foot home is too much home for one person. "I would also point out," Betchkal adds, that "I have more full-time resident tenure than all of my fellow candidates combined and I will eventually reside in the cemetery on Henlopen Avenue where I own a plot." He will be on Mike Bradley's WGMD show during the 7 a.m. hour this Thursday.

 

Edward Chrzanowski--- Chrzanowski was on Mike Bradley's show this morning. He has been visible the past few weeks at all sorts of events. This past Friday he held a meet-and-greet at Browseabout Books which was attended by Comm. Pat Coluzzi, former commissioner candidate Richard Perry and others.

Chrzanowski said he thinks his message is "resonating with people" and he is feeling optimistic. The number one thing he would like to change? Fairness and transparency, he says. "I think a community that values respect and fairness and equity among all of its stakeholders is important," he added.

 

Charles Garlow--- Garlow was endorsed for Rehoboth Beach city commissioner this past week by the Delaware Chapter of the Sierra Club. "As a long-time member of the Sierra Club (since 1968), you have built a strong environmental record. Your efforts have brought numerous partners together as we work to improve air and water quality in Rehoboth Beach, Sussex County, and the State of Delaware," stated Sherri L. Evans-Stanton, Delaware Chapter of the Sierra Club, chapter director.

Garlow attended the monthly GreenDrinks.org gathering this past Monday at Fins Oyster House.

As for election day, Garlow says "Vote in the morning and do pushups at 3 p.m." He will take a break from the polls and attend the UPcoming event in Grove Park. Five local environmental groups will host the UpWithDelaware event in Rehoboth Beach this Saturday, August 10, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. The idea behind the event, which entails a competition of pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and yoga, was developed by Garlow of the Citizens Climate Lobby to raise awareness to environmental issues that have gradually become more prevalent and in dire need of action, especially in the most recent decade. More info is in the Cape Gazette.

Garlow will be on Mike Bradley's WGMD show during the 7 a.m. hour this Tuesday.

 

Susan Gay--- Gay says she plans to spend the final week attending the commissioners' workshop meeting Monday to address wastewater/water rates and the hotel tax. On Tuesday she will have a "come meet me at the farmers market" between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. This Wednesday she will be at Kaisy's Delights in the ocean block of Rehoboth Avenue from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. to meet voters.

On Friday, Gay will be on Mike Bradley's WGMD radio show during the 8 a.m. hour. At 3 p.m. she will be serving in her official capacity on the Planning Commission where they will be discussing a rezoning request for a parcel on State Road.

 

Gary Glass--- Glass says he has been having a "great time continuing to go door to door in the neighborhoods and downtown. I've had many enjoyable conversations with our local business people and homeowners, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. I'll be out talking with voters all week!"

He is scheduled to be back on Mike Bradley's WGMD show on Thursday during the 8 a.m. hour. He says he also updated his website with copies of all of his election mailings, letters to the business community and his letters to the editor.

 

Suzanne Goode--- Goode will be on WGMD with Mike Bradley this Wednesday during the 8 a.m. hour. She too will be attending the Monday workshop meeting at city hall to address the utility rates and the accommodations tax. Otherwise, she will be doing as much "door-to-door as I can manage."

The election is this coming Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more info on the candidates see this Cape Gazette article or the candidate statements which appear in CAMP Rehoboth.


 

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Lightning captured by an Apple iPad from the balcony of the Golden Surf in Ocean City...

Salute to the Rehoboth Beach water tower...

Stand-up paddleboarders (SUPs) in Rehoboth Bay...

Photos courtesy Mary Seaby, Diane Scobey and David Koster, PortraitsInTheSand.com


 

OTHER NEWS:

MAN WEARING ALL BLACK SCARES BOARDWALK VISITORS--- Rehoboth Beach police received several reports of a man wearing all black -- hat, jacket, sweatshirt, pants, black-laced combat boots -- and what appeared to be a holster with no weapon. He was walking along the boardwalk and entered a couple businesses. Police stopped him at Maryland Avenue where he provided his name and allowed police to search him. He had no weapon and he was not wanted. The holster was actually a canteen of water. This was similar to an incident in 2017 where a man wearing all black walked for miles along the beach and into the Cape Henlopen State Park. He also turned out not to be a threat.

 

MAN RESUSCITATED AFTER POOL DROWNING--- A man was pulled from an Ocean City swimming pool around 2:10 p.m. last Wednesday in cardiac arrest. It happened on Convention Center Drive at Thunder Island. According to Ashley Miller, police spokeswoman, "Paramedics responded and began CPR. The patient (an elderly male) was then transported to Atlantic General Hospital where he is in critical condition."

 

MAN INJURED WHEN LIFEGUARD STAND FELL ON HIM--- A 42-year-old man was taken to the hospital after he was struck by a lifeguard stand just before 1 p.m. yesterday near the Capri condo in Ocean City. OCBP Capt. Butch Arbin says a storm was "hitting fast and hard" and his guards were in the process of clearing the beach. "As a man was taking his belongings off the beach," Capt. Arbin said, a spare lifeguard "stand that was at the back of the beach was hit by a gust of wind and blew over striking the man. The guards responded and assisted him off the beach to safe cover until turned over to EMS." He added that the extra stands are laid down when not in service but people at night often move them around and must have stood this one up. "There are also strange wind patterns around the high rises due to their positioning and wind flows with more force between the buildings," he pointed out.


 

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NEWS RELEASES / NEWS REPORTS:

Automatically move Gmail messages from Promotions to Primary tab

The Shore vs. The Beach: They are not the same thing

Senators want beachgoers protected from flying umbrellas

Tractor-trailer overturns on Bay Bridge

Sussex County and municipalities weigh hotel tax

Sussex County towns pursue lodging tax

Coastal Delaware paddling map unveiled

Delaware shines in All-Women Lifeguard Tournament

Troopers investigating fatal crash in Milton last Monday

Man caught speeding arrested on drug and weapon charges near Milton last Monday

Sussex delays vote on Old Mill road apartments (north of Nassau Bridge)

Sussex Council wants more information on rezoning (related to above)

Dump truck catches fire on Nassau Bridge

Fishers Cove could increase flooding for neighbors (Lewes)

Lewes BPW sues City of Lewes

Lewes unveils redesigned website, meeting management system

Cape May-Lewes Ferry vessels equipped with evacuation system

Park rangers enforce surf-fishing regulations at Cape Henlopen State Park

Pink Lady bandit caught in North Carolina

Trees, renters spark debate at Henlopen Acres quarterly meeting

Fire departments need more volunteers to save lives (features Rehoboth)

Rehoboth Beach adds sidewalk stencils for bike safety

Rehoboth parking committee looks for road forward

Mural designed for Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

Rehoboth Beach's Funland: A timeless treasure

Rehoboth denies appeal of $13,000 fee in lieu of mitigation

Former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin visits Rehoboth-Dewey with girlfriend Colleen, children Collin and Hannah

Jon Gosselin visits Purple Parrot and Jimmy's Grille

Severna Park woman fights through grief, stress to bike from Denton to Dewey for autism

Important dates for 2019 Dewey Beach Municipal Election

Report calls for improvements to Dewey Beach Police Department

Pay raise for officers first step in Dewey Beach Police Department upgrades

RSVP by August 8 for Bethany-Fenwick chamber lifeguard celebration

Indian River puts moratorium on school choice applications

Dagsboro Paint and Wallpaper heavily damaged by fire (previous Saturday)

Update on previous weekend's fight arrest and motorcyclist crash in Ocean View

Woman charged with 5th-offense DUI after crash in Frankford (last Thursday)

Frankford man charged in domestic incident (previous Friday)

Woman's family files $1M lawsuit against O.C. over 2017 beach death

Family of Texas woman found dead in 2017 sues Ocean City, says she was buried by town equipment

O.C. nightclub's safe theft caught on video

Charges filed after attack on Ocean City lifeguards (from July 7)

Some beachfront bike racks planned in Ocean City

O.C. awards first marlin $5,000 prize

State promises to seek more input on Route 589 roundabout proposal

20th anniversary of 'Runaway Bride' release celebrated this month in Berlin

Long-time Berlin resident undertakes serious search for kidney donor


 

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