Delaware
Remembering former Wilmington City Council President Ted Blunt
Top leaders throughout Delaware offered their condolences and memories following the death of Ted Blunt, former council president and member of Wilmington City Council for 24 years. Blunt was 80 years old.
“Wilmington lost one of its greatest leaders and public servants,” said current Council President Trippi Congo. “Wilmington lost one of its greatest leaders and public servants … Throughout his political career, he always kept his feet humbly on the ground and his heart rooted in his beloved city.”
Congo pointed to Blunt’s achievements, which included making scholarships available for students citywide, extending hours at community centers and securing funding to help “at-risk” students. He was also remembered as a family man who was “larger than life,” Congo said.
Blunt stood by his daughter’s side on election night in November 2016 as Lisa Blunt Rochester became the first woman and first Black representative to serve Delaware in the U.S. House.
“My heart is broken at the passing of my father, my hero, and my inspiration,” Blunt Rochester said in a post on social media. “Dad was an educator, mentor, leader, and friend to so many. My family asks for your grace, prayers, and privacy as we mourn his loss.”
Before his political career, Blunt was a star athlete who played college basketball at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, back when it was called Winston-Salem Teachers College. He was the 1963 CIAA Tournament MVP and named to the all-conference team three seasons. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, he tried out for the U.S. Olympic team in 1964.
In a virtual reception President Biden hosted for Blunt in October 2022, Biden recognized Blunt for his sports skills.
“Ted, you and I have known each other for a long time,” Biden said. “You were a significant public official, but you’re also probably one of the best college basketball players in history. Not a joke. He was an all-American.”
The Biden-Blunt connection is deep in part because one of Ted’s other daughters, Marla Blunt Carter, served as project manager and director of constituent services for Biden during part of his years in the U.S. Senate.
“But this guy — not only can he play ball— the reason his daughters have this kind of, I don’t know, spark to change the world is because he did that too,” Biden said during a Black History Month event at the White House last February.
Blunt’s third daughter took a different path than politics but has been no less successful. Thea Blunt Fowler is an engineer who spent 25 years at the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Test Center. She’s now project manager at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations in Atlanta.
It was that family connection that U.S Sen. Chris Coons remembered as one of Blunt’s greatest attributes.
“Ted Blunt helped me believe it was possible to be in politics and still not lose sight of what matters to you the most: your family,” Coons said. “Ted confronted each moment, big or small, with his infectious smile and determination to accomplish what was just and necessary for the greater good.”
The Delaware Police Officer Standards and Training Commission recently announced that the Dewey Beach Police Department and Rehoboth Beach Police Department have both earned state accreditation from the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission.
As part of the rigorous process, a team of DPAC assessors ensured all accreditation standards were met by completing comprehensive, on-site inspections of each agency, reviewing their policies and procedures for compliance, and conducting interviews with department members.
“This milestone represents a significant step forward for public safety in Delaware. The initial state accreditation of these police agencies reflects a strong commitment to professionalism, accountability and excellence in law enforcement. I commend each department for their dedication to serving their communities with integrity and for upholding the highest standards,” said Joshua Bushweller, Department of Safety and Homeland Security secretary and DPAC chair.
Dover, Del. – Three farms, one from each of Delaware’s counties, were inducted into the Century Farm Program by the state Department of Agriculture on Thursday at the Delaware Agricultural Museum.
Each of the family farms has been owned and operated for at least a century. Each received a sign for their farms, an engraved plate and legislative tributes.
In addition to Secretary of Agriculture, Don Clifton, and Deputy Secretary Jimmy Kroon, state Senators David Wilson (R – District 18) and Kyra Hoffner (D – District 14) were also in attendance.
Wright Family Farms are located in Harrington in Kent County. In 1919, the farm was purchased by William Wright. Over a century later, William’s grandson, Ronald, is the owner and his great-grandson, Greg, said he hopes to continue the family legacy by buying the farm from his father.
Although the event celebrated each family for their hard work and resilience, it also highlighted the challenges farmers have to surmount to stay in business today, let alone for a hundred years.
“The price of equipment, the price of fertilizer, the price of seed, everything is just gone up,” Greg said. “So, you know, everything’s going up that we gotta purchase just to stay in business.”
Clifton, Kroon and Wilson also echoed difficulties in balancing the need to preserve agricultural land with the need to develop housing and sustainable energy projects like solar power.
“I know housing is very important, and we want people to always have good housing, but at some point, I think you’re going to saturate the area with more houses than you have food to feed these people,” Wilson said.
Kroon also said there are difficulties in keeping future generations motivated to stay in farming.
“When you think about it in the context of multi-generational farm families, there’s a real long-term challenge where a new generation may think twice about whether they want to keep farming if it’s always a struggle,” he said.
Clifton said farming has always been a challenging way of life, but it has been so since time immemorial.
“These families, their experience shows that they have an appreciation for the way of life and perseverance and that’s to be honored and emulated to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
Greg said he hopes to pass down the way of life so that his family legacy can live on for another hundred years, as well as for other families.
“A hundred years as the same family tilling the land, that’s, you know, that’s an honor right there,” Greg said. “And I hope that more farmers who are close to 100 years old will be doing the same thing. You know, keep it in the family.”
An investigation is underway after police said a man’s body was pulled from the Delaware River in South Philadelphia.
According to police, around 9 a.m. on Friday, April 17, 2026, emergency responders pulled an unidentified man from the Delaware River, near the Navy Yard. Medic’s pronounced the man dead at 9:11 a.m.
Léelo en español aquí.
SkyForce10 flew above as police and other first responders were on the scene.
NBC10
NBC10
Police are working to determine the circumstances of the incident and identify the man.
This is a developing story; check back here for updates.
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