• Former NFL player Tito Paul is hosting a fundraiser for the Delaware County Historical Society.
• The event, called Game On, will take place on Jan. 14 at the Meeker House and The Barn at Stratford.
• Paul will be joined by other former Ohio State and NFL players to share stories and answer questions.

An Ohio State alumnus, a former Cincinnati Bengals player, a Super Bowl champ and an insurance agent walk into a room … but there’s no punchline because they’re all the same person.

Tito Paul is well-known for his gridiron past, which includes playing for Ohio State, where he was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft in 1995, and winning Super Bowl XXXIII with the Denver Broncos in 1999.

But some folks may not be aware that he’s also a superstar in Delaware County, where his State Farm agency receives consistently high reviews.

Football fans will have the chance to meet Paul at Game On, a fundraiser for the Delaware County Historical Society (DCHS) on Jan. 14 at the Meeker House and The Barn at Stratford, 2690 Stratford Road, Delaware. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

The event will begin with a meet-and-greet from 6:15-7 p.m. in the Meeker House before moving to The Barn for the rest of the evening. A pizza party and soft drinks are included in the admission price, and beer will be available for purchase.

Paul will be joined by friends who also played for Ohio State, the NFL or both for an evening of football stories, NFL experiences and personal accounts of what it means to play in and win a Super Bowl. A Q&A period will follow the discussion.

In addition to Paul, guests will include:

• Ty Howard: Ohio State, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans
• Michael Wiley: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Dee Miller: Ohio State, Green Bay Packers
• Mike “Buster” Tillman: Ohio State

A young 32-foot humpback whale washed up on shore along the Delaware coast last week after it may have been struck by a large ship, according to the MERR Institute, a rescue and care facility for marine mammals in Lewes, Delaware.

The whale, estimated to have weighed at least 20,000 pounds, washed up in the Bethany Beach community on Jan. 8 after it had been floating at sea for a couple of days.

Whale likely struck by a ship

The MERR Institute said the humpback whale was in the surf zone throughout Thursday night before heavy equipment moved it to the shore the next day. 

Marine officials said the tossing and churning in the surf caused gases to form and inflate the tongue. MERR Institute’s necropsy team then performed a post-mortem examination on Friday, Jan. 9. 

Officials said the whale had subdermal hemorrhaging and a broken jaw on the right side, and that an injury of that nature is often associated with a large ship strike. Officials said the whale was likely still alive when it was struck by the ship.

MERR Institute officials said the whale was buried on the beach, which is “the most common practice for the disposition of the body. These large whales cannot be safely towed out to sea, so burying them on the beach allows them to become an important part of the beach ecosystem.”

“This was a tragic event, and we would like to thank everyone who helped to support us in our examination of this whale,” said MERR executive director Suzanne Thurman. “MERR’s volunteers were as wonderful as ever, and worked tirelessly to assist in examining the whale in a very short window of time. We would also like to thank DNREC for providing heavy equipment resources for towing and burial of the whale. They were able to tow the whale up onto the beach so we could safely examine it, and their staff was indispensable in helping us to position the whale so that we could get as much information as possible.”

Thurman continued, “And last but certainly not least, we would like to thank the very kind homeowners in Ocean Ridge. They looked out for our volunteers by sending down coffee and doughnuts, letting us use their bathroom, and for showing so much caring and compassion for this beautiful animal. We always appreciate the fact that we live in a community that cares so much about the ocean and its creatures.”

Newly released data from Realtor.com for October shows that potential buyers and sellers in Sussex County saw slightly lower home sale prices than the previous month’s median of $475,000.

The median home sold for $472,500, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows. That means October, the most recent month for which figures are available, was slightly down from September.

Compared to October 2024, the median home sales price was down 4.1% compared to $492,450.

Realtor.com sources sales data from real estate deeds, resulting in a few months’ delay in the data. The statistics don’t include homes currently listed for sale and aren’t directly comparable to listings data.

DELAWARE REAL ESTATE: See how much homes prices rose in New Castle County recently

Information on your local housing market, along with other useful community data, is available at data.delawareonline.com.

Here is a breakdown on median sale prices:

• Looking only at single-family homes, the $490,000 median selling price in Sussex County was up 3.2% in October from $475,000 the month prior. Since October 2024, the sales price of single-family homes was slightly down from a median of $490,445.Fifty-four single family homes sold for $1 million or more during the month, compared to 36 recorded transactions of at least $1 million in October 2024.

• Condominiums and townhomes is the same sales price during October to a median of $450,000 from $450,000 in September. Compared to October 2024, the sales price of condominiums and townhomes was down 9.1% from $495,000. Ten condominiums or townhomes sold for $1 million or more during the month, compared to 14 recorded transactions of at least $1 million in October 2024.

About recorded home sales in Sussex County in Delaware

In October, the number of recorded sales in Sussex County dropped by 10% since October 2024 — from 482 to 434. All residential home sales totaled $285.4 million.

Across Delaware, homes sold at a median of $399,995 during October, up 2.6% from $390,000 in September. There were 1,072 recorded sales across the state during October, down 15.8% from 1,273 recorded sales in October 2024. 

DELAWARE REAL ESTATE: See how much homes prices rose in Kent County recently

Here’s a breakdown for the full state:

• The total value of recorded residential home sales in Delaware decreased by 3.4% from $553.6 million in September to $534.7 million this October. 
• Out of all residential home sales in Delaware, 6.72% of homes sold for at least $1 million in October, up from 5.11% in October 2024.
• Sales prices of single-family homes across Delaware increased by 2.8% from a median of $408,500 in September to $419,900 in October. Since October 2024, the sales price of single-family homes across the state was up 5% from $400,000. 
• Across the state, the sales price of condominiums and townhomes dropped 7.4% from a median of $345,450 in September to $320,000 during October. The median sales price of condominiums and townhomes is down 5.9% from the median of $340,000 in October 2024.