Delaware
Today in Delaware County history, July 2
100 Years Ago, 1924: When officers handling fireworks, seized under instructions of Mayor S.E. Turner, were storing them in a cell last night, one of the packages containing several dozen boxes of torpedoes dropped to the floor and exploded. Prisoners were greatly excited as the torpedoes let go, and the corridors of the cell room began to fill with acrid smoke. There were shouts of “let us out” heard from men locked up. For a time it was feared more fireworks would go off and the officers hurriedly moved them from the cell into the corridor. Windows were lowered and the smoke soon cleared.
75 Years Ago, 1949: Bumper-to-bumper traffic lined highways through Chester on Friday night and again this morning as the big 4th of July race to the shore, the mountains, Shangri La … anywhere but home … began for thousands of travelers. Second of the three-day holidays of 1949, this Independence Day will see more cars on the road than at any time in the postwar period, according to traffic engineers of Keystone Automobile Club. Pennsylvania Railroad officials have placed 48 additional trains into service over a five-day period starting Friday to take care of “near-peak” train travel. Louis Kapelski, manager of Chester-Bridgeport Ferry Co., says he has geared his four-ferry service to handle 1,000 cars an hour during the holiday.
50 Years Ago, 1974: Delaware County motorists will find plenty of gasoline for the July 4 holiday period, but users of one brand will be paying four cents a gallon more. “The supply of gasoline is plentiful,” said James Breslin of Media, a director of the Pennsylvania Service Station Dealers Association. While plenty of gas was reported available, Gulf Oil Co. Monday announced a four cents across-the-board price hike.
25 Years Ago, 1999: By tonight, Newtown Township will have a brand new road — and fewer traffic woes, it’s hoped. The Winding Way Bypass, linking Route 252 to West Chester Pike across a 22-acre portion of the SAP America Inc. property, is scheduled to be open to traffic tomorrow morning.
10 Years Ago, 2014: Chichester School Board passed the 2014-15 final budget totaling nearly $68.7 million in expenditures. The budget includes a 1 percent property tax increase, raising the school district’s millage rate to 39.0708 mills. Last month’s preliminary version of the budget had proposed a 2 percent tax increase. The predicted increase is due to rising health care costs, an increase in pension payments owed to the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, and an increase in charter and cybercharter school enrollments.
— COLIN AINSWORTH
Examples of homes that are more affordable with lower utility bills
The four homes on Kirkwood Street in Dover are examples of how to build homes that are more affordable to buy with more affordable utility bills
The first residential buildings in Delaware to achieve one of the nation’s highest certifications for energy-efficient design were unveiled in Dover on Feb. 19.
The North Kirkwood Street “passive house project” features four homes that have been certified in Phius core prescriptive design.
Phius stands for “Passive House Institute United States,” a nonprofit that trains and certifies professionals to build highly energy-efficient and healthy homes, certifies energy-efficient building products and conducts research on energy-efficient construction.
So the homes will be more affordable each month with lower utility bills – and thanks to funding help from nonprofits and governments, the homes will have a more affordable price.
The houses cost an average of about $350,000 to build, but they’re being sold for $250,000 each.
Leading the project were three nonprofits:
- NeighborGood Partners, which specializes in affordable housing counseling and development, financial education and lending
- Energize Delaware, which promotes clean, efficient and sustainable energy solutions with energy-saving programs, rebates and financing
- New Ecology, which helps energy-efficient construction with technical assistance, testing and verification services, project coordination, education and training
NeighborGood Partners is selecting the homeowners from those enrolled in the organization’s housing counseling program, with preference to those who already live in Dover.
“I just want to recognize all the different partners that we had because it took, in this case, a village to make this happen,” said NeighborGood Partners Executive Director Karen Speakman.
Along with the groups heading the project, additional funds came from the Delaware State Housing Authority, Healthy Communities Delaware and the city of Dover including a portion of the city’s money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Construction was led by Green Diamond Builders with Cypress Construction and Architectural Alliance, with New Ecology overseeing the certification process.
How much energy do the homes save?
Phius-certified homes are designed to deliver healthy indoor air, consistent comfort and significantly lower utility bills to reduce monthly housing costs, according to the organization’s website.
How much lower bills?
With 1,680 square feet, 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, the all-electric homes in Dover are designed to use about 7,500 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, about 625 kilowatt hours per month.
That’s about 30% less than what the average home uses – 10,791 kilowatt hours per year or 899.25 kilowatt hours per month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Norm Horn, New Ecology construction project manager, outlined the key components in the energy-efficient construction including:
- continuous insulation around the outside of the home, higher levels of insulation in the walls, under the floors and in the attic and “significant attention to how that insulation was installed so it works”
- a thermal airtight building enclosure that requires very little energy to heat and cool
- highly efficient heat pump systems for heating, cooling, the water heater and clothes dryer
- dehumidifier system to control moisture
- continuous mechanical ventilation with heat recovery that provides fresh, filtered air
New Ecology Chief Executive Officer Kim Stevenson said the construction techniques used in these homes help the owners in several ways.
Utility bills can spike during winter’s cold and summer’s heat if homes don’t have good insulation, good windows and doors or proper sealing around them.
“That forces families to make impossible tradeoffs between paying utility bills, rent or mortgage, food and health care,” Stevenson said.
The Phius homes can decrease monthly utility bills while also improving residents’ health with moisture control to prevent mold along with top-quality air circulation for cleaner, healthier air.
These four homes will be examples for others to follow in trying to make homes more affordable, more energy efficient and healthier, as the nonprofits leading the effort expand the training to more builders.
Tony DePrima, Energize Delaware treasurer and former executive director, said the homes will be part of a research project, comparing data including utility bills to more typical homes to see the cost savings over time.
Energize Delaware is “trying to figure out how do we make this work for the people who need it most,” DePrima said.
Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate and development news. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.
Bivouac Pizza bakes up a S’mores pizza at Delcastle Technical High School
Ever tried a S’mores pizza? Bivouac Pizza, winner of the 2025 Delaware Food Truck Frenzy, whips up this dessert pizza at Delcastle Technical High.
The hunger games are returning to Delaware, where your favorite pizza spots from all three counties across the state will step into a saucy arena, armed with lots of cheese, and not a shred of fear.
It’s been nearly three fully baked years since readers crowned Cafe Napoli in Milltown as Delaware’s best pizza place in Delaware Online/The News Journal’s annual Munch Madness tournament in March 2023.
We’re not sure if another pizzeria is worthy of a seat on the mozzarella throne of glory because (once again) that’s not our call. It’s your job to vote and ultimately crown your cheesy champion.
We’re just here to count the votes, one slice at a time.
How does the tournament work for the best pizza in Delaware?
Readers will kick things off by filling out an easy survey below, which simply requires you to provide the name and city/town of the Delaware place that makes your favorite pizza.
From there, we’ll tally up the top 64 pizza contenders for this single-elimination showdown. Each week, pizza shops will be cut in half, based on reader votes. The bracket will look like this: Round 1 (64 contestants), Round 2 (32), Round 3 (Sweet 16), Round 4 (Elite 8), Round 5 (Final 4) and Round 6 (the winner).
Now, let’s paint the town red like Ragu.
Cafe Napoli is the reigning pizza champion in Delaware
This Milltown shop on Kirkwood Highway has been in the pizza game for over 30 years, and the pizzeria hangs its hat on authentic Napoletano cuisine and Southern Italian hospitality.
Cafe Napoli was founded by four brothers: Domenico, Antonio, Pasquale and Mario. They left Italy and decided to run a winning restaurant.
Although this pizza shop is defending its throne, one bite at a time, that doesn’t mean you should leave your guard down around their mozzarella sticks. Those bad boys are light, yet they’re deceptively filling.
In 2023, during their epic Munch Madness run, General Manager Tim Widdoes, who has worked at Cafe Napoli for 30-plus years (though you’d never guess it), told us the top pizza his customers dream about.
“Our most popular would probably be the chicken bruschetta. That’s our breaded chicken, homemade bruschetta, on a white garlic pizza, topped with a little bit of ranch dressing,” Widdoes said.
ORDER FROM UBER EATS
The pie is on point like a Katniss arrow aimed straight at your appetite.
“People love that pizza.”
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters
The winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing of the “Delaware Play 3 Day” game were: 0, 2, 6 (zero, two, six)…
The winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing of the “Delaware Play 3 Day” game were:
0, 2, 6
(zero, two, six)
For more lottery results, go to Jackpot.com | Order Lottery Tickets
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