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
The Hagley Museum and Library houses a collection of patent models
The Hagley Museum and Library houses the nation’s second-largest collection of patent models, many of which the public never gets to see.
For most, 41 years of service is more than enough. For State Librarian Annie Norman, though, even retirement can’t slow her down.
“The work is never done; there’s always something to do,” she said. “I’m going to have to continue to help in other ways.”
Norman will step away this fall after 24 years as the Delaware state librarian and director of the Delaware Division of Libraries.
Throughout her tenure, Norman made waves; the director helped create the Delaware Library Consortium, which allowed all of Delaware’s Public libraries to share items, and brought the library system along during a wave of technological change. For these achievements, she was named to the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016 and appointed by President Joe Biden as a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board.
We spoke with Norman as she wraps up an accomplished career about her proudest achievements, and the state of libraries in 2026.
Question: As you look back on your tenure, what was your proudest accomplishment?
Answer: What I’ll be known for more than anything is probably the statewide library catalog and consortium. The politics of bringing all of those libraries together, after years of there being four separate library catalogs in Delaware, took about eight years. More recently, I think bringing the school libraries into that catalog is going to be really significant. We’ve got more than 50 school libraries to be a part of the statewide catalog, something we think can really help with the literacy crisis in this state.
One of the biggest challenges of your tenure was adjusting to the large wave of technology that came about. How have you and the Delaware libraries handled it?
It’s been very systematic. We have a great IT team that helps manage for us, as well as the state funding 100% of library technologies. The growth of the iPhone has certainly had a huge impact on literacy, but we’re really just working hard to bring back the excitement of reading.
The Delaware libraries’ programming have always been a popular resource. How important do you view these offerings to local communities, and will they continue to expand?
Yes, libraries are about enrichment, which means helping support people in things like entrepreneurship, education and innovation. We’ve had libraries start up job centers, which were so successful we could expand to entrepreneurship, and even help with more basic social needs, by starting a “social innovation team” to help with more of the social services-type work.
Where we still struggle is we can only help people access Delaware systems to help with their needs, not fix things within those systems. For that reason, we always encourage these systems to work with us, so the Delaware library system can fit everyone’s needs.
Cuts toward libraries just occurred in New Castle County, with the potential for more to come. How will the library system look to stay afloat?
Because of the economy, because of federal changes, things can get difficult, it’s not the first time we’ve experienced budget cuts. We’ve progressed significantly over the years, but there is much more work to do, and I don’t know that the public understands how critical libraries and librarians are to literacy.
The power of walking into a library and being able to choose what you want to read for a child is powerful, and until people understand that, we can’t achieve our literacy goals.
Adam Denn is an intern reporter for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach him at apdenn@delawareonline.com.
Inspiration
Do you have a suggestion for our Inspiration page? E-mail Tammy Paolino at tpaolino@usatodayco.com
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — People in Delaware County said it feels like new housing developments are popping up on every corner.
WSYX
“What haven’t you noticed, right? The whole area just exploded,” said Scott Shonebarger.
Scott Sanders, the executive director of the Regional Planning Commission, said companies like Intel and other industries are a main driver for thousands of people moving to Delaware County.
With the big boom comes an urgent need for more housing.
John Wicks is the developer at Real Property Design and Development.
He has spent over a decade building homes for families in Delaware County.
Wicks said the Olentangy School District is one of the hottest spots for new homes.
“I started with one high school up until the 90s, then now we’re up to four up to five different high schools so it’s just a big draw,” said Wicks. “It’s a beautiful community.”
The district has grown into the fourth largest in Ohio with a new elementary school opening next year, and a fifth high school in 2028.
Wicks said the growth has presented some challenges over the years like labor shortage and some opposition.
“It’s become a big issue for a lot of people that live in and around these areas. They tend to oppose new growth and new development, so restrictions have gotten a little bit harder. Costs have obviously gone up over the last 20 years,” said Wicks.
The planning commission says between 275,000 and 350,000 people could call Delaware County home by 2040.
That’s up from 214,000 in 2020.
Scott Shonebarger said he supports growth but wonders when is enough.
“I mean to a certain extent I think you know at some point right you have to have some sort of boundaries I think, getting into the fact that now you have five high schools,” said Shonebarger. “What’s the limit?”
Police in Wilmington, Delaware, shot and killed a 19-year-old man Wednesday night.
The incident happened in a residential area near 24th and Jessup streets just after 11 p.m., Wilmington police said in a news release. The person who was shot has not been publicly identified.
Officers were monitoring a large crowd gathered outside when they saw a man exit a home with a handgun and point it toward the crowd, police say.
When officers approached the man, he ran away and a foot pursuit began, police say.
At some point in the chase, an officer fired their weapon and hit the 19-year-old. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.
Police say they recovered a loaded gun from the man and that the officer was not injured.
Video filmed at the scene shows a crowd of residents gathered outside after the shooting.
Police are asking anyone with more information to come forward. The shooting is under investigation by the Delaware Department of Justice and Wilmington police.
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