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Delaware

Cerron Cade, Gov. Carney’s ‘trusted adviser,’ arrested for alleged Home Depot thefts

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Cerron Cade, Gov. Carney’s ‘trusted adviser,’ arrested for alleged Home Depot thefts


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Cerron Cade has been a trusted member of Gov. John Carney’s cabinet, serving as both labor secretary and currently budget director.

Carney, who will become Wilmington mayor next month, has so much faith in Cade that he appointed him as city chief of staff.

Cade’s political career is now in jeopardy. He’s been suspended with pay from his state post for what the governor, in a cryptic Saturday evening news release, called a “personal legal matter.”

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But WHYY News has learned that Cade, who oversees the state’s $7.2 billion operating and capital budgets, was arrested last week by state police for what court records describe as serial petty shoplifting from Wilmington’s Home Depot store.

State police say Delaware budget director Cade shoplifted on six occasions from the Home Depot in Wilmington. (Google Maps)

Cade, 41, faces six counts of misdemeanor shoplifting for thefts that allegedly occurred between June 16 and Oct. 30.

Cade, whose taxpayer-funded salary is $164,000, allegedly stole eight items valued at $394.32, court records obtained by WHYY News show. Attempts to reach Cade were unsuccessful.

The four-page arrest affidavit, provided by Delaware Justice of the Peace Court under a public records request, says Cade utilized a practice known as “skip scanning.”

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That means Cade allegedly purchased items at the store’s self-checkout registers but didn’t scan one or more items on each of the six separate incidents that were outlined in the arrest warrant.

The items Cade is accused of stealing were for gardening, patio and other home uses. The items include the following:

  • Area rug, $199
  • Animal cage trap, $74.97
  • Patio lantern, $39.98
  • Contractor bags, $29.97
  • Paint, $16.48
  • Laundry detergent, $15.97
  • Battery-operated candle, $10.98
  • Bag of soil, $6.97

Cade, who stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall, usually drove his gray 2019 Chevrolet Traverse SUV to the store on Miller Road, the warrant said. His arrival, departure and movements inside the cavernous Home Depot were captured on store surveillance cameras, the warrant said.

On one occasion, Cade was observed putting an item he allegedly stole — the animal cage trap — inside one he bought — a planter, the warrant said.

On another occasion, he put the candle inside the patio lantern, and stole them both, the warrant said.

State police, who didn’t announce the arrest in a news release but provided basic information after a request by WHYY News, said they began investigating on Dec. 6 after Home Depot reported multiple thefts by the same suspect.

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Delaware

Delaware state police trooper killed in active shooter incident at DMV facility; suspect also dead

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Delaware state police trooper killed in active shooter incident at DMV facility; suspect also dead


This story originally appeared on 6abc.

Delaware state police say a trooper was killed in what officials said was an active shooter situation at a DMV facility in New Castle on Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect in this incident is also dead, Gov. Matt Meyer said.

State police said they are “are continuing to assess additional injuries.” There is no official word yet on the exact number of people injured.

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Police say the active shooter incident is now over.

The incident happened around 2 p.m. at the facility on Hessler Boulevard.

No further details have been made available.

Police are asking residents to avoid the area.

Stay with Action News and 6abc.com as this story develops.

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Delaware

2 hurt after car crashes into building in Talleyville, Delaware

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2 hurt after car crashes into building in Talleyville, Delaware


Two people were hurt after a car crashed into a building in Talleyville, Delaware, Monday morning.

The incident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. along the 100 block of Brandywine Boulevard. Police said a woman was driving a light-colored vehicle when she somehow lost control and crashed through the first floor of a realty company.

A fire station is located across the street from where the crash occurred. Firefighters responded in less than a minute and the driver as well as another person were both taken to the hospital. Investigators told NBC10 both victims suffered minor injuries and are expected to be OK.

Crews removed the vehicle and boarded up the damaged building. They continue to investigate the cause of the crash.

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Delaware-based dark money group ‘Alabama Patients First’ unleashes TV, digital attack on Blue Cross Blue Shield 

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Delaware-based dark money group ‘Alabama Patients First’ unleashes TV, digital attack on Blue Cross Blue Shield 


A brand-new, out-of-state dark-money group launched an attack on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama over the past week, and has already invested over $320,000 in negative television advertising alone. 

During some of this weekend’s largest SEC football matchups, including Alabama vs. Oklahoma, the group ran a shock-style message that is now being pushed to Alabama voters more aggressively than any political campaign could afford to spend on television at this point in the 2026 election cycle. 

According to business filings, “Alabama Patients First LLC” was formed in Delaware on December 11. The state is known for its Teflon business privacy laws. LLCs are not required to publicly list their ownership or members, making it an ideal vehicle for dark money to reach its target. 

Since its formation, the group has been busy in Alabama.

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Using a “Paid for by Alabama Patients First” disclaimer, the group aired television advertisements, launched a website, and directed SMS marketing campaigns directly to voters, igniting a costly media attack against the state’s leading insurer. 

“They make a killing off telling you ‘No.’ Blue Cross Blue Shield: ‘No.’ That’s Blue Cross “B*******,” the ad says.

A station-by-station breakdown of the Alabama Patients First TV buy across multiple Montgomery-area outlets, including WSFA, WAKA, WCOV-TV, WNCF, and others, totals $226,071. 

The group also spent $102,000 across Birmingham, Huntsville, and Dothan media markets.

The buy spans six weekends, ranging from its first airing on December 14, with a much smaller spend scheduled after January 1, to a wind-down on January 18, 2026. 

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By comparison, in the Montgomery media market, the group spent $211,633 in December and just $14,438 in January.

In total, the out-of-state group has spent at least $328,071 on pushing the TV spot to Alabama residents. 

Alabama Patients First’s TV spend isn’t the whole tab, either. The professional fees required to deploy such an operation likely reach into the millions – and the timing is striking.

The attack on Alabama began the same week that Jackson Hospital and Clinic, Inc. initiated a high-visibility litigation campaign against BCBS of Alabama. 

Jackson Hospital and its lender, Atlanta-based Jackson Investment Group, are on the clock for a December 31, 2025 bankruptcy court deadline to secure $100 million in public funding, which would help satisfy a debtor-in-possession (DIP) agreement the two signed earlier this year. 

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Yellowhammer News requested information from officials at Jackson Investment Group, Jackson Healthcare, and Jackson Hospital to confirm or deny a connection between the hospital’s lending relationship and the creation of Alabama Patients First. 

At the time of publication, those requests went unanswered.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama did respond to the negative ad blitz in a statement on Monday afternoon.

“The ads are an intentional misrepresentation of how we do business,” Sophie Martin, Director of Corporate Communications for BCBS of Alabama, said.

“Based on the timing of the ads, we believe they are nothing more than an improper attempt by Jackson’s investor-lender to improperly influence litigation.”

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.

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