Delaware
Del Gov. Matt Meyer proposes raising taxes, fees in budget ‘reset’ speech
The governor’s recommended budget includes $937 million for capital improvements, $255 million for transportation projects, $83 million in Grant-In-Aid funding and a $60 million supplemental bill. It calls for investments in areas like housing, education and healthcare.
Meyer is calling for emergency funding for school districts and charters with large numbers of students who are failing to read at a proficient level. He declared a “literacy emergency” in Delaware earlier this year after 8th-grade reading scores dropped to a 27-year low. He is also proposing investing $3 million directly into classrooms while also raising $3 million from private donors to put into the effort as a pilot program.
His proposal also calls for a $12 million increase for affordable housing initiatives, including $6 million for state rental assistance. The plan includes reducing homelessness and streamlining the process for constructing affordable housing.
“I like to say the rent is still too damn high,” Meyer said. “There are 50,000 Delawareans that are rent burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income for housing.”
Meyer’s budget spends $85.5 million on Medicaid and sets aside about $22 million to offset potential federal spending cuts. Delaware and other states have seen federal funding freezes since President Donald Trump has taken office, and the members of the state’s congressional delegation say Republicans plan to cut Medicaid spending.
State Rep. Jeffrey Spiegelman, R-Clayton, said he was concerned that creating the new tax brackets would hurt small businesses at a time when the state was facing economic strain.
“I appreciate the governor mentioning that we want to do all of these things for small businesses,” he said. “We want to get regulation out of the way. We want to take a look at some of these land deserts, these properties that can be developed a little easier, make them shovel-ready. And all these things are great. But at the same time, we’re also turning around saying, ‘Hey, small (and) medium manufacturing firms, we’re going to tax you more to pay for these other things.’”
House Minority Leader Tim Dukes, R-Laurel, said there were things about Meyer’s recommended budget he liked, such as money going into classrooms, using Artificial Intelligence as an educational tool, and housing initiatives.
“The question I think that we’re all left with is, how do you pay for it all?” he asked. “That’s where we’re going to have to kind of go back to the drawing board and figure out what our true initiatives are and what we want to get accomplished here in this fiscal year as we’re laying out the budget for 2026.”
Delaware
DDA inducts three Delaware Century Farms – 47abc
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.”
Delaware
Investigation underway after man’s body pulled from Delaware River
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.
Delaware
Fraternity brothers give back to Delaware food pantry
DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) — A local fraternity is sticking by its core value of service, and having fun doing it.
With the help of their fellow students, teachers and sports teams, Phi Gama Delta at Ohio Wesleyan held a cereal box donation drive.
They had a goal of collecting 800 boxes for People in Need, Delaware County’s largest food pantry. To mark the occasion, organizers at the pantry and fraternity brothers set the boxes up in a line and knocked them over like dominoes.
“I think that’s such a great way to connect with people,” Zoe Borer, Capacity Building Associate at People in Need said. “Sometimes it’s very serious what we do, sometimes it’s great to be fun and that’s what today was, is showing us the fun side of how we can help our community.”
“Our goal is to do a good turn daily so every single day wake up and find something to help, help someone in the community, help someone on campus, help your mom or dad or whatever it may be,” said Phi Gama Delta brother Anthony Mordini.
People in Need serves 500 people every week with free groceries and served almost one million meals last year.
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