Delaware
Biden awards three Delawareans with presidential civilian medal of honor
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President Joe Biden bestowed three Delawareans with the nation’s second highest honor Thursday. Two of those recipients were integral to the desegregation of the nation’s schools.
Biden said the medals and the story of the United States is about the heart and hard work of the American people.
“The most important title in America is not president, but citizen,” he said. “It’s ‘We the People.’ These are the words that are the rock upon which this entire nation has been built.”
Louis Lorenzo Redding — Delaware’s first Black attorney and Wilmington federal appeals Judge Collins J. Seitz were both honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal posthumously. Earlier this year, Delaware celebrated its role in the 70-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the principle of “separate but equal” in the nation’s schools.
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court appeal stemmed from four cases in Delaware and other states. The challenges by Redding and others were part of a coordinated effort by the NAACP to prove segregation was unconstitutional.
Black families asked the states to allow their children to attend white schools — only to be told no. Redding, who was also a lawyer for the NAACP legal defense, argued the two Delaware school segregation lawsuits. His arguments were the only ones of all the cases that were successful.
Then Chancery Court Chancellor Seitz heard the combined Delaware case in 1951. He visited the Black and white schools and ruled that they were not equal.
After the Delaware Supreme Court upheld Seitz’s ruling, the state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming part of the Brown case. In 1954, the court ruled “separate but equal” was unconstitutional, drawing heavily from the arguments and language from the First State’s case.
Rev. J.B. Redding, Redding’s daughter, told WHYY News at the state’s celebration in May commemorating its contribution to the Brown case that her father was motivated to pursue justice when he witnessed the disparity between Black and white Delawaeans.
“He saw that things were not fair. They were not equal,” she said. “He just was an extraordinarily courageous man. [It] made him want to give the same opportunities to all the people in the area.”
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — People in Delaware County said it feels like new housing developments are popping up on every corner.
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“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.
Delaware Supreme Court Justice Karen L. Valihura announced Wednesday that she will lead a new corporate law institute at the Wilmington University Farnan School of Law.
She will step down from the bench of Delaware’s highest court in late July, after choosing not to seek reappointment at the end of her 12-year term. She revealed her plans for the next phase of her legal career in a special session of the court in Wilmington.
As well as joining the Wilmington University law school faculty, Valihura will be the founding director of the school’s new Corporate Law, Governance and Practice Institute. …
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