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Bill legalizing first-cousin marriages in Delaware fails to advance

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Bill legalizing first-cousin marriages in Delaware fails to advance


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Legislation that would recognize marriages between first cousins failed in the Delaware House on Tuesday.

State representatives voted 12-23 to defeat the measure, with both Democrats and Republicans voting against. The bill has been controversial, with lots of Delawareans contacting their legislator or commenting on social media saying they opposed marriages between first cousins.

However, state Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton’s legislation would not have legalized the performance of first-cousin marriages in the First State. The text specifically states that a marriage is banned between a person and “their ancestor, descendant, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew or first cousin.”

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Wilson-Anton said she knew her bill was likely to fail on the floor, but she said she felt it was important to get everyone on the record.

“I thought it was important to bring the issue forward, to bring light to the issue,” she said. “I think my constituents deserve that, and I think Delawareans deserve transparency on that.”

The lawmaker said there was a lot of talk about the bill in the public that was inaccurate.

“It’s really difficult to get someone to understand the bill and support it when there’s a lot of misinformation about it,” she said.

Wilson-Anton said her legislation would have changed Delaware law so that marriages between first cousins that took place outside of the state would be recognized inside the state, so those residents could enjoy all the legal benefits of their union.

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She said the inspiration for the legislation was a constituent who is a U.S. citizen who wanted to bring his spouse into the state from another country. However, U.S. immigration services do not consider such first-cousin marriages valid if the state they reside in doesn’t accept them.



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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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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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