Delaware
Delaware lawmakers revise wetland legislation amid concerns from farmers, developers
Delaware lawmakers are amending a newly introduced measure that aims to provide greater protections for the state’s nontidal, or freshwater, wetlands.
The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, comes more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled certain wetlands are not protected under the federal Clean Water Act.
Delaware is the only state in the mid-Atlantic that does not have a nontidal wetland protection program. Since 1988, there have been six failed legislative attempts to protect these resources in the state.
During a legislative hearing Wednesday, environmental groups said state regulations for nontidal wetlands are long overdue. However, developers and farmers voiced concerns that Hansen’s bill could impact anyone who wants to build on wetlands, or whose property contains wetlands.
Hansen said she believes a substitute bill will address those concerns.
“We already have been able to bring together disparate groups that previously had not been able to come to an agreement, and had not come to the table with a willingness to successfully work together,” she said.
“What we heard today with some of the testimony is we need to bring a few more people to the table, as well, which we are certainly happy to do. And we have a head start on it now.”
Also known as freshwater wetlands, nontidal wetlands are found near inland areas and do not have tidal influxes of water. They can be found in several forms, including depressions, rivers and swamps.
Nontidal wetlands make up more than half of Delaware’s wetlands. However, their acres have reduced over time because of threats such as sea level rise, development and agricultural practices.
Delaware law protects saltwater wetlands. However, the state has relied on federal regulations to manage freshwater wetlands with fewer than 400 contiguous acres.
Since the most recent Supreme Court decision, almost half of Delaware’s nontidal wetlands have been vulnerable to development without oversight.
Hansen’s current legislation would allow nontidal wetlands to be managed under the same program as the state’s saltwater wetlands regulations. Under the bill, developers would be required to prevent impacts to freshwater wetlands.
Hansen introduced similar legislation in 2020 after the federal government rolled back protections for freshwater wetlands, but it did not receive support from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
Delaware
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.
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.
Delaware
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.
Delaware
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.
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.
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.
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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