Another Pennsylvania border state gets closer to legal weed sales as Delaware prepares to issue 125 business licenses for the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and retail sale of adult-use marijuana.

Starting Monday, Aug. 19, the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC) will accept applications for these licenses. Applicants have until Monday, Sept. 30, to submit their proposals.

“It feels good to hit that deadline and we’ve had a lot of deadlines in this process,” said Delware’s Marijuana Commissioner, Robert Coupe. “We’re actually two weeks ahead, as Delaware law instructed us to begin accepting applications by Sept. 1. It took a lot of work to get here.”

The state plans to issue 60 licenses for marijuana cultivation, 30 for manufacturing, 30 for retail stores, and five licenses for testing products. More than a third of those licenses are set aside as “social equity” licenses for prospective operators who were convicted of marijuana-related offenses or live in what is considered a “Disproportionately Impacted Area” by the OMC. Additional licenses will be earmarked for small business owners.

The OMC will evaluate applications on a pass/fail basis. Successful applicants will then be entered into a random lottery, which will take place at the end of October, Coupe said. There will be 33 drawings for licenses based on the license type, county, size of the operation, and if the applicant qualifies for social equity or microbusiness licenses.

Selected applicants will start receiving their licenses on Nov. 1, 2024, Coupe said, with the expectation that the industry will be up and running by April 1, 2025.

Medical marijuana operators must go through a separate licensing process to convert their medical licenses into recreational ones. Coupe said an additional 32 adult-use marijuana licenses will be generated from those conversions, which are expected to be completed by mid-September.

While Delaware is moving forward with legal marijuana sales, the timeline for legalization in neighboring Pennsylvania remains uncertain. Pennsylvania lawmakers failed to reach a consensus before this summer’s fiscal budget deadline. The state could potentially earn an estimated $41 million in tax revenue in its first year of legal sales, according to the state’s Independent Fiscal Office.

How to apply for a marijuana license in Delaware

Applications will be accepted online at de-dshs.my.site.com/OMC. The deadline is Sept. 30.

Applicants must submit a government-issued ID, Delaware business license, capitalization table, staff and employee training plan, operating plan, safety plans, and a comprehensive business plan.

The OMC has a step-by-step guide available online.

At the end of October, the OMC will host a lottery to select licensees. Licensees will be notified starting Nov. 1.

Application fees range from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the license, with the actual license fee ranging from $3,000 to $10,000. However, social equity and microbusiness applicants will receive discounted fees.

Marijuana Cultivation Facility: 60 licenses available

Marijuana Product Manufacturing Facility: 30 licenses available

Retail Marijuana Store: 30 licenses available

Marijuana Testing Facility: 5 licenses available

Alexis Marioni-Calvarese and her husband, Nick Calvarese, were in the Walgreens at Milltown Shopping Center on Thursday morning when they heard screaming coming from the parking lot.

The couple got into their car and drove to the source of the sound, which was coming from outside the nearby Valero gas station.

There, they found one man holding another down on the ground in an attempt to restrain him. Others in the parking lot were screaming that the restrained man, later identified by Delaware State Police as a 53-year-old from Wilmington, had tried to rob a woman at the gas pumps.

The other man “looked like he needed help,” Calvarese said, so he jumped out of the car to assist. His wife moved into the driver’s seat to repark their car nearby before exiting to help the woman whom the 53-year-old is accused of robbing. The woman had cuts on her hands and left arm, Marioni-Calvarese said.

State police confirmed that the woman was injured when the 53-year-old “forcefully” took her cellphone and tried to run away. When he was first pinned by a good Samaritan, police said, he threw the stolen phone away, damaging it.

Calvarese said he and another man held the 53-year-old down for what felt like 10 minutes until police arrived. The man “wouldn’t stop resisting,” Calvarese said, and it took three people to restrain him.

Calvarese said the incident “hit close to home.”

“That could have been my wife,” he said. “People need to stop grabbing their phones and videoing and do something or this will just keep happening.”

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Police arrived on the scene at 11:18 a.m. and took the 53-year-old into custody. The man was injured by the good Samaritans, according to police, and was taken to the hospital. Police said the man was “disorderly” and resisted help, kicking an EMT on the ambulance and minorly injuring a hospital staff member.

The man was charged with second-degree robbery, a felony, and three misdemeanors. He remains in Department of Correction custody.

Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on X at @h_edelman.

A 62-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by a motorist who fled the scene early Friday south of Dover, Delaware State Police said.

The victim, from the Dover area, has not been identified.

Police said the victim was near or on the northbound shoulder of South Dupont Highway, south of POW/MIA Parkway, when an unknown vehicle struck him about 1:40 a.m. The motorist then fled in an unknown direction.

The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

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Police are investigating the incident and are asking anyone who might have information to contact investigators by calling (302) 698-8457. Information may also be provided by sending a private Facebook message to the Delaware State Police or contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) 847-3333.

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.