Delaware

Fiery, crispy Nashville hot chicken is coming to Delaware. Here’s what we know — and where

Published

1 year ago

July 24, 2024

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Fiery, crispy Nashville hot chicken is coming to Delaware. Here’s what we know — and where

The hottest trend in chicken is coming for Delaware.

Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken & Wings — one of a steaming bouquet of fried chicken chains looking to capitalize on the newfound national popularity of fire-engine-red, cayenne-dipped fried chicken — will open this year in Dover’s new Capital Station shopping center, Capital owners R&R Commercial Realty announced this week.

The Dover Hangry Joe’s will be the chain’s first outlet in Delaware, and one of the only hot chicken spots in the state so far — though it’s unlikely this situation will last. Hangry Joe’s is already scouting the Wilmington area for another location, according to its website.

Hot chicken restaurants, whether corporate chains like Dave’s Hot Chicken or locally owned halal spots, have been sweeping the nation over the past year. Some blocks in New Jersey and Philadelphia now boast side-by side hot chicken spots. In Philly’s Old City neighborhood, four hot chicken spots exist within three blocks of each other.

Other chains like Colbie’s Southern Kissed Fried Chicken and Burger King have already gotten in on the game by offering their own, somewhat milder takes on Nashville-style hot chicken.

So what’s so hot about Nashville fried chicken? And precisely where and when will the Hangry’s open? Here’s what we know.

What’s Nashville hot chicken?

Nashville hot chicken is in fact Prince’s Hot Chicken.

Most of a century ago, Nashville’s Thornton Prince was a lean, smoldering-eyed and dashing man, a breaker of hearts who married five times and left romantic wreckage behind. One such broken heart, known by legend as “Girlfriend X,” decided on revenge. And so she made him fried chicken spiced so hot with cayenne and black pepper that it should liquefy your innards and burn out your soul.

Well, Thornton loved it, the story goes. He asked for seconds. He loved it so much he sold terrifyingly spicy chicken out of his home, then founded Prince’s Hot Chicken in 1945.

Now 80 years later, his family still serves bright-red cayenne-butter-pickle fried chicken at the famous Prince’s Hot Chicken shack in Nashville — a flavor that became known as “Nashville” hot chicken after the flavor spread to other restaurants around town and eventually the rest of the country.

What makes it different? Heat. Big heat. Actual heat. Earthy, toe-numbing, coma-inducing cayenne heat. Crispy breading, brined chicken, and bright red sauce made mostly of fat and cayenne pepper. Plus a pickle. What else would you ever need?

Anyway, over the past decade or so, “Nashville hot chicken” has gone from local delicacy to cult item to ubiquitous flavor — spawning several chains devoted to hot chicken that include Nashville’s own Hattie B’s in addition to Dave’s Hot Chicken, Joella’s Hot Chicken, Howlin’ Ray’s and, of course, Hangry Joe’s.

What’s different about Hangry Joe’s, and when will it open in Delaware?

Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken and Wings, founded in Northern Virginia by partners Derek Cha and Mike Kim, devotes itself both to Nashville-hot fried chicken sandwiches and Korean-style wings — a duo of hot chicken tastes. Korean-born Cha is also a co-founder of the Sweet Frog frozen yogurt franchise.

Hangry Joe’s, founded in 2021, already boasts around 30 locations in Virginia and Maryland alone — plus multiple in the hot-chicken home of Tennessee, four within Philadelphia city limits, and a location in … Dubai.

The Dover location at the Capital Station shopping center on Division Street and DuPont Highway is slated to open in late fall or early winter this year, according to R & R construction, making it likely the first in Delaware. According to the Hangry Joe’s website, another Delaware location is already planned for Elsmere.

Charles Rodriguez, of R&R Commercial Realty, says the deal will mean that Capital Station is nearly fully leased.

“Capital Station has grown into one of Dover’s top business hubs,” Rodriguez wrote in a statement. “It has a strong mix of business types now and it attracts consistent traffic. It’s come a long way from its past life as the old, shuttered Playtex factory.”

Where else in Delaware can you find Nashville hot chicken?

Philly and the whole state of New Jersey are filling up with hot chicken restaurants — so much so that hot chicken restaurants sometimes open across the street from other hot chicken restaurants.

But a true cayenne-red, Nashville-style, hot fried chicken sandwich can be interestingly hard to find in Delaware at the moment. Delaware restaurants dedicated entirely to hot chicken are even harder to locate.

But simply cross the Pennsylvania border, and you can find yourself at FIRE Nashville Hot Chicken in West Chester and at the Booths Corner Farm Market.

Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all things related to land and money: openings and closings, construction, and the many corporations who call the First State home. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com.

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Delaware

How DE delegation is responding to US military action in Venezuela

Published

2 hours ago

January 3, 2026

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How DE delegation is responding to US military action in Venezuela

Delaware’s congressional delegation condemned the overnight military strikes in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on Jan. 3.

Following the capture of Venezuela’s president and his wife, President Donald Trump told reporters the U.S. would “run” Venezuela.

Trump didn’t rule out having the military contribute to running the country, but said U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will run the country alongside Venezuelan leaders, USA TODAY reported.

Rubio said the administration did not notify members of Congress about the strike ahead of time.

Trump stated Maduro and his wife will be taken to New York to face charges of drug trafficking in an indictment.

Delaware’s congressional delegation, all Democrats, expressed criticism of the Trump administration’s actions and questioned the legal authority to intervene without congressional approval.

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, called the military action “incoherent” and an “illegal” operation in a statement on Jan. 3, criticizing the Trump administration for not notifying members of Congress until after the strike had concluded.

“The Trump administration owes our country transparency and a clear strategy,” Coons said in the statement. “The administration must promptly brief Congress on its plan to ensure stability in Venezuela and the region, its legal basis for this action, and its plans for any further use of military force. Our Constitution requires the administration to seek congressional approval, in the form of an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, before they take any further action to commit U.S. troops or take military strikes against Venezuela.”

U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester said in a statement on social media that the president carried out the operation without congressional approval because he knew Congress wouldn’t approve it.

“If this continues, nothing stops him from sending American troops around the world to carry out his own reckless foreign policy decisions, which thus far have already negatively impacted our standing on the global stage and continue to erode further the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution,” Blunt Rochester said in the statement.

“The administration must immediately brief Congress on its legal justification for this decision and its plan going forward,” Blunt Rochester added. “Congress must take action on Senator Kaine’s bipartisan war powers resolution to prevent further escalation.”

In a statement on X, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride said the Trump administration routinely ignores the Constitution and misleads Congress.

“I have fidelity to our Constitution even if I do not have sympathy for Nicolás Maduro,” McBride stated.

McBride criticized the actions. “At a minimum, these individual actions legally and substantively demand Congressional action and public consultation,” she said on X. “But collectively, the military operations we have seen in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and, now, on land in Venezuela, present a significant escalation of unilateral action that betrays a larger goal by this administration. Beyond arguments for or against any individual action, the Trump Administration is clearly seeking to remake the global order in a way that will, ultimately, benefit authoritarians and adversaries.”

“Our values and principles as a nation matter most when we have seemingly altruistic reasons to violate them. I oppose a ‘might makes right in my neighborhood’ foreign policy. It is amoral, illegal, dangerous, and lays the foundation for bad actors like Russia and China,” she added.

Coons added in his statements that the president lacks a clear plan for what comes next for Venezuela.

“This raid risks creating more instability in the region, putting U.S. service members and civilians in the hemisphere at risk, and dividing us further from our regional partners,” he said.

Sophia Voight is a growth and development reporter. Reach her with feedback and story tips at svoight@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

Health care changes and other new Delaware laws taking effect in 2026

Published

6 days ago

December 29, 2025

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Health care changes and other new Delaware laws taking effect in 2026

The countdown to 2026 begins.

Several new Delaware laws, including health care initiatives and public utility protections, are slated to go into effect in the new year.

Here’s a look at what goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026 – alongside other new changes Delawareans should expect in the year ahead.

Medical aid in dying law soon to take effect

This legislation had been long in the making.

Signed into law by Gov. Matt Meyer earlier this spring, the Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law will allow terminally ill patients who have six months or fewer to live access to medication that will “end the individual’s life in a humane and dignified manner,” according to the law’s text.

The legislation also has several guardrails in place.

Qualified patients must be “adult” residents of the First State and have at most six months to live – a prognosis that must be confirmed by an attending doctor or an advanced practice registered nurse and a consulting doctor or nurse.

Practitioners must also present eligible patients with the opportunity to rescind their request for medication before writing a prescription and inform them of other end-of-life options available, including hospice and palliative care.

The law is set to go into effect either when regulations are finalized and published or on Jan. 1, 2026, whichever happens first.

As of Dec. 8, a federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of disability and patient advocacy organizations hopes to block the law. Plaintiffs argue that such a change could “single out” individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable communities and put them at risk for untimely death, instead of necessary care.

As written, the law does not allow individuals to qualify for the life-ending medication due to age or disability.

Paid family medical leave coming online

Paid family and medical leave is also making its way to Delaware next year.

First signed into law back in 2022, the Healthy Delaware Families Act provides First State employees 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave through a designated state trust fund.

This initiative specifically applies to life events, like caring for and bonding with a new child; taking care of a parent, child or partner “with a serious health condition”; or addressing one’s own serious injury or illness.

Employees can begin to submit claim applications starting Jan. 1, 2026. More information can be found on the state Labor Department website.

Delaware seeks public utilities payer relief

Delawareans are also set to see some potential accountability from public utilities.

This and other efforts followed sudden spikes in energy bills across Delaware last winter, a topic that became a chief concern among lawmakers last session.

Backed by Sen. Stephanie Hansen, another law coming into effect adjusts the standards for what costs can be included in “a utility’s rate base” and presented to the Public Service Commission.

This means the commission would have the power to reject certain costs or expenses put on ratepayers, which could lead to less impactful or frequent increases.

Special enrollment period for Medicare

Back in health care, one bill that establishes a “special open enrollment period” for residents currently enrolled in a Medicare supplement policy will also take effect at the top of the calendar.

This gives Delawareans the opportunity to cancel their current policy and purchase another “that provides the same or lesser benefits,” according to the law’s description. That window begins roughly a month before an eligible individual’s birthday and will stay open for no less than a month afterward.

This change would only apply to those enrolled in a supplement policy under Medicare.

As written, anyone switching from one plan to another during this period “cannot be denied coverage,” nor can rates or coverage be determined by one’s medical history.

Offshore wind set to fly

Delawareans will also see an effort related to one of last session’s most controversial bills take effect later this month.

Also backed by Hansen, the bill overturns Sussex County Council’s rejection of a permit needed for US Wind to build a substation critical to plans to erect more than 100 wind turbines off the Delmarva coast.

Several Republicans fought against the bill’s passage. Many argued that bringing this decision to the hands of state government would strip local leaders of autonomy over what happens in their county, while some pushed for the courts to make the final decision.

State GOP members even spent the last night of session holding up necessary support for Delaware’s billion-dollar bond bill, which helps fund several projects, renovations and improvements across the state.

However, after a few hours of deliberation, lawmakers were able to reach a compromise. And the offshore wind legislation will go into effect Jan. 31, 2026.

And it didn’t end there. A state Superior Court judge ruled in early December to pause US Winds’ challenge in light of this new effective date.

“This is the result we wanted,” Hansen said in a statement following the decision, adding this marks “a key step in our efforts to increase Delaware’s energy supply and ensure energy reliability for all ratepayers in our state.”

What other bills will go into effect in 2026?

Another once-Senate bill aiming to expand the criteria for those incarcerated to petition for early release based on serious illness or rehabilitation – also known as the Richard “Mouse” Smith Compassionate Release Act – will go into effect on Jan. 10.

Another law providing First State tenants “new protections” by allowing specific eviction records to be restricted from public view will also come online Jan. 29.

Two additional health-centered bills signed by Meyer earlier this year will take effect this coming July. One creates a breastfeeding and lactation program for individuals in custody of the Delaware Department of Correction, while the other helps provide equipment and telecommunications assistance to Delawareans who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Joining them is a law to bar public and charter schools from selling or serving food containing the synthetic food dye Red No. 40, which is set to be implemented same month.

The wait will also soon be over for those longing to have wine shipped right to their doors, as a bill allowing wine producers to obtain a license and ship wine directly to Delawareans will go into effect in August 2026.

Olivia Montes covers state government and community impact for Delaware Online/The News Journal. If you have a tip or a story idea, reach out to her at omontes@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

State legislators target deals with Delaware’s only commercial airline

Published

6 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

State legislators target deals with Delaware’s only commercial airline

Delaware’s only commercial airline continues to find itself in hot water with elected officials, and not because of any flights from Wilmington.

Members of the state Senate have introduced a resolution calling for more scrutiny over contracts and incentives with companies that work with ICE. Avelo Airlines has a charter agreement with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement to run deportation flights out of the country. The flights do not leave from Wilmington Airport.

The airport is run by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which also runs the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. DRBA is a two-state operation where the Delaware legislature has limited power, but this resolution sends a message of discontent around Avelo’s continued service and deportation flights.

The Delaware Senate is not the first public body in Delaware to send this message. Wilmington City Council approved a similar resolution urging the city to avoid companies who work with ICE’s elevated deportation campaign under the Trump Administration. The city does not have contracts with Avelo or companies who operate with ICE, but the resolution passed regardless.

Avelo’s agreement with ICE led to multiple protests outside of Wilmington Airport in early 2025. Dozens of people would line up on Dupont Highway with signs to show passing drivers their displeasure with the airline.

“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic. After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come,” Avelo’s founder and CEO, Andrew Levy, said in an April statement.

Despite the rancor from elected officials, Avelo continues to expand its service from Wilmington. It recently announced new routes from Delaware to Atlanta and to Chicago O’Hare starting in 2026. That expansion makes it 14 destinations.

Avelo benefits from a fuel-tax exemption and has a marketing incentive from DRBA. The agency does not receive money from financial support or tax receipts from either the State of Delaware or New Jersey, its website says. Most of its revenue is generated by tickets, fees and tolls. A DRBA spokesperson old the News Journal/Delaware Online in April that they are “disappointed” in the ICE deal.

The resolution simply urges DRBA to prohibit deals with companies who work with ICE deportations “without sufficient due process.” For now, it is “laid on the table,” and will not be considered until the legislature starts up again in 2026. It was introduced by Sen. Raymond Seigfried, a Democrat representing Claymont.

Shane Brennan covers Wilmington and other Delaware issues. Reach out with ideas, tips or feedback about reassessment and property taxes at slbrennan@delawareonline.com.

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