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Delaware

Hundreds take to streets and boardwalks in Delaware for ‘Hands Off!’ protests

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Hundreds take to streets and boardwalks in Delaware for ‘Hands Off!’ protests


Crowds gathered Saturday in Wilmington, Rehoboth Beach and other Delaware towns to protest actions by the Trump administration as part of a nationwide “Hands Off!” protest movement.

Over 1,000 planned “Hands Off!” rallies were planned across the country on Saturday, including on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to protest the Trump Administration’s financial cuts to multiple federal programs

In Delaware, protests against Trump and other figures like Elon Musk are not new. Rehoboth Beach and Newark have seen almost weekly protests since January.

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On Saturday, Nearly 1,000 people gathered in downtown Rehoboth Beach and hundreds in Wilmington to protest the administration.

“They’re taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now,” the “Hands Off!” Rehoboth Beach event website says.

Protests also took place in Newark, Dover, Salisbury and Ocean City, Maryland.

Teenager organizes Wilmington protest in 24 hours

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Gemma Calabria, a 17-year-old from Wilmington, felt compelled to hit the pavement on Saturday. When she saw that there was no protest scheduled in the city, she did it herself.

A day later, more than 200 people of all ages peacefully gathered at Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington. She cannot vote, but she still felt like she could make a difference.

“Not everyone is able to go to Dover or Newark or Philly, so giving people a chance to come to their local rally, I think is really important,” she said Saturday.

Among the 200 people was Coby Owens, a new Wilmington city council member who stood in the middle of the crowd with a megaphone. He led chants that echoed throughout downtown and could be heard for blocks. He said he was impressed with the quick turnout and appreciated the diversity of the crowd.

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“This is just the community coming together, working together to say, ‘We’re not backing down, we’re not going anywhere, and that people here, matter,” Owens said.

Residents of the city at the protest were there for a variety of reasons, but the newly enforced tariffs and their affect on the domestic and global economy was a common theme.

Also in the crowd with a sign reading “veterans deserve better” held by Jack Herbert, a veteran from the city who was protesting potential cuts to Veteran Affairs.

He said the system may be flawed, but without people on the low level answering questions and guiding people through complicated processes and paperwork, veterans could be at a disadvantage.

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“What he’s doing is cutting the legs out from the VA, even by pulling even a minimal amount of people is going to affect some veterans somewhere,” he said.

Jack Cunningham, former New Castle County Police Chief, and his wife Mary Ann brought their 3-year-old granddaughter Sadie, who was in a wheelchair. They said cuts to Medicaid could affect her access to wheelchairs in the future. Their sign read “Hands off my wheelchair!”

Thousands hit the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach protest

Protesters have been lining Coastal Highway in front of Walmart in Rehoboth every Saturday morning for weeks now. They were there again this week before moving to the bandstand at Rehoboth Avenue and the boardwalk for a rally, organized by Indivisible Southern Delaware.

Attendees were led in songs like “God Bless America” and “Do You Hear the People Sing?” before Indivisible Southern Delaware’s Cheryl Siskin introduced a slate of speakers, including representatives from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Rehoboth and the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware. Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall (D-Rehoboth Beach) also spoke.

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After the rally, protesters marched south on the boardwalk before dispersing.



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Delaware

Local police departments earn state accreditation

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Local police departments earn state accreditation


The Delaware Police Officer Standards and Training Commission recently announced that the Dewey Beach Police Department and Rehoboth Beach Police Department have both earned state accreditation from the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission.

As part of the rigorous process, a team of DPAC assessors ensured all accreditation standards were met by completing comprehensive, on-site inspections of each agency, reviewing their policies and procedures for compliance, and conducting interviews with department members. 

“This milestone represents a significant step forward for public safety in Delaware. The initial state accreditation of these police agencies reflects a strong commitment to professionalism, accountability and excellence in law enforcement. I commend each department for their dedication to serving their communities with integrity and for upholding the highest standards,” said Joshua Bushweller, Department of Safety and Homeland Security secretary and DPAC chair.



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DDA inducts three Delaware Century Farms – 47abc

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DDA inducts three Delaware Century Farms – 47abc


Dover, Del. – Three farms, one from each of Delaware’s counties, were inducted into the Century Farm Program by the state Department of Agriculture on Thursday at the Delaware Agricultural Museum.

Each of the family farms has been owned and operated for at least a century. Each received a sign for their farms, an engraved plate and legislative tributes.

In addition to Secretary of Agriculture, Don Clifton, and Deputy Secretary Jimmy Kroon, state Senators David Wilson (R – District 18) and Kyra Hoffner (D – District 14) were also in attendance.

Wright Family Farms are located in Harrington in Kent County. In 1919, the farm was purchased by William Wright. Over a century later, William’s grandson, Ronald, is the owner and his great-grandson, Greg, said he hopes to continue the family legacy by buying the farm from his father. 

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Although the event celebrated each family for their hard work and resilience, it also highlighted the challenges farmers have to surmount to stay in business today, let alone for a hundred years.

“The price of equipment, the price of fertilizer, the price of seed, everything is just gone up,” Greg said. “So, you know, everything’s going up that we gotta purchase just to stay in business.”

Clifton, Kroon and Wilson also echoed difficulties in balancing the need to preserve agricultural land with the need to develop housing and sustainable energy projects like solar power.

“I know housing is very important, and we want people to always have good housing, but at some point, I think you’re going to saturate the area with more houses than you have food to feed these people,” Wilson said.

Kroon also said there are difficulties in keeping future generations motivated to stay in farming.

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“When you think about it in the context of multi-generational farm families, there’s a real long-term challenge where a new generation may think twice about whether they want to keep farming if it’s always a struggle,” he said.

Clifton said farming has always been a challenging way of life, but it has been so since time immemorial.

“These families, their experience shows that they have an appreciation for the way of life and perseverance and that’s to be honored and emulated to the greatest extent possible,” he said.

Greg said he hopes to pass down the way of life so that his family legacy can live on for another hundred years, as well as for other families.

“A hundred years as the same family tilling the land, that’s, you know, that’s an honor right there,” Greg said. “And I hope that more farmers who are close to 100 years old will be doing the same thing. You know, keep it in the family.”

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Investigation underway after man’s body pulled from Delaware River

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Investigation underway after man’s body pulled from Delaware River


An investigation is underway after police said a man’s body was pulled from the Delaware River in South Philadelphia.

According to police, around 9 a.m. on Friday, April 17, 2026, emergency responders pulled an unidentified man from the Delaware River, near the Navy Yard. Medic’s pronounced the man dead at 9:11 a.m.

Léelo en español aquí.

SkyForce10 flew above as police and other first responders were on the scene.

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Police are working to determine the circumstances of the incident and identify the man.

This is a developing story; check back here for updates.



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