Delaware
Newark approves recreational weed dispensary, still ways to go before opening
Delaware communities prepare for legal weed in 2025
Delaware municipalities prepare for the recreation marijuana industry, which is set to open legal retail shops in April 2025.
Newark remains on track to be a competitive city for recreational marijuana in Delaware.
Two marijuana-related ordinances were approved at the Nov. 25 City Council meeting. The Council updated the city code regarding adult recreational use to match state law, as well as approved a special use permit for the eventual operation of a recreational dispensary in the city.
A special use permit allowing Fresh Delaware to operate in the city as a recreational marijuana business with cultivation, manufacturing and retail was approved with a unanimous vote.
“I think that Newark City Council can take a lot of pride in the fact that there are other towns and counties that are literally lost in the wilderness on this because they didn’t get things done in time,” Mayor Jerry Clifton said.
Fresh Delaware moves to open retail dispensary
Fresh Delaware and the area surrounding it was re-zoned to allow recreational marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and retail in August, but it required a special use permit from the city. Now, Fresh Delaware only has the state’s conversion process left to complete before it can shift from medical-only sales.
City council members uniformly had positive reviews for the representative of Fresh Delaware present at the meeting.
“You were a good neighbor,” Councilmember Corinth Ford said.
Fresh Delaware cultivates and manufactures its own product, and has an additional location in Seaford. It is one of the 13 medical dispensaries in the state. There is another area in Newark zoned to allow recreational marijuana business toward the Maryland border.
Fresh Delaware is on track to open for recreational sales in the spring, according to the state Office of the Marijuana Commissioner. Spring is the statewide goal for retail openings, though the store still has a ways to go on its conversion track.
Where other Delaware cities stand
As Newark approves a recreational business, other cities in the county are behind.
Wilmington has been back-and-forth on bans, buffers and zones while New Castle County government is discussing possible buffers for retail locations in December. Other cities in Delaware, including Rehoboth, Lewes and Bethany, banned retail altogether.
Wilmington recently asked the state to change the law to get a cut of any sales tax, but Mayor Jerry Clifton said he wants to take a wait-and-see approach on how the state government responds to its request.
Newark mirrors state code in recreational usage
The council updated the city code around recreational usage, updating its code to match the state. The city code now reads that people 21 and older can privately use a personal quantity of 12 grams or less of concentrated cannabis, or cannabis products containing 750 milligrams or less of delta-9 THC.
Public use is still a criminal misdemeanor, however, and using while under 21 years old is a civil violation. Smoking marijuana in public also violates state law. City solicitor Paul Bilodeau said private consumption can include someone’s backyard.
Some council members had ideas about how to regulate potential parties where the smell could spread from multiple smokers, but no official action was taken on those ideas.
The ordinance was approved unanimously by City Council.
“We are in a strange world where it is legal to consume marijuana in private, but it is illegal to buy it,” Bilodeau said.
Delaware
Delaware Lottery Mega Millions, Play 3 Day winning numbers for Dec. 16, 2025
Claiming lottery in Delaware
18 states have laws that allow national lottery prize jackpot winners to remain anonymous, but is Delaware among them?
The Delaware Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from Dec. 16 drawing
20-24-46-59-65, Mega Ball: 07
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play 3 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing
Day: 7-1-2
Night: 0-1-8
Check Play 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play 4 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing
Day: 5-5-8-3
Night: 4-2-6-8
Check Play 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Multi-Win Lotto numbers from Dec. 16 drawing
10-21-22-24-26-33
Check Multi-Win Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 16 drawing
03-04-19-24-39, Lucky Ball: 11
Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play 5 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing
Day: 6-6-3-8-7
Night: 8-7-0-5-4
Check Play 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
- Sign the Ticket: Establish legal ownership by signing the back of your ticket with an ink pen.
- Prizes up to $599: Claim at any Delaware Lottery Retailer, in person at the Delaware Lottery Office, or mail your signed ticket and claim form; print your name/address on the ticket’s back and keep a copy/photo for records. By mail, send original tickets and documentation to: Delaware Lottery, 1575 McKee Road, Suite 102, Dover, DE 19904.
- Prizes up to $2,500: Claim in person at Delaware Lottery Retailer Claim Centers throughout Kent, Sussex and New Castle Counties.
- Prizes of $5,001 or more: Claim in person at the Delaware Lottery Office (business days 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) with a photo ID and Social Security card.
- For all prize claims, directions to the Delaware Lottery Office are available online or via mapquest.com for a map.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Delaware Lottery.
Can I claim a jackpot prize anonymously in Delaware?
Fortunately for First State residents, the Delaware Lottery allows winners remain anonymous. Unlike many other states that require a prize be over a certain jackpot, Delawareans can remain anonymous no matter how much, or how little, they win.
How long do I have to claim my prize in Delaware?
Tickets are valid for up to one year past the drawing date for drawing game prizes or within one year of the announced end of sales for Instant Games, according to delottery.com.
When are the Delaware Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Play 3, 4: Daily at 1:58 p.m. and 7:57 p.m., except Sunday afternoon.
- Multi-Win Lotto: 7:57 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: Daily at 10:38 p.m.
- Lotto America: 11:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Delaware Online digital operations manager. You can send feedback using this form.
Delaware
Trump will go to Delaware for the dignified transfer of the 2 National Guard members killed in Syria
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for a dignified transfer for the two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert that is testing the rapprochement between Washington and Damascus.
The two guardsmen killed in the attack on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Both were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. A U.S. civilian working as an interpreter was also killed.
The ritual at Dover Air Force Base honors U.S. service members killed in action and is one of the most solemn duties undertaken by the commander in chief.
During the process, transfer cases draped with the American flag holding the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that carried them to Dover to an awaiting vehicle to transport them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the fallen service members are prepared for their final resting place.
Trump, a Republican, said during his first term that witnessing the dignified transfer of service members’ remains is “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.
Remembered as ‘the best of Iowa’
The Iowa National Guard is remembering the two men as heroes. Howard’s stepfather, Jeffrey Bunn, said Howard “loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out,” noting that he had wanted to be a soldier since he was a young boy.
In a post on the Meskwaki Nation Police Department’s Facebook page, Bunn – who is chief of the Tama, Iowa, department – called Howard a loving husband and an “amazing man of faith” and said Howard’s brother, a staff sergeant in the Iowa National Guard, would escort “Nate” back to Iowa.
Torres-Tovar was remembered as a “very positive” person who was family oriented and someone who always put others first, according to fellow guardsmen who were deployed with Torres-Tovar and issued a statement to the local TV broadcast station WOI.
“They were dedicated professionals and cherished members of our Guard family who represented the best of Iowa,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard.
Trump stands by Syrian leader al-Sharaa
On Saturday, Trump told reporters that he was mourning the deaths and vowed retaliation.
Trump said Monday that he remained confident in the leadership of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the onetime leader of an Islamic insurgent group who led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad, whose family had an iron grip on Syrian rule for decades.
The U.S. president welcomed al-Sharaa to Washington last month for a historic visit to the White House and formally welcomed Syria as a member of the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group. Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.
“This had nothing to do with him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “This had to do with ISIS.”
Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were injured in the attack. As of Monday, two were in stable condition and the other in good condition. The Pentagon has not identified them.
Trump traveled to Dover several times during his first term to honor the fallen, including for a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during a raid in Yemen, for two Army officers whose helicopter crashed in Afghanistan and for two Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan when a person dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire.
Delaware
Delaware will save more than $300M after federal tax decoupling takes effect
The fiscal year 2027 forecast remained relatively flat from the October meeting. But some expenses declined, including salaries for teachers. Brian Maxwell, state director of Management and Budget, said teacher salary expenses were down because student enrollment has dropped. He said federal immigration policy could be impacting the state’s Multilingual Learners.
“Obviously, there have been a number of students that may not be showing up to class just because of the enforcement of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” he said. “So some of the families may be scared to actually send their kids to school.”
Maxwell said overall enrollment is down, but the number of students needing special education services is up. The next student count is in February.
DEFAC members also discussed the revised Healthcare Spending benchmark. In September, the subcommittee devised a methodology that only used healthcare inflation, resulting in a 7.13% for 2026.
“We all gathered in October and there was a fair amount of concern with that outcome,” said Christen Linke Young, director of Health and Social Services. “So the subcommittee reconvened earlier this month to consider a new approach.”
After adopting the methodology using expected national inflation data and a three-year measure of health care cost growth, the benchmark now sits at 4.9%. But Young said there would be no penalty for hospitals exceeding the guideline.
Gov. Meyer and the state’s largest nongovernmental employer, ChristianaCare Health System, reached an agreement earlier this year in a lawsuit the regional hospital system filed last year. The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board was created by lawmakers in June 2024 to try to rein in hospital spending. But the agreement, which requires new legislation and the governor’s signature, would strip the board of its authority to approve and modify hospital budgets.
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