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There can only be one: Delaware River among three Pennsylvania waterways up for state award

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There can only be one: Delaware River among three Pennsylvania waterways up for state award


Three rivers. One award.

Voting is now open for Pennsylvania River of the Year.

The Delaware River, which flows through the Poconos in Northeast Pennsylvania, is up against Perkiomen Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River, located northwest of Philadelphia; and the Youghiogheny River in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“We’re thrilled to be nominated for 2025 designation, and we encourage the public to go vote … for the Delaware River so we can really help bring more attention to the outstanding resource that we have in our backyard,” said Mark Zakutansky, a member of the Delaware River Sojourn’s Steering committee.

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The committee put the river in the running for the award. It’s made up of organizations, nonprofits, government, individual volunteers and businesses all along the Delaware River.

The sojourn celebrates its 30th year in 2025. The committee hoped for the nomination to help promote the annual paddling and camping trip down the 330-mile river.

“This is not just a celebration of the river, but, also, of all the people that have really dedicated their work lives and personal lives to make it better,” Delaware River Basin Commission spokesperson Kate Schmidt said.

The seven-day sojourn will be held the third week of June, and the event will proceed with or without the designation.

“We ultimately feel that the best way to kind of discover something is to do it,” said Schmidt. “So the best way to discover the Delaware River is to get on it and paddle.”

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A quick history

Last year the Allegheny River won the award. In 2023, it was the North Branch of the Susquehanna. The Delaware has won before, in 2011 and 2002; just the Upper Delaware won in 1995.

Its east and west branches meet in Hancock, New York. The river forms an interstate boundary its entire length but the largest part of the watershed is in Pennsylvania. The river ends where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Schmidt says 14.2 million people — almost 4% of the entire population of the United States — rely on the river’s basin.

“For drinking, industry, agriculture, you know pretty much for their daily needs,” she said.

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The indigenous Lenape people named the river Lenapewihittuck. They lived in the Delaware Valley, along tributaries of the river. Dutch settlers discovered the waterway in the 1600s and called it the South River.

The English then named the river after Sir Thomas West, the third Lord de la Warr. The Lenape became known as the Delawares.

Winner will receive $10K grant

Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR) facilitates the River of the Year program with funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).

The winning river’s nominating organization will receive a $10,000 DCNR grant to fund year-long celebrations, including paddling events and community activities

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Voting ends Jan. 24. To cast a vote, visit https://pawatersheds.org/about-river-of-the-year/vote-roy/





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Body cam video released of deadly police shooting in Wilmington, Delaware

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Body cam video released of deadly police shooting in Wilmington, Delaware


WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) — The family of Kadir Skinner is calling for criminal charges against the police officer who shot the 19-year-old after the release of officer body camera footage that attorneys say contradicts the police account of the incident.

The shooting happened June 24 after 11 p.m. at 24th and Jessup streets.

Calls grow for body cam video in deadly Wilmington police shooting

Body camera video shows an officer drawing and firing his weapon while yelling commands. In the footage, officers can be heard saying, “He’s got a gun,” as they approach Skinner, who is on the ground.

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Skinner repeatedly tells officers he is unarmed and says he cannot breathe.

“I don’t got nothing. I don’t got nothing,” Skinner says in the video.

Footage shows officers handcuffing Skinner and kneeling on him while he continues to say, “I don’t got nothing. I can’t breathe.”

Skinner was shot in the rear.

READ MORE | ‘We need answers’: Family disputes details after man killed in Wilmington police shooting

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A second body camera angle shows a crowd forming as officers instruct people to back up.

Video from a third responding officer appears to show an officer picking something up from the grass and returning toward the crowd and the officers with Skinner.

In the footage, an officer can be heard saying, “Secure the gun,” and the officer wearing the body cam says, “I have it.”

Attorneys for Skinner’s family, along with family members and community supporters, gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church in Wilmington following the release of the video to demand justice.

“Regardless if he had a gun or not, he was still shot in the back, running from police, not having been a threat,” attorney Harry Daniels said.

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SEE ALSO | Family releases witness video after 19-year-old fatally shot by police in Wilmington

Attorney Chance Lynch said the footage showed “an unjustified killing.”

“What we saw and what we witnessed was an unjustified killing,” Lynch said.

Attorneys for the family contend the video disputes the police version of events. Wilmington police previously said Skinner came out of a home armed and waved a gun at a crowd before officers opened fire.

“The video that I saw, I didn’t see a crowd, and I did not see Kadir coming out of a residence. I did not see a crowd, and I did not see Kadir pointing a firearm at a crowd,” Lynch said.

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Attorneys and the family maintain that Skinner was running from a loose dog.

The family also announced a $25 million claim against the city of Wilmington for wrongful death. They are seeking criminal charges against the officer who shot Skinner.

The Delaware Department of Justice is investigating.

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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Delaware oversight commission debates authority to reject utility rate hikes

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Delaware oversight commission debates authority to reject utility rate hikes


Delmarva Power objects to applying legislation to interim rate

The debate among commissioners over the breadth of their oversight on utility rates comes as the company has pushed back on the group, limiting its interim rate increase to half of its total request, even while it faced criticism from commissioners that it is “cruel” and “tone deaf” for continuing to press for rate hikes.

Delmarva Power, an investor-owned utility, serves 344,000 residential and nonresidential customers in the state. Its parent company, Exelon Corporation, is the nation’s largest regulated electric and gas utility.

Its customers pay a supply and a delivery charge for gas and electricity. The supply of energy comes from PJM Interconnection, a regional grid serving Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and several other states. Delmarva Power profits through the distribution fee.

Delmarva Power Region President Marcus Beal said they need to file rate hike requests to recoup money it spends on improving and maintaining the infrastructure.

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“Our equipment is extremely expensive, the items that we buy, the transformers, they’re very large, complex things to build,” Beal said. “Even something as simple as a treated pole of a certain size can be very pricey, so we spend a lot of money on the grid itself.”

Under Delaware law, interim rates can be approved seven months after a rate case is filed, while the full petition is being considered by the commission. Prior to the legislation, 100% of the rate request could be implemented. The bill caps interim rates at 50% and allows 75% of the ask to go into effect after 12 months. The bill also puts limits on Delmarva Power’s infrastructure spending.

Delmarva Power spokesperson Matt Ford said the commission overstepped its authority to cut the interim rate as much as they did and the company has argued in its PSC submissions that SB 326 did not apply to the rate increase request filed in December because it had yet to be signed into law. Meyer said he signed the bill Monday.

“Delmarva Power further reserves its objections to the applicability of the legislation, should it become effective, including its impermissible retroactive application,” the utility company said in comments filed Monday afternoon with the commission.

In addition, Delmarva Power has objected to halving $23.2 million in distribution system improvement charges as part of the interim rate commissioners approved. The fee allows utility companies to recover project costs and depreciation between full rate case proceedings.

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“My suggestion is, if you don’t like it, appeal it,” Iorii said.

It’s unclear whether the utility plans to appeal the order. Ford said they were reviewing it and its implications.

Tweedie said he hopes they decide not to appeal.

“If they appeal this, what they are essentially saying is, ‘We want to extract more money from our customers than the commission intended to allow,’” he said.



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Delaware man identified after fatal pedestrian crash

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Delaware man identified after fatal pedestrian crash


Delaware State Police have identified the man who was struck and killed by a vehicle while lying on the roadway in Harrington, Delaware.

On Monday, July 13, 2026, Jimmy Burgess, 62, was struck by a Chevrolet Silverado driving westbound near the 1500 block of Whiteleysburg Road.

According to police, the Silverado, which was operated by a 17-year-old boy from Milton, Delaware, was unable to stop once he saw Burgess on the road, striking him. The driver of the Silverado was not injured during the crash.

Burgess was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead, said police.

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The roadway was closed for approximately three hours while the scene was investigated and cleared.

The Delaware State Police Troop 3 Collison Reconstruction Unit continues to investigate this crash.

Troopers ask anyone with information about the crash contact Sergeant M. Long at (302) 698-8518.

Information can also be provided by sending a private Facebook message to the Delaware State Police, or by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-(800) 847-3333

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