Charles Megginson June 10, 2022 Government, Headlines
A bill passed by the Delaware Senate Thursday would ban styrofoam food containers, among other things. (Getty Images)
The Delaware Senate on Thursday passed a bill to effectively ban restaurants from offering single-use plastic straws and styrofoam food and beverage containers.
Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 134, sponsored by Sen. Trey Paradee, D-Dover, also prohibits food establishments from providing customers with plastic coffee stirrers, cocktail picks and sandwich picks.
Under the bill, food establishments would only be permitted to offer single-use plastic straws upon request.
“The point of this legislation is to remove — to the greatest extent possible — these types of products from our environment and obviously we’re not going to remove it all,” Paradee said. “I think this is one of those bills where Delaware needs to step up and set the example.”
Plasticware and styrofoam often end up in Delaware’s landfills, on its beaches, and in its coastal waters, Paradee said.
Polystyrene foam, commonly referred to as styrofoam, is not biodegradable and in many cases, styrofoam food and beverage containers break down into microscopic particles called microplastics which are nearly impossible to remove from the environment.
Microplastics can easily find their way into Delaware’s food chain and water supply, Paradee said.
Five states have passed statewide bans on the sale and distribution of foam or polystyrene products, including Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont.
The bill passed 12 to 8 against the objections of every Republican and two Democrats as well as the Delaware Restaurant Association, the trade organization that represents Delaware’s foodservice industry.
Sen. Nicole Poore, D-Delaware City, said the bill will have a detrimental impact on DART, the maker of the red Solo cup, which opened a manufacturing facility in Delaware City in 2020.
The company “manufactures more than 3,000 packaging products for the foodservice industry, including cups, plates, containers and lids,” Poore said. “Some of these items have been in high demand, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where many restaurants have been dependent on takeout.”
Poore said the company, which employs roughly 80 people at its Delaware City location, told her it would likely have to shut its doors if SB 134 passes.
Sen. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, said his convenience store and two supermarkets would have no choice but to pass the additional cost of paper and hard plastic containers onto customers.
“I went to Sysco who supplies most of my paper products and asked about the substitutes and how much more they are,” Hocker said. “And the answer I got was, probably double or a little more, and I’m talking about styrofoam coffee cups that we use, styrofoam sandwich trays that we use in the stores, styrofoam soup containers that we use.”
That additional cost, he said, inevitably gets passed on to his customers.
Hocker said many of the customers at his G&E Hocker’s Supermarket and Hocker’s Super Center are on a fixed income and cannot stand any more price increases, especially considering rising prices on nearly everything else, including gasoline.
“Of everybody in here, I’m probably the only one that this is going to have an additional expense to my business,” Hocker said. “My district is made up of an awful lot of people on fixed income and Social Security, and you try living on that today. And we just keep passing things and passing things that put additional expenses on them that they cannot afford.”
Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover, joked that he should be considered an expert witness on junk food and, “paper straws don’t work with junk food.”
“You know, there are some restaurants still in business in Delaware — let’s see we can finish them off,” Bonini said sarcastically. “I mean, we didn’t get them with COVID. Let’s see if we can get them with regulations.”
Rather than imposing additional regulatory and financial burdens on businesses, Bonini said, the Senate should be taking steps to help businesses save money.
Carrie Leishman, president of the Delaware Restaurant Association, said her member restaurants want to have a meaningful conversation about recycling and environmental issues — not waste valuable time debating about sandwich picks.
“We are proud that a majority of our members have begun moving away from single-use plasticware, and as a result of the pandemic many operators are favoring to-go packaging focused on quality multi-use and reusable consumer options,” Leishman said.
“Supporting restaurants with grants to encourage more bulk purchasing of environmentally-friendly products which have been nearly impossible to source due to supply chain problems should be the priority of the legislature.”
While focusing on cocktail picks allows for a great headline, Leishman said, it doesn’t make a meaningful impact on Delaware’s landfills.
She said if lawmakers wanted to create meaningful reform, they should be talking about the largest contributor of waste in America: food waste.
“40% of food is wasted which has irreversible environmental and socioeconomic effects,” Leishman said. “Simply stated — throwing food out wastes water, energy and creates additional food insecurity.”
She noted that Delaware has closed two food waste recycling facilities in the past decade.
That happened at a “pivotal time when Delaware restaurants were leading the country with a massive voluntary effort to reduce the state’s food waste problem,” Leishman said.
She added that she would be willing to work with Paradee on a standalone bill to ban polystyrene foam.
Paradee emphasized that the bill does not prevent grocery stores from selling the types of products detailed in the bill. It also won’t affect the styrofoam packaging of electronics, he said.
“It does not affect prepackaged food items,” Paradee said. “A great example would be Cup Noodles. The last thing I would want to do is deprive Delaware children of the opportunity to eat Cup Noodles.”
Paradee added that Delaware is a coastal state whose second largest industry is tourism.
“For those reasons, I think it is just important that we step up and say ‘Hey, our environment is important, the condition of our beaches is important, the cleanliness of our drinking water is important to our children and to anyone who visits here.’”
Charlie Megginson covers government and politics for Town Square LIVE News. Reach him at (302) 344-8293 or [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @cmegginson4.
A bill heard by the House Energy Committee Tuesday would require Dover, Wilmington and Newark to set up a permitting process for curbside residential EV chargers/Getty Images A bill released from the House Energy Committee Tuesday could soon require Delaware’s three largest cities to make it easier for residents to install personal electric vehicle charging stations. Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 187, sponsored by Sen. Sarah McBride, D-Wilmington, would require municipalities with a population of 30,000 or more to develop a permitting process for residents to obtain permission to install electric vehicle charging stations outside of their homes. Delaware only has three cities with populations of 30,000 or more: Wilmington, Newark and Dover. “What this bill does is it continues to encourage the creation of infrastructure to prepare for the major onslaught of electric vehicles which will be coming to our communities,” said Rep. Krista Griffith, D-Fairfax, the bill’s House sponsor. “There’s a tremendous amount of electric vehicles on the road but we do know that the demand is ever-increasing.” Griffith noted General Motors’ plan to go all-electric by 2035 and Chrysler’s plan to do the same by 2028. RELATED: New Castle County to require new homes to be EV-charger ready Under the proposal, Delaware’s “big three” would have until Jan. 1, 2023 to implement the permitting process. Once granted a permit, residents would be able to install curbside charging stations on residential streets. The cities would maintain the authority to institute reasonable restrictions including the type of charging stations permitted and where they may be installed. Permission would also have to be granted by the homeowner whose property is adjacent to the desired charging station. “The shift to electric vehicles is not ideological — it’s imminent, and it’s inevitable,” McBride said during the committee hearing. “The major car manufacturers have all stated that the market is moving in this direction and if we wait until market demand exists before we begin to grapple with these fundamental questions about accessibility, we’re going to be too late.” McBride argued that the issue is also one of equity. Lower-income folks in marginalized communities are far less likely to have access to garages or on-site parking, meaning electric vehicle ownership can be out of reach for them, she explained. She noted that she worked closely with Wilmington, Newark and Dover and none of the cities have taken a position against the legislation. Rep. Steve Smyk, R-Milton, said none of the towns in his district will be affected by the bill and he’s eager to see how it plays out in Delaware’s largest cities. “Will this actually come out to determine assigned parking on the streets? How much more space is going to be lost on our sidewalks? Let that all be ironed out by the time it gets to my smaller municipalities,” Smyk said. “It’s absolutely a good thing to get into because as people purchase more and more electrical vehicles, and they don’t have a garage or they live in an urban setting, it’s gonna be very difficult for them to charge.” He said he’d much rather have folks be able to charge their vehicles at home than “sit at a Wawa for hours.” McBride said the reason the bill is limited to Delaware’s three largest cities is so that they can hammer out the details and serve as a model for smaller municipalities when the time comes. “This legislation is to spur conversation proactively, rather than what I felt was a situation where there was a more reactive response to developing circumstances around electric vehicles,” she said. “Additionally, I had heard from constituents as well that there were real issues around the lack of clarity that was happening right now.” McBride said some constituents have told her that people are installing charging stations without permission because no permitting process currently exists. Others, she said, are stretching long cables from their houses to their cars. “This is really trying to ensure that a conversation that that wasn’t happening — I think at the speed and scale that it needs to happen — is happening,” she said. Four members of the public spoke; all in favor of the legislation. The measure was unanimously voted out of committee and now heads to the House floor for a vote.
Delaware’s downstate pond trout season will open for anglers on Sunday, March 6, but not before youth anglers get a whole day to themselves. The season will open for anglers under the age of 16 beginning on Saturday, March 5. For all other anglers, the season will begin the following day, DNREC said in a press release Friday. Fishing will be allowed both days from 7 a.m. to a half-hour after sunset unless otherwise restricted by area rules, with trout fishing open thereafter from a half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset unless otherwise restricted by area rules. Both Tidbury Pond near Dover and Newton Pond near Greenwood will be stocked and open for trout fishing pending pond ice conditions that might prevent either stocking or fishing. COVID-19 guidelines continue to recommend six feet of separation from other anglers or approximately the length of many fishing rods. To improve trout fishing for the season openers, Tidbury and Newton Pond will be closed to all fishing from Saturday, Feb. 19 through Friday, March 4 to accommodate trout stocking, eliminate incidental hooking of stocked trout and allow them time to adjust to their new waters. Each pond will be stocked with more than 300 pounds of 12- to 13-inch rainbow trout before opening day, with a second stocking in mid-March. Trophy-sized trout weighing two or more pounds will be included in the stocking as an added attraction for trout anglers. Trout anglers planning to fish Tidbury or Newton Pond should note the following rules and regulations: A Delaware fishing license is required, unless an angler is exempt. A Delaware trout stamp is required through April 1, unless an angler is exempt. The daily possession limit is six trout. Proceeds from the purchase of Delaware trout stamps are used to help purchase trout for stocking the next year. This popular fishery is also supported by federal Sport Fish Restoration funds administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that are generated from anglers purchasing fishing equipment. Delaware fishing licenses and trout stamps are sold online and by license agents statewide. To find a participating agent, or to purchase a license online, visit this link. For additional information on Delaware fishing licenses and trout stamps, call the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife Recreational Licensing office at 302-739-9918. Delaware’s trout season in upstate streams will open Saturday, April 2 with a youth-only day, followed by the opening of the regular trout season for all anglers on Sunday, April 3. For more information about fishing in Delaware, including license and trout stamp requirements, please see the 2022 Delaware Fishing Guide. The guide also is available in printed form from license agents throughout the state or by calling the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.
This 6 p.m. Sunday map shows the area expected to get the most snow expanded throughout the day. As schools up and down the state said they would close Monday because of anticipated snow, the National Weather Service on Sunday issued a winter storm warning for Kent and Sussex counties Monday and winter weather advisory for New Castle County. Both run from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday. Much of the western part of the state, from slightly north of Dover to the southern state line, is expected to bear the brunt of the storm, with 6 to 8 inches forecast to land there, an expansion of the morning forecast. New Castle County will get from 2 to 6 inches of snow, with the northernmost areas expected to get 2 to 3 inches, and the amount growing higher as the storm impacts the southern end of the county.” “Rain will quickly transition to snow late tonight, with mostly snow after 4 a.m.,” the National Weather Service said about 6 p.m. “This will lead to a disruptive morning commute. Heaviest snowfall will remain along and southeast of the I-95 corridor with a rather tight gradient from no snow to several inches lying over the urban corridor.” Winds are expected to be gusting as high as 35 mph, which may limit visibility as well as cause damage to trees and power lines, the Delaware Department of Transportation said. The heaviest snowfall is predicted for rush hour, and DelDOT said motorists should expect to slow down and leave plenty of space between vehicles because stopping distances increase greatly on snow- and ice-covered roads. DART plans to operate fixed route and paratransit bus services on its regular schedule Monday, but delays should be expected and customers should check dartfirststate.com. The rain means many groups won’t salt the roads before the storm arrives because the rain will wash away the brining, said Mike Svady, head of public works for the town of Milford. Salt will be applied as soon the weather switches to snow, he said. The DelDOT snowplow tracker will be active during the storm and is available via the DelDOT smartphone app and www.deldot.gov (click on map layers where a menu will drop down and you can choose snowplows). Additionally, DelDOT also has more than 200 traffic cameras to view road conditions around the state. The storm comes as schools were expected to reopen Monday, and many had said they would reopen in person, despite rapidly spreading COVID-19 cases. Many systems said they would close Monday and students would take a snow day rather than attend virtual classes. The state set yet another new record for the most new COVID-19 cases in a single day Friday, Dec. 31, with 3,554 new cases. It said Sunday that Saturday’s total of 2,328 was expected to rise when more cases were reported and logged into the system. So many people have been tested that running the tests and reporting them is slow. ChristianaCare Hospital has a taped message on its phone saying that it’s taking eight days to return the results of tests. The Delaware Department of Public Health also warned that testing could be canceled or delayed, and anyone seeking a test Monday should be sure that the venue they plan to go to is open. Milford City Manager Mark Whitfield said Sunday morning that employees who had COVID or were isolating or quarantining meant there were fewer workers to hit the roads in the Monday storm. Svady said Sunday evening that the town plans to roll its fleet of trucks and plows out at 3 a.m. with salt ready to be dispersed in city streets,” he said. By 8 a.m., he said, the crews will be removing snow on streets and sidewalks, particularly in the priority area of the Boys and Girls Club, day cares, hospice, the Veterans home and all of the industrial park located just to the north of the city, as well as roads leading to City Hall. The Public Works buildings will be open, as well as the public parking lot. Milford schools are among those closed.
LEFT: JANICE LORRAH. RIGHT: GOV. JOHN CARNEY A Hockessin mother suing to stop the state’s school mask mandate got most of what she wanted in the middle of trial Monday when the governor’s attorney informed the court that the mandate would be lifted on March 1 at 6 p.m. Janice Lorrah appeared in the Delaware Court of Chancery at the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Wilmington where she argued that the mandate violates state statutes and due process and causes irreparable harm to schoolchildren. At the end of the proceedings, Vice Chancellor Paul Fioravanti said he would review the case and issue a bench ruling later Monday. The trial began on a raucous note when a group of several unmasked citizens entered the courtroom demanding to be seated. Court officials tried to explain the facility’s rules concerning masking and social distancing but the group shouted back at the officials, saying such things as “It’s my human right not to wear a mask,” and “I’ll take your silence as acquiescence.” In response, Fioravanti cleared the courtroom of everybody except attorneys. He initially ruled that the trial would be held behind closed doors but reversed course after Lorrah implored him to allow the public in with the guarantee that everyone would remain masked. Some members of the public sat behind attorneys’ tables to accommodate social distancing requirements. Others who refused to comply with the clearly-posted rules were escorted out of the building. After Lorrah detailed her complaint, the Department of Justice attorney told the court that his client, the governor, had notified him that the mandate would be lifted. Following the announcement, Fioravanti said to Lorrah, “It sounds like you can declare victory and go home?” “No, Your Honor,” Lorrah responded. “This is a matter of public importance that has the potential to continue because COVID is not going away.” She argued that the governor violated the law by initially setting March 31 as the date for the mandate to be lifted despite the order expiring on March 2. “At a minimum, the question of whether or not an emergency order can extend beyond the date of emergency is a matter of extreme public importance.” Fioravanti said he can only rule on the facts in front of him and respond to the complaint at hand. “This mask mandate in schools is going to go away tomorrow,” he said. “That does not mean necessarily that your complaint goes away — you may still be able to litigate the issue of for purposes of a preliminary injunction.” “But what is there for me to enjoin other than to enjoin the mask mandate for the next day and a half,” he asked. Lorrah argued that if the governor violated due process the harm does not go away with the lifting of the mandate. Fioravanti said he would need to review the case and would issue a bench ruling later Monday. “I am not going to rule at this moment on this issue,” he said. “I do think that this has largely become moot because of the announcement today that the school mask mandate will be terminated at 6 p.m. tomorrow.” Carney declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday. Following the trial, Lorrah said she believes the governor’s decision to lift the mandate was a “direct response” to her lawsuit. Carney, however, said he was lifting the mandate because of the Centers for Disease Control’s Friday announcement that said masking is no longer recommended in areas rated as either low or medium transmission risk. “I would still like to see the judge issue a ruling on the merits of the injunction,” Lorrah said. Even if the judge doesn’t rule in her favor, she said that she would still be happy with the outcome. “I put forth the best case that I possibly could in a short amount of time and with the resources that I had,” Lorrah said. “I am just happy that people were listening.” She’s not totally satisfied, though. While her lawsuit has become highly politicized, Lorrah said it was never supposed to be about the efficacy of mask-wearing or the virtue of mask mandates generally. It was supposed to be about stopping government overreach and ensuring that — even in the midst of emergency — due process is followed and protected. “There’s not much resolution on that front,” she said. “It matters because what’s going to happen next time? COVID is not going away — and maybe it’s a different emergency issue,” she said. “But we need to have something on the record that says: Here’s an emergency, here’s what you can do, here are the boundaries and you can’t step over the line.”
Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark, said Tuesday night “gun worshipers” should “stick the barrel of your piece in your mouth.” A casual observer may assume he was responding to a post about Tuesday’s mass shooting in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. In reality, Kowalko was talking about people who don’t want to wear masks despite the number of COVID-19 cases and positive tests rising in Delaware. On Wednesday afternoon, he deleted his comments and posted an apology. He was reacting to a user by the name of “C-Dawg Rowe,” who responded to a Facebook post detailing the 7-day average for positive COVID-19 tests by saying, “Tests are not sick people!” “No,” Kowalko responded to Rowe, “but moronic conspiracy theorists such as you and those like you are ‘sick’ people willing to risk the health of others and their children rather than inconvenience their idiot selves with a vaccination or mask.” Rowe replied, “Holy Cow! Q-tip lives!! Don’t you find it amazing that with such limited cognitive abilities, you are still capable of breathing unassisted? Go do something that’ll make you feel better, like kick your neighbor’s puppy.” Kowalko shot back, “I’ve got a suggestion for you and your fellow gun worshipers. Instead of wearing a mask, stick the barrel of your piece in your mouth. Maybe those 14 children killed in Texas would have been safer from the virus and you psycho, small-penis gun fondlers.” Rowe did not respond to Kowalko. Click here to see the screenshot of the exchange. Spokesmen for both the House Democratic and Republican caucuses declined to comment. Kowalko told Delaware LIVE News Wednesday that he made the post because “people don’t want to wear masks because they’re inconvenient — they don’t care about protecting children.” Similarly, he said, “People want to keep their guns, even though there are people out there massacring children with these guns.” Kowalko said he’s “tired of the anti-maskers, tired of the anti-vaxxers and tired of the gun-toting gun fondlers who believe it’s their right to have a gun that can kill masses.” Time after time, he said, lawmakers respond to mass shootings with thoughts, prayers and moments of silence, rather than changing policy to protect children. “It’s time now to stop this insanity,” Kowalko said. “It’s time now to register all weapons. All weapons should be registered. And then, gradually, there should be a repossession of assault weapons and semi-automatics.” Kowalko, who is not seeking re-election, was among many government officials who commented on the Texas school shooting. Attorney General Kathy Jennings on Wednesday said she’s “tired of the lie that there’s nothing we can do.” “And I am tired of the pattern of mass carnage being followed by mass mourning and mass inaction,” Jennings said. “There is no good reason to wait for the unspeakable to happen before we consider life-saving policy — and yet reliably, we do.” State Sen. Laura Sturgeon, D-Hockessin, said Tuesday’s shooting reiterates the need to pass Senate Bill 3, legislation that would require a permit to purchase handguns in Delaware. “The evidence is clear that requiring a permit to purchase reduces gun violence,” Sturgeon said. “Because of that, I respectfully request that the House bring SB 3 to the floor for a vote before the end of session on June 30th. No parent in Delaware should have to mourn the loss of a child to gun violence whether in school, in church, in a store, or on the streets. We must do everything we can to ensure our children are safe.” Kowalko said no matter how offensive his Facebook comment was, it pales in comparison to lawmakers’ “offensive inaction on gun reform.” “I don’t know that it’s excusable, but here’s the explanation,” Kowalko said. “I’m angry. I’m frustrated. I’m frustrated with politicians and lawmakers, the leadership — everyone on down the line — Democrats and Republicans sit there in their offices and I just cannot fathom their lack of effort, their lack of intention or their lack of willingness to do anything about this.” He added that lawmakers are “directly responsible, as if they were pulling the trigger.” After his interview with Delaware LIVE News, Kowalko deleted his Facebook comments and posted the following apology: I would like to apologize for my posted remarks that question the sincerity and intentions of those individuals who feel that their personal rights are being abrogated or threatened. It is not my place to judge others and accuse them of being callous or unfeeling toward others. I hope I can convince some of those people that maybe we can agree to a mutually constructive solution to address this nation’s failures and a reasonable path forward. The anger I feel regarding the recent tragedy in Texas and Oklahoma has caused a visceral reaction on my part that has unfairly placed blame where it is not deserved. I am not ready to forgive my fellow lawmakers, politicians, and leaders for their consistent and persistent lack of action and I pray they can do better. Representative John Kowalko C-Dawg Rowe, later identified as Chris Rowe, former chair of the New Castle County Republican Committee, told Delaware LIVE News he doesn’t accept Kowalko’s apology. “We’re not talking about a kid here,” Rowe said. “We’re talking about a grown man who appears to be emotionally unstable.” He said he took Kowalko’s comments to mean that he should kill himself. He didn’t respond, he said, because “there’s nothing I can say to that. I would never wish harm against any human being — ever.” Rowe said if a Republican lawmaker directed a similar statement at an abortion rights advocate, there would be bilateral calls for that lawmaker to resign. “You really have to ask yourself, what are the people in his district thinking — that elected him,” he said. Rowe added that he called Kowalko “Q-tip” because “when he lets his hair grow — yeah, he does. He looks like a Q-tip.” That’s an example, Rowe said, of simply “busting his chops.” “And you […]
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