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History from News Journal July 13-19: ice rink debate, lottery problems, hero rescues two
"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at
July 13, 2000, The News Journal
Four of five Wilmington City Council members at a stormy committee meeting Wednesday opposed Mayor James H. Sills Jr.'s proposed portable ice-skating rink in Rodney Square.
The 13-member council is scheduled to vote next week on spending $1.3 million for the rink. Seven votes are needed to approve the expense.
Council President James M. Baker said he prefers a permanent rink at a yet-to-be-built park near the Amtrak station on the Christina riverfront.
That prompted Greg Williams, director of the city's parks and recreation department, to say the project has become politicized at the expense of Wilmington's children. He favors the Rodney Square site.
Baker, who is running against Sills in the Sept. 9 Democratic mayoral primary, said the Sills administration has advocated the concept of a rink somewhere in the city for three years. The council's requests to explore several locations were not successful, Baker said.
'This is not a political football,' Baker told Williams in a raised voice. 'You guys failed us; we didn't fail you.'
Councilman Gerald Brady, who presided over the park and recreation committee meeting, declared the meeting out of order.
'Bring it back to order then,' Baker said. He then left and did not return.
Brady and Councilmen Paul Bartkowski and Kevin Kelley said the money should not be spent on the rink because there are more pressing concerns in the city, such as aging infrastructure and neighborhood projects.
'I've got sewers and sidewalks that need to be fixed,' Brady said.
Councilwoman Stephanie Bolden said the mayoral race has impeded progress on the rink, which she thinks should be in Rodney Square….
If council approves the project, the rink would open this year or in 2001. The 157-by-75-foot rink would cost $275,000 a year to operate. Two corporations have pledged to pay operating costs for the first five years. City officials would not identify the corporations, saying they want to remain anonymous until the city decides whether to pay for the rink.
Recent Wilmington-area news: Approved SEPTA budget would kill Delaware rail service in 2026 without more funding
July 16, 1975, The Morning News
The Delaware Lottery may not be well, but it is alive.
Gov. Sherman W. Tribbitt has yet to appoint a new lottery director, and until he does the game can't start again.
In the meantime, a loaned staffer and a volunteer have been kept busy for the past month paying the debts and settling the accounts of the defunct Loto-Superfecta, which ended in April after five money-losing weeks.
Tribbitt said he has five or six candidates in mind for the lottery director's job, but has not been able to settle on one. He said one person, who was not named, accepted the post but refused it later for health reasons. ...
Because bills need to be paid and accounts reconciled, Tribbitt asked the state planning office to temporarily assign Lou Jordan, a planning administrator, to the lottery. ...
Jordan said since he started on June 16 he has paid about $90,000 to cover the rent through June, equipment rentals, payments, advertising and tickets. ...
Jordan said he has sent out checks for five $100 tickets since June and another $70 to $80 for smaller prizes….
It is generally assumed that Delaware's second venture into public gaming will more closely follow the typical state lotteries rather than something new again. The Loto-Superfecta let people choose their own numbers and used a horse race to determine the winning number. However, there were no first place winners, and the public steadily lost interest.
The General Assembly has put aside $130,000 for the revised lottery, bringing the total state investment to date to more than $600,000. ...
The state auditor has charged that lottery officials illegally spent $186,000 more than they had in their $400,000 budget. ...
Recent lottery news: Wilmington man hits Delaware Lottery twice in a week. Here's where he bought his tickets
July 18, 1925, Wilmington Morning News
A double rescue was made in Rehoboth yesterday afternoon when C.C. Thompson, of Seaford, fought a strong undercurrent to drag Miss Marcella Fairchild, 19, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and William Bounds, 12, of Salisbury, Md., from the water.
Thompson, an all-round athlete who rescued a woman from drowning last summer, was walking along the beach with a lifeguard when they were attracted by the screams of a woman a short distance from the shore who had been caught in a heavy undertow.
Both men jumped into the water and were also caught in the undertow, but Thompson managed to reach the young woman before she had been carried out very far.
Keeping the girl's head above water, he waited until the lifeguard joined them, and the two of them managed to get her ashore.
Just as they reached the shore, another cry from the water attracted Thompson's attention. Turning, he discovered a small boy who had gotten out in water beyond his depth and had also been caught in the undertow.
Leaving the young woman in the care of the lifeguard and the large crowd that had congregated, Thompson swam out to the boy and caught him just as the boy was going down for the third time.
After he succeeded in getting the boy ashore, it was discovered he was unconscious, and Thompson, although weakened from his double fight with the undertow, assisted in reviving him by using a stomach pump.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: History from News Journal: ice rink debate, lottery problems, rescue
