“Pages of History” features excerpts from The News Journal archives, including The Morning News and Evening Journal.
May 26, 2004, The News Journal
NCCo approves budget without tax increase for the ninth consecutive year
New Castle County residents will no longer pay property taxes or sewer service fees next year, even though the government will spend about 6.2% more to provide services such as policing, emergency dispatch and sewage treatment.
The County Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve an operating budget of nearly $207.4 million for the year beginning July 1. The approved budget for the current year was US$195.2 million.
The proposal was amended before the vote to include about $1.4 million more than County Executive Tom Gordon proposed in March. The additional money will cover anticipated increases in employee healthcare costs and pension contributions, and the addition of four emergency dispatch operators and a clerk….
The average property tax bill and sewer bill for a home in an unincorporated area are expected to be $325.32 and $171, respectively.
County Finance Director Ron Morris said this is the ninth consecutive year without a property tax increase and the 12th consecutive year without a sewer rate increase….
Recent county news: Overtime payments make first responders among New Castle County’s highest-paid employees
May 28, 1973, The Morning News
Delaware Resorts Full Despite Drip
The wind, rain and cold don’t stop mail carriers from making their assigned rounds, and they don’t stop tourists from coming to the Delaware coast on Memorial Day weekend.
Like lemmings hearing a mysterious call of nature, they began their journey Friday as drizzle and 30- to 35-mph winds swept the beaches in 50-degree temperatures.
Previous speculation that a gasoline shortage could be felt in the resort area turned out to be unfounded.
Most rooms were occupied. State park camping facilities reported a good crowd. Seashore State Park was full early Friday, but Cape Henlopen State Park was never full and on Sunday afternoon only had 110 of 160 spaces occupied…
The boardwalk was mainly for young people who walked up and down and stayed in groups….
May 30, 1972, The Morning News
Shooter kills 3 people at political rally in North Carolina
A calm gunman “shooting everything that moved” killed three people, injured eight others and then killed himself outside a mall where Senator B. Everett Jordan was campaigning yesterday in Raleigh, NC
Police dismissed theories that it was an attempted assassination of the Democratic senator from North Carolina, who was shaking hands inside the North Hills Shopping Center.
Two of the injured were girls.
Witnesses said the shooter, a well-dressed man identified as Harvey Glenn McLeod, 23, opened fire as Jordan walked through the glass doors. Jordan was talking to two women. One was killed and the other seriously injured. The doors were broken.
Witnesses said the shooting lasted about two minutes….
Police Chief Robert E. Goodwin said, “When the first siren was heard, witnesses said he turned the gun on himself.” The chief said that the man was armed with a .22 caliber rifle that he had purchased a few hours earlier and a revolver….
June 1, 1889, Evening Diary
A terrible flood; Pennsylvania city completely submerged
A telegraph operator at the Pennsylvania Railroad signal tower at Sang Hollow, 12 miles below Johnstown, says 75 corpses floated past him down the river from Johnstown.
It is claimed that the reservoir above Johnstown broke and water flooded the town, sweeping away dozens of homes and probably drowning hundreds of people.
The wires are down and no communication can be made with Johnstown….
Officials of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pittsburgh claim to have information that more than 200 bodies have been counted floating down the river at Johnstown….
Johnstown is described as completely submerged, only two houses fully above the water line….
Follow the story: Earnhardt Dies in Daytona, Communist Books Banned: News Journal Archives, Week of February 18
June 1, 2003, Sunday News Journal
Neighbors criticize Cherry Island landfill expansion
Of busy I-495, few east Wilmington landmarks can compete with the massive Cherry Island landfill, a massive complex that buries 525,000 tons of waste annually on a flank of the Delaware River.
In the coming months, the state’s busiest landfill will also have great importance on the political scene. Opponents of a proposed expansion are intensifying public objections, saying the state buries too much waste and should recycle more…
Delaware Solid Waste Authority managers say the $60 million project will reduce the risk of a waste pile collapsing and increase the landfill’s capacity, adding nearly 120 feet to its height limit….
Critics from nearby communities called the site an eyesore and claimed that the dust, odors and constant truck traffic posed a threat to public health….
Contact reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared in the Delaware News Journal: News Journal Archives May 26-June 1: Johnstown Destroyed by Flood
