Sports
Fun
Local lifeguard spotlighted
Iconic Selbyville event draws a crowd
Page 65
Page 50
JUNE 23, 2023
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 20, Issue 25
FREE
Bethany moves fireworks to Labor Day weekend Mayor: Replenishment schedule forced decision By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter The plan to cancel Fourth of July fireworks in Bethany Beach this year, due to beach replenishment, is being met with resistance from a local surfshop owner, but Mayor Rosemary
Offshore wind exploratory bill offered in legislature
Hardiman said it’s the only option, and visitors can still celebrate the holiday with a concert and parade. The fireworks display has been rescheduled for Labor Day weekend. Jim McGrath, owner of Bethany Surf Shop, sent an e-mail to Town Manager Cliff Graviet on Tuesday, June 20, suggesting the fireworks be shot from a part of the beach that will have already been replenished by July 4. “Two weeks from today, sections of
the beach will be much larger and reopened to the public. I find it hard to believe that beach replenishment was used as an excuse to cancel our town’s Fourth of July fireworks. Please respond, I want to make sure all council members receive this email,” McGrath wrote to the town manager. Beach replenishment, being done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on eight streets, between Campbell Parkway and north to Third Street, and from
Campbell Parkway south to Wellington Parkway, began June 9 and is expected to be completed between June 29 and July 9. McGrath said the Town made the announcement that fireworks were canceled last Friday, June 16, then the town office closed for three days, including Monday, June 19, for Juneteenth holiday. See FIREWORKS page 3
A little family splash
By Mike Smith Staff Reporter State Sen. Stephanie Hansen (DMiddletown) has completed work on a Senate Bill 170, to force DNREC to review the options for offshore wind on the Atlantic coastline in Delaware. A hearing was held on the merits of the offshore wind power bill last Tuesday on the House side of the state legislature. The Hansen bill is “An Act to Amend the Delaware Code Relating to Offshore Wind Energy.” Delaware is the only state in the Mid-Atlantic from Massachusetts to North Carolina with no offshore wind-energy commitment. The act would direct DNREC to work with PJM Interconnection LLC to study the transmission impacts of offshore wind development, to work with neighboring states on offshore wind transmission, and to study and reSpecial to the Coastal Point • Butch Comegys
See BILL page 2
The only thing better than taking a walk out into the ocean is doing so with loved ones by your side.
Fenwick chief demands reinstatement of contract By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter Fenwick Island Police Chief John Devlin has retained an attorney and has filed a legal document in which he demands that his contract, which the Fenwick Island Town Council failed to
renew in late April, be reinstated. Wilmington attorney Thomas Neuberger filed the document, called a “demand letter,” on Tuesday, June 20. The letter, the body of which is 10 pages long, is addressed to Mayor Natalie Magdeburger and the other six council members, Bill Rymer, Ed Bishop, Paul
Breger, Jacqueline Napolitano, Richard Benn and Janice Bortner. The letter, sent to the Coastal Point by Neuberger, lays out the reasons why Devlin feels his contract was not renewed and why he feels his rights were violated by the council’s unanimous vote.
Devlin has been chief of the town’s police department since Sept. 1, 2020. He was recognized by the Town in March for his 20 years of continuous service to the department but has actually worked for the Fenwick Island See DEVLIN page 5