Sports
Fun
Zook takes over volleyball team
Ocean View dunks into summer fun
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AUGUST 2, 2024
World Series Roxana plays host to Softball World Series Inside
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 21, Issue 31
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Fenwick Island candidates get the last word By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter Fenwick Island voters will choose between four candidates for three seats in the town council election on Saturday, Aug. 3. The candidates — Richard Benn, Susan Brennan, William Rymer and James Simpson — have submitted an-
swers to questions posed by the Coastal Point in advance of the election. Each candidate was also asked to provide biographical information.
Richard Benn Q. Please tell us about yourself: family history in Fenwick Island, career, activities in Fenwick or elsewhere that you would
like voters to know about. A. My family has been coming to Fenwick Island every year since the early 1960s. I was a professional pilot for a major airline for 20 years. I have been involved in various businesses from boat building to commercial properties. I am very proud of the accomplishments this town council has made in the three short years that I have been a member. To get
the dredging funded and permitted has been a major accomplishment that seemed unsurmountable when we first took over. Thanks to Bill Rymer’s efforts along with Sen. Gerald Hocker and Rep. Ronald Gray and the Sussex County Council we now have a fully funded project and we are ready to start Sept. 1. See CANDIDATES page 3
Harris, Whisted gelling in new leadership roles By Mike Smith Staff Reporter Melissa Whisted has joined the Indian River School District as director of Special Education. Patricia Harris is coming aboard as supervisor of Special Education. The district has a new leadership team and the two agreed they have already gelled as a department, with similar viewpoints. Whisted accepted her position within the IRSD, previously held by Judith Brittingham, coming from Baltimore County Public Schools, where she worked as the executive director of Academic Services until retirement. She has more than 30 years of special-education experience. Harris comes to the IRSD from the Wicomico County School District in Maryland, where she served 15 years as supervisor of Special Education. She also served as an assistant principal and student personnel worker in Wicomico County. According to school district superinSpecial to the Coastal Point • Marian Dowling
See TEAM page 5
With crowds being what they’ve been this summer, everybody finds themselves fighting for a little beach space.
County council defers vote on application for power substation By Mike Smith Staff Reporter Sussex County Council convened a hearing on Tuesday, July 30, to consider a conditional-use application from Renewable Redevelopment LLC, a U.S. Wind subsidiary, for a 140-acre electric
power substation adjacent to the current Indian River Power Plant near Dagsboro. After three hours of testimony and “new information brought to our attention,” the council deferred their vote. The site of the proposed wind power substation is off Iron Branch Road, in wetlands governed by the Coastal Zone
Act. The property measures 13.3 acres, with a significant amount of trees that would need to be cleared and removed to accommodate the electric substation, which would feed energy to the power grid. The proposed interconnection with Delaware Power & Light would power
770,000 homes in Maryland. The Sussex County Council heard nearly three hours of testimony on Tuesday, with all of the speakers arrayed against permitting the substation and expressing concerns. See VOTE page 7