Sports
Lessons
Biz
Action heats up for Series spots
Rosenfeld helps with Holocaust education
Juice Box opens new spot in Bethany
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JULY 25, 2025
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Volume 22, Issue 30
FREE
Special to the Coastal Point • Maryfrances Berger
Example 946,217 of how this is a beautiful place to be.
Bethany celebrates successful parade CIB continues FOIA correction after complaint By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter There were congratulations all around at the Friday, July 18, Bethany Beach Town Council meeting, to the Fourth of July Committee and to town staff who worked to make the annual celebration successful. “It was an incredible weekend,” Mayor Ron Calef said after Parade Chairman Chris Lorence presented the committee’s report, saying the weather was good and the parade was “great.” “We had lots of happy, giggling kids — they were all making memories,” Lorence said, adding that the event involved 16 volunteers, town staff, six organizational meetings in eight months, 18 opportunities to purchase commemorative T-shirts, 48 floats, more than 100 volunteers, 100 pounds of donated ice and 40,000 happy spectators enjoying a parade that lasted more
than 90 minutes. Town Manager Cliff Graviet commended the committee and town staff. “There is no shifting of the shifts,” he said of pulling off the full day of events. “Everybody is here, and everybody puts a hard, hard day in. Special thanks to the police department. It’s not just about traffic control. There’s a real drill-down for security for the parade. Keeping the parade safe in today’s world is something the police department does very well. “Hats off to Brett,” he said of Public Works Director Brett Warner. “This is his gazillionth Fourth of July, and he continues to put a full day in and is very involved — and certainly to Julie,” he added of the Town’s events director, Julie Malewski. “Kudos to the employees here who make it work.” “It was a parade to be remembered,” Calef said. See PARADE page 3
By Laura Walter Staff Reporter The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) has been revamping its website and internal processes after recent violations of the Freedom of Information Act. On July 8, the Delaware Attorney General’s Office issued an official opinion letter that found shortcomings in the CIB’s open meetings and open records. The opinion was issued in response to about 13 concerns filed by Jennifer Pawloski of Millville. Ultimately, the opinion, written by Deputy Attorney General Erica K. Sefton, determined that the CIB “violated FOIA by failing to: maintain an operable online portal, maintain a designated FOIA coordinator, include ‘public comment’ on certain meeting agendas, provide a meaningful opportunity for the public to engage in the Dec. 13, 2024, board meeting, timely post agendas, and timely respond
to your Dec. 13, 2024, FOIA request.” But a few of the initial complaints were determined to not be violations. The CIB is subject to Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act (which is mentioned thrice in the CIB bylaws). The CIB is a not-for-profit, but it was created by the Delaware General Assembly (including designated board members) and receives significant state funding to be a watershed steward. Typically, people submit records requests (FOIA requests or “sunshine law” requests), and they can forward complaints or unsatisfactory experiences to the AG’s Office. “It is vital in a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that our citizens shall have the opportunity to observe the performance of public officials and to monitor the decisions that are made…,” according to Delaware’s FreeSee CIB page 4