Workshop planned for Barratts Chapel Road work
    The state Department of Transportation will hold a public workshop between 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Frederica Volunteer Fire Company, Frederica, to discuss proposed improvements to Barratts Chapel Road, between Route 1 and McGinnis Pond Road.
    The workshop will have displays of the preferred alternative for the proposed improvements to Barratts Chapel Road and the preferred alternative developed for a grade-separated intersection (overpass) of Route 1 and Barratts Chapel Road. Information will be presented for discussion relating to cultural and natural resources, social and economic development, land use, and environmental concerns.
    Interested persons can express their views in writing, giving reasons for support of or in opposition to the proposed project. Comments will be received during the workshop or can be mailed to DelDOT Public Relations, P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19903.

Police seek donations for needy families
    The Delaware State Police is looking for donations for the Troop 3 Needy Family Fund.
    The donations will be used to provide needy Kent County families with food, clothing and heat during the holiday season. The fund drive is a Kent County tradition used to help those who are less fortunate and provide help to those in need.
    Donations may be made payable to “Troop 3 Needy Family Fund;” donations should be mailed to Troop 3, 3036 Upper King Road, Dover, DE 19904-6417 (Attention Needy Family Fund).
    Donations can also be made in person and will be accepted until Dec. 19.

DelDOT plans Dec. 9 Pearsons Corner intersection workshop
    The state Department of Transportation will hold a public workshop between 4 and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, regarding planned intersection improvements at Route 8 and Pearsons Corner Road, and at Route 8 and Hartly Road.
    The workshop will be in the Hartly Fire Hall, at 2898 Arthursville Road, Hartly.
    The public will be able to review and discuss proposed safety and performance improvements.
    Interested persons can express their views in writing, giving reasons in support of or in opposition to the proposed improvement project. Comments will be received during the session or may be mailed to DelDOT Public Relations, P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19903.
    For more information, call 800-652-5600 or write the above address.

School board loses Scott to House of Representatives
    State Representative-elect Darryl Scott recently resigned as a member of the Capital School District Board of Education.
    Scott said he had hoped to serve on the Capital board through the end of the year. But as the state does not allow people to hold two elected positions simultaneously, and as his position in the House of Representatives became effective the date of the election, he had no choice but to immediately forfeit his school board seat.
    The newly elected representative will use some of his experience on the school board in dealing with policies involving education.
    He would like to see changes to the way schools are funded, and wants to see a testing system other than the DSTP.
    “We really need to create a testing system that is part of the education process,” he said.
    The DSTP, he added, takes too long, is too expensive and has a host of other problems.
    According to the district’s policy, the rest of the board members will appoint someone to Scott’s vacant seat. That person will serve for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2009. A new member will be elected during the next regular school board election to serve for the unexpired term.
    The board is required to post notices of the vacant position, and has already done so in local newspapers. Notices also will be posted on the door of the district office and all Capital schools.
    Those interested in the position should send a letter of interest with a brief statement explaining why they should serve as a board member, and a résumé.
    The letter and résumé should be addressed to Dr. Michael D. Thomas, Superintendent/Executive Secretary to the Board of Education, Capital School District Office, 945 Forest St., Dover, DE 19904. The materials must be received no later than 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5.

Rebate scam can implant viruses, cause identity theft
    Agents with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service are warning of an email scam that is targeting people looking for their 2008 economic stimulus refund, IRS spokesperson Gregg Semanick said Nov. 17.
    Anyone who has accessed a link or attachment in a scam email may be allowing someone to download malicious software. Computer users should immediately scan for viruses and spyware and be alert for suspicious activity in their financial accounts. They also should be on the lookout for evidence of identity theft, Semanick said.
    Semanick said there are three things computer users can count on: 1) the IRS does not send unsolicited emails about individual taxpayer accounts; 2) if someone does receive a scam email, do not access any links or attachments; 3) if a taxpayer has filed a 2007 federal tax return, the IRS will take care of sending out the stimulus payment.
    “Taxpayers can help the IRS stop scammers by sending the original scam e-mail to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. The e-mail must be forwarded using special instructions at IRS.gov or it loses the encoding needed to track it to its source,” Semanick said.
    For more information about tax scams, visit www.irs.gov and check out the Dirty Dozen, a list of tax scams updated each year by the IRS. The IRS also provides information on its website to help taxpayers protect their personal and financial information; type in “identity theft” in the key word search feature.
    On another subject, there is more than $660,000 in undeliverable refund and economic stimulus payments awaiting Delawareans. Checks for these payments have been returned to the IRS because of mailing address errors.
    Stimulus checks, by law, must be mailed by Dec. 31, so any taxpayer who has not yet received a check must update his or her address with the IRS by Nov. 28. Delawareans who are missing their checks can log onto www.irs.gov and click on “Where’s My Stimulus Payment?” to check the status and update their mailing address or call 866-234-2942.
    For those taxpayers missing their regular refund checks, they should also log onto www.irs.gov and click on “Where’s My Refund?” to check the status of their refund and resolve any delivery issues or call 800-829-1954.

More than 2,700 cited for aggressive driving
    The results of the 2008 “Stop Aggressive Driving” campaign, announced Nov. 13 by the Office of Highway Safety, show state, county and local law enforcement officers cited 2,737 drivers for speeding — several in excess of 100 mph — during a three-month effort to curb speeding in the First State.
    Preventing speed-related crashes and fatalities was the focus of this year’s “Stop Aggressive Driving” campaign.  Enforcement by the Delaware State Police, the Dover Police, the New Castle County Police and the Wilmington Police occurred during July, September and October and was accompanied by a public awareness campaign.
    During this time, aggressive driving-related fatal crashes have declined by 10% so far this year, and there have been seven fewer speed related fatal crashes compared to this time last year. Yet speeding remains second only to DUI as the leading cause of traffic deaths in Delaware according to statewide crash data.
    In addition to the campaign’s 2,237 speed citations, officers also made 26 aggressive driving arrests which requires officers to spot three traffic violations in a single incident, eight DUI arrests, 51 criminal arrests, issued 205 seatbelt citations, and 1,658 citations for other traffic violations including individual offenses such as running red lights and stop signs, which are identified aggressive driving behaviors.

Philanthropy board to award $10,000 in grants
    The Delaware Community Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Board for Kent County will award a total of $10,000 in grants in 2009 to one or more schools and qualified nonprofit organizations in Kent County. Applications will be accepted for programs that provide interactive mentoring and/or tutoring for students in fifth- through eight-grades, who can demonstrate having a positive impact on youth. Additional consideration will be given to organizations that focus on the prevention of drug and/or alcohol abuse.
    Completed applications must be postmarked by or delivered to 36 The Circle in Georgetown by Jan. 9. Grant recipients will be announced in April 2009.
    Each grant request must be submitted on a 2009 Youth Philanthropy Board for Kent County Grant Application Form, which can be downloaded from the DCF’s website, www.delcf.org or obtained by contacting the DCF’s Southern Delaware Office by calling 302-856-4393 or emailing afrazier@delcf.org.
    For more information, call YBP Kent County Advisor Linda Chick at 302-398-5194, or emailing graphics02@hotmail.com.

House majority chooses leaders
    Democrats in the General Assembly’s House of Representatives on Nov. 13 voted to fill their three leadership positions as the newly elected majority party. Robert F. Gilligan, D-Sherwood Park, was unanimously named Speaker of the House, Peter C. Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth, was named House Majority Leader and Valerie J. Longhurst, D-Bear, was named House Majority Whip.
    Gilligan has been a state representative for 36 years. Typically, the Speaker of the House charts the overall course of the House of Representatives. The House Majority Leader generally manages the proceedings on the House floor and the House Majority Whip oversees the legislative staff.