Jana Pugh, a former teacher at Laurel Public Schools, won a convincing victory over incumbent Brent Nichols in a 3-way race.
The election, a low key one, saw Pugh the winner with 328 votes, Nichols 172, and Barbara Erskine with 12 votes.
The term is for 5 years.
More than 350,000 families have a reverse mortgage. Spokes person Tom Selleck, who has a net worth of $45 million says he’s researched this and it is a legit deal for those seniors who have run low of cash for living expenses. “Don’t worry,” he says.
Sounds good for 1/3 of U.S. households who have nothing saved for retirement and the average amount saved among the remaining 2/3 was $73,200. That might get you through a few years of retirement, but it’s not enough to last through a long retirement, and seniors are living longer.
“A reverse mortgage loan can help some older homeowners meet ffinancial needs, but can also jeopardize their retirement if not used carefullyu,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said, “For consumers whose main asset in tdheir home, taking out a reverse mortgage to delay SS claiming may risk their financial security because the cost of the loan will kikely be more than the benefit tdhey gain.”
HUD reported that more than 18% of reverse mortgages taken out from 2009 to June 2016 are expected to default because of unpaid taxes and insurance. That compares with fewer than 3% of federally-insured traditional mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent.
Selleck confidently states one can even skip payments, but he doesn’t mention interest on the loan is still added monthly.
AAG has used well-known and respected celebrities to promote their program; Harry (Fonzi) Wrinkler, Pat Boone, and Law and order, U.S. Senator Fred Thompson. In 2015 the CFPB fined AAG $400,000 after it determined old ads featuring Thompson wrongfully claimed consumers couldn’t lose their homes. A lot of people have. Many others ended up losing money with a reverse mortgage.
Their may be positives to having a reverse mortgage, but like everything that sounds too good to be true usually isn’t. If you are thinking about getting a reverse mortgage, please research the pros and cons before you do.
I met with Governor Sherman Tribbitt in his office shortly after he was elected Governor after serving the state as Lt. Governor before being elected Governor, I asked the question, “How does it feel sitting on the other side of the desk as governor and not as Lt. Governor?”
He quickly replied, “No second guessing, you make a decision and go for it”. The Governor certainly had his share of decisions to make which affected the lives of thousands of Delawareans including the closure of Farmers Bank, the destruction of the railroad bridge over the Delaware River, and an inherited bankrupt state.
I’ve thought often of him during the turmoil our current Governor, John Carney is going through with the COVID-19 on a daily basis. He has to make decisions daily affecting all Delawareans. No second guessing, lives are at risk.
Their is enough second guessing from his opponents.
As reported by The Washington Post, 73% of Delawareans in a May Survey/Monkey Poll said they approved of how Gov. Carney has handled the state’s response to the outbreak. That figure was tied for 15th overall and seventh out of the 24 Democratic governors. From what I’m hearing the majority of Delawareans feel the same.
Still the criticism and actions for his actions continues, the latest from St. Senator Colin Bonini, who although did not mention the Governor by name instead saying, “officials should have been more willing to keep businesses and other establishments open, only shutting them down in the face of a clear and present danger.”
His fellow Republicans in the House and Senate share his feelings posting letters to the media trying to be advocates for small businesses when their voting records show a progressive anti-tax relief for the wealthy.
His fellow Republicans in the House and Senate share his feelings posting letters to the media trying to be advocates for small businesses when their policies have shown support for large corporations.
I was glad to see Dr. John Stapleford, policy director of the Conservative Caesar Rodney Institute pleas for the reopening for the working class people who are certainly no doubt the victims of businesses closing.
It was only months ago, he and his institute were fighting Gov. Carney over raising the minimum wage saying it would close businesses. He didn’t care about the working class then. POLITICS as usual.
I think pressure from protestors wanting businesses to open have seen the negative effect this is having with the beaches, bars, restaurants being packed causing the pandemic to increase in just a week.
I am an 82 year old senior with health problems. Every day I fear sticking my head out the door that someone who is enforcing his Constitutional rights by not wearing a mask may breathe on me and send me to the high heavens. Not a good feeling.
I thank my governor for his conservative handling of this virus. The Governor has put a hold on phrase three because of increase of cases during the past week. Good for him. We have the right man to protect us in Governor Carney.
I have a feeling after the public celebrates the 4th and spreads the virus we’re going back to the house to stay for awhile.
The latest candidate to enter an uphill battle to the Governors Mansion by a Republican, is State Senator Colin Bonin who apparently hopes to improve upon his 35% showing in his first run.
Aside from two unknown Republicans candidates is another familiar face St. Senator Bryant Richardson who is attempting his second try for the nomination losing to Bonin in their last matchup.
I call them sacrificial lambs, not out of disrespect but by being convinced by whomever pushed them to run that unless incumbent Democrat Governor John Carney does something really embarrassing, he is in like Flynn, and I don’t mean the General.
Politics in Delaware runs like this: if party leaders from both sides in New Castle County think they have a snowballs chance of upsetting an incumbent or their is an open seat, it goes north. If polling, and it goes on year round, shows a weakness some brave Republican from north of the canal will be the parties choice to be on the November ballot.
If polling shows not a chance in Hell, party members up north will allow downstaters to battle it out.
Even so on the state ticket Republicans are underdogs because of the states registration. Democrats out number registered Republicans by 48% to 27% with the majority of Democrats in NCCo. During the 1960’s to the 1980’s the opposite was the Democrats in the southern two counties out registered Republicans. In the Laurel area the registration was 4-1 Democrats.
Bonini like most Republicans is opposed to Carney’s handling of the Coronavirus. He has not directly attacked the governor on this issue, but said officials should have been more willing to keep businesses and other establishments open, only shutting them down in the face of a clear and present danger.
Breaking news Senator. Delaware’s numbers only increased when the governor began opening doors and beaches. He was correct in holding back.
As reported by the Washington Post, 73% of Delawareans in a May Survey/Monkey Poll said they approved of how Gov. Carney has handled the state’s response to the outbreak. That figure was 15th overall and seventh out of the 24 governors.
South Korea a city of 8 million people reported their first case of the Coronavirus the same day as the US, January 2020. As of the 16th of this month they has reported only 282 deaths and 12,653 cases compared the millions of cases and thousands of deaths in this country.
How did they do this what went wrong in this country.
South Korea a city of 8 million people reported their first case of the Coronavirus the same day as the US, January 2020. As of the 16th of this month they has reported only 282 deaths and 12,653 cases compared the millions of cases and thousands of deaths in this country.
By the end of February, South Korea had the most COVID-19 patients of any country outside China. New confirmed cases were doubling every few days, and pharmacies were running out of face masks. More than a dozen countries imposed travel restrictions to protect their citizens from the Korean outbreak, including the U.S., which had, at the time, recorded an official COVID-19 death toll low enough to count on one hand.Read: Why the coronavirus is so confusing But just as South Korea appeared to be descending into catastrophe, the country stopped the virus in its tracks. The government demanded that the Shincheonji Church, the largest church in Korea, turn over its full membership list, through which the Ministry of Health identified thousands of worshippers. All were ordered to self-isolate. Within days, thousands of people in Daegu were tested for the virus. Individuals with the most serious cases were sent to hospitals, while those with milder cases checked into isolation units at converted corporate training facilities. The government used a combination of interviews and cellphone surveillance to track down the recent contacts of new patients and ordered those contacts to self-isolate as well.
Within a month, the Korean outbreak was effectively contained. In the first two weeks of March, new daily cases fell from 800 to fewer than 100. (This morning, the nation of 51 million reported zero new domestic infections for the third straight day.) On April 15, the country successfully held a national parliamentary election with the highest turnout in three decades, without triggering another wave. South Korea is not unique in its ability to bend the curve of daily cases; New Zealand, Australia, and Norway have done so, as well. But it is perhaps the largest democracy to reduce new daily cases by more than 90 percent from peak, and its density and proximity to China make the achievement particularly noteworthy.
In the time that South Korea righted its course, the United States veered into disaster. In mid-March, the U.S. and South Korea had the same number of coronavirus-caused fatalities—approximately 90. In April, South Korea lost a total of 85 souls to COVID-19, while the U.S. lost 62,000—an average of 85 deaths every hour. That the U.S. population is approximately six times larger than South Korea’s does little to soften the horror of the comparison.
Juxtaposing the South Korean response with the American tragedy, some commentators have chalked up the difference to an ancient culture of docile collectivism and Confucianism across the Pacific. This observation isn’t just racist. It also exoticizes South Korea’s success and makes it seem like the inevitable result of millennia of cultural accretion, rather than something the U.S., or any other country, can learn from right now. The truth is that the Korean government and its citizens did something simple, admirable, and all too rare: They suffered from history, and they learned from it.
The recent death of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police captured on video and watched all over the world brought on demonstrations, mostly sincere to unify the world over police mistreatment of mostly black people, the injustice of the system, hoping for a movement to change procedures, and of course some using the opportunity to further their political calendar.
We’ve seen similar protests when their is a shooting or bombing, particular a mass killing on some school campus, religious or office buildings.
Usually in both events when the smoke clears despite strong protest, and hearings in Congress, nothing gets done. Will the same happen again?
Apparently injustice among minorities not only exist in this country but in many other countries as evidenced by the outpouring of demonstrators.
This being an election year brought out elected officials from all walks of life, and some activists who want to secure their agenda. Most I hope were sincere in helping the cause, some I doubt.
Democrats have passed a new crimes bill, and Trump has promised one from his party. Hopefully the two bill combined will benefit the American public especially the minorities.
Their has been many articles and TV documentaries on the plight of the minorities; being stopped by police for no violiations, treated differently than whites with remarks to black business people with vans marked of their business, with policeman no black man can, you name the rest.
Don’t want to pick on my southern friends, but anytime we traveled south we’d see many cars pulled off the road by police, very few white, sometimes two or three police cars with black family members and children sitting on the side of the road. and the dad with his hands on the top of their car trunk open. Take a hard look next time you travel south.
I had to wonder why they were stopped. I have read the posts which state the police have killed more white men than black. Yes, but most of those were both sides exchanging gun fire from a robbery, hostage situation or other events, not a traffic stop or someone jogging, some event which usually required a call for police back up. I have never seen a white person dragged out of a house, a robbery, or a traffic stop.
I’m thinking should a new crime bill be passed, it will be a watered down non-effective bill just to show something was done, and each legislator can brag of their efforts to protect their citizens.
This Memorial Day ceremonies will be curtailed because of the Coronavirus outbreak in many parts of the country. Usually they would be remembering those who served, those who never made it back, along with political elected officials sporting their American Flag pins on their lapels, many giving speeches how important our military personnel are and prayers for those who gave their lives for our freedom and ending their speeches with, “And may God Bless America”.
I imagine all are sincere, but I have to ask why are our veterans treated just a notch above our native Americans, the American Indian?
Why, I must ask, are many of our Military families on Food Stamps? We celebrate their heroic efforts, budget billions for the finest equipped military in the world, yet some of America’s bravest families are going hungry. Why aren’t we doing more to help them?
Our politicians boast of their efforts to fund the military but forget to properly fund their families, and do little for them after their discharge, or permanent injuries.
I’m a little behind on my reading of Reader’s Digest, just catching up with April’s edition, but I came upon an article about our military families which disgusted me.
Many know military life can be a challenge, a spouse keeping a house and family together while the other spouse is on assignment in some foreign country. But you would never expect the greatest challenge as a military spouse would be feeding the kids.
Some days they head for the food pantries set up by non-profits to feed the needy. relying on the kindness of strangers, an embarrassment for anyone but especially for military families working for the richest country in the world. Many are on food stamps.
No one who joins the military expects to get rich, but living with the military should be more manageable. Some think people who, in the military, are rolling in dough because of some of the benefits of being a military family, free health, commissary discounts, etc.
Not so, states the article. Data from the 2017 annual Census Bureau survey show’s that 16,000 active-duty service members received food stamps that year. But that number doesn’t include the thousands of military families around the country who are not eligible for food stamps because they make too much money to qualify and yet routinely rely on charities or loans from family to get by.
In fact, a survey from Blue Star Families, a military-spouse support group, says 13 percent of military families report trouble making ends meet, compared with 7 percent of civilians.
Perhaps the out-of-date housing formula used in the location of military families has a lot to do with their money problems. Living in cities such as San Diego, find difficulty qualifying for federal food assistance, and a transient life-moving from base to base, makes it challenging for spouses to build careers when they don’t know when and where their families will be transferred next.
The lack of a second income is a big hit for many. A communications officer in the Navy mentioned in the article, makes $34,279 a year before taxes. That’s just under the national poverty level for a family of 6. The military does pay for housing, (some are rat infested or poorly maintained), but the housing allowance is treated as income and that additional “money” is often enough to make a family ineligible for federal food assistance known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Another outdated flaw in the military pay system is, although enlisted service members receive a food allowance, about $373 per month, that sum is intended for the member alone, not his or her family, and it does not increase if one has dependents.
At many schools where military children are the majority, nearly 70% receive reduced lunches because our military are paid so poorly they qualify for free lunch and breakfast.
And from the Department of Defense, their spin on this subject: The DOD sees the problem of food insecurity in the military as being minimal. Troops are well paid, they insist: there’s a subsidized grocery store on each base: and families can avail themselves of the financial literacy training the military provides.
And screw you I say, and the horse you rode in on.
One military wife says she did seek financial help form the military. She says it didn’t help. He husband and she took advantage of resources available to them. “We’ve met with financial counselors provided by the military. We had done that work and yet she and her husband still barely scape by.”
Officers on the other hand live a much better life, the higher the rank the more perks. Maybe that’s why many make a career out of the military.
No different than in corporate America; the Top executives rake in the big bread, and the work horses get the crumbs.
I quickly found out how important I was to my government while in basic training at Fort Knox, KY when my sergeant told me to take care of my M-1 rifle. I could be replaced but not the rifle. I guess not much has changed since 1956.
I guess the issue is about government priorities. How can we have new billion-dollar warships when our sailors are struggling to eat and worrying about the health and welfare of their families?
Politicians shout, “Support our troops”, then forget to give them a living wage, enough for them to live more comfortably.
The give us 100 percent to this country, and the country isn’t giving back.
My prayers for safety go out to all those men and women serving our great country, may God protect them and my thanks to those who served to protect us and to the families who have most loved ones in service to our country.
While most Amerians believe the EPA was established to give us a Healthy America, our President thinks otherwise. The following is an ariticle from the Bloomberg News showing how Trump is destroying the lives of Americans and is making the COVID-19 more deadly. You decide. 
I wouldn’t be in Governor Carney’s shoes if you paid me 5 times his salary. Think of pleasing everyone with the difficult decisions he makes daily trying to protect his citizens of this state from getting the Coronavirus and from dying and having to see photos in the media of people protesting your decision.
All the while you have those protesting and parading about their rights to be in public, parade in large groups, yet not have the decency to wear a mask around others who might be the next victims of this deadly virus.
I didn’t mind seeing photos this week end of the triumpful protestors at the beach waving their signs and American flags but I was pissed watching them parade without any protective gear over their mouths while on the boardwalk, and certainly no respect for others walking together like rat packs.
Well, I’m sure under pressure from businesses, no doubt hurting from this shut down, and I know the majority of businesses in Delaware are small businesses, the Governor has relented sooner than he wished to open some businesses and allow public access to these establishments.
Our Governor has the best interest of the public that elected him and those who did not vote for him. In a perfect world he could make everyone happy, well maybe not, but elected officials have to sometimes make the tough call that goes against the grain of some, however right that call may be.
I am an elderly citizen with medical problems deemed dangerous with this virus. I along with many elderly like myself appreciate the governors conservative approach and will stand with him on his decision making.
That is unless he suggests we take Trumps recommended malaria drug and disinfectants. Then all bets are off.
At last our President, self claimed know it all can fix it all by himself has proven he has been right all along, by announcing he’s taking a malaria drug to protect against the Coronavirus.
Even so bold and confident despite warnings from his own government that it shold only be administered for COVID-`9 in a hospital or research setting due to potential fatal side effects.
Several ;prominent doctors said they worried that people would infer from Trump’s example that the drug works or is safe.
Dr. David Aronoff, infectious diseases chief at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville stated, “Hydroxychloroquine can cause potentially serious heart rhythm problems even in healthy people, but “It’s hard to infer” that Trumps’ artery plaque, revealed in tests from his 2018 physical, makes the drug especially dangerous for him.
“There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective for the treatment or the prevention of COVID-19,” said Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association. The results to date are not promising.’
Even though we should believe our leaders when they make comments such as this, I have my doubts of it being true. You see when Trump said it his lips were moving and that usually results in untrue statements.
However, if the malaria drug works as Trump says, all I can say is, “Pass the Clorox.”
