The Green

Listen to this edition of The Green or individual segments below:

With COVID restrictions largely eliminated, vaccinations creeping up and the summer season here, you’d think restaurants hammered by the pandemic would be poised for a big rebound.

But Contributor Eileen Dallabrida reports many are struggling to ramp up.  That's because, while they have customers again, many don’t have the staff to serve them.

A spring survey showed a decline in the number of red knots stopping along the Delaware Bay during their annual migration.

Some see that decline as troubling and seek stronger measures to protect the shorebird and horseshoe crabs that provide the eggs they feed on.

But contributor Jon Hurdle reports not everyone sees this latest data as reason to act.

Occasionally, The Green takes time to highlight work created by student journalists, at the both the high school and college levels.

In this week’s Enlighten Me, we head to the University of Delaware for three pieces produced by UD students this pasr semester.

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Next week, the State of Delaware joins the Delaware Heritage Commission to launch a series of forums on Black history in the First State.

The first of these virtual events focuses on this month’s celebration of Juneteenth, as well as other topics. 

And one of the panelists - Dr. Reba Hollingsworth from the Heritage Commission – joins us to discuss the forums and teaching Black History.

Two weeks ago, we looked at some charter schools expanding to meet the demands they are seeing.

This week, we look at one - Great Oaks - looking to shrink in coming years to address issues it's having.

Contributor Larry Nagengast looks at their plans for the future.

A service dog training program in Maine State Prison is the setting for a new book from author and former Marine Craig Grossi.

Grossi’s second book is called Second Chances:  A Marine, His Dog, and Finding Redemption.

In this week’s Arts Playlist, Grossi chats with Delaware Public Media’s Kelli Steele about his latest work.

A few years ago, we brought you a story on a tool to help fishers avoid accidentally catching the endangered Atlantic sturgeon.

This week, we have an update on the locally developed technology.

Delaware Public Media’s Sophia Schmidt talks with University of Delaware postdoctoral researcher Matthew Breece and UD College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment professor Matthew Oliver about how the tool is used—and how it’s evolved since it was first released. 

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Last fall, the lawsuit demanding changes to the state’s education funding system was settled. And since then, state and county governments have started fulfilling the obligations set out for them in those settlements.

This week, contributor Larry Nagengast looks at what’s been accomplished so far, and if calls from advocates for even more to be done will be heeded

There’s a new exhibition coming to the Brandywine River Museum of Art this summer.

Ralston Crawford:  Air + Space + War  features the work of the modernist artist best known for his abstract representations of urban life and industry.

Brandywine River Museum of Art curator Amanda Burdan joins Delaware Public Media’s Kelli Steele on this week’s Arts Playlist to preview this exhibit.

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The owner of Delaware City Refinery is trying again to get some relief from renewable fuel credits it is required to purchase, and it’s getting support from Delaware’s Congressional delegation and Gov. John Carney

Contributor Jon Hurdle takes a look at these credits and why they are getting attention now.

Serafin Summer Music returns live next week with a three- week Chamber Music Festival.

The schedule offers seven concerts open to the public, live and live streamed from the Concert Hall at The Music School of Delaware in Wilmington.

And in this week’s Arts Playlist Serafin Summer Music’s artistic director Kate Ransom chats with our Kelli Steele about these concerts and their themes.

A pair of charter schools become the latest to gain approval to expand by adding grades.

Academy of Dover and Gateway Lab school  will both become K-8 schools in the next few years.

Contributor Larry Nagengast looks at each school’s expansion plans and what they’ll mean for their students.

Ticketing, towing, booting and stymied appeals...

A recently-formed coalition says it has documented a troubling pattern in Wilmington, and wants the city to open its books to show how it tows and tickets.

But Delaware Public Media's Mark Fowser reports the city says for there to be meaningful dialogue, there has to be some agreement on the facts.

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A public-private partnership to help ensure migrating shorebirds have a permanently protected place to rest and feed along the First State coast is nearing the finish line.

A recently completed transfer of land at Mispillion Harbor is the final major piece of the process.  And this week, contributor Jon Hurdle details that move and what it means.

Paul Weagraff took over as director of the Delaware Division of the Arts in 2006

But that 15 year run ends July 31st when Weagraff leaves to explore new opportunities.

Weagraff is no stranger to Delaware Public Media. He’s spoken to us many times over the years about all things arts-related in the First State.

And in this week’s Arts Playlist, he returns one more time to chat with Kelli Steele about his career with the Division of the Arts and what’s next for him and the Division.

In a world with Facebook, Twitter, 24/7 news channels, talk radio, citizen journalism, fake news, real news, audiences are drowning in an overwhelming overload of information.  Clearly a guidepost is needed to identify what is a trustworthy and a reliable source of news and information.

Delaware Humanities' podcast– A Matter of Facts – delves into this topic as part of its mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all Delawareans through cultural programming. In season 2 of the podcast, it examines more closely popular sources of news and information.

This week on The Green, we offer the latest episode of A Matter of Facts, featuring a conversation about podcasts with Sam Houston State University's Marcus Funk.

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Some state lawmakers are pushing for Delaware to join a growing of number of states requiring more substantial Black history education in schools.

And when drafting her bill, State Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker looked to the community it will affect most - public school students.

Delaware Public Media’s Roman Battaglia caught up with two students from the Delaware Black Student Coalition to get their thoughts on legislation - and their contribution to writing it.

Delaware’s climate has gotten warmer and wetter in recent decades. The new climate “normals” the federal government released last week made this clear.

And Delaware’s farmers are among the groups working to adapt to the changes.

In this week’s Enlighten Me, Delaware Public Media’s Sophia Schmidt talks with Emmalea Ernest and David Owens of the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension about what the First State’s “new normal” means for agriculture

The consensus is that the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on schools left many students learning less than they would in a normal year.

How best to catch-up is a question schools and the state are grappling with as summer break looms next month. This week, contributor Larry Nagengast looks at some of the issues they face and approaches they'll take.

Delaware’s largest pediatric health care provider is rebranding itself. Nemours Children’s Health System will now be simply known as Nemours Children’s Health.

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Gov. John Carney announced this week that he’s lifting COVID-related capacity restrictions indoors starting May 21.

But any event hosting more than 250 people still needs a state approved plan. That includes upcoming high school graduations, which a year ago were substantially pared down because of the pandemic.

Will graduates get a more typical celebration this year?

Contributor Larry Nagengast surveyed schools around the First State to see what they have in the works.

Gov. John Carney’s decision to relax COVID capacity restrictions changes the equation for many stores and businesses looking to get back to normal after over a year of modified operations.

But contributor Eileen Dallabrida reports while many retailers are already seeing a welcomed rebound in business, it’s not all smooth sailing.

A unique piece of art recently arrived at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington.

Starting June 1, a thousand-pound Steampunk sculpture called the Velocipede Time Machine will greet visitors in the lobby of Hagley’s Nation of Inventors exhibition.

And in this week’s Arts Playlist, Delaware Public Media’s Kelli Steele chats with its designer, Bruce Rosenbaum.