Rehoboth Beach has joined a growing list of Delaware resort towns to increase parking rates for the upcoming summer.

Rates on 275 meters throughout the city will increase by a quarter an hour this summer, changing from $1 to $1.25, city manager Gregory Ferrese said. The move is expected to bring in more than $20,000 in additional revenue, according to budget documents. The meters are generally coin-operated and located on sidestreets.

When the weather turns warm, hundreds of workers from different parts of the globe descend on coastal Delaware and Maryland in search of jobs and the U.S. dollar.

But this year, as the economic forecast for summer 2009 appears bleak, some are wondering if that may change.

Karen Clark, whose 15-year-old daughter has discovered finding a part-time job isn't easy, hopes it will.

"My daughter started working last summer and she had a hard time finding a job," she said. "Now, I'm thinking that we're going to have these people coming in when we have locals who need the work."

Newark wants to build a $20 million downtown parking garage. Wilmington is looking to spend $30 million to replace 30 miles of aging water mains. And Sussex County would like $14 million to build a science education center near Rehoboth Beach.

All of these projects are among wish lists that governments up and down Delaware -- and across the country -- are preparing to send to the Obama administration under a plan to jump-start the economy by spending about $775 billion on public works.

The operators of the Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach say two stores closed last week and a third will close next month.

General Manager Amy Norgate says Pfaltzgraff and Geoffrey Beene closed their stores at the Midway Shopping Center on Dec. 28. She says KB Toys plans to close its location at the Bayside Shopping Center on Feb. 9. The KB chain declared bankruptcy last month.

Norgate says the Pfaltzgraff and Geoffrey Beene closings were decided at the corporate level and were not necessarily related to local sales.

Chip Hearn knows what you did at your work computer Monday. And he promises not to tell your boss.

Surreptitious online holiday shopping may not be the most honorable use of company time, but it is helping lift the fortunes of Hearn and many other local retailers at a precarious time in the nation's economy.

For Hearn, who runs the Peppers.com hot-sauce site from Rehoboth Beach, Monday's touted start of the online holiday shopping season -- known as "Cyber Monday" -- is more of a marketing shtick than a real phenomenon. He's been busy since the nation started digesting its turkey Thursday night.

The day after Thanksgiving has long been known as "Black Friday" in reference to retailers' numbers being in the black, or showing a profit. But recently, that name could be referenced more to the darkness of the night, when shoppers begin nabbing holiday bargains.

Stores at Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach will open at midnight Thanksgiving night.

"It's a fun event," said Susan Katz of Centreville, Md. "You think you'd get a lot of stuff done by getting there early, but the lines are as bad as they are during the day. One year, the parking lots were full and we couldn't go."

While a tight economy might cause most households to rein in the spending overall this holiday season, consumers typically adapt and get creative to make the most of their holiday budgets. The dramatic shift this year is where shoppers will spend their money, and according to research, it will be in discount stores and outlet centers. That is the emerging strategy that Americans will employ to keep their holiday traditions alive.

Construction crews began tearing out a four-block-long section of the mile-long Rehoboth Beach boardwalk Tuesday -- the first step in rebuilding a structure that some say is in desperate need of repairs.

The demolition work includes removing the decking and structure that supports the boardwalk. Reconstruction will include rebuilding from the sand up in a project that is expected to cost about $2 million and take much of the winter and spring to complete.

For all its contributions to American society -- it was the first state to ratify the Constitution, it was the site of a pivotal event in rock 'n' roll history, and it's the proud birthplace of both nylon and Valerie Bertinelli -- Delaware these days is known mostly for two things: beaches and tax-free shopping.

Maybe a third, according to Mariela Gomes: It ain't Jersey.

"It's not like other places," Gomes says of Rehoboth, the beach-lover's haven where she and a dozen swim-suited and flip-flopped family members and friends were spending a day. "It's not New Jersey, where you get rude teenagers. This is family. It's clean, it's close to home." (She's from Smyrna, about 50 miles north.)

This year’s Punkin Chunkin includes new activities, events and opportunities. The Delaware Lottery is offering a new e-game and prize-pack drawing, the first Punkin Chunkin pageant is poised to start a new tradition and 400 drivers will have a chance to park on the infield.