announcement

The first official heat wave of summer 2008 continues to sizzle the Mid-Atlantic region, where temperatures could top 100 degrees and lead to a variety of health and safety issues from heat exhaustion to power interruptions.

To help those in need of heat relief, Sussex County Administrator David B. Baker announced residents and visitors are invited to cooling stations during this week’s hot and humid weather. Temperatures are forecast in the upper 90s, with indexes predicted to exceed the 100-degree mark through Tuesday, June 10.

This week’s sign that the year is already moving fast: the 19th Annual Rehoboth Beach Autumn Jazz Festival has announced artists for the five-day event at the Rehoboth Convention Center, scheduled for Oct. 15-19.

While festival organizers are still looking for its Saturday, Oct. 18 headliner, the lineup so far is as star-studded as the festival has seen.

The event will kick off at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, with the traditional opening night party, featuring a set by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group The Drifters. Celebrating their 50th year, The Drifters are responsible for such hits as “On Broadway,” “This Magic Moment” and “Under The Boardwalk.” Included is the annual Best Taste of Rehoboth cook-off, with prizes going out to the best seafood and chicken of the 2008 festival.

Every summer Rehoboth Beach and the Cape Region are flooded with young international students, 1,500 in Rehoboth Beach alone, who come to study and work in the United States.

The International Student Outreach Program (ISOP), a nonprofit organization made up of volunteers from local churches and state and federal government agencies, attempts to help foreign students adjust to life here in the United States.

Anyone spending the day this summer in Rehoboth Beach will not have to fish eight quarters from their pockets to pay for an hour of parking in the city's most sought after spaces.

After vocal opposition from property and business owners about a proposal to double the rate for some parking meters - taking them from $1 an hour to $2 - city officials have opted for compromise.

The new meter rate structure, which takes effect the Friday before Memorial Day, creates three parking tiers among prime spaces -- those on Rehoboth Avenue and the ocean blocks -- costing $1.50 an hour.

As the outlying communities of Delaware's beach resorts continue expanding, two major food retailers are putting locations into one area that currently has very limited choices.

Giant Food Inc. and Harris Teeter Inc. are opening new supermarkets this May on the eastbound side of Route 24 near Long Neck.

The new supermarkets will bring more jobs to the area, as well as more shopping options for residents. Currently, the only choice for groceries, without going to Millsboro or the Rehoboth Beach area, is a Food Lion.

Sussex County government is launching a recycling program using the state's new solid-waste system.

County offices will be using a new public recycling station at the county's west administrative complex on U.S. 113 in Georgetown.

The move will save the county landfill fees. Last year, it spent $1,900 to deposit its garbage at the landfill.

Officials estimate about three-quarters of the county's garbage -- including office paper, cardboard boxes, bottles and cans -- is recyclable under the state's new policy, which no longer requires residents to sort material by type.

The 18th annual Rehoboth Beach Autumn Jazz Festival kicks off in earnest with the event's opening party at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

Tickets are $58 and include music by the Miracles featuring Claudette Robinson (Smokey Robinson's ex) and their local opening act, the Eddie Sherman and Peggy Raley duo; this year's Mardi Gras-flavored buffet will feature a crab and chicken dish cookoff by chefs from more than a dozen local restaurants. Rehoboth's 5-day festival will continue Thursday, Oct. 11 with a double-bill convention center concert by Candy Dulfer and Brenda Russell (see story, p. A34); about three-quarters of the 1,000-seat venue has been filled.

We have again planned bus trips this summer, and this year we have an expanded schedule. We have two trips scheduled to Washington, DC. Both of these trips are $20. We board the busses at 7:00 AM and leave the K-Mart parking lot at 7:30 AM. We go to the mall in Washington and leave there at 5:30 PM. The Washington trips are both on Saturdays. The first one is on July 21st, and the second one is on September 22nd. You may purchase tickets at the church (9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Monday through Friday, although on Fridays the office may close a little early). You may also purchase them at the coffeehouse on Thursday nights from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM at the Avenue Inn breakfast area (33 Wilmington Avenue in Rehoboth Beach).

Several Sussex County agencies teamed up to keep bicyclists safe on the roads.

It's all a part of the Bike Safety Fair in Rehoboth Beach. People of all ages came to the tents and came out with free helmets and lights for their bicycles. Everyone who attended also received a quick refresher-course on basic bike safety tips. Children were told to stay on the right side of the roads and also schooled on proper hand signs when cycling.

June

4th (Monday) 7:00-9:0 AM @ All Saints
7th (Thursday) 5:30-7:00 PM @ Our Savior
13th (Wednesday) 7:00-9:00 AM @ All Saints
13th (Wednesday) 5:30-7:00 PM @ St. Edmonds
18th (Monday) 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM @ Ocean Atlantic
25th (Monday) 8:00 AM @ All Saints
25th (Monday) 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM @ SR1 Safeway
28th (Thursday) 2:00-5:00 PM @ SR1 K-Mart
28th (Thursday) 5:30 PM @ Our Savior