To help provide the public a better grasp of Social Security and the issues it faces, DFM News is hosting a forum entitled Understanding Social Security this Friday, November 4th at Arsht Hall on the University of Delaware’s Wilmington campus. The event is open to the public and will be available via live webcast at DFM News.

This week, DFM News will be offering a variety of stories and commentary in preparation for Friday’s discussion. Today, a quick primer on Social Security:

Governor Markell highlights those Delawareans who have been featured on reality television programming and their continued dedication to the First State. He calls them emblematic of the spirit of hard work and dedication shown throughout the state on a daily basis to make Delaware a better place.

There’s no way of knowing for certain whether fewer drivers are using handheld cell phones while they’re behind the wheel in Delaware since a new state law took effect on Jan. 2, but police issued nearly 8,000 citations for illegal cell phone use or texting in the first nine months of the year.

“It’s hard to say. There are no statistics to compare it with,” said Master Cpl. Jeffrey Hale, a public information officer for Delaware State Police.
To document the impact of its mandatory seat belt law, the state has plenty of statistics. The most recent, compiled in June, showed that 90.3 percent of about 29,000 drivers and front-seat passengers sampled were wearing their seat belts, down slightly from 90.7 percent in June 2010, but still above the national rate of 85 percent.

New Castle County has over 250 parks. Some are expansive with winding trails, lakes and historic structures. Others are small, consisting of little more than benches and a small playground, and may be entirely contained within neighborhoods. And, some are mainly fields used for youth and adult recreational activities such as baseball, softball, or football.

Like the state, the county is constantly evaluating funding priorities to keep its parks attractive to visitors.

Stroll the trails of any Delaware state park, take a canoe ride on a pond, or camp out under the stars and one could think: this place has been here forever, it’s pure nature. However, keeping state parks attractive and well-maintained is a constant operation, affected each year by budget deliberations in the General Assembly, overall economic conditions, and even weather-related incidents. Because state parks were closed to the public during Hurricane Irene, state officials believe between $60,000 and $100,000 in park admission fees, concessions and permit payments were lost. As money gets tighter, the parks system continues to explore partnerships with organized groups and citizens as it tries to maintain what Delaware already has.

The announcement earlier this month that the federal government approved a plan to establish a low-income credit union called Stepping Stones in the City of Wilmington was met with a lot of fanfare.

Many saw it as a ray of hope for the city’s poorer residents, many of whom don’t have access to traditional banks, because they would now have more options and potentially a better financial life.

Stepping Stones, with its strong community support, especially from the banking sector, and a solid business plan, has a good chance for success.

But the road to building a successful low-income credit union is paved with many challenges, and a past attempt to establish such an organization in Wilmington failed.

“No one has ever successfully served this particular market we’re talking about,” said William Myers, director of the Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives at the National Credit Union Administration, the government agency that approved Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council’s (DCRAC) plan to create Stepping Stones Federal Credit Union.

Each October, Delaware school districts nominate one of their top teachers to be Delaware’s Teacher of the Year. Governor Markell commends all the nominees and congratulates this year’s Teacher of the Year, Amber Augustus. Augustus is a fifth-grade teacher at the John Bassett Moore Intermediate School in the Smyrna School District.

Were you aware that residing in the Delaware Historical Society’s collection is a dress created by the same woman famous for designing Jackie Kennedy’s gown for her wedding to John F. Kennedy? Margaret Powell is. While doing research for her thesis about African-American designer Ann Lowe, the 36 year old graduate student learned one of Lowe’s creations had been donated to the Delaware Historical Society and is being preserved there. Powell came to Wilmington this week to examine the dress first hand.
DFM News joined Powell as she examined the dress to learn about this unique piece and how smaller museums and repositories like the Delaware Historical Society work with researchers like Powell to produce a more complete historical record.

Tourism may be all about leisure and recreation to those enjoying the State of Delaware’s various attractions, but for the state itself, it’s big business. The tourism industry is the third largest private employer in the First State, accounting for over 39,000 jobs. As part of its effort to maximize tourism’s potential economic impact, the Delaware Tourism Office unveiled its new 2012-2014 Official State Delaware Travel Guide at the I-95 Delaware Welcome Center Travel Plaza Wednesday. The new guide, which is published by Miles Media, is designed to be convenient and user friendly, featuring color-coded guides to each county and magazine-style “must see” lists.

After a daylong hearing in a packed House Chamber at Legislative Hall, the Public Service Commission (PSC) unanimously approved a deal that paves the way to bring fuel cell technology to Delaware.

Under the plan, Bloom Energy will build a manufacturing center to produce its fuel cells at the former Chrysler plant in Newark. The California-based company will also add 30 megawatts of power to the regional power grid by installing fuel cells at two Delmarva Power substations. To help make those initiatives possible, the deal approved by the PSC includes a renewable energy tariff added to Delmarva customers’ bills. The tariff, according to a PSC consultant’s report, is expected to cost Delmarva Power’s residential customers an average of about $1.40 a month over 21 years.