Voting machines in DE primaries

I went ahead and cast my vote in the primary today, which is something that I have never done before (previously my votes have always been during the general election). My question is whether you could have voted for someone in the other party. I suppose it doesn't really matter, but I found it a bit confusing since the machines had the Republican candidates on one side and the Democratic candidates on the other. I voted for the same party that I am "R"egistered for, so at least one of the votes is right. At least with the electronic system, there isn't any concern with potentially hanging chads.

According to CNN, McCain and Obama will emerge with the few Delaware delegates. Humorously, despite Sen. Biden's published letter regarding the fact that nobody should cast his vote for him since he isn't running anymore, he managed to snare about 3% of the Democratic vote.

On an unrelated note, I've noticed that of my previous entries has seemed to have taken a life of its own: The one about the Lockerman Exchange closing. I think there are multiple conversations going on in the comments, but the only one really worth pointing out, and relevant to my initial talking point about that event is from 9:21 AM on Feb. 5.

That comment states, in part: "The original goal of the business was to spark downtown revitalization, with the hope that the economics of the area would improve. I don't think anyone quite realizes what start up costs actually are. If things continue there the way they are going, then no business will succeed there. The people of the town have to want to make their main street area better, it won't happen by magic."

That is actually a very astute point - therefore, I will have to give more thought to how to frame a well-reasoned response. In the meantime, my open ended question is what revitalization project or business would thrive (or be a draw) in that area that could succeed? I threw a few ideas out there earlier within that same post, but given the commentary, the area may have a greater business potential than I give it credit for, so I will examine a few Dover businesses closer and make some additional suggestions as to what may be missing and could succeed in this particular area of the state later. Feel free to make suggestions though - for example, what was there before Lockerman exchange?

Tags: dover delaware business ideas, voting in delaware primaries, delaware primary results

One way traffic in Dover can be fixed

As I mentioned the other day, I was down at the Camden Walmart the other day and couldn't help but notice what a mess of traffic the intersection beyond the light at 13 makes. My thought, quite simply, is that it can be fixed in the same way that the intersection at Lockmeath and 13 was fixed (albeit perhaps only temporarily). Google maps provides an outdated picture of the intersection I am talking about.

First, closing the Lockmeath way intersection solved a lot of problems. The state does not need to spend any money buying out that guy's liquor store in order to widen the intersection. Conversely, the liquor store owner can quit complaining that the fair market value that the state is offering for his property isn't fair. Despite this seemingly inexpensive solution, I would not be surprised if litigation about this property continues. My thought on this subject: Do you really need another light there now? My answer would be no. Let's use the resources for something more productive.

For the longest time before and even after they did anything to the intersection, the paper had been printing various rants and raves about why the intersection needs a light, what will happen if it closed, etc. Well, it closed and the number of accidents since then? Zero (as far as I can tell). If you need to get Northbound, you can go through the limited access roads to get to the Walmart light or do a u-turn down the road.

The foreseeable consequence of the new intersection pattern is that it has increased the traffic near Walmart. If you're trying to get to the light from the first road, sometimes it takes a little while to get out, and even then it poses the danger of some less patient driver zipping through and causing an accident. So here's my pitch how to fix it, with minimal costs to the state and the surrounding property owners: do the same thing there that you did at Lockmeath.

Effectively, this prevents anyone from going across that intersection. If you want to leave Walmart, you'll have to go to exit near the front of the store. Exiting traffic from Lowes would have to yield to any car in the intersection. Entering traffic from 13 to Walmart could still go straight or turn right. To get to Lowes from 13, they would have to enter at the intersection past the light. Also, my idea would close the second back entrance into that shopping complex before the light. It's way too confusing for the average driver.

So there's my first thoughts on how to make Dover a little better. We'll see what deaf ears it falls on.

Next time on Anonymous Delawarean: I'm going to do an entry about the types of jobs that are available to college graduates in Delaware. There was a rather uninformed letter in the State News recently about why the public high schools should not force kids to succeed academically because some people want to drop out and be a drag on our economy. That sort of letter begs for a response.

Tags: fixing the camden walmart intersection, driving in dover, lockmeath intersection

Governor's avenue - worst drivers yet

I hate to be so cynical at this time of year, but I started taking Governor's avenue to get around the slower parts of Dover and it's the most ridiculous road I've seen yet in this capital city. Not only are the drivers nuts, they have the incredible penchant for stopping in the middle of the street, or cutting across the other lane to turn without any indication. As an added bonus, not only do you have to pay attention to that, you have to pay attention to any of the walkers who also just cross the street without seemingly paying any attention. It's a mad mad mad world.

Speaking of which, and this is going to be a separate couple of posts over the next couple of days, I finally have time to type in these blogging entries that were in the State News a few weeks ago. Since there is no way to access them, I figure it's in the interest of free speech and the State News's philosophy to provide additional access to them. I also tend to think that these "sound off" or "letters to the editor" aren't covered by any sort of copyright laws, but if they are, I'm sure someone will go out of their way to inform me.

Tags: dover drivers, delaware drivers

Old Delaware Days

I've been pretty busy lately, but I did have a chance to go to the Old Dover Days celebration last week and got a brief tour of the Old State House grand reopening. Apparently it is going to be open to the public; it's a pretty historic building (as most buildings on the Green are), and I recommend visiting it to everyone. More about the building's history was written in an earlier article in the State news and on the State's history website.

Inside, the building has been restored to its original colors and you can see the governor's side, the old court, and the House and Senate chambers. There is also a giant painting of George Washington. Overall, I believe the historic society did a superb job fixing this up. Now, to get someone to reopen the Golden Fleece Tavern (either in its original location or somewhere near Legislative Hall and we'll be set. More information about the Golden Fleece Tavern and other historic sites around the Green are linked here.

My hectic schedule should be settling down again this week; I have plenty to talk about, starting with an interesting couple of blogging comments that were in the paper the other day. I still haven't found them online, but they appear pretty short, so I'll put them online soon and add my two cents in.

Tags: dover historic landmarks, old state house delaware

First thoughts of Dover, Brits on the radio and driving slow in the fast lane

Well, the first thing that is certainly different is the traffic. And by traffic, I mean the lack thereof. Unlike sitting in the parking lot of the Rt. 1/95 exit or the 141 mess, or any of the other half dozen spots that make the Wilmington commute more of a headache than anything else, those types of problems simply do not exist down here.

Granted, people tend to cruise very slowly in the fast lane, and these sunday drivers don't understand the concept of getting over or passing on the right. Not sure if I'm going to get used to that, mainly because I'm so used to it taking so long to get somewhere in the morning that there really is not the same need to zip around to get to the same places down in Dover. So, plus to that.

The radio stations down here are much less in number. I can't pick up any of the Philly stations, although I can pick up 93.7 so I can hear what the traffic patterns are every 10 minutes. If you can pick up a station, it's either country or country. I do like listening to 97.7 though, but mainly because the DJ is British, and since Wilmington has nothing like that, that's another plus for Dover. What is really funny is how the traffic reports down here are along the lines of "well, there's a little stop and go here and there." You guys have no idea how good you have it. Still can't figure out why 92.9 and 94.7 switched formats though. I seem to recall this happened years ago also, so maybe it's a contractual thing.

Intrigued by the fact that I have never heard a Brit on the radio before, I find the "Petch and Paula show" actually as good as some of the philly morning shows, if not better because of the British adaptations on typical American things (like proper football as opposed to American football). And since I find it hard to believe that a downstate radio station could have snagged such a unique dj, I found on the internet the low down. Lives in the area. Good for Milford and the Eagle station for picking up such a unique morning personality.

Anyway, there also seems to be a lot more black tags down here, which is sort of interesting also, and I'll have to comment on that another time. In the meantime though, I'll save my minuses for another day. Supposedly there are fun bars around Dover, I just have to find them, and tonight's as good a time as any.

Tags: eagle 97.7 british dj, dover delaware radio stations, dover traffic, eagle in the morning