ENJOY A HEALTHY AND SAFE INDEPENDENCE DAY

DOVER – As American flags fly in preparation of the Fourth of July holiday, the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) reminds Delawareans to celebrate healthily, without injuries or foodborne illness.

Serve healthy foods and beverages. Include more fruits and vegetables and fewer sugary beverages on the buffet table. With Delaware’s obesity rate doubling in the past 20 years, it is important to serve meals that are low in empty calories and heart healthy. The DE HEAL website, at www.deheal.org, features a section about sugary beverages. Or browse recipes on the American Heart Association’s website, http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyCooking/Simple-Cooking-with-Heart-Home-Page_UCM_430043_SubHomePage.jsp.

Use sunscreen. To protect skin from sunburn now and skin cancer later, wear SPF 15 or higher sunscreen that contains both UVA and UVB protection. Visit ProtectYourSkinDE.com, a DPH website filled with colorful, informative posts. The site includes a directory of dermatologists in Delaware. Follow these additional skin cancer prevention tips:
• Stay in the shade, especially during mid-day hours.
• Wear clothing that covers your arms and legs.
• Wear a hat with a wide brim to shade your face, head, ears, and neck.
• Wear sunglasses that wrap around and block both UVA and UVB rays.
• Avoid indoor tanning.
• Wear lip balm and makeup products that have an SPF of 15 or higher.

Avoid injuries. Leave fireworks displays to the experts. In Delaware, it is illegal to possess or discharge fireworks, and only permitted companies can hold fireworks displays.

Protect pets. It is best to leave pets at home, where they are safe and sound, instead of including them in Fourth of July celebrations. Loud fireworks displays can terrify pets, causing them to run, putting them at risk of being hit by a car or becoming lost. Exposure to lit fireworks and firework fumes can also be hazardous to man’s best friend.

Use common sense when grilling. Only use gas or charcoal grills outdoors, never in a garage, or on a porch or balcony. Charcoal and gas grills produce carbon monoxide, a fatal odorless, colorless, and poisonous gas. When using charcoal grills, only use a small amount of charcoal starter fuel, never add fuel once the fire starts, and wet ashes with water before emptying the grill. For gas grills, cylinders should be stored outside in a shaded, cool area out of direct sunlight and transported on the floor of vehicles ─ not the trunk ─ in an upright position with all windows open. Check connections with soapy water and tighten leaking connections if bubbles form.

Prevent foodborne illness. No one likes to get sick at a cook-out! Before preparing the meal, wash hands with soap and warm water. Thoroughly clean sinks, cutting boards, and utensils, and then sanitize them with a mixture of one teaspoon bleach to one gallon of water. Follow these additional food safety tips:
• Defrost and marinate meat and poultry in the refrigerator.
• If marinade is to be used on cooked food, reserve some marinade before putting raw foods in it.
• When transporting food, use an insulated cooler with ice or ice packs to keep food at 40F or below.
• Refrigerate food and poultry until use.
• Use separate platters for meat and poultry, and use different platters and utensils for raw and cooked items.
• Keep track of how long foods have been sitting on the buffet table and discard anything two hours or older.
• Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow containers.
• When cooking, have beef and poultry reach these safe minimum internal temperatures:
o Whole poultry, poultry breasts, and ground poultry – 165F.
o Hamburgers, beef, and all cuts of pork – 160F.
o Beef, veal, lamb (roasts, steaks, and chops) – 145F, medium rare.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, drink almost no sugary beverages.

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Rita Landgraf, Secretary
Jill Fredel, Director of Communications
302-255-9047, Cell 302-357-7498
Email: jill.fredel@delaware.gov

Delaware Health and Social Services – Division of Public Health

(Smyrna) – The Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) and Delaware State Police will conduct a quarterly test of the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations Alert and notification system on Tuesday, July 7, 2015.  The sirens will sound between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

The 37 sirens located within ten miles of the Salem/Hope Creek (New Jersey) plants will be activated for three to five minutes.  The siren tests will be followed by a test message of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on local radio stations.

Sirens that will be tested are the same sirens that would alert the public in the event of an actual emergency at either the Salem or Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations.  In such an emergency, the public would be alerted by the sirens to tune radios to one of the local EAS stations for important emergency instructions.

DEWEY BEACH – DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers worked with the Delaware State Police Trooper 2 helicopter unit and Dewey Beach lifeguards today to locate and rescue a swimmer reported too far out in the ocean from an unguarded section of beach between Rehoboth and Dewey.

After a Dewey Beach lifeguard responded to the 911 call but was unable to reach him, Trooper 2 arrived and located the swimmer, who had been swept one-half mile offshore at the south end of Dewey, where Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police aboard marine patrol vessel MP-Mike pulled the man from the water. The swimmer, who was visiting from out-of-state, was taken to Beebe Medical Center in Lewes for evaluation.

“Swimming in the waters along Delaware’s ocean coast is a very popular summer pastime, but the area is known for its strong and sometimes unexpected tidal undertow or rip currents,” said Cpl. John McDerby, Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police. “In this case, we had an outgoing tide and a strong south wind, which can catch swimmers off guard and pull them out further than they intend to go. We encourage swimmers to be aware of these factors, choose guarded beaches, watch tides and stay close to the beach on windy days.”

The DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife recognizes and thanks the majority of anglers, hunters and boaters who comply with and support Delaware’s fishing, hunting and boating laws and regulations. Citizens are encouraged to report fish and wildlife and boating violations to the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Enforcement Section by calling 302-739-4580. Wildlife violations may also be reported anonymously to Operation Game Theft by calling 800-292-3030 or online at www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/Hunting/Pages/OpGameTheft.aspx.

Media Contacts: Cpl. John McDerby, Division of Fish & Wildlife Enforcement Natural Resources Police, 302-739-9913 or 302-354-1386, or Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 45, No. 209

WILMINGTON, DE – Deputy Attorneys General within the Delaware Department of Justice had several significant recent successes.

Sentencing success:

Despite 18 months passing from time of incident until an arrest, and numerous complicating matters in the case, Deputy Attorneys General Jamie McCloskey and Colleen Norris secured a prison sentence for Myron Parker, 33, of Newark. Parker pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide in January, for the October 2012 stabbing of Michael Leger in the Glasgow Court Trailer Park, after Leger confronted Parker about driving through the neighborhood without using headlights where children were playing. After Parker refused to name a second person involved in the stabbing, Superior Court Judge Fred Silverman imposed the maximum sentence of eight years in prison, followed by probation. Silverman told Parker his refusal to provide the information was cruel to the victim’s family, and made his apology ring untrue.

Deputy Attorney General Dan McBride secured a six-year prison sentence, followed by probation, against Quentin Muldrow, 23, of Wilmington for multiple home burglaries. In September 2013, Muldrow broke into units in the Allendale Apartment complex in Newark, and the Rockwood Apartments in Bear. Muldrow has prior burglary convictions in the New Castle County Superior Court.

Deputy Attorney General Mark Denney secured a sentence against Rakeem “Dink” Mills, 26, of Wilmington, for conspiracy to commit criminal racketeering. Mills, who conspired to distribute heroin, launder money, and threaten violence while operating a drug trafficking organization, will serve a concurrent 2 years of probation to his existing 20 year jail sentence on weapons charges.

Deputy Attorneys General Cynthia Faraone and Periann Doko secured a 15-year prison sentence for Kenneth Mayo, 34, of Wilmington for possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. In September 2014, police received a tip that Mayo had a gun. Officers found Mayo sitting on the steps of a home on East 24th Street in Wilmington, with a gun tucked in his waistband.

Deputy Attorneys General Barzilai Axelrod and John Downs secured a sentence against 30-year-old Joshua Stephenson of Wilmington. In January, Stephenson was convicted in connection with the fatal shooting of his sister’s boyfriend, while Stephenson’s six-year-old nephew was in the home, on Christmas Eve 2012. Stephenson was sentenced to life in prison for second degree murder, an additional 10 years for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, 10 years for possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, and 1 additional year, suspended for 1 year probation for endangering the welfare of a child.

Deputy Attorney General Matthew Frawley secured a six-year prison sentence for Ron Matthews, 54, of Newport for drug dealing. Officers with the New Castle County Police Department conducted direct undercover buys from Matthews on two separate occasions in October 2013. Matthews pled guilty to two counts of delivering heroin, and was sentenced as a habitual offender.

Deputy Attorney General Timothy Maguire secured a sentence against Steven Garnett, 44, of Gainesville, Georgia. In May 2013, Garnett broke into an occupied Newark home at night, and stole property from inside. Garnett was sentenced as a habitual offender to eight years in prison. Garnett was also sentenced to misdemeanor theft as part of the plea and was sentenced to 1 year in prison, suspended for 12 months work release, suspended after 6 months for probation for the balance.

Trial success:

Deputy Attorney General Jamie McCloskey secured a conviction against Stephen Thomas, 24, of Wilmington, for aggravated menacing, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. During a traffic stop in August 2014, Thomas pointed a gun at an officer. He dropped the gun, which police determined had recently been fired. Thomas faces at least 3 years in prison, and up to 30 years, when sentenced later this year.

Deputy Attorneys General John Downs and Josette Manning secured a guilty verdict for three counts of manslaughter against 29-year-old Travis Jones of Newark. Jones’s girlfriend and two children died in a fire in their home in October 2010. Jones will face 2 to 25 years in prison on each count when he is sentenced in September.

Resolution success:

Deputy Attorney General Timothy Maguire secured a guilty plea to second degree burglary from 23-year-old Jason Hinkle of Newark. In November 2014, Hinkle broke into a home in the unit block of Boyds Valley Drive in Newark, and stole several items, including jewelry and an iPad. Hinkle is scheduled for sentencing in September.

Deputy Attorney General Phillip Casale secured guilty pleas to first degree robbery and second degree conspiracy from Nicholas Ray, 17, of Delaware City. Along with another person, Ray robbed the 7-11 store in the 100 block of Four Seasons Parkway in Newark in December 2014. Ray pointed what appeared to be a shotgun at the clerk, and the pair took $57 and merchandise from the store. Deputy Attorney General Diana Dunn secured a plea from 50-year-old Cayetano Hernandez-Dominguez of Wilmington for sexual solicitation of a child. Hernandez-Dominguez offered an 11-year old girl $30 to $40 for sex. Hernandez-Dominguez faces 2 to 25 years in prison when sentenced in September.

(Dover, DE) On Saturday, July 4, 1:00 p.m. the Delaware Public Archives will celebrate the holiday with a special program titled “Flags on the Moon.” Presented at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover by local author and former NASA engineer Jack Clemons, this program marks the 46th year anniversary of the moment when Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the lunar surface to become the first human being to set foot on another world. Apollo 11 was the first of six Apollo spacecraft to land on the moon. From these six missions, a total of twelve men walked on the lunar surface. Beyond the exploration and the scientific experiments they carried out, each Apollo crew planted an American flag at their landing site. The flags are still there, perpetual monuments to the imagination, resourcefulness and determination of the human spirit. As this program will reveal, each of these flags has a story to tell.

Jack Clemons was an industry engineer and team leader on NASA’s Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs in Houston, Texas. He later served as a Lockheed Martin executive and led engineering teams that designed air traffic control systems for the United States and the United Kingdom. An author, his non-fiction and short stories have appeared in numerous magazines, books and anthologies. He has given talks across the mid-Atlantic region on the Apollo Moon Program, the design and first flights of the NASA Space Shuttle, and the subject of “Why Science Matters.” He has also appeared in the “Command Module” segment of “Moon Machines,” the Discovery Science Channel’s award winning six-part documentary about the Apollo Program. He writes a bi-weekly space and science blog for Amazing Stories Online Magazine.

The program is free to the public and will last approximately one hour. No reservations are required. For more information, contact Tom Summers (302) 744-5047 or e-mail thomas.summers@delaware.gov.

The Delaware Public Archives is located at 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard North in Dover. The Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room is open to the public Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. On the second Saturday of every month the research room is open from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.