Duck, Canada goose, brant, and antlerless deer hunting season splits open; furbearer trapping seasons open in all three counties

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife is promoting the December openings of Delaware’s duck, Canada goose, brant, and antlerless deer hunting season splits, as well as the opening of furbearer trapping seasons. Numerous other hunting seasons remain open in December.

Hunters are reminded of expanded Sunday deer hunting opportunities on all Sundays through the end of the deer-hunting season on Feb. 3, 2019, using only those hunting methods legal for the respective established deer hunting seasons. For more information, including Sunday hunting opportunities on state wildlife areas, visit the Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Sunday Hunting webpage.

Hunting and trapping seasons opening in December include:

Hunting:

• Brant: Dec. 1 – Jan. 31, 2019
• Beaver: Dec. 1 – Mar. 20 (private land only)
• Duck, coot, and merganser: Dec. 7 – Jan. 26, 2019
• Antlerless deer: Dec. 8-16, including Sundays, Dec. 9 and 16
• Canada goose (migratory): Dec. 14 – Feb. 2, 2019

Trapping:

• Muskrat, mink, otter, raccoon, opossum, and nutria:
  • New Castle County: Dec. 1 – Mar. 10, 2019 (March 20, 2019 if trapping within embanked meadows)
  • Kent and Sussex Counties: Dec. 15 – Mar. 15, 2019
• Red fox and coyote: Dec. 1 – Mar. 10, 2019
• Beaver: Dec. 1 – Mar. 20, 2019

A Delaware hunting or trapping license or License Exempt Number (LEN) is required to hunt or trap, and most waterfowl hunters require a Delaware waterfowl (duck) stamp. More information on hunting license, trapping license, and Delaware waterfowl stamp requirements is available at Delaware Licenses. Waterfowl and other migratory game bird (except crow) hunters will need a Federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) number. To register for a LEN number or HIP number, hunters and trappers can go to Delaware Hunter and Trapper Registration or call toll free 1-855-335-4868. For hunters age 16 and older, a federal migratory bird stamp is also required to hunt waterfowl.

To purchase a hunting license, hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, must have a basic hunter education safety course card/number. To purchase a trapping license, trappers born on or after Jan. 1, 1978, must have a trapping education course card/number. Hunters and trappers who took a Delaware hunter safety course or trapping education course starting in 2008 can print their hunter safety or trapping education card by going to http://de.gov/huntersafety. Hunters and trappers who took their Delaware hunter safety course or trapping education course before 2008 should call the Hunter Education Office at 302-735-3600, ext. 1 to obtain a hunter safety card or trapper education card.

Registered motor vehicles used to access designated wildlife areas owned or managed by the Division of Fish & Wildlife are required to display a Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Hunters can opt to receive one free annual CAP with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a free CAP, or to purchase an additional pass, hunters will need the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned.

Delaware hunting licenses, Delaware waterfowl stamps, and Conservation Access Passes can be purchased online at Delaware Licenses, at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office at 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, or from hunting license agents statewide. Federal migratory bird stamps are available at U.S. Post Offices, Bombay Hook and Prime Hook national wildlife refuges, and online at Federal duck stamps.

A trapping license can only be purchased directly from the Division of Fish & Wildlife, and is not available online. Trapping license applications are available online at Delaware Licenses and on page 9 of the 2018-2019 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide.

For more information on hunting and trapping, click 2018-2019 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide and Wildlife Area Hunting Maps. Hard copies of the guide and newly-updated hunting maps are also available at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office. More information on hunting and trapping licenses, season details, and Conservation Access Passes is also available by calling the Wildlife Section office at 302-739-9912.

Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 48, No. 328

NEW CASTLE (Nov. 29, 2018) – The annual holiday sale of poinsettias grown at the greenhouse on the Department of Health and Social Services’ Herman Holloway Campus near New Castle will begin Dec. 3 and run through Dec. 20.

The greenhouse is operated by Bright Spot Urban Farm and proceeds from the sale of the 1,800 poinsettias grown this season will help support young people aging out of foster care. Bright Spot Farms was founded by West End Neighborhood House in Wilmington.

Available in red, white, pink and multiple specialty colors, the 6.5-inch pots are $9 each or $9.50 for specialty colors (Maroon, Ice Punch, Marble Star, Luv U Hot Pink, Sparkling Punch, Peppermint Ruffles, Ice Crystal, Cinnamon, Christmas Beauty Queen and Gold Rush). For orders of more than 25 plants, the price is $8 for each plant. The larger plants in the 10-inch pots come in red, white and a mix of red and white, and cost $30 each. The price includes a choice of the foil wrap on the pot (gold, red or green) and a plastic sleeve. Delivery is a flat fee of $7 in New Castle County, no matter the number of plants. In Kent County, delivery is $10.

“We encourage you to come out to the greenhouse,” said Sindhu Siva, program director at Bright Spot Farms. “All the sales that we do go back into supporting our youth programs. So come out, buy your poinsettias and while you’re here you can meet some of the young people helping to grow these plants.”

The Bright Spot Farms program includes up to nine months of training with an emphasis on soft skills such as punctuality, conflict resolution, a strong work ethic, and on business-related job and financial skills such as using a cash register and maintaining inventory. The program also teaches horticultural skills through a curriculum developed by program staff and approved by the Delaware Nursery & Landscape Association. As part of the program, youth have the opportunity to obtain a food handlers’ certificate issued by Delaware’s Department of Agriculture.

The greenhouse is on the Herman Holloway Campus, 1901 N. DuPont Highway (U.S. 13) and is open to the public. Follow the signs for the greenhouse. The greenhouse will be open for walk-in sales Dec. 3-20. The hours are noon-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays. The greenhouse will be closed on Sundays. Bright Spot accepts cash, check or credit card.

Orders can be made online using the order form at Bright Spot’s website or by emailing brighstpotventures@gmail.com. For more information, call 302-255-2993. See more photos on the DHSS Flickr site.

DOVER – Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock has suspended the Delaware massage therapy license of Christopher D. Dorman in light of allegations of sexual assault made by several female clients.

In making this determination, Secretary Bullock considered a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, which alleged that Mr. Dorman failed to properly cover female clients during massage sessions and touched their breasts and genitals on several occasions while employed at Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa in Wilmington and Massage Envy in Newark. The complaint further alleged that Mr. Dorman “displayed a pattern of escalating behavior towards female clients that puts them at risk” and referenced Mr. Dorman’s arrest by Wilmington Police on charges of unlawful sexual contact.

The order suspending Mr. Dorman’s license was signed by the secretary on Nov. 28 with the concurrence of the president of the Board of Massage and Bodywork.

Delaware Code Title 24 enables a temporary suspension pending a hearing to be issued upon the written order of the Secretary of State, if the activity of the licensee presents a clear and immediate danger to public health, safety or welfare.

The suspension of Mr. Dorman will remain in effect for a period of 60 days, during which time disciplinary hearings will be held or the final disposition for this individual will take place. As the result of a hearing, the Board of Massage and Bodywork has the authority to impose disciplinary sanctions up to and including revocation of a practitioner’s license.

The licensure status of Mr. Dorman has been updated on the Division of Professional Regulation’s online license verification service. Documentation related to this suspension also may be viewed at this site.

GEORGETOWN – Following an investigation into a complaint of illegal dumping on Hastings Farm Road in Georgetown, Natural Resources Police Officers with DNREC’s Environmental Crimes Unit arrested a Laurel man Nov. 28 for illegal dumping of refuse.While on patrol, officers observed approximately six bags of household garbage dumped on the side of the roadway.

Robert A. Young Jr., 35, of Laurel, was charged with one count of causing or contributing to the disposal or discharge of solid waste materials. The charge carries a minimum fine of $500.

Young was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court 3 in Georgetown, where he plead guilty to one count of illegal dumping. He was ordered to pick up the trash and issued a $500 fine.

Residents can report illegal trash dumping to DNREC’s Natural Resources Police Environmental Crimes Unit by calling the 24-hour environmental complaints line at 800-662-8802.

Media contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 48, No. 327

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The Delaware Division of Revenue would like to remind businesses subject to the Hazardous Substance Cleanup Act (HSCA) that a new tax rate will being going into effect on January 1, 2019. The new adjustable rate for 2019 will be 1.5244%, and will apply to the taxable gross receipts from the sale of petroleum or petroleum products. The Division of Revenue will be updating this rate in their online system before the effective date of January 1, 2019.

The tax rate through December 31, 2018 is 0.9%, but recent legislation has adjusted the rate so that it will be based on a lookback period starting January 1, 2019. The new adjustable rates cannot be lower than 0.675% or greater than 1.675%, and are calculated by multiplying 0.9% (the original rate) by a fraction – the numerator of which is $15,000,000 and the denominator of which is the total collections in the fund during the lookback period (July 1 to June 30 of the prior year).

The HSCA was passed by the Delaware General Assembly in July of 1990 to ensure funding for the cleanup of facilities with a release or imminent threat of release of hazardous substances. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has identified over 700 sites in Delaware as potential hazardous substances release sites.

If you have questions about the new adjustable tax rate, please contact the Delaware Division of Revenue at (302) 577-8205.