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League of Women Voters of New Castle County

Calendar of LWV Events* (see below for other events of interest)

January 29: Energy Study Meeting. 9:30 am. Location TBA (Smyrna/Dover area)

February 3: LWVDE Action Committee . 9:30-noon, Central DE YMCA, 1137 S. State St., Dover. Brown bag lunch.

February 4 : Northern NCC LWV Great Decisions Meeting, 10:00, Jackie Harris at Cokesbury

February 4 : LWVNCC Board Meeting. 7 pm, League Office.

February 8: Land Use/Transportation Committee Meeting. 3-5 pm, Margo Perkins' home.

February 10: LWV Sussex County Land Use Program: Transportation and Housing. 10:00 – Noon: Beebe Medical Arts Building

February 10: Newark Area Great Decisions. 10:30 am, Newark Free Library

February 14: LWV 90th Anniversary Party, 2-4 pm at Peggy Schultz's home, Newark. RSPV 235-7182

February 18 : LWVDE Board Meeting. 6 pm. Wayside Inn, Smyrna.

February 23: LWVNCC Urban Health and Justice Committee Meeting. 6:30 snacks, 7 pm meeting. League office. All members invited. Guest Speaker: Robert Dunleavy from the State Division of Child Mental Health

February 24: Workshop: Navigating the Legislative Website - Tracking legislation. 1:30 pm. Community Service Building, 100 W 10th St., Wilmington. RSVP needed wolfhill@comcast.net

March 10: LWV Sussex County Land Use Program: Land Use and the Environment. 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. ; Location TBA in Georgetown

March 16: LWVNCC Annual Meeting: 5:30 pot luck dinner.6:30 speaker. 7:15 brief annual meeting and recognition of 50+ year members! Location TBA

March 24: League Day in Dover. Duncan Center, Dover, 9:30 am -1:30 pm. Topic: Redistricting, then lunch with legislators.

April 14: LWV Sussex County Land Use Program: Quality of Life and Smart Growth. 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.; Beebe Medical Arts Building

* Find more details on the last page of our latest newsletter or call the League office at 302-571-8948. You will need Adobe Reader software to read the newsletter. You can download it free by clicking http://get.adobe.com/reader/

All members are welcome at board meeting

Other Community Events of Interest:

January 22: Medicine Cabinet Cleanout Day. 8:00 am - noon. Ammon Education Wing, Christiana Care Hospital, Newark. Bring old medications for proper disposal, rather than flushing or putting in the trash. Includes pet medicines, inhalers, liquids, over the counter. Please leave in original container. For more info, call (302)998-3141.

March 1: Joint Sunset Review Committee meeting on the Newark Housing Authority. City of Newark Municipal Building City Council Chambers 220 Elkton Road, Newark. Public Hearing 5:30 p.m.

March 20: Ready to Run? Program aimed at helping women run for public office, sponsored by the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.Held at Douglass Campus, New Brunswick, NJ. Pre-conference sessions for women of color on March 19. For more info and to register, visit http://bit.ly/5WuImd

March 26: Health Law and the Elderly: Managing Risk at the End of Life. Ruby Vale Courtroom, Widener Law School. 8:15 - 5:00. $95 (includes lunch, materials and reception. Register online at http://widenerlawreview.org/?page_id=813

Board Members

Judy Taggart, President

Katherine Flaherty, First Vice President

Peggy Schultz, Second Vice Pres.

Roberta Ray, Secretary

Ramona Marquez, Treasurer

Patricia Christopher, Voter Services

Letty Diswood, Voter Editor

Elizabeth Pertzoff, Natural Resources Co-Director

Mary Ann Edwards

Mary Roper, Communications/Public Relations

Carrie Hutson, Membership

Sue Radecki

Online Resources

NEW: Energy Study Information, Part I

They Represent You (contact information for Delaware elected officials)

Delaware Government Information

"This Way to the Voting Booth" (downloadable guide to registration and voting for Delaware citizens)

"Electing the President" (30 page downloadable booklet aimed at students)

Urban Health and Justice Study Bulletin 4 (2007)

Urban Health and Justice Study Bulletin 3 (Department of Corrections)

Urban Health and Justice Study Bulletin 2

Energy Study: Education and Outreach Issues, 2008.

Mental Health information:

Report on the Task Force to Study Mental Health Issues
Mental healthcare terms
Links to websites with information on mental health services and access
Accessing Mental Health Services (1/09 issue of Delaware Medical Journal)
League Day in Dover 2009 summary (Mental Health Access)

News: The LWVUS is having its 90th birthday! LWVNCC will be having a celebration on Sunday, February 14th from 2-4 pm at 113 Cardiff Court West, Newark (across from Independence School on Paper Mill Road). Mary Field will speak at 3 pm about her great-great-grandmother, Lucretia Mott, one of the conveners of the Seneca Falls Convention and abouther aunt, Anna Lord Strauss, president of the League of Women Voters of the U.S. from 1944 to 1950. Please bring a small dish of finger food or sparkling wine or a nonalcoholic beverage to share. RSVP to Peggy at 235-7182.

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News: The LWVUS supports health care reform, including a public option. "The public option in health care reform may not be essential to bureaucrats or insurance companies but it absolutely is essential to the almost 47 million uninsured Americans who live day to day without health care coverage," said League of Women Voters National President Mary G. Wilson. Calling on Congress and the President not to succumb to the bullying tactics being used by special interest groups, Wilson urged Congress and the President not to waver in their support of the public option included in H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, recently passed by three House committees.

News: Check out two ways that you can support the NCC League. If you would like to advertise in the LWVNCC Voter, click here to download a form with more information. You can also make a donation in memory of a friend or loved one, or to honor someone's accomplishment. Click here for more information

News: When you join or renew your membership to LWVNCC, you can now pay using Visa, MasterCard or Discover. Click here to download the membership form.

News: The EPA has put out a booklet on "Smart Growth" for seniors, including information on how where you live can effect your health and wellbeing. It's available online at http://www.epa.gov/aging/bhc/guide/index.html.

Who we are and what we do

The League of Women Voters, which dates to 1920, has the following mission statement:

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

The LWV of Delaware, one of 50 state Leagues, has three local Leagues, in New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties. The New Castle County League is a vibrant organization of men and women who support the League's mission in many ways. Each year we hold a variety of events, including board meetings (to which all members are welcome), committee meetings, Great Decision meetings, general meetings on a variety of topics, candidate and issue forums, programming meetings, and social events. Some recent events are featured below.

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In January 2010 the LWVNCC held two meetings to discuss healthcare issues in Delaware, including Delaware's "safety net" for the uninsured. Joann Hasse, at left, headed the discussion at each meeting.

In January 2010 the LWVNCC sponsored a meeting at the Newark Free Library to discuss a number of issues facing Newark residents, including the renewable energy purchase process, utility fees and their impact on the budget, the electric and water rate study, and the future of the Cleveland Heights site. At right, League member Amy Roe shares information with the group.

photo by Judy Taggart

New members of the LWV of New Castle County

The LWVNCC is always welcoming new members. In September, 2009 we held two receptions, one in Wilmington and one in Newark, to orient people who had recently joined the League. At left Carrie Hutson (seated, center), the LWVNCC Membership Chair, is surrounded by new members from the Newark area. Some people join simply to support the League's work, while others want to stay informed about local, state and national issues, to provide service such as registering voters, or to be involved with one of our many committees and groups.

In April, 2009 the LWV and the Sierra Club, with many co-sponsors, brought Dr. Peter Schultz to Delaware. Peter is the Director of the Global Change Science Research Program Office in Washington, D.C. In the afternoon he spoke to legislators in Dover and in the evening he spoke to the general public at the Limestone Presbyterian Church. He presented data which describe the undeniable onset of global warming, and discussed its potential impacts on the Mid-Atlantic region. He emphasized that we need to consider adaptation as well as mitigation. You can go to the church’s web-site to access both his talk and the slides in the talk: http://www.limestonepresbyterian.org/

LWVNCC President Jane Dilley speaks at the Annual Meeting, accompanied by secretary Peggy Schulta and parliamentarian Carole Walsh. Photo by Bob Kallal.

New Castle County Executive Chris Coons commends Dr. Janet Kramer, one of the winners of the Carrie Chapman Catt Award. Photo by Letty Diswood.

The 2009 Annual Meeting and Carrie Chapman Catt Award Dinner was held on April 16 at Arsht Hall in Wilmington. The honorees were former LWVNCC president and health and justice advocate Janet Kramer; and Bill Perkins and Marcy Perkins who have helped over 15,000 homeless people through Friendship House. The evening's speaker was Governor Jack Markell.

Carrie Chapman Catt was a key figure in the women's suffrage movement and, upon ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920, she founded the League of Women Voters. The LWVNCC has given annual awards in her honor for seven years.

Senator Peterson addresses the audience In February 2009 the LWVNCC presented an "Open-Government Forum." About 30 people participated in the program, which was held at the Girl Scout Headquarters in Newark. A presentation by Dr. Margaret McKay, FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) chair for LWVDE, was followed by a panel which included Senator Karen Peterson (DE-9th District), Robert J. Valihura, Jr. (former 5-term State Representative), John Flaherty (lobbyist and open government activist), and Drew N. Fennel (Exec. Director of the ACLU of Delaware). There was a discussion of the background of open government legislation, of recent attempts to extend FOIA rules to the Delaware legislature, and suggestions of changes Delaware could make so information would be more readily accessible to the public.

Energy Meeting January 2009 In January 2009 the LWVNCC held a general meeting to discuss Delaware's energy plan. The meeting was held at the Girl Scout Headquarters in Newark. It featured presentations by five League members who have been participating in state energy work groups that have been making recommendations to the Governor's Energy Advisory Council on policy changes Delaware can make to improve energy conservation and efficiency, transportation, transmission, while decreasing its health and environmental costs and developing new jobs and industries.

The speakers included Brian Kramer, Chad Tolman, Lorraine Fleming, Peggy Schultz and Pat Todd. Maryanne Edwards, standing to the speaker's left, gave the audience background information on the topic, and introduced each speaker. Lisa Pertzoff contributed to Dr. Tolman's presentation, and she and Susan Edgar, another League member, helped all the committee members with their PowerPoint technology. The meeting, which was open to the public, attracted about 40 participants.

In June of 2008 the New Castle County League held its annual calendar meeting. Following a pot luck supper, President Jane Dilley sought suggestions for general meetings and other programming for the coming year. The Board will meet on July 1 to review these suggestions, which include topics ranging from energy issues to healthcare, and set a calendar. All members are welcome to attend board meetings.

New LWV members Ruth Kelly and Peter Caws attended the calendar meeting.

In April of 2008 the LWV of Delaware held its annual Legislative Day, by co-sponsoring an Energy Forum in Dover. This was a chance for legislators, League members, and other members of the public to learn about the current status of energy in Delaware and to discuss possible future energy plans for our State.

Photo: Larry Diswood

The 2008 LWVNCC Annual Meeting and Award Dinner was on April 3 at Arsht Hall in Wilmington. As usual, it was a lovely occasion. After a brief business meeting there were cocktails and dinner. After dinner, two women received the Carrie Chapman Catt Award. Jackie Harris was recognized for her devoted efforts on behalf of Delaware libraries, and Fay Whittle for her work in prisons. This was followed by a talk by PBS film critic Patrick Stoner, who delighted the audience with stories from his many interviews with Hollywood actors and actresses.