Weekend Beach Update
TEMPERS FLARE BETWEEN VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER AND RBPD
By Alan Henney

Weekend 15 photos: http://henney.com/weekend15/

It all started when one of Rehoboth Beach's better known volunteer
fire officials called Rehoboth Beach police Sunday to report an
illegally parked vehicle on Rehoboth Avenue.
The dispatcher said the volunteer firefighter insisted that a
full-time police officer respond.  The dispatcher claimed the
volunteer firefighter became "disorderly" when a seasonal police
officer arrived around 9:30 p.m. to investigate the parking complaint.
"If he gets disorderly with me it will be the last time he gets
disorderly this evening, I can guarantee you that," warned the police
supervisor while chatting with the police dispatcher over the radio.
The supervisor asked the dispatcher to leave a note of the incident
for the police chief.  He told the dispatcher that the volunteer
firefighter has an "apparent problem with the way things are going.
he's got several issues, I guess. and I'll give you a call to fill you
in.  If he [the firefighter] calls with anything else, just send a
full-time officer to handle it, as it is only going to be causing more
problems.  He's becoming disorderly with people," the supervisor said.
Ironically, it was Labor Day Weekend 2002 where the same volunteer
firefighter was miffed when he was issued a parking citation while
assisting on an EMS call in his personal vehicle at the Henlopen
Condo.  Almost all of the volunteers have member license plates with
the fire department logo.
DELAWARE GOVERNOR TURNED AWAY AT STATE PARK, REALLY?
That's the question rangers found themselves asking each other over
the park's radio channel when the Cape Henlopen park office received
word Saturday that a park official refused to allow several vehicles
into the park.  One of those vehicles was supposedly the one the
governor and her son occupied.
During weekends, especially holiday weekends, parking in the park is
often filled to capacity and park rangers limit entry depending on
availability.
Rangers suggested that the governor visited the park during the
morning without her state police security detail, then left, and her
son brought her back around noontime.  That's when they were allegedly
turned around.
It erupted into a lengthy discussion on the Cape Henlopen State Park
radio.  In their defense, one ranger claimed "she always travels with
her state police security detail" as if to imply they would not have
turned them away had they identified themselves.
MERR REPORTS 13 SEA TURTLE STRANDINGS THIS WEEKEND
Suzanne Thurman, executive director of the Marine Education, Research
& Rehabilitation (MERR) Institute, said she has been deluged with sea
turtle strandings all weekend.  They appear to be the result of the
hurricane storm swell.  The seas did not contribute to any turtle
deaths, but rather washed them into shore when otherwise they would
have stayed farther out at sea.  Ms. Thurman said of the 13 turtles
this weekend, seven were leatherbacks, the largest of the sea turtle
species.  One leatherback was found near Gordon's Pond in the Cape
Henlopen State Park Monday morning.  All of the leatherbacks had been
struck by boat propellers, Ms. Thurman noted.
http://www.merrinstitute.org

THE TALE OF TWO RODNEY STREETS
While it did not happen on a weekend, it's probably worth mentioning.
Around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Rehoboth Beach Patrol had requested an
ambulance for an injured woman on Rodney Street at the boardwalk.
Although dispatched to "Rodney Street and the boardwalk," the Rehoboth
Beach ambulance went to the Rodney Street in Dewey Beach, about 20
streets south of the Rodney Street in Rehoboth Beach, where there is
no boardwalk.
About 25 minutes passed, and several calls between the Rehoboth Beach
Patrol and the city's 9-1-1 center.  At least one lifeguard seemed
unaware that a Rodney Street existed in Dewey Beach, and apparently
the paid Rehoboth Beach ambulance crew was unaware that Rodney Streets
exist in Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.
They know now.
This is not the first time emergency crews have been dispatched only
to arrive at the wrong Rodney Street.  Keep that in mind if you ever
call for help on Rodney Street.
The lifeguards, by the way, said the injured woman "felt just fine"
when the ambulance finally arrived.
INVESTIGATORS RECOVER INCENDIARY DEVICE IN CENTURY I CONDO
Ocean City police and fire investigators recovered some sort of
incendiary device Friday morning on the 14th floor of the Century I
Condo on 99th Street.  They did not say over the radio how it got
there nor why.
GUESTS EVACUATE O.C.'s PLIM PLAZA HOTEL AT 4 A.M.
Somebody maliciously discharged a dry-chemical fire extinguisher at
Ocean City's Plim Plaza Hotel early Sunday forcing guests to evacuate.
Firefighters had responded for a fire-alarm activation around 3:50
a.m., and called for more apparatus when they discovered what looked
like smoke on the third floor.
The "smoke" turned out to be dust particles from the discharged
extinguisher which often resemble smoke.  The guests had already been
woken up and many evacuated the famous hotel which is on the boardwalk
at Second Street.
Ocean City firefighters also responded to a fire-alarm activation at
the Fountainhead Towers on 116th Street around 4:10 a.m. on Monday.
No word what had happened in that incident.
DEAD DEER WASHES ASHORE IN REHOBOTH
A dead deer, described by one beach patron as a "good-size buck,"
washed ashore at Delaware Avenue around 3 p.m. Saturday.  The Rehoboth
Beach Patrol and public works crews removed it promptly after
consulting with DNREC.
BOAT DAMAGED AFTER HITTING LEWES RAILROAD BRIDGE
The Coast Guard and police received several reports Thursday when a
boat struck the railroad bridge in Lewes around 5:45 p.m.  The Lewes
drawbridge tender radioed the Coast Guard.  He said the railroad
bridge appeared to be undamaged but the boat was damaged and had fled
the scene.  Lewes police caught up with the boat at the harbor and
asked for DNREC marine police assistance when the boaters became
"disorderly" around 6:30 p.m.  No mention was made of injuries or
arrests.
COAST GUARD REPORTS ANOTHER MISSING BOATER/BOAT
For the second weekend in a row, the Coast Guard asked mariners to be
on the lookout for a missing boat and boater.  The sister of a
62-year-old man reported him missing around 2:30 a.m. Friday along
with his 25-foot Raven sport boat.  The man's vehicle and boat trailer
were discovered at Bader Field in Atlantic City.
John Edwards of Coast Guard Group Atlantic City public affairs said
the man's boat was discovered Sunday anchored in the bay with muddy
marks in the bow.  Edwards noted that the police were handling the
case as a missing person.  He added that the mud inside the bow may
suggest the missing man anchored his boat and walked, or attempted to
walk, to shore.  The missing man reportedly did not inform anyone of
his plans.
Edwards said the missing boater reported last weekend was a suspected
suicide.

ROUGH WEEKEND FOR OCEAN SWIMMERS
Beach patrols place restrictions on swimmers
Experts seem to be divided on what caused the choppy surf the past few
days.  It was either the swells related to Hurricane Frances, or a nor
'easter front off the coast, or perhaps both.  Regardless, conditions
were serious enough that Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach patrols
instituted waist-deep and even ankle-deep bathing restrictions after
making several rescues Sunday morning.  The Indian River Coast Guard
station reported eight-foot seas and winds up to 35 m.p.h.
Several people were also injured while in the ocean this weekend.  The
most serious was a 48-year-old man who injured his back while "body
surfing" in the Cape Henlopen State Park around 3:10 p.m. Saturday.
Capt. Tim Cooper, Sussex County EMS spokesman, said the man was unable
to feel or move his body below the chest and was taken to Beebe in
serious condition.
A 45-year-old man also injured his back while in the surf in Rehoboth
Beach near Park Avenue about five minutes after the other man was
injured.  His injuries did not sound as serious, although an ambulance
was requested for him as well.
A man on a boogie board dislocated his foot around 6:20 p.m. on Sunday
in the Delaware Seashore State Park, just south of the Indian River
Inlet.  He had no pulse in his foot when he was taken by ambulance to
Beebe.
On Monday, firefighters responded to water rescues in Ocean City and
Cape Henlopen.  Around 6 p.m., a woman reported watching a person who
appeared to be swimming toward the lighthouse in the Cape Henlopen
State Park.  Supposedly the swimmer was waiving as if to summon
assistance.  No other witnesses observed the swimmer.  Park rangers,
Lewes firefighters and the state police helicopter discontinued the
search after park rangers accounted for all vehicles in the parking
lot.

Around 7:20 p.m., two men were reported trying to latch onto the jetty
in Ocean City.  Ocean City police, firefighters and the Coast Guard
responded, along with Beach Patrol Captain Butch Arbin.  The men
returned safely to shore.




SUSSEX COUNTY ACCIDENTS AND MEDEVACS

The Delaware State Police helicopter flew at least one person on
Saturday and three on Sunday, all from separate auto accidents.

The wreck on Saturday happened around 9:45 p.m. on Lowes Crossing Road
near Bethany Church.  Four people were reported injured and a
15-year-old girl had been ejected.  She was conscious when flown to
P.R.M.C. in Salisbury.

On Sunday, a 30-ish-year-old eight-month pregnant woman was injured in
an accident on northbound Route 1 south of Dewey Beach near Tower Road
around 1:45 p.m.  Her injuries were not serious, but she was reported
to be "upset, almost ready to give birth" and suffering abdomen pains
with no contractions.  Traffic was described as "deadlocked" so the
state police helicopter flew her to Beebe.

An hour later, the state police helicopter landed on Long Neck Road
near Short's Marine to fly an eight-year-old boy who was struck by a
vehicle traveling about 20-25 m.p.h.  He was reported as conscious and
breathing, after being thrown 20 feet and suffered cuts to his chin
and knees.  The third crash the helicopter responded to on Sunday was
at 6:20 p.m. in the 26500-block of Pot Nets Road.




MORE STORIES/PICTURES AT THIS LINK:

http://henney.com/weekend15/

Man Flees Police, Killed in Bridgeville Wreck
Holiday Traffic Crawls out of Rehoboth
Murky Water Drips from Rehoboth Outfall Pipe
LEGAL Undercover Marketing Continues in Rehoboth?
Bicycle/Moped Accidents in Rehoboth
Man caught in Rip makes it safely to Shore
End of Season Stats
   Coast Guard Group Eastern Shore, 2004 v 2003
   Ocean City Police, Calls for Police Service, 2004 v 2003




LAST WEEKEND UPDATE FOR 2004!

This is the 15th and final weekend update for the 2004 season.  Please
keep the feedback (good or bad), news articles, announcements and
press releases coming.

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Have a great winter and hope to hear from you all next season!

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