On Saturday the 16^th I attended the annual picnic for College Park at the Edna Dickey Park, and then went to Leipsic for the annual Ennis/Carson Crab Feast.  On Monday the 18^th I attended one of the two Christina School District back-to-school BBQs, at Kirk Middle.  I took the ALS ice bucket challenge on the 19^th, and that evening I met with Sean Barney, and on the 20^th I went to Philadelphia to address the Eastern Leadership Academy class of 2014, in my role as Class President for the class of 2013.  I participated in a candidate forum at the Food Bank of Delaware on the 21^st, and that afternoon attended a BBQ with US Congressman John Carney.  On Friday the 22^nd I toured the Howard Young (Gander Hill) Correctional Center in Wilmington, and afterwards attended the grand opening of their new institutional kitchen (they serve over 5,000 meals a day), which will not only serve their population’s meals, but will also provide useful training for the offenders, to help them find work once they are released.  On the 23^rd I attended a block party on Timberline Drive.

On Monday the 25^th I met with a researcher who is working with the City of Newark for their rental needs assessment project.  I spent over an hour sharing my perspective and the perspective that residents have shared with me over the past two years, on traffic, over-development, college-community relations, and many more topics.  That evening I attended a fundraiser for Kim Williams, Patti Blevins, and Brenda Mayrack, and I submitted a statement to the Newark City Council in support of a proposed, protected bike lane, two-way along Delaware Avenue.  On Wednesday the 27^th I attended a meeting of the Low Wage Task Force, co-led by Senator Robert Marshall and Rep Mike Mulrooney.  On Friday I met with Delegate David Rudolph from Cecil County, and some representatives from DE, to discuss bringing regional rail service into the Newark train station from Maryland.  Today, on Labor Day, I marched with AFSCME in the Delaware State AFL-CIO Labor Day Parade in Wilmington, and then joined AFSCME at Banning Park for their Annual Labor Day Picnic.

I have door knocked in the district a lot these past two-plus weeks, and have also door knocked with Representative Kim Williams and with Senator Bryan Townsend, who each have a primary race next week.

I have been working on several fronts this summer, one on school discipline (in which I am connecting a national research group with Christina School District, to avoid reinventing the wheel), one on midwives (I am hopeful that we can get this through the General Assembly in early 2015), one on school/student funding, and one on title loan reform.

I have worked with the staff of the City of Newark on issues including streambed restoration/strengthening, tree maintenance, traffic signal optimization, traffic signage, road repairs (teaming up with Senator David Sokola and the city to add Scotch Pine Road to next year’s funded projects), and roadway painting (for Newark Day Nursery).

I have researched whether there are unnecessary duplication of services between the UD police force and Newark’s (and am hoping to encourage a fresh discussion on this topic), researched whether there are openings on the board of the Newark Housing Authority (there are), addressed resident concerns with the open carrying of weapons at city council meetings, with the Department of Insurance’s car insurance discount program for defensive driving, and shared my views with DMV on new license plate designs.