The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

Get breaking news on your cell phone Text DELNEWS to 44636 to get breaking local news as it happens. BEER, WINE SALES BILL STALLS LOCAL, Bl kmm 1 irfi firm 1" www.delawareonline.com 750 FINAL EDITION THURSDAY June 18, 2009 3 fl II 7t ns? ormia Equal protection finds surprising support in state Senate Obama extends benefits, promises more for gays Committee first step in battle to prohibit sexual-orientation discrimination "'fjjf 5 Jm I TTT i i 11 President Barack Obama is congratulated by Franklin E. Kameny (right) after delivering brief remarks and signing a Presidential Memorandum regarding federal benefits and nondiscrimination Wednesday during a ceremony in the White House. Applauding (from left) are Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, and Sen.

Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. Story, A8 and people with disabilities from discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodation, public contracts and insurance. While lawmakers have been battling over budget cuts and tax increases, the equal protection bill has taken a surprising turn in Delaware. The bill is enjoying unprecedented success in a year when gay marriage and domestic partner benefits have expanded to heartland outposts like Iowa. See BILL A8 By GINGER GIBSON The News Journal DOVER A revived effort to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in Delaware got off to an improbably strong start Wednesday in the state Senate -the same place five previous versions of the legislation were killed.

Earlier this year, an attempt to add sexual orientation to the list of prohibited discrimination was torpedoed in the Senate Executive Committee. But after intense lob bying behind the scenes, Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark, filed a new bill that was allowed to be considered by the Senate Insurance Committee, where it gained unanimous support Wednesday. "It is my sincere hope that we're approaching the end to a long journey that will finally add sexual orientation to a list of discrimination," Sokola said. His bill adds discrimination based on sexual orientation to a list of prohibited practices in Delaware that protect minorities Sen.

David Sokola has filed a new bill that would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians. APHARAZ N. GHANBARI YOUTH CAMPS Obama The summer of scrimping sroposes fiDnaDnda 0 'J oweirlhiay 1 Many in Delaware say plan shifts too much poweir to Fed By ERIC RUTH The News Journal President Barack Obama proposed sweeping new "rules of the road" for the nation's financial system Wednesday, casting the changes as a critical response to the economic crisis and the greatest regulatory transformation since the Great Depression. Obama blamed the financial crisis on "a culture of irresponsibility" that he said had taken root from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street. The measures would give new powers to the Federal Reserve to oversee the entire fi J9 The News JournalROBERT CRAIG At the Youth Development Center operated by the YMCA of Delaware's Western Family Branch in Newark, counselor Heather Harris (in camp shirt) plays a game Wednesday with (from left) Megan Wascheck, Adin Scheiner and Kelsey Riley.

Enrollment in children's programs dips despite fee cuts, scholarships mam INSIDE nancial system and create a new consumer protection agency to guard against credit and other abuses that played a big role in the meltdown. In Delaware, the broad array of new controls are being called either a much-needed move toward fair lending or another example of government making it harder for businesses to survive. Advocates see his plan to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to police lending practices as a crucial effort to prevent abuses prevalent in the sub-prime mortgage market which largely precipitated the economic crisis. Highlights of the proposed plan aimed to improve oversight A12 By JENNIFER PRICE The News Journal Michelle Knights' two daughters look forward to summer camp each year but, even with the potential of a partial scholarship, Knights couldn't afford it this year. Instead, she plans to take advantage of free or inexpensive community resources, such as the library and youth-group camps, but we cut back on our offerings this summer, anticipating that we might have trouble filling the camps," said Briana Feinberg, Hagley's coordinator of education.

Registration has been slow at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts summer camp, which costs $220 a week for members and $250 for nonmembers. The Wilmington camp had 45 campers last year, while 35 have signed up See CAMPS A2 During this recession, more Delaware parents are choosing less expensive camps, applying for financial aid or just keeping children at home. Camp directors report lower enrollments, with some cutting their prices or offering more scholarships to encourage more signups. The Hagley Museum near Greenville has four camp sessions this summer, compared to seven last year. The weeklong camps cost $200.

"We used to have a waiting list for our WHYY pulling plug on Delaware newscast, trimming staff Many of the credit-card controls and transparency requirements the new agency would enforce were enacted months ago with a sweeping credit-card reform bill the industry nationally and in Delaware -opposed. But mortgage lenders, bankers and brokers said many of the proposed regulations and consumer precautions already exist, and warn that increasing federal regulation could impede the a housing recovery. "We've gone from red Scotch tape to red duct tape," said Joe Capaldi broker with Mortgage Plus Corp. in Middletown. "It has gotten to the point now where getting a mortgage for somebody is becoming more and more impossible every day." The White House counters that the effort, which needs legislative approval, aims to achieve better regulation, not new regulation.

The new agency would oversee products ranging from mortgages to credit cards, and have authority to ban "unfair terms and practices," punish companies for violations with fines and penalties and write rules to set higher standards for banks and nonbank companies. The plan also would close a "loophole" now open to credit-card-only banks, which make up a portion of Delaware's banking industry, that allows them to raise See OVERHAUL A12 "It's certainly my goal that on a daily basis we're covering as many stories in Delaware through this approach as we were on the newscast," said Chris Sat-ullo, WHYY's executive director of news and civic dialogue. But the Wilmington operation will be left to gather news with a smaller staff. "Delaware Tonight," which airs Monday through Friday, is See WHYY A9 INSIDE New television station eyes relocating to Wilmington. A14 profit cast the move as part of its wider transition from a traditional radio and TV broadcaster to a multimedia source of news and entertainment.

WHYY executives said the changes won't diminish its commitment to the state. "Delaware Tonight" next month and shrinks its news-gathering operation in the state. Staffers in WHYY's Wilmington facility were told Wednesday morning that the final broadcast of "Delaware Tonight" will be July 17. In its place, WHYY will introduce in August an expanded online news service and a new weekly TV program focused on Delaware issues. The Philadelphia-based non- By ANDREW EDER The News Journal Despite its Wilmington broadcast license, WHYY's Delaware operation has been dominated by programming targeted to the larger Philadelphia market, raising hackles among some in the First State.

The perception is not likely to improve after WHYY ends its 46-year-old nightly news show TOTALLY REDESIGNED FSB 2083 TODAY'S WEATHER Details on A4 2003 TOYOTA MATRIX 5-DOUkHAsE, 4A1 tCT inside IRAN: U.S. IS MEDDLING Election dissidents continue to fill streets in Iran while authorities accuse America of LEASE AT inn MONTH FDR 38 MONTHS' SO DAY NO FAYMNTS "intolerable" interference. A3 7261 AP INDEX Business A14 Classified 01 Comics B4 Crossword B6 DearAbby B6 Editorial A16 Letters A16 Lotteries B3 Movies B10 Obituaries B8 Police B3 Scoreboard C5 Sports CI Stocks A15 TV listings B6 'mi 'V Wilmington: Storms and rain showers. 1ft Is natemm Hit i pfnwd crJa (iflrr txpim M.f 109. yS S.llO N-N, cuh et mwlf I.VW ititt it nfin flkf tap Smnn I r.

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