September 4, 2008_L

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VOL. 13 NO. 6

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008

NEWS HEADLINES PRIMARY ELECTION - Democrats and Republicans will take to the polls next week, to choose their candidates for state office. See pages 50 through 55 for profiles of the candidates.

50 cents

Senior center employees give up a day of work to save staff Voluntary pay cuts mean that all will be able to keep their jobs By Lynn R. Parks

SCHOOL UNIFORMS - Delmar students Bianca Johnson, left, and Shytayzia Parker are shown in their uniforms prior to the start of school. See page 56 for more photos. Photo by Mike McClure FOOTBALL SEASON - The Delmar and Laurel football teams open the season on the road this Saturday. See the Delmar football preview story on page 43. LADY BULLDOGS - The Laurel varsity field hockey team opens the season in Salisbury on Saturday. See preview story on the Lady Bulldogs on page 43.

INSIDE THE STAR BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD CHURCH CLASSIFIEDS EDUCATION ELECTION ‘08 ENTERTAINMENT FINAL WORD FRANK CALIO GOURMET HEALTH LYNN PARKS MIKE BARTON

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21 26 33 10 50-55 30 59 58 31 14 20 57

MIKE MCCLURE MOVIES OBITUARIES OPINION PAT MURPHY PEOPLE POLICE JOURNAL PUZZLES SNAPSHOTS SOCIALS SPORTS TIDES VETERANS OF WWII

47 7 28 58 25 18 12 24 56 57 43 7 8

Employees at the Laurel Senior Center have completed the first of two eight-week periods of shortened work weeks. Center director Penny Duncan said that the shortened work weeks for eight of the center’s 17 employees were made necessary by cuts in state funding. The state’s Grants-in-Aid spending was down this fiscal year, which started July 1, by 5.2 percent. This year’s state funding for senior centers was $6.7 million. The Laurel center received about $22,000 less in its state Grants-in-Aid funding this year than it got last year. That was about a nine-percent cut, Duncan said. As a result, the employees whose salaries are paid by the state funding, including Duncan, agreed to work only four days a week, and take the consequent pay cuts, for 16 weeks. The 16 weeks were divided into two periods, the first of which started the first week in July. The second eight-week period will be some time after Christmas. “That will come very close to making up” the funds that the center lost, Duncan said. When she learned about the funding cut, Duncan and the affected employees held a meeting. “We talked about it, and we all agreed that we didn’t want to see anyone laid off,” she said. “We have two part-time people and laying them off would have helped us a lot. But we all agreed that we didn’t want to do that.”

Above are five of the eight employees of the Laurel Senior Center who just finished an eight-week period of reduced work weeks. The employees agreed to the work reduction and pay cut so that no one would be laid off in the wake of a state funding cut. From left: Shirley Johnson, Penny Duncan, Jimmy Johnson, Carol Montague and Harriet Joyce. The other three employees are Fay Johnson, Mildred Price and Adele Morris. Photo by Pat Murphy

She added that the employees unanimously endorsed the plan for shortened work weeks. “They all agreed to take one day off a week without pay,” she said. Duncan said that this was not an insubstantial sacrifice. For her, losing a day’s worth of pay meant about $150 less in her weekly paycheck.

“A lot of the employees could not afford to take a pay cut,” she said. “It was a struggle. But we all agreed that we did not want to see our co-workers without a job.” Employees also did not want to see services that the center offers cut in Continued on page five

Head of Nanticoke Memorial resigns Mark Rappaport will stay at the hospital through Dec. 19 By Lynn R. Parks After less than a year in office, Nanticoke Health Services CEO Mark Rappaport has resigned. He will leave his office effective Dec. 19. Rappaport has accepted a job as senior vice president of operations at the Robert Wood Johnson University

Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. He grew up in Philadelphia, about 50 miles from New Brunswick, and worked in hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as the Lewis County General Hospital, Lowville, N.Y., before coming to Seaford. “Professional and personal reasons draw me to New Jersey,” Rappaport

said in a press release. “It is truly that simple.” “This is a great opportunity for him,” hospital spokesman Tom Brown said. “We are very disappointed, because he did a great job here, but when opportunity presents itself, you Continued on page five


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