Short Bibliography of Delaware River Books

Delaware Diary: Episodes in the Life of a River, by Frank Dale (Rutgers University Press, 1996).

Devastation on the Delaware: Stories and Images of the Deadly Flood of 1955, by Mary A. Shafer (World Forge Books, 2005).

Along the Delaware River, by Richard C. Albert and Carrie E. Albert (Arcadia Publishing, 2002).

Bridges Over the Delaware River: A History of Crossings, by Frank T. Dale (Tandem Library, 2003).

The Tavern at the Ferry, by Edwin Tunis (John Hopkins University Press, 2002).

Recklessness After Dark on River Road

Sometime after 8:00 p.m. yesterday, an accident occurred outside my house in Upper Black Eddy. A speeding car, driven by a male in his 20s, was being chased by a Tinicum Township police officer. The driver hit the guardrail on my property, careened across the south-bound lane, and hit my neighbors' stone wall. The car then flipped and came to rest, upside down, at the intersection of River and Bridgeton Hill Roads.

The driver was either thrown from the car or got out on his own. He immediately took off and fled the scene before the police officer could find him. There was one passenger in the car, a female in her late teens or early 20s, and she was either thrown from the wreckage or crawled out. When my neighbors and I arrived on the scene, only seconds after the crash, the passenger was on the other side of the guardrail, bleeding and screaming hysterically.

The driver obviously had picked up the young woman and promised to take her home. At some point, the police officer had stopped the driver, but he sped off, resulting in a high speed chase. The driver told his passenger that he could not afford to be stopped by the cops. With the police officer in hot pursuit, the driver lost control in front of my house and crashed the car.

The UBE fire company was on the scene in a matter of minutes, and paramedics began treating the passenger. She was quickly transported from the scene in an ambulance. As of midnight, state troopers were still investigating, and there was no information on the whereabouts of the driver, although the car's license plate and the driver's cell phone and wallet were recovered at the scene.

Once again, this is another vivid example of the need for more effective enforcement of the 35 m.p.h. speed limit in UBE.

Intelligencer Article on Flood Program

Flood Relief Program Extended

By Brian Scheid
The Intelligencer (Saturday May 12, 2007)

Like she does nearly every day, Gail Pedrick went online Friday and checked how many billions of gallons of water were being kept in three mammoth New York reservoirs nearly 200 miles north of her riverfront home in New Hope.

Like she feared, the reservoirs were near capacity.

“We're in deep doo-doo,” said Pedrick, whose home floods nearly every time the waters of the Delaware River leap from its banks. “We're scared to death.”

Pedrick said little was done to assuage her fears Thursday.

That's when members of the Delaware River Basin Commission agreed to extend a temporary program to release billions of gallons of water from New York's Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs from July through March in an effort to prevent flooding downstream. Under the plan, water would be released any time levels reached a combined level of 80 percent capacity from September to February and at higher levels in the two months that fall before and after that time.

The interim plan, approved in September, was set to expire at the end of this month but was extended to the end of September after the commission received so many public comments on a permanent plan.

Under the plan, reservoir levels can remain at capacity levels for three months of the year, and flood victims along the Delaware fear that those overflowing reservoirs could lead to yet another flood.

“They are still putting us in harm's way, and that's not right,” said Elaine Reichart, who lives along the Delaware in Belvidere, N.J. “No one along the (river) can have a good night's sleep when there's a heavy rain.”

Reichart is vice president of the Delaware Riverside Conservancy, a group of more than 300 flood victims, fishermen and environmentalists who want changes made to the way reservoir storage is managed.

New York officials want to keep reservoirs as full as possible during the spring to make sure the city has enough drinking water available during a potential summer drought, but flood victims want the reservoirs to stay at 80 percent levels year round to prevent flooding downriver.

There were so many comments regarding the Flexible Flow Management Plan, the Delaware River Basin Commission's long-term plan for the reservoirs, the plan was withdrawn and the temporary plan was extended.

“It's a really complex scenario that we're dealing with because of all these competing demands on a finite resource, which is water being stored in these reservoirs,” said Clarke Rupert, a commission spokesman.

Rupert said the commissioners will examine all comments and try to address all concerns before another permanent plan is introduced, possibly as soon as the fall.

However, he said it remains to be seen whether the full reservoirs this spring would lead to more floods in riverfront towns like New Hope and Yardley this summer.

“Mother Nature is the only one that can answer that,” he said.

Brian Scheid can be reached at (215) 949-4165 or bscheid@phillyBurbs.com.

Bald Eagles Born in Nest on Delaware River Island

Thursday, May 03, 2007

By Kevin J. Guhl

The endangered symbol of America has found a home in upper Bucks County.

While officials are being vague about the exact location in order to protect the birds, two bald eagles were recently hatched in a nest located on an island in the Delaware River in Nockamixon Township.

Wildlife Conservation Officer John Papson of the Pennsylvania Game Commission said the parents are the first bald eagles known to have nested in upper Bucks County in recent memory.

There are a handful of nesting pairs in Northampton County and in the Philadelphia area, said Papson.

"They're on the rebound," said Papson. "The Delaware River is a prime passageway for them."

According to the National Wildlife Federation, the population of bald eagles and other birds plummeted in the 20th century due to the ingestion of pesticides and lead-contaminated waterfowl. Conservation efforts and the outlawing of DDT have led to increased populations of bald eagles, but they remain on the U.S. Endangered Species List in all of the continental United States except Alaska.

Papson said the two chicks were first spotted at the beginning of April, and they should be flying by June or July. By the fall, they'll be mature enough "to take off and go," said Papson.

Eric Ihlein, assistant manager of Delaware Canal State Park, said, "We're hoping they're going to stick around the area and continue to use that nest."

Ihlein said it is advised that people not go out to the island and disturb the eagles.

"They can be viewed from both sides of the river," he said. "Stay on the roadside and look from binoculars."

© 2007 The Hunterdon Democrat © 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

Beagle Resouces on the Web

My favorite site for beagle information is Beagles on the Web.

For the location and contact information of beagle rescue groups, go to SOS Beagle Rescue.

For the beagle rescue group serving the Mid-Atlantic region, go to BREW's web site.

General information on the beagle breed can be found at Beagle FAQ, the Regal Beagle, the Dog Owner's Guide, Dog Breed Info Center, the Westminster Kennel Club site, and the American Kennel Club (AKC) site.