Teen shooter, jump in sewer, home prices
The Delaware History Column features excerpts from the News Journal archives, including the Morning News and Evening Journal. View archives at delawareonline.com.
100 years ago, May 17, 1926, The Evening News
Boy Slayer released on parole for 4 years
Joseph Battaglio, a frail 13-year-old schoolboy, was placed on parole for four years by Chief Justice Pennewill and Justices Rice and Rodney in the Oyer and Terminer court this morning, after pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter.
The boy shot Walter German near Second and West streets on Saturday afternoon, April 17.
Front page of the Evening News of May 17, 1926.
Bruno Battaglio, the boy’s father, and Walter German were arguing on the sidewalk when Joseph, intending to save his father from danger, shot German.
In granting the boy parole this morning, the Chief Justice noted that it seemed entirely natural that Joseph had shown an inclination to help his father, but it was unfortunate that the consequences were so serious.
“This is a very unusual case. There has never been a case like this before and we hope there will be no more,” remarked the Chief Justice.
He commented that the murder was an event that the boy could never erase from his mind.
Chief Justice Penne will further state that no good could be accomplished by sending the boy to the workhouse or the Ferris Industrial School.
“Given your youth and your splendid reputation,” the chief justice said, “we believe your case merits parole.” »…
J. Frank Ball, the boy’s attorney, assured the court that the boy’s parents would ensure that expenses caused by German’s death were covered. …
The lawyer said German’s father had hospital bills and other bills to pay following his son’s death.
Bruno Battaglio owns a store on West Second Street. German went to the store the afternoon of the shooting and an argument broke out over a bill German owed, amounting to about $2.
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50 years ago, May 19, 1976, The Morning News
Sewer rates could double in New Castle County
Sewer service fees for residential homeowners in suburban New Castle County will double next year under a sweeping new program now reaching the final stages of preparation by county officials. …
The average annual sewer service fee will increase from the current $45 to about $92. …
Front page of the Morning News of May 19, 1976.
Even bigger increases, of up to 500 percent, are planned for major industrial users, as the county attempts to make its entire $13 million sewer operation self-sufficient next year.
The move is intended to bring the county into compliance with federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines and more equitably distribute the costs of wastewater treatment.
The new plan also allowed County Executive Henry R. Folsom Jr. to propose an election-year property tax reduction of 69.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation at 65 cents, a reduction of about 6.5 percent.
20 years ago, May 22, 2006, The News Journal
Looking to live in Sussex? Good luck: house prices have increased by 250% in ten years
Two years after selling her Bethany Beach area home and moving to Maryland, Cleo Sundstrom is looking to return.
But Sundstrom, who cuts hair at Golden Scissor Barbershop in Millville, said there’s no way she can afford the real estate prices in or near her old neighborhood. The house she sold for $180,000 would now fetch almost $280,000, she said. …
The housing boom of the past decade has driven up real estate prices in Sussex County. Average property and housing prices rose 250 percent between 1995 and 2005, according to an analysis by The News Journal of more than 150,000 county property transfer cases.
Front page of the News Journal of May 22, 2006.
That growth has changed the nature of many of the county’s small towns, going from quiet, off-the-beaten-path enclaves to pricey destinations for retirees and vacation home buyers looking for something within a short drive of the beach. In doing so, many middle-income families have been priced out of the housing market. …
Real estate in Millville sold for an average of $101,000 in the mid-1990s. By the mid-2000s, the average sale exceeded $716,000, an increase of approximately 609%.
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In Millsboro, the average home sale price jumped about 381%, from $107,000 to $515,000. …
“It’s hard to find, even in Millsboro, a house for less than $250,000,” said Ken Sutton, a real estate agent who manages the Millsboro office of Cooper Realty Associates. “Three years ago, there were a lot of homes under $200,000, but that’s just not the case anymore. »…
Some Sussex communities, like Henlopen Acres, started at the top of real estate a decade ago and stayed there. Property and home sales in the resort area north of Rehoboth Beach averaged $1.7 million in 2003-05, up about 213 percent from $544,000 in 1995-97.
Contact reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared in the Delaware News Journal: Delaware Story May 17-23: Teen Shooter, Sewer Jump, Home Prices
