Weight Loss Clinic in Middletown, DE

National, statewide and local campaigns are hitting the home stretch as early voting begins later next week.

Early voting sites will be available in all three counties in Delaware. The first day to vote early is Oct. 25. From then to Oct. 29, polls will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for voters.

From Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, early voters can visit polling places from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There is no early voting on Nov. 4.

Voters can vote early in their county of residence only.

Election Day is on Nov. 5, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Where can I vote early in New Castle County?

According to the Delaware Department of Elections website, six places will be open for early voting in the state's most populous county.

Where can I vote early in Kent County?

Four polling places will be open in Kent County for early voting.

Where can I vote early in Sussex County?

Nine early voting places will be scattered around Sussex County.

When is the deadline for absentee ballots?

Absentee ballots have been mailed since September, and people using them have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to return them in the their county of residence, according to Delaware Department of Elections.

Who is on my ballot in Delaware?

Ballots look different throughout the state, so visit vote411.org/ballot to see what will be on yours.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

MIDDLETOWN — Hope Lopez and her team at Jackson House in Middletown have a dream of being the next hot spot for celebrations in southern New Castle County.

Formerly known as 1857 Jackson House in Dover, the restaurant features homemade “elevated comfort food” and recently moved to Middletown in a hunt for more space to accommodate the special celebrations they continued to see in increasing numbers from customers. Their Dover location came in at about 3,000 square feet and could seat 66 customers.

“We really did need the extra space. Dover was great and beautiful; the building was just too small for Jackson House. We kept seeing more and more people want to come back for those special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays and they even wanted to rent out the space. That was amazing, but then we couldn’t also have regular customers during that time. So this new space will accommodate both,” Lopez told the Delaware Business Times.

She and her business partner, Heidy Cantoran, designed their new 7,000 square feet of space to include a room in the restaurant just for events or larger parties with those occasions in mind; it can accommodate up to 90 people, not including patio seating. They also work closely with Chef Chamaigne Stone and Lopez’s daughters, including COO and mixologist Selena Alvarez.

“It’s really special for us to be a part of somebody’s big day and we want to continue that,” she added. “More often than not, a successful restaurant is about the experience and we want to encourage that and Middletown is a great place for us to be for those experiences because it’s growing so quickly.”

Jackson House, which features the restaurant’s original name minus the 1857 which had been in place in honor of the year their previous building in Dover was built, is set to open at the former Metro Pub and Grill site at 17 Wood St. in the first week of November barring any delays from preparing the restaurant.

“We did make that change since we’re not in that building anymore, but we felt like everybody who knows us is familiar with Jackson House and removing the year won’t confuse our regular customers,” she said.

Meanwhile, business partners Lopez and Cantoran also own four El Azteca’s in Delaware, including one in Middletown, but they hope the Jackson House move offers a change of pace.

“I need to do something different. I get bored of doing the same thing and opening more El Azteca’s became ‘copy-paste, copy-paste.’ I needed a challenge,” Lopez said. “Rebranding the El Azteca’s will be much like what we’re doing here – focusing on aesthetics and social media. Nowadays, when people sit down to eat their meal, they often take a picture of it first for social media, so we’re going to be looking at the presentation of all of our dishes and all of that to make it more aesthetically pleasing.”

While the Jackson House restaurant moved towns over, Lopez said the business partners do still have the lease to their original location in Dover and have plans “brewing” for something new there, too.

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Delaware officials announced plans to distribute free potassium iodide tablets to residents living within a 10-mile radius of the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations. The distribution, organized by the Delaware Emergency Management Agency and the Delaware Division of Public Health, will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Townsend Fire Company.

Potassium iodide tablets play a crucial role in radiation emergencies by protecting the thyroid gland from radioactive iodine. While they don't shield against external radiation, potassium iodide, or KI, is an essential component of Delaware's emergency plans for nuclear incidents.

Residents and workers within the Emergency Planning Zone are eligible to receive the tablets. To obtain these potassium iodide tablets, individuals must present a photo ID, proof of residency or proof of employment within the zone. Those with expired KI tablets can exchange them for new ones at the distribution center.

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Residents living outside the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone can purchase potassium iodide over the counter at local pharmacies.

The KI tablets are given out as part of a program started by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. For more details about the potassium iodide distribution program in Delaware, contact the Delaware Emergency Management Agency Radiological Emergency Preparedness section at 302-659-3362. Find more information and resources at PrepareDE.org.

Towns within the Emergency Planning Zone

Delaware's Emergency Planning Zone is a 10-mile radius encompassing four Emergency Response Planning Areas in Delaware. These four ERPA regions include:

Delaware's Department of Safety and Homeland Security also provides a color-coded map of the ERPA areas within the Emergency Planning Zone.

Delaware is within 50 miles of four nuclear power plant sites, which are located in Salem and Hope Creek, New Jersey; Calvert Cliffs, Maryland; Peachbottom, Pennsylvania; and Limerick, Pennsylvania. In the event of a nuclear emergency, local authorities would activate warning sirens and provide instructions through the Emergency Alert System radio stations.

You can contact Anitra Johnson at [email protected].

Innovative new health center will add much-needed services and more than 70 jobs

To increase access to high-quality health care in one of Delaware’s fastest-growing communities, ChristianaCare plans to build a multidisciplinary health center on its Middletown campus that will provide a range of primary care and specialty health care services.

ChristianaCare Health Center at Middletown is being planned on undeveloped land surrounding ChristianaCare’s freestanding Emergency Department on Middletown-Odessa Road. Construction of the health center is slated to begin in 2025, and the new facility is expected to open for patients in early 2027.

“Middletown, Delaware, is among the fastest-growing communities in the region, and with that growth comes increased needs for health care,” said Janice Nevin, M.D., MPH, president and CEO of ChristianaCare.

“We are incredibly excited to bring this new level of service to the Middletown community, with the high-quality care and exceptional experience that are the hallmarks of ChristianaCare.”

Planned services include primary care, women’s health, behavioral health, oncology, cardiovascular care, imaging and laboratory services.

An ‘easy and positive’ health care experience

By leveraging technology and state-of-the-art design to enhance patient experience, the ChristianaCare Health Center at Middletown will create a seamless and coordinated experience for patients and their loved ones.

“We’re excited to be taking an innovative approach with this new facility on our Middletown campus that will be focused on convenience and making the health care experience easy and positive for the people of Middletown,” said Vinay Maheshwari, M.D., MHCDS, Hugh R. Sharp Jr. Chair of Medicine and physician executive for the ChristianaCare Medical Group.

“Our ChristianaCare Health Center at Middletown will give residents something they currently lack in the area – an integrated location where they can access primary and specialty care, along with other important modalities such as diagnostics and infusions,” he said.

The design of the facility is expected to include features such as a common check-in area and registration team that will coordinate among the practices throughout the facility, supporting the ability for patients to connect with multiple services during the same visit.

The building’s design will reflect the natural landscape of the property, with wide windows and open space to promote a sense a of well-being and calm for visitors. Walking paths will help create an environment that promotes health and well-being – along with the benefits of convenience and care that’s closer to home.

Partners in Middletown’s future

ChristianaCare has been a part of the Middletown community since 2009, when the organization purchased 108 acres in recognition of the growing need for accessible health care in southern New Castle County. That led to the opening of the ChristianaCare Middletown Freestanding Emergency Department in 2012, which quickly became a valued community resource. Last year, the Middletown ED had over 32,000 visits – more than twice what was expected for this facility when it was constructed.

“ChristianaCare has been a great partner to the Middletown community, and we are excited to see the expansion of this campus in support of our growing population,” Middletown Mayor Ken Branner said. The expansion is also projected to create a positive impact to the community with the expected addition of more than 70 full-time jobs.”

The Delaware Health Resources Board approved a Certificate of Public Review for the health center expansion at its meeting on September 26.

Middletown will get a new supermarket this year – months ahead of schedule.

When the store was first announced last year at Middletown's newly constructed Northside Shopping Center at 431 Middletown Warwick Road, natural food store Sprouts Farmers Market projected an opening date in the first half of 2025.

But in a story rarely told in the years since the pandemic, construction apparently proceeded ahead of schedule. The Middletown Sprouts plans to open on Dec. 6, smack in the middle of the busy holiday season.

The Middletown location will be the second Delaware location for Sprouts, which opened its first Delaware location on Concord Pike in 2020. The Middletown market will join a Target store next door, which scheduled its grand opening for October 13. The center is already home to a Popeye's, Burger King, a Dash-In gas station and a small retail strip.

Weis Markets, PetSmart and Hobby Lobby are planned for next year

Multiple other stores are planned for Northside Shopping Center as it takes shape, including a PetSmart and Hobby Lobby long promised in Middletown council meetings and on real estate company Metro Commercial's advertising materials.

Pet superstore PetSmart is due to open in February or March 2025 in an 18,000-foot space next to the Sprouts market, PetSmart representatives confirmed.

The Hobby Lobby is likewise projected for early 2025, according to spokespeople. The store will open in a more than 50,000 square-foot standalone building just north of the soon-to-open Target store. The location will become Delaware's third or fourth Hobby Lobby, depending on the timing of a planned Hobby Lobby at Prices Corner Shopping Center that company officials say is now also slated for early 2025.

In the fast-growing communities north of Middletown, a Weis Markets supermarket is also underway at the long-delayed Bayberry Town Center, between Boyds Corner and Jamison Corner roads. The shopping center began site work this spring; Weis Markets is projected to open in 2025.

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What should shoppers expect at the new Middletown Sprouts Farmers Market?

Arizona-based Sprouts is a publicly traded natural foods grocer that shies from selling nationally known food and drink brands and is instead focused on organic options and products from its own label. A Sprouts spokesperson previously described the store as a "starter" for those looking to adopt healthy eating habits.

Sprouts opened its first Delaware store in March 2020 next to the Concord Mall on Concord Pike. There are more than 400 Sprouts locations nationwide, including a half-dozen in the Philadelphia area.

The company announced last year it would approximately double its footprint in greater Philadelphia by opening six new stores. The chain began this expansion with two Philadelphia stores this summer.

When it opens in December, the Middletown Sprouts store will be a light and tight 23,000 square feet, part of the chain's new strategy of opening smaller-footprint stores designed to be more environmentally friendly. The small-format stores have roughly the same product mix, but with a tighter focus on produce.

Sprouts stock has nearly tripled since the beginning of 2024, as the company has rolled out dozens of new locations since last year. This year, Sprouts also launched a store line of all-natural personal care products that include vegan, color-safe shampoos and shea-butter body soaps. The company will hold hiring fairs on Oct. 22 and 23 for a number of positions at the Middletown Sprouts location.

Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all things related to land and money: openings and closings, construction, and the many corporations that call the First State home. Send tips and insults to [email protected].