Spotlight Delaware recently held its "Spotlight On: Data Centers" event at Wilmington University in Dover. It featured local and regional experts speaking about the impacts of those energy-hungry facilities on local economic development, energy infrastructure and environmental sustainability.

One particular panel discussion, led by land-use reporter Olivia Marble, included four legislators who have been central to debates around data centers in their respective states. Get panelists' insights here in "Spotlight On: Data Centers - Part 1," and follow our show to easily tune in for Part 2.

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Wilmington reporter Brianna Hill visits "Beyond the Headlines" to talk about how she has been covering Christina Park, the location of the city-sanctioned encampment for unhoused individuals located on Wilmington's East Side. She discusses the unique challenges of reporting at the park, how she has built contacts with the residents, whether her coverage style differs if she knows other reporters are present, and more.

Hosted by Director of Community Engagement David Stradley

Spotlight Delaware articles connect to this episode: Tensions flare as Wilmington officials move the Christina Park homeless encampment Protests again stall the Christina Park tent overhaul

Education reporter Julia Merola and health reporter Nick Stonesifer join "Beyond the Headlines" to talk about their recent investigation into the Rockford Center, a private behavioral health hospital in Newark which has been cited by state regulators in recent years for giving children medications without their or their parents' consent.

Julia and Nick discuss their more than six month process to develop this report. They share how they connected with the families and employees featured in the article, why investigations like this take so much time, and detail their fact-checking process. Finally, they reflect on how reporting these kinds of stories impacts them personally as journalists.

Hosted by David Stradley.

Tim Carlin, deputy editor for southern Delaware, is the guest for this episode of "Beyond the Headlines." While Tim's work for Spotlight normally has him roaming Legislative Hall in Dover, he joins the podcast to discuss the time he spent on the Leipsic River and the Delaware Bay reporting for his article In Leipsic, watermen have toiled for generations to dredge the deep.

Tim shares how he developed his sources among the community of watermen, what his experience was like on Leonard "Limbo" Voss' boat, and why Spotlight readers can expect to see more stories of "joy, wonder and discovery."

Colby Cox is a fourth-generation Miltonian who left his mark on his hometown two decades ago, when he built Cannery Village. Today, the master-planned community surrounds the Dogfish Head brewery and helped launch the intimate, mixed-use development concept to Delaware.

He's recently kickstarted work on his latest Delaware project, The Granary at Draper Farms – a massive project on Milton's southwest side, which will likely double the town's population in the next decade.

Cox discussed the project, how he approaches building a community, how to view Sussex County's building boom and more in a sit-down interview with Spotlight Delaware.

Deputy Editor Karl Baker joins "Beyond the Headlines" to mark the beginning of 2026 election season with a discussion about money – specifically how Delaware's political parties finance their operations.

Two of Karl's recent articles have taken on the topic through a bipartisan lens: "Longtime court critic quietly funds PAC controlled by House Speaker," and "Delaware's GOP projects strength after months of turmoil." In the podcast, Karl discusses what these two developments say about the state of money in Delaware politics and shares how hel tracks these trends.

Since late 2024, municipalities across Delaware have been struggling with how to pass and enforce ordinances related to loitering and panhandling. The cause of the struggle was an agreement reached between the Delaware Department of Justice and the ACLU directing police in Delaware to no longer enforce current loitering and solicitation laws in public spaces. The agreement was a settlement to a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, and was sparked due to constitutional concerns connected to the First and Fourth Amendments.

Wilmington reporter Brianna Hill and Rural Communities reporter Maggie Reynolds join the podcast to discuss how this issue has been showing up in Delaware's two biggest cities. Although Dover and Wilmington are very different municipalities, there are similarities in how the city councils have been trying to navigate passing new ordinances. The decisions these cities reach could provide a template for how other towns in Delaware try to address the issue. Hosted by David Stradley Read the Spotlight Delaware articles connected to this episode: Jennings talks updated loitering bill, lawmakers express frustrations Debate grows as Wilmington crafts new loitering ordinance Dover residents, officials divided ahead of panhandling vote

Editor-in-Chief Jacob Owens talks about Spotlight Delaware's months-long project looking at the results of Delaware's first reassessment of property values in more than 40 years. Working with Tech Impact, Spotlight produced an interactive map showing how the state's tax burdens and property assessments have shifted in that time.

In his accompanying reporting, Jake highlights questions around the outcome of the reassessment prompted by the data map, including whether the reassessment will help Delaware achieve equity in education funding. Hosted by David Stradley

Reporter Julia Merola joins the podcast to discuss her article 'Afraid to Die': Parents of Disabled Adults Struggle to Find Housing. The article profiles three families who are concerned they will not be able to provide supportive housing for their adult children with disabilities before the parents pass away.

Merola shares how a previous article built trust and connections in the disability community that led directly to this article, how she worked to draw readers into an issue they may not have personal experience with, and why she thinks a profile like this has strong news worthiness even though it's not breaking news.

Hosted by David Stradley

In the last week of 2025, five members of Spotlight Delaware's reporting team created a five-part series on Homelessness in Delaware. At a time of year where news readership normally dips, this series resulted in some of the Spotlight's highest readership numbers in several months. In this episode, reporters Olivia Marble, Brianna Hill and Nick Stonesifer discuss the collaborative nature of reporting on this issue and how the team worked to ensure that the voices of people experiencing homelessness were centered in this series. Plus, how losing your photo SD card can end up being a blessing in disguise.

Hosted by David Stradley Read the Spotlight Delaware articles connected to this episode: Homelessness Series Archives