NEAR BLIZZARD SURVIVED
Southeastern Connecticut seems to have made it through yesterday’s near blizzard. City and town leaders throughout New London County reported few major problems but by evening, high winds caused some tree limbs to fall and sporadic power outages happened as temperatures dropped. At 8:30 last night, Eversource was reporting about 440 homes without power in Stonington and another 121 in North Stonington. Those outages were restored by this morning. Earlier in the evening, 113 customers in Ledyard were without power. They are back on today.
CASINO NOT BUSY
Many businesses closed Thursday but it was business as usual at the two casinos. Employees were put up in on-site hotels because of the storm and guests found gaming tables, restaurants and other entertainment venues open for business. Foxwoods Resort Casino said they had about 10% of the crowd they’d normally have on a weekday.
COURTNEY WORRIED ABOUT VETS
Congressman Joe Courtney wants to restore access to VA benefits for Agent Orange and other exposure-related ailments for Blue Water Navy veterans. He’s pushing the House to begin acting on it. Blue Water Navy Vietnam veterans are not eligible for benefits related to Agent Orange or other herbicide exposure and Courtney says the “clock is ticking for these veterans”! VA officials argue there is a lack of scientific evidence that Blue Water Navy veterans were exposed to Agent Orange.
PRUE STEPS IN
New Selectman John Prue was in charge of Stonington’s storm response yesterday. First Selectman Rob Simmons has been on vacation with his wife since Dec. 29th, before the storm was forecast. Simmons did contact Prue from Puerto Jimenez, Panama to check on the storm preparations. Prue said that opening the town’s Emergency Operations Center at 6 a.m. Thursday allowed the town to have all its decision makers in one room in case there was a problem. Prue said he was ready to open the emergency shelter at the high school if there were a large number of power outages in town. Before Simmons departed, the Board of Selectmen designated Prue, a Republican, as acting first selectman while Simmons was away.
TOWN HALL TOMORROW
Congressman Joe Courtney will be at Waterford Town Hall hosting a town hall meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday. Courtney will be addressing the recently passed tax overhaul bill. Courtney’s office staff has heard from thousands of Connecticut residents concerned about how the biggest tax overhaul in 30 years will affect them. For more information, call 860-886-0139.
