The Daily Five: A Murder Solved, A Boy Remembered, Nuclear Waste and Clucking About Chickens

1. There will be a few clouds this morning but the day should be mostly sunny with a high of 83 degrees and just a 10 percent chance of rain, according to weather.com. This evening temperatures will dip to 69 degrees and the chance of rain increases to 30 percent.

2. Vinyl tape sold by New London Tape Distributors in Niantic proved to be a vital clue that helped police wrap up a 6-year-old murder case. On September 5, police arrested Matthew Pugh of Hamden for the 2006 murder of aspiring actress Alexandra Ducsay of Milford.

A one-and-a-half inch piece of black vinyl tape that investigators found stuck to Ducsay's cheek turned out to be a key piece of evidence. The tape, Permacel Model P-34, is relatively hard to come by. New London Tape Distributors is the only store that sells it in Connecticut. Police found a roll of the tape at Pugh's home, which helped them connect him to the crime. 

3. Millstone Nuclear Power Plant's plans to expand its have some East Lyme residents concerned. First Selectman Paul Formica said he met earlier this week with members of Black Point Beach Association who were interested in forming a fact-finding committee to learn more about the proposal.

Formica said he suggested this committee be opened up to any local residents who are interested in learning more. He also asked East Lyme Board of Selectmen members if they felt the town should be a party to the siting committee's decision on the matter. "I think this is something we should get more involved in," he said.

In the end, the general consensus was that there was probably no possibility of stopping Millstone from moving forward and members agreed their aim was not to halt it. Without a national nuclear waste disposal facility, they noted, the plant has no alternative but to reluctantly expand its on-site waste storage.

At the suggestion of Selectwoman Rose Ann Hardy, the Board of Selectmen did agree to send letters to Congressman Joe Courtney and Senators Richard Blumenthal and Joe Lieberman expressing their frustration that there has been no action to address this problem at the federal level since plans to construct a national nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada were scrapped.  

4. East Lyme Zoning Commission Chairman Marc Salerno's suggestion to form a "subcommittee to look at chickens" prompted fits of giggles last night followed by a little banter over whether such meetings should begin with "the chicken dance."

But in all seriousness, town Zoning Official Bill Mulholland said each year he gets at least seven calls from people who are "livid about chickens. Usually it's the rooster that's the problem," he added. 

Accordingly, the commission agreed to form a poultry subcommittee to examine how the town regulates the keeping of chickens to try to prevent future flaps. 

5. East Lyme Youth Services will hold Jeffrey's Rainbow Run this evening to honor Jeffrey Bourgeois, the 6-year-old Salem boy whose tragic death in April touched all of us.

The race will be a family-friendly walk, run, or stroll at McCook Point Park in Niantic. Registration starts at 5 p.m. and the race begins at 6 p.m. The event will be followed by food and carnival games at the pavilion green. To register visit eltownhall.com or contact Sarah Butterfield for more information, (860) 739-6788 or sbutterfield@eltownhall.com.