The Daily Five: More Burglary Arrests, Light Parade Winners, Nuclear Waste, and a Date to Remember

1. Today will be partly cloudy and dry but a bit on the chilly side, with a high temperature of 43 degrees and a low of 31 degrees, according to weather.com.

2. Arrest warrants are coming thick and fast now relating to the spree of burglaries that plagued Lyme earlier this year. Police plan to serve Justin Weissinger, 25, of Lyme with eight arrest warrants relating to the burglaries when he appears in court in New London today. Weissinger is currently incarcerated at Corrigan Correctional Institute. as a co-conspirator and charged with burglary on December 7.  

3. Everyone who went to the Niantic Light Parade has favorites but here's the full list of winners chosen this year from among the parade entries.

The overall winner was Sign Craft, followed by CareCo Cognitive Fund. Sign Craft also took top place from among the commercial entries, followed by Branded and Generators On Demand. Niantic's Fire Department won the Fire Truck category, followed by Yantic Fire Engine Co. and Oswegatchie Fire Co.

All the Right Moves Dance Center took the top honors in the dance troupe category, followed by Alyson's School of Dance and Broadway Kids & Company School of Performing Arts. Friends of Oswegatchie won first place in the family/neighborhood entries, followed by Sarah's Workshop and Mi Peru. 

The winner from the nonprofit organization entries was CareCo Cognitive Fund, followed by East Lyme Youth Cheerleaders and East Lyme Youth Services' Student Planning Association. Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to all the participants and the many volunteers who worked so hard to make this year's parade such a great experience!

The one group missing in action this year, which was missed by many spectators including me, were riders from the motorcycle club. I thought the rain had put them off but it was actually a decision made by parade organizers and town officials for safety and liability reasons.

Last year, a number of kids ran out in front of the motorcycles and, though the bikers managed to avoid them with the same skill and precision that they demonstrated with their synchronized riding, parade organizers decided they didn't want to take any chances this year. 

4. The Connecticut Siting Council has scheduled a hearing on Millstone Nuclear power plant's request to expand its onsite nuclear waste dry cask storage facility for December 20 at 2 p.m. in Waterford Town Hall. East Lyme is close enough to the site to be a party to this hearing.

Feeling that mid-afternoon just a few days before the holidays wasn't perhaps the ideal time to hold such an important hearing, East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica wrote a letter to the Siting Council requesting that the hearing be rescheduled.

The response? A form letter suggesting that he contact the local elected official who is party to this hearing which would be ... Paul Formica.

The letter was signed by the director of the Connecticut Siting Council who, based on the response, didn't appear to have read Formica's letter at all. Perhaps he didn't send it on recyclable paper, which is something that the Siting Council specifically requests "in accordance with the State Solid Waste Management Plan." Isn't it comforting to know the state is paying so much attention to the details?

The 2 p.m. hearing primarily involves Dominion, interested parties which include elected and appointed officials from affected towns, and intervenors. The general public will have a chance to comment later that same day at 7 p.m.  

5. Looking for that once-in-a-lifetime date? You'll find it today. No, this isn't your morning horoscope but if you're into numerology, today's numbers are 12/12/12—and none of us will ever see that date come around again.