A 2nd Amendment Violation? And a String of Broken Car Windows

Well, it was a busy week this week, highlighted by a lawyer saying a Quaker Hill man’s Second Amendment rights were violated after he allegedly shot at a coyote.

On Thursday, we ran a story about the parking lot at Waterford’s Work Out World, and how 17 cars have been either vandalized or burglarized or both there in the past four months. Waterford Police Lt. Jeff Nixon said the department has no suspects yet, but is actively investigating the incidents.

Another well-read story this week was about how a Waterford Police officer will be assigned to Clark Lane Middle School. Waterford Police Chief Murray Pendleton said the department used to have an officer there as recently as few years ago, although Pendleton pulled him because his role was not clearly defined and the budget was tight. Pendleton decided to put one there again, starting in March, and said the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School played into his decision.

On Saturday, we had the most controversial story of the week, about the first court date for Andrew Malerba. Malerba was arrested on January 12th for illegal discharge of a firearm and breach of peace when he fired at a coyote on his own property at approximately 2:15 a.m. At his court appearance, Malerba’s lawyer argued that the arrest was a violation of the Second Amendment.

On Tuesday, we had a story about how Dominion, owner of Millstone Power Station, is trying to build another nuclear reactor in Virginia, not in Waterford. Dominion officials have told Connecticut legislators they have no plans to build another nuclear reactor in Connecticut, unless something changes, citing the regulatory climate in the state.

Thursday night, the Waterford Board of Education approved a $44.62 million budget for the 2013-14 school year, a 0.96 percent increase from this year’s $44.2 million total. The budget adds another security guard at the high school, a third guidance counselor at the middle school and takes two teaching positions at the high school and moves them to Waterford’s elementary schools to keep elementary class sizes below 23 students.

The budget still needs to be approved by the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting. Those two bodies can only cut the budget, they cannot add any dollars to the total.

In another news, Clark Lane Middle School crowned its Geography Bee champion, New London announced a new gun buyback program for the entire region, middle school students met two dogs training to be guide dogs for blind people and Gov. Dannel Malloy has pledged to fix the gender gap. Oh, and then a man was charged after being peacefully talked down from a six-hour standoff with police…