Daily Five: Important Information About The August Primary

1. Today should be mostly sunny, with a high near 87, according to the National Weather Service. Tonight should be cloudy, with a low around 70, according to the service.

2. Some important information for everybody looking to vote in Connecticut’s upcoming Republican and Democrat primaries on August 14, where voters will choose party nominees for congress and for the Senate.

The primary, as noted, is on Tuesday, August 14, with polling hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Absentee ballots will be available in the on Tuesday, July 24.

To vote in the primary, one must be registered as a voting member of that party to do so. For example, if somebody wants to vote in the Republican primary, they have to be registered to vote and be a registered Republican.

People can register to vote as late as Monday, August 13 in-person and can mail in their registration as late as Thursday, August 9th. Unaffiliated voters may register as a Republican or as a Democrat in-person as late as Monday, August 13. It is now too late to switch parties to potentially vote in the other party’s primary.

There is a special registration session on Tuesday, July 31 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Town Hall.

Voters can be as young as 17 to vote in the primary, if they will be 18 by the time of the November elections. Any questions? Call the registrar office at 860-444-5836.

3. First Selectman Dan Steward has reached a tentative agreement with the 1303 union, the largest municipal union in Waterford with more than 70 employees.

The contract still needs to be approved by the Representative Town Meeting in August for it to be finalized. The tentative agreement was not yet filed in the Town Clerk’s office, but should be soon. When it is, we’ll have a full story about it.

The contract is four years long. Members of the RTM have told Steward they wanted little-to-no raises given to union employees and to get concessions in employees' health insurance plans – much like Superintendent Jerome Belair   

4. The Metro PCS store in the mall has moved to a larger location near the Christmas Tree Shop, according to the Crystal Mall’s Facebook page. The new location is a corner spot, so it is larger than the average store.

Metro PCS is a cell phone company that offers no contract cell phones with unlimited talk, text and web.  

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5. On this date in 1867, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston. It was the first dental school in the United States. And on this date in 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.

Quote of the Day

“When in doubt, do it.”

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Trivia of the Day

Who ran against Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election?

Yesterday’s Answer: Apollo 11 was the ship that flew the first manned-mission to the moon.