Daily Five: Problem At Millstone Two

1. More rain is expected today before 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Tonight, showers are possible again, as the temperature is expected to drop to 63, according to the service.

2. As part of our back-to-school coverage, Patch interviewed Youth Services Director Dani Gorman. Gorman said the toughest adjustments for a student is moving into a new school district, but also elementary to middle school and middle school to high school can be tough.

Gorman was quick to praise the schools for noticing and handling students who  have issues making the transition to a new school year for whatever reason. She also encouraged parents to do what she does with her children: Ask open-ended questions about their day, especially on the first day of school.

“I always ask, 'Who did you sit with at lunch?' or 'Who did you sit with in history?' ” Gorman said. “Or my other one I always use is 'What was your favorite part of the day, and what was your least favorite part of the day?' ”

3. The debate continued at the school building committee meeting about whether to install netting around the lacrosse field to ensure a kid running around the track (which circles the field) doesn’t take a lacrosse ball to the face.

The cost of installing netting around the entire field is $64,000. The building committee is instead looking at installing netting behind the goals for a cost of $30,000. Committee member Robert Brule pushed for the full $64,000, while others preferred the $30,000 option. Athletic Director David Sousa recommended the $30,000 option, Principal Donald Macrino said, and Macrino himself said he had never seen netting behind the goals, never mind around the entire field.

The building committee did not make a decision, instead pushing it off for next week.

4. The Millstone Two reactor was shut down Saturday afternoon after a service water leak was detected, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Affairs Officer Neil Sheehan said. Dominion, owner of Millstone Power Station, will have to replace a flange on the service water system, Sheehan said.

The service water system takes water from Long Island Sound to cool the plant and then returns it back to the Sound, Sheehan said, The water in the service water system does not come into contact with the radioactive water, Sheehan said.

5. On this date in 1921, the first Miss America pageant, then a two-day event, is held in Atlantic City. And on this date in 2008, thanks to years of destructive policies by the Federal Reserve, the United States government takes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the United States, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Quote of the Day

“In the theater the audience wants to be surprised – but by things they expect.”

-Tristan Bernard

Trivia of the Day

Who has said “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night,” the most times to open up “Saturday Night Live?”

Yesterday’s Answer: The oldest continually operating university in the world is the University of Bologna, in Bologna, Italy. The university was founded in 1088, 12 years before Oxford University.