Helicopter Finds a Lost Man; Remembering a Fallen Daughter

Well, it looks like a storm is coming to Waterford soon, and all of that will probably dominate the upcoming news cycle. But there was still plenty of non-weather related stories the past week that is worth reviewing.

The week began with a story on a touching ceremony to remember Waterford's Samantha Sterenchock on the one-year anniversary of her death. Sterenchock’s mother and step-father and dozens of her friends all remembered the 18-year-old who died in a car crash in their own way, and sent helium balloons with notes up to heaven for her to read.

Then came the crime and police news. Monday night, after being open just a week, a Henny Penny gas station in Quaker Hill was robbed by two men on foot. The men made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

And Wednesday, an 83-year-old man with Alzheimer’s never came back from his daily walk. That prompted police and fire personnel to search for him for hours, even using a helicopter, ATVs and thermal cameras. The man was eventually found early Thursday morning lost in the woods, far from his Ninth Avenue home.

Monday evening, Superintendent Jerome Belair and Assistant Superintendent Craig Powers gave a presentation to the Board of Education about new Common Core standards that must be implemented into the Waterford school system by the 2014-15 school year. These standards are nationally mandated as all schools in the country will be teaching to the same core standards.

On Thursday, we had a story about how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is studying to see if there is an increase in cancer rates in populations that live close to power plants. And on Friday, we had photos of some of the best Halloween decorations in Waterford, and encouraged users to add their own photos.

In other news, we highlighted Josh Kelly, a boy scout who helped rebuild trails and a platform behind Oswegatchie School; we had a story about how Connecticut lottery workers got huge bonuses; another on the sole debate between Waterford’s sole state representative, Betsy Ritter, and her challenger, Tony Siragusa; and finally an obituary on a woman who lived to be 103. O, and we almost forgot, we had that story about that woman who spent $78 million on commercials nobody likes and mailings nobody reads.