Waterford Couple Wins $4.5 Million; Man Found With Unexplained Loose Change

This was a strange week of news, with some stories that really jumped off the page.

We'll start with the best one first. On Tuesday, it was announced that Glenn Peltier had won $4.5 million - $2 million after taxes – in the Connecticut lottery. The story was the most well read this week, with several Waterford residents writing in to congratulate the Peltier family, and then the Peltier family writing back thanking everybody.

There was continued good news at the Waterford Country Club as well. David Moritmer, who bought the club early this year, is continuing the turnaround of the once-insolvent country club. In a meeting with the Planning and Zoning Commission, Moritmer said a restaurant that will be open to the public will open at the club later this month and he is planning to expand the parking lot and continue to update parts of the club.

Then there were the sad and even some strange stories regarding crime in Waterford. On Tuesday, we had a story about how a heroin addiction allegedly caused a man to go on a burglary spree throughout Waterford. On Wednesday, we had the very strange story of a person who was found with a lot of change in his or her pocket in Waterford, a few weeks after being arrested in Groton for stealing change out of vehicles. And Thursday night, the Henny Penny at Quaker Hill was robbed for the second time since it opened in October.

Perhaps the most unexpected story though came Thursday, when former first selectman candidate Kevin Ziolkovski sent a letter demanding Waterford’s first selectman, planning director, police chief and fire director be suspended for being okay with lowering the water level at Millers Pond. This came after Ziolkovski’s attempt to have the owner of the dam be arrested for lowering the water level. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has said this decreased the chance of Ziolkovski’s home being flooded, but he argued it was against the DEEP’s own regulations.

In other news, Cohanzie School might soon meet the wrecking ball, Santa Claus came to the police department, Waterford Police gave an iPad to a child with severe needs, Waterford lost its business manager and a group is looking to raise money for a memorial for Arnie Holm. O, and there is a place in Quaker Hill that is now serving (delicious) wraps…