1. What’s the weather? Today should be a little drier than yesterday. Weather.com is calling for a partly cloudy day with just a 10 percent chance of rain and a high temperature of 64 degrees. Expect it to become increasingly cloudy overnight, when the chance of rain increases to 20 percent and temperatures drop to a low of 49 degrees.
2. School Daze: It’s going to be an exciting morning for students at two local schools. will spend about an hour visiting students at the in Middlefield this morning.
Students at the, meanwhile, will be treated to a special assembly honoring one of their own. Details about the event are being kept pretty hush-hush. All I can tell you at this point is that a student will be receiving an award from a technology company, whose representatives will also be on hand for a question and answer session with students. Check back for more details later.
3. Pets and Permits will be up for discussion at tonight’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. Durham residents Mark and Sharon Paturzo have established one of the largest pet fairs in all of Connecticut. The Fourth Annual is scheduled for Sunday, May
20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Coginchaug Regional High School.
This year's event promises to be bigger and better than ever, with 100 vendors and demonstrations by Police K-9 units, DAWGS (Disaster and Wilderness Ground Searchers), the Southern Connecticut Agility Team (aka SCAT), and Skyhoundz Frisbees. Organizers anticipate as many as 10,000 two-legged attendees will turn out on the day and they'll be bringing lots of four-legged friends with them. Last year, more than 75 animals found forever homes as a result of the fair. For all of this to happen, however, P&Z members have to sign off on a special permit for the one-day event.
That’s not the only item on tonight's agenda. The public hearing on effort to get an extension for a permit to build bathroom facilities continues this evening too. The Durham P&Z Commission subcommittee will meet first at 6:30 p.m., with the regular meeting to follow at 7:30 p.m. The public hearing portion of the program begins at 8 p.m. and it’s all happening in the third floor meeting room of Durham Town Hall.
4. Camera Back on You: Do you have writing, video editing, camera, or communications experience? Would you like to get some? Destination Durham is looking for volunteer crew members to help produce this local magazine-style community television program. If you have a fascination for all things Durham and have always dreamed of working in television, this is a great opportunity to learn more about both. Contact Managing Producer Liz Cipollina at aaronjess@aol.com if you’re interested.
5. This day in history: On this date in 2011, U.S. forces killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan. This ended a decade-long manhunt for the man behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
On the eve of the anniversary of Bin Laden's death, President Obama last night announced a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, although he noted that the U.S. military would continue to root out Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan and aid Afghan forces until the country is stablized.
