Local cover for the Litchfield County edition -- July 17, 2015

1. PHOTOS BY ERIN COVEY REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Navy veteran Michael Sulkazi, 94, receives medals and citations at the American Legion Post in Terryville on Wednesday
night. The recognition comes 70 years after he served in World War II.
Litchfield County
DAILY DIGEST
W I N S T E D
Police have lead on car that
may have ties to vandalism
Police are asking for the public’s help in locat-
ing a vehicle that they suspect belongs to one of
the vandals who struck town in recent weeks.
Police spokesman Daniel Pietrfesa described
the vehicle as a gray, late-model Dodge Ram 4x4
pickup truck with a Massachusetts license plate.
Anyone with information related to this case
should call police at 860-379-2721.
Police have been looking for information re-
garding eight cars that were vandalized over the
past three nights, primarily in the Highland Lake
area. One witness told police he saw a truck
speeding away after the driver used some sort of
projectile to smash a car window.
Police have said they have a suspect but have
not made an arrest yet. Two other cars were van-
dalized downtown, police said.
K E N T
Recent accident won’t change
signs on Route 341 curve
After installing numerous signs five years ago
along a treacherous curve on Route 341, the state
Department of Transportation has no plans to add
more.
“The signs are up to the latest standards and we
have no plans to add additional signs,” DOT
spokesman Kevin J Nursick said.
Motorcycle driver Alberto Richards, 52, of the
Bronx, N.Y., died Sunday after leaving the road-
way and striking a sign. The DOT replaced the
signs Monday that were damaged in the two-mo-
torcycle crash. The curve on Route 341 is near
152 Segar Mountain Road.
The downhill curve is posted for 30 miles per
hour and has had large chevron arrow signs post-
ed for at least five years. The signs were installed
in 2010 after a series of fatalities on that curve.
P LY M O U T H
Town eyes former official’s
assets as way to recoup funds
The town will attempt to recover the $808,030
its former finance director stole from it by seizing
funds invested for his retirement, the sale of his
assets at auction and an insurance claim.
Town Attorney William A. Hamzy said David J.
Bertnagel — the former finance director who just
began serving a 30-month prison sentence in Ay-
ers, Mass. — had approximately $290,000 invest-
ed in deferred compensation plans — two with the
City of Bristol, where he was an accountant, and
one with Plymouth.
The U.S. Marshal’s Office will auction off the
Hummel figurines, coins, stamps and designer
handbags taken from the Thomaston home he
shared with his mother. The town has filed a
claim with its insurance carrier to make up the
difference, Hamzy said.
Bertnagel also had two pension funds — one in
Bristol and one in Plymouth. Hamzy said he did
not know how much the town could recoup from
that, but he figures the town’s liability will be
waived.
Hamzy said the U.S. attorney’s office filed this
week in federal court a writ of garnishment for
the town to recoup the $290,000 from his deferred
compensation plans. State law regarding public
corruption only allows the attorney general to re-
voke pensions, not deferred compensation plans.
S A L I S B U R Y
Motorists along Route 44
getting new ‘speed alerts’
A speed enforcement program is underway in
July and August to slow down motorists along
Route 44 and other roadways in the higher traffic
areas of Salisbury and Lakeville.
Armed with a state Department of Transporta-
tion grant worth several thousand dollars, Resi-
dent State Trooper Christopher Sorrell said new
traffic enforcement “speed alert signs” will be
posted. “We have found the signs to be very useful
for speed reduction,” he said.
Residents who want attention paid to their neigh-
borhoods should contact Sorrell at 860-435-2938.
LYNN MELLIS WORTHINGTON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Despite a fatal accident on Sunday, the state
Department of Transportation says it has no
plans to add additional signs to the curve on
Route 341 near 152 Segar Mountain Road. The
downhill curve is posted for 30 miles per hour
and has had large arrow signs posted for at
least five years.
BY LARAINE WESCHLER
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
THOMASTON — Voters on
Wednesday night unanimous-
ly approved two bonding
projects at a town meeting.
The projects will fix sewers
in the oldest section of town
and purchase a new dump
truck for the Public Works
Department.
The $1.39 million sanitary
and sewer bond will replace
some of the oldest sewers in
the Web section of town,
around High Street,
Woodruff Avenue, Williams
Street and Hillside Avenue.
Lori Carriero, project man-
ager for Tighe & Bond con-
sulting engineers, said her
company inspected the sewer
lines with cameras to check
for structural issues and did
smoke testing to see if there
were any illegal connections
before designing the project.
A few lines — including
along Gilbert Street, Ran-
dolph Avenue and parts of
Walnut Street, Dudley Street,
Tracy Street, Terrace Road
and Judson Street — will be
completely replaced. Most
will get a simpler lining that
doesn’t require digging up
the roads.
The project also will add
manholes to improve access
to the line and bring them up
to code, Carriero said.
The bond includes the cost
of design and construction.
Town Attorney Mike Ry-
back said the High Street
sewer line has been a concern
in the past because of the
threat of future development
upstream.
Bondsfor2projectsOK’d
Voterspassfundingforsewerrepairs,truckpurchase
>>> OBITUARIESONPAGES5-6B
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015
SPORTS STARTS ON THE
BACK OF THIS SECTION
B
SECTION
L
Simona Halep will play
in the Connecticut Open
See BONDING, Page 5B
BY CARRIE GRACE HENDERSON
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
PLYMOUTH
A
chatty man,
Michael Sulkazi is
eager to show
friends, relatives
and even strangers the relics
from his past — such as the
ID card issued to him when
he first joined the Navy. It’s
yellowing now but in fine
condition for its age.
That description seems to
fit Sulkazi as well. At 94
years old, he walks with a
cane, but otherwise he is in-
distinguishable from other,
less seasoned veterans.
Now Sulkazi has three
more well-deserved memen-
tos to share. On Wednesday
evening, friends, family
members and community
leaders gathered in a small
American Legion Post in Ter-
ryville. They were giddy with
the thought of rectifying an
almost 70-year-old mistake.
An Asiatic-Pacific Cam-
paign Medal, a Philippine Lib-
eration Ribbon and a Republic
of the Philippine Presidential
Unit Citation Badge will join
an American Campaign
Medal, a Navy Good Conduct
Medal and a World War II
Victory Medal on the highly
decorated veteran’s shelf.
“I’m very proud of him,”
said Sue Tuba, Sulkazi’s
daughter. “This is something
he’s wanted for quite a long
MEDALS70YEARSOVERDUE
Plymouthveteran,94,receives3honorsforWWIIservice
Sulkazi receives his medals and citations from Plymouth
Mayor David V. Merchant. Sulkazi’s daughter, Susan Tuba,
watches from behind. See MEDALS, Page 5B
BY TAYLOR RAPALYEA
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
BRIDGEWATER —
There was a packed house
at the Bridgewater Senior
Center for Wednesday’s
town meeting to determine
the fate of 17.7 acres, but the
meeting ended almost as
soon as it began.
Resident David Bennett
moved to postpone consider-
ation of items two and three
on the agenda — regarding
the land and a request from
the Scholarship Committee
— until a townwide mailer
was sent out informing resi-
dents of the issues.
The motion carried, with
only a handful of votes op-
posed.
“I think the people of the
town deserve better notice
than a legal notice,” Bennett
said. “Otherwise we might
be accused of a rush to judg-
Decisionpostponed
ongifttolandtrust
BY ALEC JOHNSON
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
TORRINGTON — With
just six weeks remaining
until students return to
school, the Board of Educa-
tion must hustle to find an
interim superintendent to
replace Cheryl F. Kloczko,
whose resignation will be
effective around Sept. 1.
The school board on
Wednesday night met for
about 90 minutes behind
closed doors to discuss six
applicants for the job that
could last from September
to July, when the board
hopes to find a permanent
replacement for the schools
chief. After exiting execu-
tive session, the board voted
to invite two of the appli-
cants to an interview, but
the application process re-
mains open.
Board member Andrew
Boarddisagreesover
pickinginterimleader
See LAND, Page 5B See SCHOOLS, Page 5B