Page 1A for July 17, 2015 for the Litchfield County editiion

1. RepublicanAmerican
LITCHFIELD COUNTY 75¢THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015
REP-AM.COM
BY KURT MOFFETT
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WINSTED — The adminis-
trative changes at the Gilbert
School are complete.
Mary C. Verrastro is offi-
cially out as assistant princi-
pal, having submitted a resig-
nation letter on Wednesday.
The Gilbert School Corp. vot-
ed unanimously last month to
eliminate her position.
Verrastro, however, re-
mained technically employed
until Wednesday because she
had requested a hearing
within 20 days of being laid
off. The Gilbert Corp.’s agen-
da for Wednesday night’s
meeting included an item for
a “possible hearing” for Ver-
rastro, but it was not held.
Hired in 2012, Verrastro
made $119,478 annually and
oversaw grades 10 through
12.
“I will always love the
Gilbert School and will miss
my school family tremen-
dously,” Verrastro wrote in
her resignation letter. “I have
learned a great deal in my
role as assistant principal and
I will always appreciate the
opportunities that were pro-
vided to me by so many.”
The Gilbert Corp. also vot-
ed to approve Head of School
Anthony Serio’s recommen-
dation to grant Verrastro her
$7,300 annuity even though
GilbertshuffledoneEliminated assistant principal resigns, teacher promoted
Sunny and not as
warm today and
tonight; Friday is
nice, too. Page 6C
WOLCOTT LEGION TEAM ENDS
29-YEAR RUN OF MISSING STATE
BASEBALL TOURNEY, PAGE 12B
Elder Bush falls, breaks bone
Former President George H.W. Bush fell at
his home in Maine late Wednesday and
broke a bone in his neck. A spokesman
said he’s in stable condition and “fine.”
Legs, arm found in New Haven
A pair of severed human legs and an arm
were found Wednesday in downtown New
Haven near the State Street Railroad
Station. PAGE 3A
NASA scientists blown away
Pictures of Pluto and its moon, Charon,
sent back by the New Horizons spacecraft
amazed NASA scientists with massive ice
mountains and huge canyons. PAGE 5A
Plymouth veteran gets due
Michael Sulkazi, a World War II veteran
from Plymouth, received three more
medals for his military service during a
ceremony Wednesday night. PAGE 1B
High 76
Low 55
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Comics22-23D
Crossword19D
Editorials6A
Horoscope18D
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Movietheaters7D
Obituaries5-6B
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DROUGHT IS OVER
50 pages. © 2015 Republican-American
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All rights reserved
Read it at rep-am.com
6 34373 12494 2
OPINION OF THE DAY: “PresidentObama’s
actionsandinactionsmustbeprettybadifPresidentCarter
iscriticizingthem.”—DavidR.Scott,BeaconFalls
READ THE FULL LETTER ON PAGE 6A
>> WORLD SERIES ODDS LookintheTimeOutblog
toseethelatestLasVegasoddsteamswinningtheWorldSeries.The
MetshavebetteroddsthantheRedSox.
>> WIN DINNER VisittheonlineDiningGuideforachance
towina$25giftcardtoSaybrookFishHouseinCanton.
>> THROWBACK THURSDAY Visittheblogtosee
newspaperarchivephotosofLakeQuassyandtheamusementpark.
>> NEW MOVIE VisittheEntertainmentpagetowatcha
trailerforthenewMarvelsuperherofilm“Ant-Man.”ReviewonPage6D.
WEB EXTRAS
TODAY AT REP-AM.COM
WORLD’S
NO. 3 PLAYER,
SIMONA HALEP,
SET TO PLAY IN
STATE’S TENNIS
EVENT, PAGE 12B
PROS
COMING
L
VETERANS FINALLY AT REST
ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S Navy Fireman, Machinists Mate Striker Aixa Cruz, left, and U.S Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class James Stringer, right,
fold a flag for former Navy sailor David Kendle, one of four Connecticut veterans who were buried Wednesday at State
Veteran’s Cemetery in Middletown. The four veterans all died within the past 13 years, decades after their military service,
and their cremated remains sat in a funeral home storage area because no relatives could be found. Story on Page 4A.
BY BRIGITTE RUTHMAN
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WINSTED — Police who
were nearly struck by cars
driven by fleeing thieves ear-
ly Wednesday morning have
arrested one Waterbury juve-
nile and expect to arrest
more.
A Winsted man narrowly
escaped significant injury
when he was “grazed” by one
of the stolen cars, police said.
The mayhem began with a
call of suspicious activity and
possible car break-ins on
Hamil Drive at 2:50 a.m. Re-
sponding officers found two
people on Benton Street. Both
fled into a wooded area, po-
lice said.
A third individual caught
by police nearby said he was
with a group of five teenagers
who arrived in Winsted after
stealing vehicles in Bristol
and Waterbury. He told po-
lice the group arrived
Winsted
policesay
teenscame
justtosteal
Man grazed
by fleeing driver
VETOVETO
BACKGROUND
BY PAUL HUGHES
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
HARTFORD — Democrat-
ic leaders are still weighing
whether to try to revive any
of the nine bills that Gov.
Dannel P. Malloy vetoed this
year, including one requiring
the state education commis-
sioner have a background in
education.
The legislature is sched-
uled to return Monday for a
constitutionally required veto
session, but majority Democ-
rats have not yet overridden
one of the Democratic gover-
nor’s 39 vetoes since he took
office in 2011.
Senate President Martin
M. Looney, D-New Haven,
and House Speaker Brendan
Sharkey, D-Hamden, said
Wednesday that plans remain
up in the air for Monday’s
session. The two Democratic
leaders said they continue to
poll House and Senate De-
mocrats on the vetoed bills.
“We haven’t made any de-
cisions yet about whether to
go forward with any potential
overrides,” Sharkey said.
Looney said House and
Senate Democrats need to di-
gest the governor’s veto mes-
sages in weighing their deci-
sions on each of the nine bills.
Willtheybreakvetoice?
Legislators to look at 9 bills Malloy blocked
>> To override a veto
requires 100 votes in
the 151-member House
and 24 votes in the
36-member Senate.
>> Gov. Dannel P. Malloy,
a Democrat, vetoed 30
bills from 2011 to 2014,
with zero overrides.
>> Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a
Republican in office
2004 until 2010, vetoed
55 bills and lawmakers
overturned 16 of them.
>> Democats have con-
trolled both legislative
houses since 1998.
BY CARRIE GRACE HENDERSON
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
TORRINGTON — An al-
leged scheme to steal cop-
per out of an air condition-
ing unit atop the former
Kmart store early Wednes-
day left one city man criti-
cally injured in the hospital
and another behind bars,
police said.
Called to 681 Main St. for
a report of a man falling
from the roof at 1:45 a.m.,
police allege Jason Alexon
and Jacob Newman, both
33, had tried to steal copper
from the roof when Alexon
fell to the ground at the rear
of the building. The roof is
about one-and-a-half sto-
ries high.
Alexon first was taken to
Charlotte Hungerford Hos-
pital and then to Hartford
Hospital for treatment. A
hospital spokesman said
Policesaycopperthiefhurtfallingoffroof
See FALL, Page 7A
>> A look at Malloy’s nine
vetoes that lawmakers
will consider in Monday’s
session, Page 7A.
See VETO, Page 7A
See STEAL, Page 7A
AP
See GILBERT, Page 7A
I