The Daily Five: Flags Lowered, Roads to Avoid, And Mea Culpa

1. Low humidity, warm temperatures, sunny skies, and a cool clear night—who could ask for more perfect weather? Weather.com predicts we'll have a high temperature of 78 degrees and an overnight low of 60 degrees. There's a 10 percent chance of rain but that's not likely to happen until tonight. 

2. Flags are flying at half-staff again but it's no longer in memory of those who died on September 11, 2001. Now it's in honor of Ambassador John Christopher Stevens and the American personnel who were killed in Benghazi, Libya, when a mob of angry protesters attacked the U.S. Consulate on September 11, 2012. 

Governor Dannel P. Malloy, following a proclamation by President Barack Obama, yesterday ordered U.S. and Connecticut flags to fly at half-staff until sunset on September 16.

“Our prayers and deepest sympathies are with the families, friends and colleagues of Ambassador Stevens and the American personnel who were killed in this brutal attack,” said Governor Malloy. “We know that the work to build nations and strengthen our global relationships is difficult and dangerous, and we are cognizant of just how many Americans undertake these efforts in embassies and consulates across the world. We stand with the President and the rest of the country in condemning the perpetrators of this attack.”

3. that started at Flanders Four Corners in East Lyme yesterday continues today and will be affecting a number of neighborhood roads too. The roads to avoid today are Upper Walnut Hill Road, including Grassy Hill Road and Holmes Road, which will have delays due to paving and will be closed to all but local traffic until tomorrow.

Drivers are advised to find alternate routes but between the usual awful congestion on 1-95, roadwork on Route 1, and delays caused by tree trimming and school buses, you'll probably be lucky if you don't get stuck in traffic somewhere today.  

4. The application for containing a hockey rink and an artificial turf playing field (amongst other things) garnered most of the attention at Old Lyme's Zoning Commission meeting earlier this week but it wasn't the only item on the agenda. 

An application file by Huntley & Halls, LLC, for a special permit and municipal coastal site plan review that would be needed to construct a 14,600 square foot two-story professional office building at 1 Huntley Road, however, was approved with very little fanfare. The Commission added just a few caveats to increase the number of handicapped parking spaces and to ensure that the height of the building would be within zoning regulations. 

5. As the was the most popular story yesterday, I thought I'd better point out that there was an error in the lead article about the mother whose son went a-wandering. I mistakenly confused the name of the arresting officer, Jean Cavanaugh, with the name of the mother, Jennifer Rogers. The story has been corrected. 

Apologies to all and thanks very much to the reader who brought the error to my attention. I am my own editor and am still learning who's who around East Lyme, Old Lyme, and Lyme, so I depend on all of you to be my eyes, ears, and sometimes proofreaders! If you see something that needs my attention, please, let me know!

If you've got something that you're burning to share with the world, however, I'd encourage you to start a blog on Patch! This space is your space too. Why not use it?