The Daily Five: Formica and Courtney Meet for Virtual Debate, Prescription Cards in Lyme

1. I hope everyone enjoyed the weather this weekend because we're off to a dreary start this week. It's going to be windy and wet, with a 60 percent chance of rain today and the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Weather.com is predicting a high temperature of 71 degrees and an overnight low of 52 degrees.

2. East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica, a Republican, and Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Courtney are both campaigning for the 2nd District Congressional seat this election. Today they will face each other for the first time in a virtual debate. The web debate will be hosted online by the New London Day at noon. 

3. After a recent story on Old Lyme's decision to offer residents prescription drug discount cards, a reader asked whether the town of Lyme planned to do the same. It turns out, Lyme actually did it first! The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities offered all its members the option to sign up for this program, and Lyme didn't hesitate to take CCM up on the offer.

The prescription benefit cards are issued by the town but the program is administered by ProAct, Inc., a New York state-based pharmacy benefit management company, so it costs the town nothing to offer the benefit to local residents who don't have prescription coverage.  

4. Old Lyme Board of Selectmen meets tonight at 7:30 at Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall. Once again, sewers and roads will be topics for discussion. The board will be revisiting a proposal to update the water resource code and discussing the formation of a Community Septic System Task Force. The board will also discuss snow plowing policies and hear a proposal to accept Village Lane as a town road. 

5. Space update: By all accounts, the East Lyme Middle School students who went to Cape Canaveral in Florida to watch the launch of their experiment into space had a great trip.

"Part of our group was invited by SpaceX as VIP guests to view the launch. Met NASA administrators, astronauts, and Florida’s deputy governor, among others," reports 6th Grade science teacher Glenn Penkofflidbeck.

Meanwhile here at home, Tri-Town Market at Flanders Four Corners raised $1,200 as part of its “Buy a Rocket” point-of-sale benefit for the students adventure. Glenn Penkofflidbeck said they'll use the donation toward their trip next July to the Air and Space Museum for a symposium where the boys will report their scientific results.

This Day in History

On October 15, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Daily Trivia

Who is the only U.S. President to have received the Nobel Peace Prize whilst not in office?

Friday's Answer: Mysophobia is the pathological fear of germs, contamination, dirt.

(This Day and Daily Trivia compiled by John Carroll.)