The Daily Five: Great Schools, Theft Updates, And "Sequester" Is The Word of The Day

1. There's an 80 percent chance of rain today, although it will taper off to occassional showers later this afternoon. Weather.com is predicting a windy day with a high temperature of 44 degrees and an overnight low of 36 degrees. Rain will return again later tonight. 

2. The word "sequester" only recently entered the vernacular in the context of federal budget cuts but now it's the only thing anyone is talking about. If it takes effect, the proposed reductions in the budget from April to September cut across every sector.

Cuts are proposed to special education, in college loans, in social services, and in defense spending, and thousands of Connecticut federal employees could be asked to take furloughs. We'll be looking at the impact this will have on a local level. 

3. While police continue to investigate the latest wave of burglaries to strike Lyme, two suspects facing charges relating to the burglary spree that happened in Lyme last spring and summer are being arraigned in New London Superior court this week. is being arraigned on Thursday. Both men are Lyme natives.  

4. I happened to be in New London yesterday not long after the Citizens Bank on State Street was robbed. Unlike the bank robberies in East Lyme, however, this time the alleged thief was apprehended—and quickly. (It probably helped that the bank is just a block from the police station.) After the dye pack exploded all over the money and the man, he ran to the train station where police caught up with him and made an arrest without incident.

5. And now for some good news ... Lyme Consolidated School and Niantic Center School, as well as the Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut operated by Old Lyme-based LEARN, were all honored as "schools of distinction" for outstanding overall performance by the state Department of Education yesterday. Congratulations!