An alert Winsted policeman ended a night of "fun" for five area youngsters, concluding a night that started out at the Winchester boat launching area.
I refer to them as youngsters, but four 17 year-olds and one 18 year-old certainly should have known they were out of bounds when entering two area homes in the dead of night and busting mailboxes.
Who knows where they were headed when they passed Officer Chris Roy along the way. After a brief chase, Officer Roy managed to stop the vehicle, ending a night of terror for two families whose homes they forcibly entered.
Police Chief Nick Guerriero informed me a few days ago that the department has been inundated with calls along these lines but maybe not to the extent of this one.
Mailbox damage is an ongoing problem, something I can attest to. In fact, mine could be one of the boxes damaged during this spree, as it happened the same night.
Anyway, the Winsted Police Department and Officer Chris Roy are to be congratulated for a job well done.
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A Gift For You: Tax refunds, insurance payouts, unclosed bank accounts — all these add up to some $3 billion in unclaimed cash and assets being held by the U.S. government.
Some of it might be yours.
If, for instance, you didn’t file an income tax return in the last couple of years because you didn’t owe taxes, you might have some money coming to you, refunds that you failed to claim by not filing a return. There’s a three-year window to claim such funds. After that, it’s the government’s.
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Where’s Ralph?: Someone said to me recently, "Where’s Ralph Nader? If he’s running for the presidency, why haven’t we heard from him?"
That’s a question easily answered.
As soon as the Democratic ticket is straightened out and we have candidates from the two major parties going at each other, we’ll hear from Ralph. I’m sure he knows what he’s up against in his effort to be a candidate for the top office in the land. I’m also sure that he knows he is an underdog in the race. And I’m sure he knows he will have the opportunity to have his views known across the country.
He will be offering information that will not come from the Democratic or Republican candidates.
I enjoyed reading a portion of a recent column which appeared in the press. Here it is: "The people hear nothing about what McCain, Obama and Clinton will do about runaway drug, gasoline and heating oil prices, not to mention what these senators have already done in these areas of public outcry."
Whoever thought that the town of Winchester would have a native son run for president of the United States, not once but five times?
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World’s Oldest: At the age of 111, Tomoji Tanabe was recognized as the world’s oldest male with a certificate from Guinness World Records. Tanabe says that he keep a daily diary, drinks milk, and avoids alcohol and cigarettes. Coincidentally, the world’s oldest person, a woman named Yone Minagawa, age 114, is also Japanese. In the past 10 years, the number of Japanese living past 100 has almost quadrupled and is expected to grow to over 28,000 this year.
