Ronnie Greenman was visiting from down South, dropping off two of the Black Russian Terriers that he raises, and stopped by The Bee on Tuesday to say "Hello" to his longtime friend, Bee publisher Scudder Smith. Ronnie's dad owned Lovell's Garage on South Main Street, which was the building where today's Newtown Police Department is located. The two men were friends, growing up on "The Street," says Scudder.www.Buzzfeed.com asked Yelp "for the most popular ice cream shop in every state - which they measured using an algorithm that looked at the number of reviews plus the star rating for every business on Yelp." What did Yelp discover in Connecticut? This will come as no surprise to locals - Ferris Acres Creamery on Route 302. Congratulations to the Ferris family and all the scoopers who put smiles on people's faces from April through October each year with ice cream and friendly service.theharwoodinstitute.org/richs-blog/2016/7/8/what-to-do-about-the-crumbling-world.www.wearwoof.org, you'll see that Dolly has her own CrowdRise fundraiser - and all the money will pay for spaying or neutering 5,000 homeless pets this year. Now there's a cat with a worthwhile mission. She gets my vote.The Bee's front office, or at least you recognize her voice when you call - and she is sharing a lesson she learned. Bridget awoke one morning last week to no water. Worse yet, it cost her $180 to find out that it was not a well problem, but a problem with power. If she had thought to check if her dryer was working (it wasn't) she might have realized, she said, that the well pump and dryer are both 220 volt, as opposed to all of the other 110 volt (working) appliances in her house. But for the $180 charge, her well guy did suggest she call Eversource, before a private electrician. At a cost of $0, Eversource found that there was a problem with the wiring going into the house from the street, and fixed it lickety-split. Bridget's water was back in business. Her wallet, however, is still smarting.

Lawrence Zankel, a Walnut Tree Hill Road resident, had quite the surprise on Monday evening when, out the corner of his eye, he noticed "what I thought might be the neighborhood cat" coming out of the woods. He straightened up from gardening, only to find himself ten feet away from a black bear. Lawrence hurried himself into the house, then was treated to a ten-minute show, as the bear eschewed two bird feeders and settled in to tear down and snack on the contents of a third, nut- and seed-filled feeder. He also captured this photo and a few others, one of which clearly shows the ear tag number: 146. If it sounds familiar, this same bear appeared in my June 25 column, making a visit to a Cider Mill garbage can. The bear, Lawrence estimates, was about six feet tall standing on its hind legs to investigate the various bird feeders. While it was fun to watch, it was also a little thrilling, he added - and the bird feeders have been brought indoors. According to DEEP, male black bears can range 12 to 60 miles. So if you are anywhere in this bear's travel range, and your bird feeders, garbage, or even fruit trees are exposed, you might want to keep a close eye out for this local marauder.

Marauder…. Hmmmm. I think that is somewhat related to the word "crooks," and crooks of the worst kind absconded recently with a Beautiful Baby Contest collection jar set up in the Le Bobadel Deli in Middlebury. Contest organizer Lois Barber asks, "How low can you get to steal a collection jar with a photo of a young vet in a wheelchair and a cute little baby girl [on it]?" The jar was taken over the Fourth of July weekend, and unfortunately, surveillance footage doesn't show the thief. The Beautiful Baby Contest is a pay-to-vote contest, with proceeds supporting Homes For Our Troops, a nonprofit that builds adapted houses, at no cost, for young military personnel returning with life-altering injuries. This year, 22-year-old Army Ranger Sean Pesce of West Haven is the beneficiary. The jar is probably long gone (and bringing no joy to whomever took it, I hope), but Lois reminds us that donations are welcome. Send contributions to Homes For Our Troops, 6 Main Street, Taunton MA 02780. Make checks out to "Homes For Our Troops," and mark for Sean Pesce's house.

On an equally somber note, Rich Harwood of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation offered insight to the Sandy Hook School Building Task Force in 2013, in a series of sensitive meetings to determine if a new school would be built to replace the school that was the site of the 12/14 shooting; and where that school should be located. Rich continues to pass on thoughtful information about the world at large through his blog, most recently last week when he pondered "What To Do About The Crumbling World." You'll find his thoughts at

Dolly the cat is hoping to "fix" the world - the world of dogs and cats. This Pittsburgh-based kitty has announced her candidacy for president, according to catdailynews.com. Dolly is also the mascot for the nonprofi, WearWoof, a resale boutique that benefits animal welfare. I have to say, her platform is making me cringe a little - but not so much as some other candidates. Dolly's focus is on spaying and neutering for all pets, as well as trap-neuter-return programs for feral cats. If you go to

By the way, if you read me last week (and I know you did), you read about Browser, the Texas kitty being evicted from his library home. Good news - the White Settlement city council voted unanimously to reverse its decision. Browser stays!

You know Bridget from

There are so many lessons to learn. Maybe you'll find another next week, when you… Read me again.