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Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Frank Gorshin: lived here 1980-1998. File photoFormer Westporter Frank Gorshin, the master impressionist and character actor best known as the Riddler on the 1960s �Batman� television series, died Tuesday in Burbank, Calif.. He was 72.

Gorshin lived in Westport from 1980 to 1998 and often was seen driving around town in a silver-colored Rolls-Royce bearing a license plate that said STOLEN.

He received an Emmy nomination for his role on the “Batman” series and more recently brought comedian George Burns to life in a one-man Broadway show.

Gorshin died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he had been hospitalized for three weeks.

More "Actor Frank Gorshin, Former Westporter, Dies at 72"

7 p.m. - Toquet Hall - Youth Commission
7:30 p.m. - Town Hall Auditorium - Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing

The Westport Board of Finance tonight set a mill rate of 21.3 after hearing that its chair, Steve Ezzes (r), is resigning. Ezzes, who had led the board since 1997 and been a member since 1995, said the mill rate will result in a 3.4 percent tax increase. The Democrat, seen chatting with Vice Chair Shelly Kassen after the meeting, said he has purchased a house in Weston and that his resignation will be effective in June. WestportNow.com photo

In a bid to save the Abel Bradley House from becoming another Westport teardown, the Historic District Commission (HDC) Tuesday night voted to recommend the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission approve a proposed amendment to extend “historic overlay” zoning to residential areas.

Currently, historic overlay can only be applied in nonresidential zones to save historically significant buildings not on state or national historic registers from demolition.

“The result of tonight’s meeting may ultimately lead to saving the Bradley House, which would be wonderful,” said Eleanor Dickey, president of Coalition for Preservation of the Bradley House, who proposed the zoning change.

“But more importantly, it may, if the P&Z passes the amendment, lead to the preservation of more of Westport’s historic heritage all over the town.

More "Westport Historic District Commission Supports “Overlay Amendment”"

The former Steele’s Garage at 188 Post Road West came down today. (TOP) The property changed hands in December, 2004, for $900,000. The new owner, Westport Land Partners, LLC, intends to construct a 3,100-square foot retail store (BOTTOM) featuring a two-story atrium with a small mezzanine. The architect is Daniel Conlon Architects of Georgetown. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Top: WestportNow.com photo;Bottom: Contributed graphic

Steele’s garage as seen in this 1986 photo. The building, erected in 1930, was demolished today to make way for a retail store. Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The Friends of Sherwood Island will host Gina McCarthy, the newly-appointed commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), at its annual meeting Sunday.

The event will also honor Judy Nelson, who recently retired after 20 years as director of the Westport Weston Health District.

McCarthy will be keynote speaker at the 8 a.m. session at the Sherwood Island Pavilion. The meeting is open to the public.

“Gina is like a breath of fresh air,” said Hope Hageman, the Friends past president and current membership chair. “She is very interested in parks, especially the nature center we are currently building at Sherwood Island.”

More "Sherwood Island Friends to Host DEP Commissioner Sunday"

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

10:30 a.m. - Town Hall Room 102 - International Hospitality Committee
Noon - Room 309/307 - Citizens Brown Bag Luncheon
1 p.m. - 21 Imperial Ave. - Westport Center for Senior Activities Policy Planning Board
7 p.m. - Town Hall Room 201/201A - Conservation Commission
7 p.m. - Town Hall Room 309 - Board of Finance anticipated executive session
7:30 p.m. - Westport Public Library - Library Board
8 p.m. - Town Hall Auditorium - Board of Finance Public Hearing

Noting that Connecticut is second only to Louisiana in the production of oysters, the Natural Resources Council of Connecticut, Inc. has scheduled a day trip set to leave from Westport’s Sherwood Island State Park, Wednesday, June 1, at 9 a.m.

“This special day is designed to celebrate our rich coastal resource in Connecticut, meet farmers of the sea and provide a behind-the-scenes look into the aquatic realm of Long Island Sound, designated an Estuary of National Significance,” said Erin O’Hare, council secretary.

Meeting at Sherwood Island, participants are scheduled board a coach bus to the State Aquaculture Division and the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory in Milford. They are expected to return by bus for lunch at Sherwood Island’s picnic shelter.

This will be followed by a scheduled bus tour to Talmadge Brothers, Inc.’s shellfish operation in Norwalk, O’Hare said, from which there will be a boat ride out to the oyster beds. The cost is $25, which covers transportation and lunch, but not the Sherwood Island parking fee. For further information, call (203)743-0306.

Westport motorists not wearing seatbelts will be targeted by an aggressive Click It or Ticket Mobilization scheduled from May 23 through June 5, Westport Police Department officials announced today. Each ticket carries a $37 fine.

�Because we�ve seen first-hand the severe injury and death that often result from not wearing a safety belt, we will be showing zero tolerance for anyone not buckled up,” said Lt. Dale Call.

“Unless you want to risk a ticket—or worse, your life—remember to wear your belt. We want everyone on the road to remember to buckle up—every trip, every time.�

In Westport, Call said officers plan to conduct checkpoints at numerous locations throughout the day and evening.

More "Click It or Ticket Campaign Set"

Representatives from 26 area non-profits attended today’s Westport Rotary Club luncheon at the Inn at Longshore to pick up checks totaling $18,500 from the club as part of its annual charitable giving effort. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Longtime Westport resident and attorney Leo Nevas was among those who addressed today’s Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on big houses. The panel will hold an evening session May 25 at 7:30 p.m. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Ron Malone for WestportNow.com

Today’s Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on big houses lasted almost two hours. Many speakers lamented the large number of big houses that have gone up in Westport but at the same time cautioned the commission about trying to impose tighter regulations belatedly and thus threatening the value of homes. Resident Richard Stein said if they did, he’d accuse members of “stealing my retirement fund.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Happy ending: Fire Chief Chris Ackley points to where today’s dog rescue occurred. WestportNow.com photoIn a delicate operation with a happy ending, Westport firefighters today rescued a dog that had become stuck in a fallen tree while chasing a possum deep inside Winslow Park.

“I can’t believe the job they did,” said owner Linda Mezzullo of Westport after firefighters sawed the tree in several places and finally freed her dog Baxter, a black and tan Coonhound mix, after he had been trapped for about half an hour. “Thank God for the Westport Fire Department.”

The drama began shortly after 7 a.m. when Mezzullo, a 39-year-old executive recruiter, took Baxter and Tyr, a Shepard mix, to the park for a walk.

“Baxter ran off after something, which he does very often, but this time he didn’t come back,” said Mezzullo. “Then Tyr began barking and pulling me towards this tree that had fallen way in the woods. I could hear him (Baxter) but could not see him and said, ‘No way could he be in that tree.’”

More "Firefighters Rescue Dog from Winslow Park Fallen Tree"

Monday, May 16, 2005

8:30 a.m. - Town Hall Room 201 - Human Services Commission
9 a.m. - Town Hall Room 309 - Administrative Review Committee
10 a.m. - Town Hall Auditorium - Planning & Zoning Commission
10 a.m. - Town Hall Room 309 - Arts Advisory Committee
5:30 p.m. - Town Hall Room 201 - Tree Board
7 p.m. - Town Hall Room 102 - Historic District Commission
7 p.m. - Town Hall Auditorium - Public Forum with Connecticut House Speaker James Amann
7:30 p.m. - Town Hall Room 201/201A - Zoning Board of Appeals

Westport Democrats pose for photographers tonight at Westport Town Hall following the announcement by Gordon Joseloff, moderator of the Representative Town Meeting, and Shelly Kassen, vice chair of the Board of Finance, that they are candidates for First and Second Selectmen in November’s election. Shown (l-r) are: Martha Aasen, chair of the Democratic Town Committee; Kassen; Joseloff; First Selectwoman Diane G. Farrell; Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, and Mark Marcus, vice chair of the Democratic Town Committee. Joseloff is also editor/publisher of WestportNow.com. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The buildings behind John’s Best Pizza Restaurant at 351-361 Post Road West came down today. The property was the WestportNow teardown of the day April 7, 2005. John’ s Best opened here in 1968. It will be demolished in the fall after a new strip mall is built and will make a new home in the shopping complex, along with a Peoples Bank branch and other stores. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

A coyote with a cat in its mouth was spotted in the backyard of a home in Westport’s Pumpkin Hill Road area at 7 a.m. today, Westporter Joel Hallas reported.

Hallas, out for his morning walk with his Golden Retriever Rusty in the one-acre-zoned neighborhood south of Cross Highway, learned about the incident after he met up with a woman who “appeared to be a little bit shaken.”

“She had walked out to pick up her newspaper, and her attention was drawn to it by the shriek the cat made when it was killed,” he said.

Hallas added that the cat did not belong to the woman, and its owner is unknown.

More "Coyote Kills Cat in Westport’s Pumpkin Hill Road Neighborhood"

A group of Westport Police Department members traveled to Washington, D.C. Friday to honor a fallen colleague as part of the 17th annual candlelight vigil held at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. The ceremony honored 153 law enforcement heroes who in 2004 made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as 262 additional fallen heroes whom history had until this point forgotten. Added to the memorial this year was Auxiliary Police Officer Aldo J. Santini of the Westport Police Department. Santini, 47, was killed in the line of duty while working on Westport�s police boat in 1964. He was injured on July 26, 1964, while assisting a grounded boat off Saugatuck Shores, and died on Aug. 1, 1964 from his injuries. Westport officers accompanying Santini’s daughter, Anita Santini (front row, 2nd l), to the ceremony included front row (l-r): Chief Al Fiore and Officer Linda Vena; back row (l-r): Honor Guard Officers Eric Woods, Foti Koskinas, Philip Restieri, Anastasia DeLuca, and Lt. Dale Call. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Sunday, May 15, 2005

A resident of Saugatuck Island walked home with his dog along a path near the Cedar Point Yacht Club over the weekend. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Emily Laux for WestportNow.com

By James Lomuscio
WestportNow Special Correspondent

Flyfishers along Westport’s Ford Road Sunday said catches have been unimpressive this season at the William “Doc” Skerlick Saugatuck River Trout Management Area.
Trying his luck: Mike Westerholm of Fairfield fishes along Ford Road Sunday. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) James Lomucio for WestportNow.com

“From what I’ve been hearing the fishing hasn’t been too good this year,” said John Berube of Fairfield as he whipped his weighted line in vain and plodded in hipwaders breast high in the water. “I’ve seen bugs on the water but only one rise.”

The last nibbles he had were two weeks ago, Berube said, when he pulled in two small brown trout.

Mike Westerholm, too, said he couldn’t understand why the fish weren’t biting. “I know they stock this place,” he said, adding that perhaps all the new home construction in the area has had an impact.

More "Not Even a Nibble"

7 p.m. - Town Hall Room 309/307 - Board of Selectmen Special Public Hearing
7:30 p.m. - Bedford Middle School, Room 130 - Board of Education anticipated executive session
8 p.m. - Bedford Middle School Cafeteria - Board of Education
8 p.m. - Town Hall Auditorium - Democratic Town Committee

Today was Commissioning Day at the Compo Marina for the Minuteman Yacht Club. Per Sorensen, Commodore of the club, presented a plaque to First Selectwoman Diane G. Farrell in appreciation of her support of the boating community. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) John Luscombe for WestportNow.com

Saturday, May 14, 2005

One person went to the hospital today as a result of an accident involving a car and a motorcycle on Post Road East. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Ron Malone for WestportNow.com

By James Lomuscio
WestportNow Special Correspondent

At noon today they were merely piles of sand that a bulldozer had strategically dumped by along Compo Beach. But with a little imagination and a lot of toil in the sun, these mounds by 3 p.m. transformed into a sea turtle, a serpent, an octopus, a porcupine—even a race car, not to mention sand castles.
Porcupine sculpture: named one of the best. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) James Lomuscio for WestportNow.com

Dubbed Castles in the Sand, this fourth annual fundraiser for the Interfaith Housing Association (IHA) drew hundreds of serious sand artists as well as newcomers who wanted reconnect with their inner child, if not sandbox.

It also raised more than $20,000 for the social service organization that provides resources and care for homeless individuals in the Westport area.

Castles in the Sand is the brainchild of Ed Brennan, a member of IHA’s board of directors.

More "Hundreds Flock to Castles in the Sand at Compo"

A crowd gathered to hear the announcement of the winners at today’s Castle in the Sand event at Compo Beach. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Galen Blumenthal for WestportNow.com

Several hundred people took the sands of Compo Beach today for the fourth annual Castles in the Sand fund-raiser for the Interfaith Housing Association. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Stephen Rubin for WestportNow.com

The Staples High School class of 1970 will hold its 35th reunion in Westport the weekend of Aug. 5-7.

Classmates will be meeting at the Longshore Club Park Patio Bar at 7 p.m. Friday for cocktails. A buffet dinner dance will be held from 7 p.m. to midnight Saturday at the Sons of Italy in Norwalk featuring the band Smoke.

Members of Smoke include Staples alumni Mark Smollin, Chuck Boisseau, Steve Wall, Marc Ballin, Peter Mogren, John Leimseider and Denning McCleery. The weekend will culminate with a picnic at Compo Beach beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Organizers ask grads to spread the word to all classmates from 1970 and anyone from the classes of 1969 and 1971 who may wish to join them.

Those interestested are asked to visit www.smollin.com/staples and register for the reunion with an e-mail address to receive the eVite containing the event details Or you can contact Mary Palmieri Gai (203-454-3026 - ) or Pat Saviano (203-853-2009 � ).

Friday, May 13, 2005

Early morning activity Friday along the Saugatuck River in Westport. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Ron Malone for WestportNow.com

WestportNow contributing photographer Lauren Hampton came across this visitor to Westport’s Compo Beach marina and believes it’s a black-crowned night heron. Do WN readers agree? (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lauren Hampton for WestportNow.com

10 a.m. - Community Theater, Fairfield - Westport Youth Film Festival
Noon - Compo Beach - Interfaith Housing Association “Castles in the Sand”
8 p.m. - Quick Center, Fairfield - Westport Arts Center co-sponsors “Jazz in the Grand Manner”

There were few visitors today to Westport’s Compo Beach at low tide (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com

W. Michael “Mike” Bliss, a longtime member of the Westport business community and active and dedicated community volunteer, died Wednesday, his family said today. He was 56.
Mike Bliss: longtime community volunteer. WN photo

“Mike will be fondly remembered as a loving husband, a devoted father, and an active and dedicated member of the Westport community where he resided for the last 25 years,” a family statement said. “He was a successful and generous businessman, a respected leader and teacher, and a treasured friend to many.”

Son of Mrs. Jane Bliss and Dr. William Bliss, Mike Bliss was born in 1949 in Ames, Iowa. He attended Iowa State University on a football scholarship and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1974 after serving in the U.S. Army.

A longtime member of the Westport business community, he was affiliated with the financial planning firm Westport Resources Management, Inc. since 1986, first as an investment advisor agent, and since 1987 as a portfolio manager.

More "W. Michael “Mike” Bliss Dies at 56"

Westport police investigate a one-car accident today on Riverside Avenue near Burr Road. No one was injured in the incident. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Ron Malone for WestportNow.com

After more than two years and repeated delays, the $7.8 million renovation and upgrade to make Westport’s Saugatuck Railroad station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act is complete. State officials told Westport First Selectwoman Diane G. Farrell in a letter this week that during construction of the new tunnel, additional unexpected rock ledge and boulders were found. They also said additional unanticipated station building repairs were necessary to maintain the structure’s integrity. A state inspector was making a final inspection of the new elevators this morning.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

PROPERTY TRANSFERS

Westport Property Transfers Nov. 2 - 6, 2009
MORE >>

ARTS & LEISURE

Hey, Rochester:  It’s Jack Benny’s Daughter in Westport

Learning the Art of Murals

BUSINESS

Westporter Heads New Connecticut Online News Project

Comings and Goings: Fitness Factory Opens on Post Road East

COMMUNITY

Sending Out Holiday Mailings

Winners

HEALTH & FITNESS

Health District Schedules New H1N1 Clinics

Doctor: “Explosive Inroads” in Cancer Treatment

EDUCATION

“Hoops for Heart” Raises Funds at Bedford Middle School

Laughter With a Message

OBITUARIES

Ann Allen Schaefer, 90

Carmelle G. Duquette, 98

POLITICS

Letter from Isabelle: “Wos It Wirth It?”

Joseloff Sworn In for a Second Term

REAL ESTATE

Westport Property Transfers Nov. 2 - 6, 2009

Honoring Our Heritage: 18 Bridge St.

SPORTS

Staples Boys Soccer Championship Set for Saturday at Noon

Superfans

SPECIAL REPORTS

Memorial Day 2009 photos
 
A Westporter’s View: Final Farewell to Walter Cronkite
MORE >>

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Note: WestportNow Publisher Gordon F. Joseloff is also First Selectman of Westport