Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Five RTM Members Fail to Sign Up for Re-Election
UPDATE Five members of Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM), including Moderator Alice Shelton, have failed to return papers indicating they will seek re-election, Town Clerk Patricia Strauss said today.
Flashback: Alice Shelton and Dr. Lisa Rome following their election in December 2005 as RTM Moderator and Deputy Moderator. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Steve Rubin for WestportNow.com
The deadline was today for the 36 members to file a statement indicating they intend to seek re-election in November for a two-year term. But those failing to return papers still have time to change their mind. They, along with anyone else seeking to run for the RTM, have until Sept. 10 to submit a petition signed by at least 25 electors in their district to place their name on the ballot.
According to Strauss, in addition to Shelton (District 2), who has served for 10 years, and moderator for two years, others who did not file re-election statements (and their length of service) include: Valerie Fischel (District 4) four years; Garry Boxer (District 4) two years; Ralph Hymans (District 5), 10 years (not consecutive), and Kim Mathias (District 9) four years. Dorothy Harris (District 2) had originally been listed as not submitting a re-election request, but Strauss said the document had arrived via e-mail after the office closed.
Velma Heller (District 6), who has served six years, moved to District 9 and will have to petition to appear on the ballot for that district. All residents also may seek to become a write-in candidate with the deadline two weeks before the election, Strauss said.
Police Arrest Five Youths in Concession Stand Break-In
Westport police early today arrested five 14-year-olds in connection with a break-in at the concession stand at the Little League fields on Compo Road North. A police officer checking the building at about 1 a.m. found the door open and a window broken with two bicycles nearby. A police dog lead officers to the five juveniles hiding in nearby bushes. The youths, three from Westport and two from Weston, were released to the custody of their parents and face burglary and larceny charges in Juvenile Court. Their identities were not released because of their age. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Former Staples Footballer Mulcahy OK After Training Injury
Sean Mulcahy: Recovering from neck injury. Bengals.com photoFormer Staples and UConn football standout Sean Mulcahy was injured during a training camp practice Monday morning with the Cincinnati Bengals in Georgetown, Ky. But he was back at camp hours later.
“The Bengals suffered a scary moment at Monday morning’s practice when they watched an ambulance drive on the field and take tight end Sean Mulcahy while strapped to a stretcher with a neck injury,” the team’s Web site, bengals.com said.
“But by the time the Bengals practiced Monday night, Mulcahy was back at camp resting comfortably and ready to meet Tuesday with club doctors about his neck/spinal injury. He’s expected to have a full medical recovery but the continuation of his career will no doubt be discussed.”
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Mulcahy was running a blocking drill when the injury occurred, Bengals.com said. Public relations director Jack Brennan reported Mulcahy was joking and conversing with nurses at the University of Kentucky Trauma Center a short time after he was admitted, it said.
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Beach Fun
A game of Frisbee helped pass the time for these youngsters Monday at Westport’s Compo Beach. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Westport Arts Center - Group Show I
10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. - Evan Harding Point at Longshore - Storytime at Longshore
8 p.m. - Levitt Pavilion - Klezical Tradition
Monday, July 30, 2007
TeenFlix Season Debut Draws Small Crowd
By Linda Alvkall
High humidity, temperatures in the upper 70s and a sky that looked like it might storm marked tonight’s debut of TeenFlix, the outdoor teen summer Monday night movie series at Westport’s Levitt Pavilion.
Tonight’s TeenFlix movie series debut at the Levitt Pavilion attracted a small but enthusiastic crowd. Among them were Freia Andrews, 13, (l) and her sister Siri, 12 (c.) (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com
The Westport Youth Commission-sponsored event was not packed, but those who showed up for the 2006 movie “Talledega Nights” starring Will Ferrell said they had a good time.
“This is my second year watching movies here, and I will come every Monday if I am around,” said Kate Doyle, 17, of Westport who came with a few friends to watch the show.
She said that she likes Will Ferrell and she found out about the NASCAR-themed movie through the Levitt Pavilion calendar.
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Newest “Green”: Geothermal and Dual-Flush Toilets
By Ed Kiersh
If you thought a solar cell-covered roof was “green” cool, Westport now has an environmentally sensitive “high performance” house.
The house at 122 Bayberry Lane has the latest “green” systems which could mean up to $8,000 savings in annual utility bills, according to builder Barry Katz. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
The $3.695 million 5,750-square-foot colonial at 122 Bayberry Lane offers a glimpse into the Green Revolution and the future.
Longtime Westport builder Barry Katz recently completed the house that features a geothermal heating and cooling sytem, formaldehyde-free plywood, water-saving dual-flush toilets, and zero volatile organic compounds.
“I feel houses should not only keep you warm and dry, but they should also keep you healthy,” said Katz, who has spent years researching “green” refinements.
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Hanging Out
These visitors to Westport’s Compo Beach felt like hanging out today on a lifeguard chair. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
Electrical Firm Files $1 Million Suit Over Staples Project
A Hartford-based electrical contracting company has served notice on the Town of Westport that it is seeking more than $1 million for what it contends is nonpayment for labor services in the recent rebuilding and expansion project at Staples High School.
Electrical Contractors, Inc. (ECI) said the town directed ECI to perform additional work “outside the scope of the contract,” but refused to pay the company for the extra work, according to papers filed with the Town Clerk.
ECI is seeking $1,068,047 plus interest and legal costs.
Town Attorney Ira Bloom said the town had fulfilled its obligations with ECI.
Joseloff Names King’s Highway Maintenance Committee
First Selectman Gordon Joseloff today announced the appointment of a special committee to review mold and other air quality issues at King’s Highway Elementary School.
The Special King’s Highway Elementary School Maintenance Review Committee will be headed by R. Gavin S. Anderson, chair of the First Selectman’s Maintenance Committee and a former member of the Board of Finance.
It will include Selectman Shelly Kassen, representatives from the Maintenance Committee, the Westport School District, the Westport Weston Health District, the town’s Building and Public Works Departments, King’s Highway parents, and consultant Gil Cormier of New Britain-based Occupational Risk Control Services, Inc.
“As promised at last week’s Town Hall meeting on this issue, I am naming a committee to take steps to help ensure that students and teachers can return to school next month with the confidence that it is environmentally safe,” said Joseloff. He will be an ex-officio member of the committee. (See WestportNow July 26, 2007)
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Canoe Cruise
Today’s sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s made it a good time for a canoe cruise on Long Island Sound. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
WestportNow Teardown of the Day: 1700 Post Road East
Westport building officials have received an application for a permit to demolish the 1925 building that houses the Peppermill Restaurant. Located at 1700 Post Road East, the 8,149-square-foot building sits on a 1.48-acre property. The restaurant closed Sunday with a farewell cocktail party for customers after 40 years at the location, formerly a Greyhound bus station. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dsve Matlow for WestportNow.com
Just Peachy
The peaches looked especially attractive at Sunday’s Westport Farmers Market at the Westport Center for Senior Activities. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
Monday, July 30, 2007
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Westport Arts Center - Group Show I
4 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - Jesup Green - The Story Wagon
4 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Westport Public Library - Teen Gaming in the Afternoon (ages 12 and up)
5:30 p.m. - Staples High Schoo Room 590 - School Building Committee Staples Subcommittee
7:30 p.m. – Town Hall Room 201A – Representative Town Meeting Information Technology Committee
7:30 p.m. – Town Hall Room 309 – Representative Town Meeting Planning and Zoning Committee
8 p.m. - Levitt Pavilion - TeenFlix Movie Night - “Talledega Nights” (2006, PG-13)
Sunday, July 29, 2007
How Sweet It Is
Katie Chase of Westport selects some corn at today’s Westport Farmers Market at the Westport Center for Senior Activities. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
Parks Worker Escapes Serious Injury in Long Lots Crash
A Town of Westport Parks and Recreation Department employee escaped serious injury today in a crash in front of 77 Long Lots Road. The driver told police he swerved to avoid a deer darting across the road, hit a tree, and then careened into a stone wall, turning his pickup truck on its side. The worker, who was en route to do some maintenance at Staples High School and the Wakeman Fields, was taken by Westport EMS to Norwalk Hospital for observation. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
“TeenFlix” Series Begins Monday at the Levitt
The Westport Youth Commission and Toquet Hall will hold their third annual outdoor movies series at the Levitt Pavilion beginning Monday.
Newly-dubbed TeenFlix, the series is open to teens of all ages and continues on the following Mondays: Aug. 6, 13, and 20. All movies are free and begin at 9 p.m. The rain location is Toquet Hall.
The series debut is the Will Ferrell comedy “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (PG13), proceeded by live music at Toquet starting at 7 p.m. until movie time.
The Aug. 6 movie is “Garden State” (adapted to PG13) with Zach Braff which will also be complemented by a showing and discussion of “Powershift” at Toquet Hall at 8 p.m.
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Curious Ruby
At Westport’s Longshore Club Park Saturday, Ruby, a 3-month-old German Shepherd, was clearly curious about the camera of WestportNow contributing photographer Phyllis Groner. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
Sunday, July 29, 2007
10 a.m.-2 p.m. - Center for Senior Activities - Westport Farmers Market
noon - 4 p.m. - Westport Arts Center - Group 1 Show
2 p.m. - Westport Public Library - Narrating Audio Books: Johnny Heller
3 p.m. & 8 p.m. - Westport Country Playhouse - “Relatively Speaking”
7 p.m. - Levitt Pavilion - Mikata Salsa
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Saturday School
Adults taking a beginning sailing class at the Longshore Sailing School get set to take to the water today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
Longtime Westporter Lorna B. Christophersen Dies at 76
Lorna B. Christophersen, a former member of Westport’s Board of Education and Representative Town Meeting (RTM), died today in a Wilton health care center, a funeral home spokesman said. She was 76.
Christophersen served on the RTM twice—from 1971 to 1977 and from 1982 to 1995, making her among the longest serving members on the legislative body. She was on the Board of Education from 1977 to 1981.
A longtime member of the Republican Town Committee, Christophersen was often brash and outspoken in her quest to make Westport a better place to live.
A memorial service will be held at noon Saturday at Westport Town Hall, according to the Harding Funeral Home.
Milford Man Wins 29th Annual Compo Point to Point Swim
Frisk Driscoll, 20, of Milford, was first across the finish line today in the 29th annual Compo Beach Point to Point swim sponsored by the Westport Weston Family Y. He finished in 17:23.04 seconds, just ahead of Andrew Grinalds, 16, of Fairfield, who crossed the line at 17:23.06. It was the third win of the event for Driscoll, a former Westporter and Staples High School graduate. The swim attracted 145 entrants of all ages. Click here for full results. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
WestportNow Teardown of the Day: 76 Clapboard Hill Road
Westport building officials have received an application for a permit to demolish a 1947 house located at 76 Clapboard Hill Road. The 2,846-square-foot living area and surrounding structures sit on a 4.44-acre property that sold in May for $2,300,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Historical Society Hosts Saugatuck Walk Today
The Westport Historical Society today hosts a walking tour of the town’s historic Saugatuck district.
The tour, followed by a wine tasting and appetizers (with nonalcoholic beverages served as well), will be led by Allen Raymond, town historian, Ron Malone, a native Westporter, former police chief and member of the Representative Town Meeing, and Cherly Eldh, a Westport Realtor.
The tour, which begins at 4 p.m., will take participants from the New York-bound side of the train station, where the group will meet, to local historical sites, including former mattress and button factories as well as the old firehouse bell tower.
The tour ends at the popular Depot Liquor store on Railroad Place, with appetizers by Tutti’s Restaurant. The cost is $5 to members and $8 to nonmembers. Reservations can be made by calling (203) 222-1424.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
9 a.m. - Compo Beach - Westport Weston Family Y’s annual point to point swim competition
11 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Wild Oats - Alex’s lemonade stand (fight childhood cancer fund-raiser)
noon - 4 p.m. - Westport Arts Center - Group 1 Show
1 p.m. - 4 p.m. - Westport Public Library - Gaming day for everyone
4 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Saugatuck train station, New York-bound side - Westport Historical Society presents historic Saugatuck walking tour and wine tasting
4 p.m. & 8 p.m. - Westport Country Playhouse - “Relatively Speaking”
7 p.m. - Toquet Hall - Tri-State Conspiracy
8 p.m. - Levitt Pavilion - The Crawdaddies
Friday, July 27, 2007
Doctors in the (Full) House at the Levitt
The local (almost) all-doctor band DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) was the attraction tonight at Westport’s Levitt Pavilion, and there was a full house for the performance. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
Dancing in the Aisles
They were dancing in the aisles at Westport’s Levitt Pavlion tonight as the popular local (almost) all-doctor band DNR performed. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
River Scene
The banks of the Saugatuck River in downtown Westport today attracted a few curious onlookers. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
Westporter Goes Solar
By Ed Kiersh
It barely matters to Westport’s David Yarmoff that his Stone Drive neighbors think he’s a “kook.”
The house on Westport’s Stone Drive has become known as the “solar house.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
The 43-year-old carbonated juice salesman saw Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” and after discussing the earth’s countless environmental challenges with his teenaged son, he installed solar panels on his house.
“I drank the left-wing Kool Aid, and ultimately felt it was time to make another sort of switch to renewable energy,” said Yarmoff, admiring the “optimum” conditions for such a change outside his colonial-style home built in 1998.
“I have the best setting for solar panels. We face almost due south, we are at 176 degrees.The pitch of my roof is 36 degrees, and there are no trees blocking the house. Al Gore’s movie was scary, so I believe in helping save the planet.”
Tommy John Addresses Sunrise Rotary
The Westport Sunrise Rotary Club was talking baseball today as it hosted Tommy John, the former Major League pitcher who now manages the Bridgeport Bluefish team. John, perhaps best known for the corrective surgery on his arm named after him, said children should not be seriously playing team baseball year round. He said this will lead to injury requiring surgery. He added that he despairs of the fact that people are getting the surgery before injury thinking it will improve the pitching arm. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
“So Where’s the Siren?”
A youngster enjoys time behind the wheel of the Westport Fire Department’s ladder truck Thursday at a “touch-a-truck” event involving emergency vehicles at the Westport Public Library. Firefighter Brett Kirby assists. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
On the Rocks
The rocks at Westport’s Compo Beach were a cool place to play Thursday as temperatures soared into the upper 80s under sunny skies. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com
Friday, July 27, 2007
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Westport Arts Center - Group Show I
11 a.m. – Town Hall Room 201 – Board of Finance Revenue Enhancement Subcommittee
11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - Westport Public Library - Summer Fun Films
3 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Westport Public Library - Book Discussions for Teens: “Pride and Prejudice” (book and movie)
8 p.m. - Levitt Pavilion - DNR
8 p.m. - Westport Country Playhouse - “Relatively Speaking”
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Westport Property Transfers July 16-20, 2007
Westport property transfers as reported by the Town Clerk’s office for the period July 16-20, 2007:
Axis Point Cross Highway Assoc. LLC to Timothy D. and Kathleen McCarthy, 142 Cross Highway, $2,935,000
Peter and Michelle Drasher to Thomas D. and Lisa Edenholm Murray, 5 Mayflower Parkway, $3,150,000
Robert F. and Linda A. Schoff to Daniel C. Fisher and Carla A. Cohen, 51 Ludlow Road, $1,599,000
John E. and Lynn M. Fisher to Seth D. and Marjorie L. Almansi, 24 Pequot Trail, $1,905,000
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“Miss Saigon” Star Visits Staples
Broadway stars Kevin Gray (front row 3rd l.) and Dodie Pettit (behind Gray) were at Westport’s Staples High School working with the Staples Summer Theatre production of “Miss Saigon.” Gray is famed for playing the Engineer in more than 1,000 performances of “Miss Saigon.” The production runs Aug. 10, 11, 17 and 18 at Staples. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Realtime NY Metro-area traffic reports from Traffic.com
PROPERTY TRANSFERS
Westport Property Transfers July 16-20, 2007MORE >>
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