Westport has had many fictional residents over the years, but perhaps none more famous than Betsy and Tom Rath.

The Raths are the main characters in Sloan Wilson’s 1955 novel “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.”

The novel has received renewed attention with Wilson’s death last month at the age of 83 and that of actor Gregory Peck, who played Rath in the 1956 film version, who died this week at age 87.

Scenes from the film were shot in Westport (See WestportNow May 26, 2003).

Westport Fire Department Honors Eight Retirees With Almost 250 Years of Service
The Westport Fire Department tonight honored eight retiring firefighters and their combined almost 250 years of service to the community.

First Selectwoman Diane Goss Farrell led the tributes to Asst. Chief Joe Valiante Jr., 35 years, Asst. Chief Jeffrey Keene, 27 years, Asst. Chief Kevin McCarthy, 26 years, Asst. Chief Mark Gurrier, 25 years, and firefighters Denny Duffy, 37 years, Art Tolentino, 37 years, Hank Zarges, 37 years, and Mike Warner, 25 years.

The retirement of Duffy ended a continuous streak of 219 years combined service in the Westport department by members of the Duffy family.

Keene said with this wave of retirements, Westport was losing not only experienced firefighters, but also men who knew every street, pond, stream and woods in the community, and, at one time, practically every resident.

He recalled a phone call years ago that Duffy took at the firehouse. The woman caller yelled that her house was on fire and hung up,Ӕ Keene said. Denny recognized her voice and dispatched engines to the correct address.”

ӓWe are expendable, but we are not replaceable, he said.

The wave of retirements in the fire department ranks, along with several police officers, came in advance of changes in the pension plans for both departments that would have meant reduced benefits for those retiring after June 1.

06/13/2003 02:07 am Comments (0) • Permalink

Westport Minuteman: Martha Walked Her Dogs at Beach
Westports hot-button celebrity, Martha Stewart, has intersected with WestportҒs hot-button issue dogs at the beach.

The weekly Westport Minuteman reported today that Stewart was spotted early Sunday morning ֖ the day before she appeared for a mug shot and fingerprinting at the FBI on her insider-trading case walking two of her dogs at Compo Beach.

The newspaper said Stewart and her housekeeper took her French purebred dogs Paw Paw and Tutu out for a walk along a Compo Beach path. She posed with the dogs on the backsteps of her Westport home for her new marthatalks.com Web site.

Dogs are banned at the beach and adjacent areas from April 1 to Oct. 1. Revised rules regulating animals have been the subject of much debate and controversy for more than a year.

Violators of the rules are subject to a fine of up to $90.

Westport֒s legislative body, the Representative Town Meeting, will take up the issue again at its July 1 meeting.

ғStewart wore a casual black cotton button-down shirt and a pair of slacks, and looked as if she had put on some weight since she appeared before the Westport Y’s Men in February 2002, the Minuteman reported.

ԓAs she walked along the peaceful shoreline vista, she left a swath of gaping Westporters in her wake. The buzz was immediate.

The report said no one approached Stewart to either offer support or scorn. ԓThis is Westport, after all, and the population is respectful of privacy, the newspaper said.

Several other Westporters reported spotting Stewart around town in recent days as well.

Meanwhile, Stewart said in the latest update on her Web site that it has had more than 8 milion hits since its launch and more than 50,000 visitors have sent e-mails.

She also added an”Other Voices” section where she publishes supportive columns from newspapers and a “Setting the Record Straight” section “where my attorneys can post statements that correct misinformation.”

06/12/2003 16:07 pm Comments (0) • Permalink

State Board Recommends I-95 Exit Closures, No New Merritt Lane
Theyre not saying which exits, but the board that oversees state transportation policy recommended today that Connecticut close or reconfigure some exit ramps along Interstate 95

The Transportation Strategy Board (TSB) also voted against trying to add another lane to the Merritt Parkway Җ where planners 60 years ago had provided room for possible expansion.

But the TSB did recommend the state evaluate adding another lane on I-95 in Southwest Connecticut with funds to come from an E-Z passӔ kind of toll system that would not require actual toll booths.

The AP reported that TSB members said many of the exits are located too close together, creating a dangerous situation along the busy highway. The panel stopped short of identifying which exits should be considered for closure.

Westport has two exits along I-95—exit 17 alongside the west side of the Saugatuck River, and exit 18 at Sherwood Island State Park.

Unlike other exits in Fairfield and Norwalk, these exits have several miles separation and are unlikely to be closed under the plan, according to state officials.

Local government officials in Fairfield County, while aware of the economic impact on the area of a clogged I-95, are reluctant to endorse exit closures because of the likelihood of increased traffic on local roadways as a result.

They have also opposed using the breakdown lanes during rush hours, fearing it would make getting emergency crews to accidents more difficult.

06/11/2003 00:20 am Comments (0) • Permalink

Westporter Takes Over Helm of Save the Sound
Westporter Nina Sankovitch has always loved the water and moved to Westport to be near it. Now she has a job that allows her to put her love to work improving Long Island Sound.

Sankovitch, a 40-year-old attorney, began working Monday as the new president and executive director of Save the Sound, the environmental education, research and advocacy nonprofit organization based in South Norwalk, according to The Advocate of Stamford.

Sankovitch is experienced in coastal issues, having worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, two nonprofit organizations based in New York City, the newspaper said.

06/10/2003 13:20 pm Comments (0) • Permalink

The New York Daily News says Martha Stewart did a quickie mug shot and fingerprint session at the Manhattan FBI headquarters and then signed paperwork listing her address as Turkey Hill Road South in Westport.

The in-and-out visit early Monday was in sharp contrast to the media frenzy outside federal court in lower Manhattan last Wednesday when she was arraigned on charges related to her insider-trading case.

Wearing no makeup and a casual outfit, Stewart, 61, came and went from 26 Federal Plaza all but unnoticed and unrecognized, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.

“A federal guard who was on duty at the time Stewart came through was unaware the nationally known symbol of domestic perfection had passed right by,” it said.

The Daily News said besides the FBI fingerprint session, she signed an advice-of-penalties form advising her that she will be jailed if she does not show up to court when she is supposed to.

It said usually defendants must come to court and listen to a clerk read off the rules, then sign the form in front of the clerk.

Stewart was allowed to do so outside court, with a clerk sent to the unspecified location to carry out the bureaucratic ritual in private, sources said, according to the newspaper.

“She signed her name with the same curlicues portrayed on her new Web site, marthatalks.com, then put down her South Turkey Hill Road, Westport, Conn. address and a business phone number,” the newspaper said.

The New York Post carried a similar report and added: “Sources said prosecutors within the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jim Comey and federal agents were prepared to grant Stewart’s requests (for a low-key FBI visit) to counter her own campaign claiming that she is being harshly treated to garner sympathy – and influence potential jurors.”

Ambulance Volunteer Mike Feigin Retires After 30 Years
Westport sees many retirements in its volunteer ranks each year, but that of Mike Feigin is special.


   
For almost 25 years the 74-year-old Feigin has tended to Westporters in need as a member of the Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service (WVEMS).

But he worked on the ambulance here and in Norwalk even before WVEMS was founded in 1979 and has 30 years of EMS work behind him.

The insurance executive was the first regional coordinator for EMS in 1975 and helped push for legislation requiring an upgrading of equipment and staffing on all Connecticut ambulances.

In 1979, he was playing tennis at an indoor court in Westport and saw a fellow tennis player go down. Along with two police officers, Feigin performed CPR on the man for almost 30 minutes. He survived and went on to play tennis for 12 more years.

Fellow volunteers honored Feigin with a retirement celebration tonight —the time for his usual Monday night shift that he has led for many years as a crew chief.

While he wont be doing regular duty any more, Feigin is not turning in his uniform and pager just yet. He says heҒll be available in emergencies.

ItӒs time, he said. ԓYou want to go out before you do any damage to your patients, your crew or yourself.

06/10/2003 02:26 am Comments (1) • Permalink

NY Post: Westport in Nations No. 1 Wealth Corridor
The New York Post takes note of this monthҒs American Demographics magazine and says it identifies the Stamford-Norwalk area of Connecticut, including Westport, as the epicenter of American wealth.Ӕ

In a story headlined Connecti-Cash,Ӕ the newspaper said a staggering 25 percentӔ of households in the Southwest Connecticut area rank among the nation’s upper crust” of richest families.

The Post quoted a survey by American Demographics magazine that it said shows that ӓone in four households in the Stamford-Norwalk area – home to embattled domestic diva Martha Stewart, actor Paul Newman and designer Tommy Hilfiger – have a net worth of at least $2 million and annual incomes over $200,000.

It said running a distant second to Stamford is Silicon Valley’s San Jose, Calif., where 12.9 percent of households meet the magzineԒs “upper crust” criteria.

The Post said the survey showed the Stamford-Norwalk areas 35,000 rich households ғare three times more likely to use Grey Poupon mustard than the average American, prefer Samuel Adams beer and are twice as likely to drive Jaguars, Volvos and BMWs, thumbing their noses at American-made cars.

06/09/2003 15:04 pm Comments (0) • Permalink