The almost perfect weather drew crowds to Compo Beach today. The parking lots were overflowing and finding a spot to plop down became a challenge as the day wore on. The forecast for Monday was not as good—mostly cloudy with a chance of showers.WestportNow.com photo
The almost completed new bleachers frame the Staples Wreckers football team today in a Sunday practice. The new bleachers will be ready in time for the team’s home opener Sept. 20. WestportNow.com photo
Westport, like the rest of the nation, has seen gas prices soar in recent days, but a WestportNow survey shows it does pay to shop as there is a 16-cent gap between the lowest and highest self-serve prices in town.
The survey found that the average Westport regular self-serve gasoline sold for $1.93 a gallon today, or about 5 cents higher than the states $1.88 average. A year ago, the state average was $1.53, according to AAA.
The lowest Westport price (rounded off) was $1.84 at DemattiaҒs Citgo, 786 Post Road East, while the highest was $2 at Exxon, 485 Post Road East.
The next lowest price was $1.85 at two stations—Greens Farms Getty, 1830 Post Road East, which was having a “5 cents off” sale today and Sunday, and Cumberland Farms Gulf, 719 Post Road East.
In order of increasing price, here are how the other Westport self-serve stations fared:
$1.88 at The Country Store, 332 Wilton Road; $1.90 at Westport Sunoco, 322 Post Road East; $1.94 at Westport BP, 1510 Post Road East; $1.98 at Greens Farms Shell, 1530 Post Road East, and Mobil Self-Serve, 1060 Post Road East; and $1.99 at Bridge Mobil, 558 Riverside Ave., and Christies, 161 Cross Highway.
Of WestportҒs 14 gas stations, three are full-serve only: $2.06 at Riverside Sunoco, 240 Riverside Ave.; $2.07 at Westport Center Mobil, 302 Post Road East, and $2.09 at Westport Getty, 271 Post Road East.
Fairfield County appeared to have the highest prices in Connecticut with the county’s highest prices in the Greenwich area.
Sundays New York Times Connecticut section sets the record straight on a couple of errors in last weekҒs cover story on the Westport Country Playhouse, as noted in WestportNows Aug. 23 report.
ғAn article last Sunday about the Westport Country Playhouse misspelled the name of a co-founder of the theater, the Times said. ԓHe is Lawrence Langner, not Langer.
The article also misidentified where the composer Richard Rodgers was living when he saw a Playhouse production of ӑGreen Grow the Lilicas, which inspired his musical ґOklahoma! It was Fairfield, not Westport.Ҕ
Attorney Representing Child Hit by Longshore Golf Ball Files Notice An attorney representing a 2-year-old child hit by a golf ball while being pushed by his mother in a stroller at Westports Longshore Club Park has served notice of a claim against the town, Town Clerk Patricia H. Strauss said today.
A letter noticing the claim said the July 7 incident was ғproximately caused by a road defect.
The child, Benjamin Goldstein, suffered a traumatic brain injury and his mother, Lynn Goldstein, who was pushing him in a jogger stroller along LongshoreԒs entrance drive at the time, suffered serious emotional distress, the letter said.
Strauss said the letter, which can lead to a court action but does not necessarily mean there will be one, was received by her office Tuesday from Neil W. Sutton. He is an attorney with the Bridgeport law firm of Adelman Hirsch and Newman.
The accident happened near the sixth tee of the golf course. The child was taken to Norwalk Hospital and later was transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The Westport News today quoted Sutton as saying the child has recovered remarkably wellӔ from surgery but has a grotesque scarӔ across the top of his head.
As to whether a lawsuit will actually be filed, he told the newspaper: This could be resolved between the parties.Ӕ
Stuart McCarthy, Parks and Recreation director, was not immediately available for comment.
But he told WestportNow after the incident that the entrance road was clearly marked with a sign warning of possible errant golf balls that could cause serious injury or death. (See WestportNow July 8, 2003).
The letter said the cause of this incident was a defect in the road at that location, specifically the failure to install any fence, net, or other barrier or protective device between the tee for sixth holeӔ and the roadway.
It said Benjamin’s “earning capacity and his ability to enjoy life’s activities have been permanently reduced as a result of this incident and the road defect” and his parents had incurred medical bills.
The letter added: ” As a further result of this incident, and the defect in the road, Lynne Goldstein, who witnessed her son being struck and seriously injured by the golf ball, suffered serious emotional distress.”
Last years Staples High School seniors scored a combined average of 1155 on the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT), a slight improvement over the previous year but the same as two years ago, the school district said today.
Joyce Losen, assistant to the superintendent, said the Staples Class of 2003 scored 584 in math and 571 in verbal. This was 16 points better than the previous year which saw an average of 576 in math and 563 verbal for a combined score of 1139, but the same combined score as in 2001.
The scores were well above the state averages of 514 in math and 512 verbal, she said.
The highest possible combined SAT score is 1600.
The Connecticut combined verbal and math scores rose eight points to 1026—the same as the national average, according to figures released this week by the College Board, which gives the exam formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
In Connecticut, the average verbal score increased three points in 2003, to 512, the highest level in 14 years. The average math score was 514, up five points from last year and the highest since class data was first collected 31 years ago.
For comparison purposes, Staples studentsҒ average scores in 2001 were 588 in math and 567 in verbal for a combined score of 1155; in 2000, 590 in math and 569 in verbal for a combined score of 1159, and in 1999, 561 in math and 552 in verbal for a combined score of 1113.
Losen told WestportNow that while Schools Supt. Elliott Landon was pleased with this years scores, he understands that yearly fluctuations in scores within a school are not uncommon and may reflect differences among particular classes or other factors unrelated to the school program.
Todays Connecticut Post spotlights Staples grad and UConn football star Sean MulcahyҒs career aspirations and if he doesn֒t get to play in the NFL, he has a backup plan to become a general manager.
The 6-foot-6, 295-pound defensive lineman from Westport would love to get a chance to play in the NFL, with the Giants or anyone else for that matter, after he graduates from UConn,” the newspaper said.
ӓWith a successful final season for the Huskies, who open up their new campaign and new stadium, Rentschler Field, Saturday against Indiana, Mulcahy might be given a shot to play professionally.
But if he doesn’t get to tackle fullbacks, Mulcahy has a fallback plan. If the Giants don’t have a hole on the defensive line, they might have an opening in the front office.
ӓMulcahy, it turns out, wants to be a general manager.
“That’s something I’d definitely like to do,Ғ the 2000 Staples High graduate said this week. I want to stay in the game in some way, and whenever my career ends, I’d want to get into the front office.ђ
Westports Rolnick Observatory Still Busy With Mars Viewers WestportҒs Rolnick Observatory hosted dozens of people Thursday night and early today hoping to catch a glimpse of Mars.
Although the Westport Astronomical Society announced special viewing hours were 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., the observatory stayed open past midnight as visitors arrived in a steady stream at its location on Bayberry Lane behind the Westport Weston Health District office.
While many people lined up to use the observatory telescope, others took advantage of the willingness of several amateur astronomers who set up their own telescopes on the lawn nearby to share their views and knowledge with visitors.
One man said his telescope was slightly more powerful than the Rolnick scope. Another said his scope had been only recently liberated from an old barn where a father had stored it for more than 40 years after his teenage son had lost interest in astronomy.
Mars appeared as a bright whitish ball through the scopes, its polar ice cap clearly visible.
Visitors moved from scope to scope peering through the viewfinders. The scene was dark except for the natural light from the clear sky and a few dim red flashlights illuminating “donation” signs on scattered tables.
On Wednesday, Mars reached its closest point to earth in 60,000 years. But astronomers at the Westport facility said with good weather, there should be continued good viewing for several days.
Of course, none of the views matched that of the Hubble telescope.
Its not every restaurant that merits a mention in an obituary. But BridgeportҒs vegetarian Bloodroot restaurant did when a Westporter died this summer and that brought a mention in today֒s Hartford Courant review of the well-known eatery and bookstore.
Customers are committed to Bloodroot, and the restaurant’s staff has a close kinship with them, too,Ӕ the newspaper said.
When 91-year-old Cynthia B. Harrison of Westport died this summer, her children put a paragraph about their mother’s love of going to Bloodroot and being part of the restaurant’s group of friends, into her obituary.
ӓThe obituary is posted, along with a special poster crafted by the restaurant to remember Cynthia; photos of her, and the words We Miss Her,ђ are on the poster, right as you walk in the door. She is remembered at Bloodroot for her cheerful and intelligent spirit.ђ”
NY Times Corrects Westport Fire Death Report Error Todays New York Times carries a correction to its erroneous Aug. 16 report that one person died in a fire in Westport during the Aug. 14 blackout.
ғBecause of an editing error, an article on Aug. 16 about fires during the blackout misidentified the Connecticut city where a woman was killed in a blaze that officials attributed to a candle left burning. It was Waterbury, not Westport, the Times said.
WestportNow called the TimesԒs attention to the error (See WestportNow Aug. 16, 2003).
A Times Metro section employee told WestportNow the correction was delayed because the newspapers e-mail system became “severely compromised by the computer viruses/worms etc.”