Month: April 2004

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Martha Stewart’s Brother Selling Childhood Items on eBay

The brother of Westport’s Martha Stewart said today he plans to sell on eBay some of her belongings that date back to childhood.

Among them: A Singer sewing machine used by Stewart to sew her wedding dress in 1961.

Frank Kostyra, 59, who lives in the Alabama community of Fairhope near Mobile, said he got the items in 1987 from their mother with Stewart’s
“blessings’’ and hoped to have more than 200 items posted on the eBay site by tonight.

While Stewart awaits sentencing June 17 for her conviction in a stock sale case, Kostyra said he’s selling the items partly to raise money for a self-published book, “My Life with Martha The Making of Martha Stewart.’’

New Haven Advisory: Service Normal After Wire Damage Caused Delays

Wire damage in New Rochelle disrupted Metro-North New Haven Line service today but by mid-afternoon the railroad said normal service had been resumed in time for the evening rush hour.

“Normal service has resumed on the New Haven Line,” the railroad said in a 3:23 p.m. advisory.

Earlier, at 12:30 p.m., it had said normal off-peak outbound service from Grand Central to New Haven had been restored with scattered delays.

At 9:22 a.m., Metro-North said the wire damage was causing 15-20 minute delays on trains into Grand Central.

At the same time, it said outbound trains were being combined, making all local stops from Grand Central to New Haven, resulting in delays of about an hour on outbound service.

Westport’s Martha Stewart Gets $500,000 Bonus from Her Company

Despite her legal problems, Westport’s Martha Stewart got a $500,000 bonus from her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., last year, according to a federal filing.

It was about 67 percent more than required by her employment contract.

Stewart was convicted in March of lying to investigators about a stock sale and will be sentenced in June.

She received her regular salary of $900,000 last year from the company as well as the bonus, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed.

It’s My Last Day!

Betty Bowes gets a surprise photo taken as she enters the Westport Town Clerk’s office today her last day on the job after almost 20 years. “It’s bittersweet for me,” she said. “I’m going to miss all these people.” (See WestportNow April 27, 2004). Ruth Cavayero for WestportNow.com

Community Correspondent Report: The Stranger at Your Door

Every year at this time, door-to-door magazine salesmen appear in Westport.
They tell you they are not selling you anything” but want you to give them a chance to ӓhelp them, help themselves. See STORY by WestportNow Community Correspondent Cherie Tripp Lejeune.

Friday, April 30, 2004

4 p.m. – Westport Public Library – Rock the Vote: Connecticut presents a forum on Iraq
5 p.m. – Saugatuck Elementary School—“Museum Night” school art show

Thursday, April 29th, 2004

Police Chief Expresses Reservations about Revising Noise Ordinance

Westport Police Chief Al Fiore expressed reservations tonight about revising the towns noise ordinance if it takes away his officersҒ prerogatives in the field. He told a Town Hall public hearing that use of noise meters to try to enforce an ordinance would be a complicated issue, no doubt about it.Ӕ The meeting on “noise nuisance” was sparsely attended about 15 people showed up. (CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE) Thom Burrows for WestportNow.com

Customer Slightly Injured as Car Crashes into Store

A customer at Stile’s Farmers Market on Post Road East suffered a knee injury today when a motorist lost control of her car and it crashed into the store, causing a cabinet to fall on the customer. The motorist was not injured. Here a firefighter backs the car out of the store. (CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Klein’s Closing After 67 Years

Klein’s of Westport, a Main Street landmark for 67 years, announced today it is closing next month.
Klein’s of Westport was a Main Street landmark for 67 years. This is a circa 1960s view. File photo

Klein’s owner Robert Hertzel took out a newspaper ad to announce the move and also issued a statement to the media.

“To everything there is a season,” Hertzel said. “It is now our season to close our business forever.”

For many Westporters, Klein’s disappeared more than five years ago after leasing its first floor space to Banana Republic.

It continued to operate on the building’s upper floors but never regained its former glory as a haven for books, personalized stationery, photographic materials, electronics and gift items.