Dave Matlow (l) shows Daryl Hawk various cities he visited during a recent three-week trip to India. Matlow, a WestportNow contributing photographer, spoke to and shared photos with the Westport Rotary Club today about his trip. Hawk is a local documentary photographer.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com

By Jayde Levesque

Photographer Dave Matlow’s talk on India today personally touched members of the Westport Rotary Club because of their connection to country. 

His presentation included a picture slide show of his three-week journey through the country.

Although many people in Matlow’s audience already had been to India, everyone saw a glimpse of another culture through the eyes of a Westporter and a photographer. 

“He was great,” said Pamela Sebastian.  “Everything he said I agreed with.”

Jonathan Sellon, a senior at Westport’s Staples High School, has been named a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search.

He is one of only 40 students nationwide to be so honored. He will go to Washington for a week in March when he will present his research at the National Academy of Sciences.

As a finalist, he has already won a $6,000 scholarship and a laptop computer.

He will now compete with the other 39 finalists for $530,000 in scholarships and prizes. First place carries a $100,000 scholarship. This competition was won by a Westport student five years ago.

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The Westport Parks and Recreation Commission Monday night approved a policy that will allow residents to host golf groups at Longshore Club Park starting this summer.

Parks and Recreation Director Stuart McCarthy said the policy will allow residents to book groups on the course in advance, and the plan is aimed at residents who want to host events like family outings.

Under the plan, residents with a handpass can reserve a group with two to five foursomes eight to 90 days before the event. They could only use the plan on Mondays through Thursdays after 11 a.m.

The players would be charged the guest fee of $40 each for the right to reserve ahead of time, and the guest reservation plan could only be used two times per year by any one person.

Beginning in February, the Westport Planning and Zoning Commission will begin its meetings at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m.

“A majority of commission members felt that the earlier start time would be beneficial given the amount of information that is presented at each meeting,” said Planning and Zoning Director Laurence Bradley. “It would also allow the commission, the public, applicants and staff to leave the meetings at a reasonable hour.”

The change would apply to all public hearings and work sessions, he said.

The new structure will allow new items on the agenda to be opened prior to 10 p.m. and provide that the meetings end by 11 p.m., according to Bradley.

Theresa Lantz: gives prison talk to Y’s Men. Contributed photoTheresa C. Lantz, who was appointed Connecticut’s Department of Correction commissioner almost three years ago, will speak to the Y’s Men of Westport/Weston Thursday.

She will speak on “A New Day in Corrections, Three Years Later.” The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East  

Lantz began her career in corrections as a front line correctional officer in the Washington, D.C. prison system in 1976. During that assignment she became the first woman correction officer in that department to work inside the maximum security men’s housing unit.

She began her tenure with the Connecticut Department of Correction in July 1989 as the director of training and staff development and has since served as warden at three of the state’s high security facilities. At the time of her appointment, Lantz was one of about half dozen women state correctional commissioners in the United States.