Month: June 2007

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

A United Nations Gift to Westport

Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff accepts a photograph of United Nations headquarters given as a gift to the people of Westport by Ibrahim A. Gambari, U.N. Under Secretrary General, at today’s jUNe Day ceremony at Saugatuck Elementary School. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

Westport Celebrates jUNe Day

By Ed Kiersh

Westport greeted more than 370 members of the United Nations community today to celebrate the town’s 42nd annual jUNe Day festivities.
Guests at today’s jUNe Day ceremony at Westport’s Saugatuck Elementary School enjoyed food provided by local restaurants. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

Members of the United Nations staff and their guests, a vast array of people from India, Lebanon, Russia and a host of other countries, were here for a day of eating, recreation and activities which encouraged inter-cultural understanding and world peace.

“Supporting the U.N., showing this sort of friendship is vital, since there isn’t an important topic on the planet this world organization is not addressing,” said Westport’s Michaela MacColl, the president of the International Hospitality Committee of Fairfield County.

Guests were first greeted at the Saugatuck Elementary School with breakfast and short speeches from First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, MacColl, United Nations Under Secretary General Ibrahim A. Gambari and other dignitaries.

Westporter Says “Support of the U.N. is Vital”

Westporter Michaela MacColl welcomed guests to today’s jUNe Day ceremony at Saugatuck Elementary School. MacColl, president of the UNA-US Southwest Connecticut chapter and the International Hospitality Committee of Fairfield County said,“Supporting the U.N., showing this sort of friendship is vital since there isn’t an important topic on the planet this world organization is not addressing.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

Westport Welcomes jUNe Day Visitors

The flags of United Nations members flew from Westport’s Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge today as the town welcomed U.N. visitors marking the town’s 42nd annual jUNe Day hosted by the International Hospitality Committee. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com

Westport Souvenir Photo

Guests from the United Nations pose for a group picture today after arriving at the Saugatuck train station for jUNe Day. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Saul Haffner for WestportNow.com

Health District Testing Waters of Muddy Brook

By Nina Zipkin

The Westport Weston Health District is testing the waters of Westport’s Muddy Brook to try to determine the cause of high counts of E.coli bacteria.
Westport’s Muddy Brook runs from near the Fairfield line through the Greens Farms area and into Sherwood Mill Pond. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) File photo

Testing of the stream, which runs from near the Fairfield town line south through much of the Greens Farms area to Sherwood Mill Pond, began June 18, according to Chief Sanitarian Jeff Andrews.

“We’re trying to narrow down where the high counts are and isolate the contributing factors that could cause them,” he said.

“Drainage pipes, for example. There are several reasons why they could be there – pool backwash, sump pump discharge or illegal septic overflow.”

Saturday, June 30, 2007

10 a.m. – Saugatuck Elementary School – jUNe Day ceremony
10 a.m.-4 p.m. – Westport Arts Center – Solos Members Show
4 p.m. & 8 p.m. – Westport Country Playhouse – “Mary’s Wedding”
8 p.m. – Levitt Pavilion – Christopher Robin Band

Friday, June 29th, 2007

Joseloff Meets With ConnDOT Officials on Merritt Tree Safety

Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff today met with a delegation of Connecticut Department of Transportation officials who briefed him about tree safety on the Merritt Parkway.
Today’s Westport Town Hall meeting discussed tree safety on the Merritt Parkway, including this incident on May 5 near exit 42 in Westport, which caused no injuries. A Westchester couple died in a June 9 accident, however. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo ©2007 WestportNow.com

The two-hour meeting at Town Hall followed Joseloff’s June 11 letter to Gov. M. Jodi Rell in which he urged her to examine tree safety along the parkway following the deaths of a Westchester couple whose car was hit by a falling tree near exit 42 in Westport on June 9. (See WestportNow June 11, 2007)

Rell responded that she shared his concerns and said that she has directed ConnDOT to work with the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and local officials to analyze and address the safety and integrity of the trees along the road.

Leading the ConnDOT team to Westport was Robert P. Mongillo, transportation maintenance administrator, who was accompanied by seven others, including road maintenance officials, arborists, and roadway planners.

Westport “Well Prepared” for Bird Flu Pandemic

By Ed Kiersh

They hope it will never happen, but Westport officials are refining their plans for an Avian influenza or bird flu pandemic.
Westport Weston Health District Director Sue Jacozzi, pictured at the District today, says Westport is constantly studying how to be a step ahead in pandemic flu preparations. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Ed Kiersh for WestportNow.com

After attending a regional meeting Thursday of police, fire, and emergency care givers at Fairfield University, Westport Weston Health District Director Susan M.Jacozzi said today the town is well prepared.

“Westport’s local plan is very good,” she said. “We have doctors advising us and we have a very good relationship with first-responders.”

Jacozzi, who has served in her post for almost two years, said, “It’s a worry that we don’t have anti-virals or a vaccine. Yet we are constantly thinking of what could happen, and trying to be a step ahead.”

Close Shave at Compo Barber Shop

A woman driver crashed her car into the front of the Compo Barber Shop shortly after noon today at the Compo Shopping Center on Post Road East. The force of the crash deployed the driver and passenger air bags but caused no injuries to the driver or her female passenger. Although there were employees and customers in the barber shop as well as the Maggie Moos ice cream shop next door, no one inside was injured. The crash shattered glass in the doors of the two stores but caused no major damage. The car had to be towed from the scene. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com