By Larry Untermeyer

Five years ago, Westporter Neil Croarkin lost everything in a house fire. Today he got back some of his prized possessions—two World War II medals.
Congressman Christopher Shays presents medals to Neil Croarkin at Norwalk City Hall today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com

Congressman Christopher Shays presented Croarkin with the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star medal, both of which had been awarded to him while he was in the Pacific Theater. 

Several weeks ago, his son Tom, who lives in Fairfield with his wife and daughter, contacted Shays to see if the congressman could arrange to have the awards replaced as a special gift for his father’s 89th birthday on Monday.

With the cooperation of he Department of Army, Shays was able to secure the replacements which he presented to Croarkin in a special ceremony at Norwalk City Hall. Shays’s tight schedule did not permit a stop in Westport.

Westport’s Save the Children today announced a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its immediate and long-term relief and recovery efforts in cyclone-stricken Myanmar.

The grant was received within days after the cyclone hit, allowing Save the Children to quickly deliver humanitarian aid. Unofficial estimates from the United Nations report 102,000 people have died, and up to 1.9 million people have been affected since Cyclone Nargis hit the southwestern corner of Myanmar on May 5.

“Over the past three weeks, Save the Children has reached more than 208,000 children and families with life-saving items,” said Save the Children CEO and president Charles MacCormack.

“But many communities in the disaster-affected areas have yet to be reached, and more aid will be needed over the coming weeks, months and even years as families begin to piece their lives back together.”

Traffic on Bridge Street was detoured today as the Connecticut Department of Transportation did its annual maintenance on the Bridge Street Bridge, formally known as the William F. Cribari Bridge. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

A car pulling out of Fox Fire Lane was broadsided today by a car traveling north on Imperial Avenue near the Westport Woman’s Club. Neither driver was injured although both vehicles sustained damage.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

A reminder that routine mechanical and electrical maintenance work will close Westport’s Bridge Street Bridge, formally known as the William F. Cribari Bridge, today and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The swing bridge and the roadway from Bridge Street and Riverside Avenue to Bridge Street and Imperial Avenue, about a quarter mile, will be closed intermittently with signs and markings for detour routes posted.

The annual maintenance work was announced May 19 by First Selectman Gordon Joseloff. (See WestportNow May 19, 2008)

A car crashed into a stone wall early today on Greens Farms Road at the intersection with Morningside Drive South, Westport fire officials said.

By the time police and fire units arrived on the scene at 1:22 a.m., no one was in the car, according to Assistant Chief Larry Conklin.

He said emergency workers were told that the lone occupant had been transported to the hospital by passersby.

Firefighters remained on the scene until a tow truck could remove the Saab 93 from the wall. There was substantial front end damage to the car, Conklin said.