Westport’s Grace Salmon Park on Imperial Avenue was the scene today for an art class on landscape portraiture for member artists of the Silvermine Guild Arts Center. According to Fairfield resident Julie Brown, who has been registered in the Silvermine art classes for 15 years, the summer curriculum includes scenic locations in Fairfield County communities. She said the artistic emphasis is on plein air—a French expression which means “in the open air,” and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors. The course instructor, David Dunlop, artist, lecturer and teacher, has been the host and Emmy Award-winning writer of a PBS television series beginning in 2008. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Back to School Program Set
The Town of Westport’s Back to School program offering school supplies to income-eligible families gets under way next week.

Some of the school supplies to be distributed to income-eligible Westport families. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Barbara Butler, director of the Department of Human Services, said the program begins Monday, Aug. 6 and runs through the following Monday.
“This program offers new backpacks and school supplies as well as Athletic Shoe Factory and Payless gift cards to income-eligible families with children in Westport,” said Butler.
“The Back to School Program depends solely upon the generosity of community individuals and organizations,” she said
Preparing for the Worst
Westport’s Emergency Operations Center at Fire Headquarters was busy again today as Westport participated in the second day of a two-day statewide hurricane disaster drill that simulated the deadly 1938 hurricane that devastated Connecticut. All of the state’s 169 municipalities participated over the past four days in the drill designed to improve on the collective response to weather disasters that twice struck the state last year. CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Command and Control Vehicle Part of Drill
The Westport Fire Department’s emergency command and control mobile truck was put into use today during Westport’s participation in a statewide hurricane preparedness drill. The truck, part of the Fairfield County Hazardous Materials Unit, contains sophisticated radio and satellite links that will operate in a complete power shutdown. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
Beach Scene
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
8:30 a.m. – Town Hall Room 309 – Downtown 2020 Committee
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. – Westport Public Library – Maker in Residence
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Westport Arts Center – “Landscape: Scene/Re-seen”
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Westport Historical Society – “The Sound & the Saugatuck” & “Watershed Moments”
7:30 p.m. – Town Hall Room 309 – Citizens Transit Committee
8 p.m. – Westport Country Playhouse – Molière’s “Tartuffe”
8 p.m. – Levitt Pavilion – Miko & The Musket
See more events: Celebrate Westport Calendar
A Movie and Star Gazing at Levitt
More than 300 persons tonight attended Westport Cinema Initiative’s sneak preview screening of “Saving Hubble” at the Levitt Pavilion. The 70-minute independent documentary film examines NASA’s decision in 2004 to cancel the famed Hubble Space Telescope and introduces people who united to save it. The telescope was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. The Levitt audience heard from an esteemed panel including the filmmaker, David Gaynes, about the impact of Hubble on humanity. They also listened to the sound of the trio Red Lotus and they viewed the stars through telescopes provided by the Westport Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of New Haven. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Perlstein for WestportNow.com
Hubble Huddle
Among those at tonight’s Westport Cinema Initiative sneak preview screening of “Saving Hubble” at the Levitt Pavilion were (l-r) Sandy Lefkowitz, WCI director, Dr. Martin Yellin of Westport. an optical engineer who worked on the telescope when employed by its manufacturer, PerkinElmer Corp. in Danbury, and film director David Gaynes, The 70-minute independent documentary film examines NASA’s decision in 2004 to cancel the famed Hubble Space Telescope and introduces people who united to save it. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Perlstein for WestportNow.com
At Final Debate, Bysiewicz Stands by Discredited Attacks
By Mark Pazniokas
The series of four Democratic debates for U.S. Senate concluded in New London tonight with Susan Bysiewicz repeating a discredited line of attack on Chris Murphy that he is the top Democratic congressional recipient of Wall Street cash.
Murphy said Bysiewicz’s inaccuracies are the defining issue of the race, not any difference over their positions on issues ranging from the Bush tax cuts to the preservation of Social Security and Medicare.
“I’ve never seen a candidate intentionally and willfully lie over and over again after she’s been called to the carpet for it. She knows empirically I am not the top recipient of Wall Street money among members of Congress,” Murphy said.
Their televised debate at the Garde Theater was sparsely attended, with plenty of empty seats even in the small VIP section reserved for Bysiewicz and, to a less noticeable degree, for Murphy.
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