Sunday, December 03, 2023

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Tax Relief Applications Accepted Starting Friday

Westport Assessor Paul Friia announced today that the Westport Assessor’s Office and the Human Services Department will begin taking applications for the state and local tax relief programs on Friday.

“The programs are open to homeowners who are totally disabled or who have reached the age of 65 by the date of application,” Friia said.

Qualified applicants for the state program are citizens who own their own homes or hold a life- use title to their home, have resided in Connecticut for one year prior to filing application, and whose qualifying income does not exceed $33,500 for single, or $40,900 for married couples.

Westport’s local program provides qualified homeowners either a tax credit with a maximum income level of $55,000 and/or a tax deferral with a maximum income level of $75,000. Qualified homeowners with incomes of $75,000-$100,000 are able to defer tax increase from the previous year only.

Promotion to Captain Sealed With a Kiss

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Westport Police Lt. Vincent Penna gets a kiss from wife Denise today following a swearing in ceremony promoting him to captain at Westport Police Headquarters. Penna, who joined the force in February 1994, is commander of the Detective Bureau. Police Chief Dale Call said Penna will take on expanded duties in a reorganization of his command staff. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Evergreen Cemetery Damaged by Storm

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Among the casualties of today’s early morning storm were several of the older markers at Westport’s Evergreen Cemetery on Evergreen Avenue. A large section of a tree adjoining the cemetery snapped off and plummeted into the grounds. Evergreen Cemetery is owned and maintained by Saugatuck Congregational Church. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Francis J. Charlton, 86

Francis (Frank) Joseph Charlton, a former Westport resident for 30 years, died Jan. 30 at home in Southport. He was 86.

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Francis J. Charlton: 30-year Westport resident. Contributed photo

He was born on April 29, 1926 in Fitchburg, Mass., the third of seven children to the late Kathleen and Francis Charlton. He was married to and well-cared for by Jay Charlton, his loving, red-headed wife of 53 years.

After graduating from St. Bernard’s High School in Fitchburg, he served in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17. Because of the G.I. Bill, he attended Holy Cross College, graduating in 1948 and in 1952 finished his law degree at Georgetown University.

He was an attorney for more than 50 years, practicing law in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. Until last year, he was a magistrate judge in Norwalk and Bridgeport.

School Security Study Vote Delayed

By James Lomuscio

Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) will not vote on the school board’s request for security funding until its March 5 meeting, almost a month after the finance board has its say on the schools’ request to double the amount from $50,000 to $100,000.

The postponement was consensus of the the RTM’s Finance, Public Protection and Education committees after they met Wednesday night with the school officials who said it was “all or nothing.”

The school board had originally requested $50,000 for a study, a request approved by the finance board. But at last week’s Board of Education meeting that amount jumped to $100,00 based on further input from the security firm Kroll.

According to Alan Bomes, acting chairman of the RTM Finance Committee in the absence of Jeffrey Wieser, the committees were ready to recommend to the entire RTM the approval of $50,000.

Police Explain Mom’s Arrest as Sympathies Rise

By James Lomuscio

Amid public sympathy for a Westport mother arrested last week after her unwatched 2-year-old daughter wandered into the frigid cold while her 15-year-old brother slept, Westport police today provided additional details about the incident.

Tinatin Crouch, 43, was arrested after neighbors found the child in her pajamas and slippers in freezing temperatures on Murvon Road, crying for her mother. Charged with risk of injury to a minor, she posted a $500 bond and is scheduled to appear in Norwalk Superior Court Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Today, Capt. Sam Arciola put the arrest into the perspective of the officers on the scene, as well as that of the neighbors on Murvon Road, a private road near Compo Beach.

“When the neighbors heard the child crying and screaming for her mother in the middle of the street, with no jacket, wearing slippers and in her pajamas and it’s 20 degrees out, they didn’t know where the child belonged,” Arciola said.