Westport’s unemployment rate last month increased for the first time this year, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor.

The rate in May was 6.3 percent, up from 5.6 percent in April and the highest in 2010 since January when it was 6.5 percent.

There were similar jumps in the month’s unemployment figures for Weston, Wilton, Darien, New Canaan and Greenwich.

“The modest decreases we experienced earlier this year were tempered by the May report,” said Joseph M. Carbone,  president and CEO of Bridgeport-based The WorkPlace Inc., which administers workforce development funds and coordinates job training and education programs in the region.

An official of the NASDAQ OMX group which operates one of the nation’s best known financial markets told the Westport Rotary Club today that despite the best efforts of U.S and European regulators, new challenges inevitably will affect world financial markets in the future. Peter Strandell, senior vice president, and group treasurer, finance of NASDAQ OMX, said while U.S and European regulators are instituting measures to mitigate the system risk in certain financial instruments, everyone needs to be prepared for future innovation and how that could affect the financial markets. “The market is global today, but unfortunately regulation is not,” he said. He said financial markets have a short memory and “something is going to happen again. Whatever we put in place, it will be something for the industry unknown today that will trigger future financial turmoil.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

In a year of anniversary observances, Westport on Thursday will mark the 100th anniversary of perhaps its most famous symbol — the Minute Man statue.
Minute Man statue: dedicated on June 17, 1910. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

A 4 p.m. ceremony at the statue will include a proclamation by First Selectman Gordon F. Joseloff, a reading of a 1910 poem about the statue by the Rev. Frank Hall of Westport’s Unitarian Church, and a musket salute from members of The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in Colonial uniform.

It was the Sons of the American Revolution who in 1908 commissioned the statue by sculptor H. Daniel Webster and presided over its unveiling on June 17, 1910 at its present location on Compo Beach Road and Compo Road South.They were joined by Daughters of the Revolution, prominent state figures, and townspeople.

Also participating in Thursday’s centennial observance will be members of the Westport Historical Society and Westport Woman’s Club, whose 103rd Yankee Doodle Fair begins at 5 p.m. that day.

Westporters Tish Fried and Patrick McCord open their Write Yourself Free business on Friday at 252 Post Road East in the Colonial Green complex. According to Fried, it will offer “a comfortable place for writers to be with other writers.” “Writers do not like to work alone,” she said, and this venue allows them an opportunity to meet with other working writers. The business model involves a monthly fee for its members who will have access to the facility which includes free WiFi, coffee, tea, easy chairs, work tables plus editorial support and teaching programs, she said. McCord has a broad literary background as a former university professor, editorial consultant, publisher, screenwriter and actor. Fried, his fiancé, a photojournalist’s daughter, is a former art director and writing tutor. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The newest addition to Westport’s ice cream scene is the arrival of Frosty Bear Ice Cream at 161 Cross Highway in the gazebo next to Christy’s Country Store. Owner John Martin said the shop features Longford’s small batch premium ice cream which he says is made in the tri-state area and is “one of the creamiest and richest ice creams available.” For the past 13 years Martin was co-owner of a Westport communications firm.  Frosty Bear is a family business—daughters, Lauren, 19, and Allison, 14, will help out this summer along with their mother Ann who also serves as a Girl Scouts camp director.  Shop hours are Tuesday-Thursday 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 2 p.m. to 9.p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. and closed Mondays in June. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

By James Lomuscio

When Westporter Paul Oestreicher’s four daughters were just babies, he observed something interesting when he handed them stuffed animals.
Paul Oestreicher and his TagsMania toys. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) James Lomuscio for WestportNow.com

“They became more fascinated with the tags attached to their stuffed animals and plush toys than the animals themselves,” recalled the father whose girls now range in age from 12 to 23. “They couldn’t’ have cared less about the toys.”

That was when Oestreicher, who holds a doctorate in nutritional biology and spent his adult life working in the science industry, got an idea that piqued his entrepreneurial spirit.

“It was back in 1998 that I figured, ‘Why not make the tag the toy?’ ” he said. “So, I put the idea in my inventor’s book.”

.By Larry Untermeyer

An overflow crowd gathered tonight at the Westport Public Library to hear financial journalist Maria Bartiromo discuss her new book, “The 10 Laws of Enduring Success.”
Maria Bartiromo addresses a Westport Public Library audience tonight. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com

The book offers a distinctive examination of the attributes that lead to outstanding personal achievement. 

Among the factors that Bartiromo, anchor of CNBC’s “Closing Bell” and “The Wall Street Journal Report,” stressed are a focus on what is really important in life, self-knowledge, humility and adaptability. 

She cited examples of these traits gleaned from interviews with famous achievers in several fields. 

Westport antiques dealer Glen Leroux gets his Riverside Avenue shop ready for tonight’s Design District event promoted by the Westport/Weston Chamber of Commerce and Moffly Media. The event, intended to bring shoppers to the downtown area, featured 12 area retailers with a focus on home décor and fashion. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

Top This yogurt has opened for business opened for business at 14 Post Road East in Westport’s center, and according to owner Louise Costantini (2nd l), “We’ve been busy since the first day.”  Westporter Costantini said that she has been a stay at home mom since she left her commodity trading job at Shearson Lehman years ago to raise her twin daughters, Emily and Maria who are now 20 and help out in the new shop. “Thanks to the new ordinance, we have outdoor seating through the summer months,” she said. The location formerly housed Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com