Gov. M. Jodi Rell has signed a bill requiring all state schools to adopt policies to keep children with food allergies safe, her office announced today.

“My goal is to make Connecticut schools as safe as they possibly can be,” Rell said in a statement.

“This law will put a system in place that can potentially save children’s lives. Parents of students with allergies will finally get some peace of mind. With this law, Connecticut breaks new ground as a leader in prevention and school safety.”

The measure requires the state to develop and make available to each local and regional board of education guidelines for the management of students with life-threatening food allergies by Jan. 1, 2006.

The Westport Weston Health District has announced it will begin telephone registration for flu vaccinations for residents 50 years of age and older on Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Individuals interested in receiving the flu vaccine should call the Westport Weston Health District at (203) 227-9571 for an appointment.

All Medicare Part B participants are asked to have their cards available when registering.

The health district said it is conducting telephone registrations for the clinic in order to facilitate effective administration of the vaccine and to eliminate long waits.

Members of the Team Mossman triathalon club based at Westport’s YMCA held their second annual polar bear plunge today at Compo Beach. Altogether, several dozen members and their families took a dip in the water in relatively balmy 55-degree weather. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Emerging from their Compo Beach New Year’s Day swim today are (l-r) Clayton Tebbetts Sr., 39, of North Haven; Peter Holmquist, 40, of Wilton, and Matthew McGlynn, 39, of Weston. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Family members, friends and supporters of the Team Mossman triathalon club based at Westport’s YMCA gathered at Compo Beach today to watch the second annual New Year’s Day polar bear plunge. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Gov. M. Jodi Rell addresses Westport’s Y’s Men last January. WestportNow.com photoGov. M. Jodi Rell has breast cancer and underwent surgery today at Danbury Hospital, her office announced.

It said the breast cancer was diagnosed last week after a routine mammogram.

Rell, 58, had a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery performed and was recovering this evening after being in surgery for much of the afternoon, her office said. She is expected to be in the hospital for about three days, according to the announcement.

It said the cancer “was caught in its very early stages in fact, the cancer itself did not appear on the mammogram and was only discovered during a biopsy of a non-cancerous calcium deposit ֖ and tests have shown the disease has not spread.”