Tomorrow is October 1.
Every dog owner — and probably every dog — knows what that means.
From Saturday through March 31, canines are allowed back on Compo Beach.
They’re prohibited from the pavilion, playground and walkways. They must be leashed in all areas, except the off-leash area (south of the pavilion, including South Beach).
And it goes without saying — though the Parks & Recreation Department says it anyway, because some dog owners don’t care about this crap — “you are required by law to pick up your dog’s feces.”
Oh happy day! Frank, Oggy, Utah and Winston (Photo/Nicola Sharian)
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Speaking of animals:
Earth Animal has donated $20,000 to build a new barn at Wakeman Town Farm. It will provide shelter, feed storage and veterinary care space.
The funds came through a 6-month Little Barn Project. A percentage of store sales — including WTF merchandise — went to the farm. Earth Animal then matched the funds.
“My sister Abbey and I fell in love with the farm and all that it does for the community, the animals, children, families and their dedicated sustainability mission,” says Merritt Goldstein, whose family owns Earth Animal.
“We asked what we could do for the farm and began supplying food for the animals. We realized that the existing barn was run down, and needed to be rebuilt.”
Wakeman Town Farm barn.
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Aquarion has requested a revenue increase of $49.9 million — a 25% increase. If approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, it would add about $4.25 per month to the bill of a typical residential water customer using 72,000 gallons of water annually.
Public hearings will be held next Thursday, October 6 (via Zoom; click here) and Tuesday, October 25 (via Zoom; click here). (Hat tip: Jeff Manchester)
For more information, click here and here.
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As if Westport does not have enough traffic and school bus problems:
Andrew Colabella reports that a bus broke down in this most inopportune spot prior to starting its route today:
(Photo/Andrew Colabella)
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Ribbons around trees usually mean they’re coming down soon.
Probably not so at Grace Salmon Park.
These pink ribbons are undoubtedly in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month:
But it might not hurt to get rid of these particular ones.
They’re trees of heaven — a very invasive species.
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Some people don’t look at food expiration dates.
Jarret Liotta does.
The native Westporter sends this photo:
(Photo/Jarret Liotta)
He writes: “This is probably my third in the last couple of months. Perhaps you can suggest a new ‘06880’ game: Readers can search Stop & Shop for their favorite expired products.”
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The Joggers Club is moving from Greens Farms train station to Compo Beach.
There are fun runs every Saturday at 8 a.m. (parking available even without a sticker). There are short (3-5 miles) and long courses (6 to 9 miles) each week.
The cost is $50 (not each time!). New Joggers Club members receive a Brooks racing shirt.
The club also introduces a new members-only track night, every Wednesday at 6:15 p.m., at the Staples High School Track.
Got kids? The Joggers Club Jr. welcomes youngsters in kindergarten through 8th grade. They work on speed, strength and how to love the sport.
The Joggers Club was founded in 2007 to help runners build friendships, form bonds, have fun (and run).
For more information, click here, or go to Instagram (@TheJoggersClub.CT),
Facebook or Strava for weekly courses and local running chatter.
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Speaking of sports: Tennis fans would give anything to watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal up close and personal. When they do, it costs big buck$. And they’re surrounded by thousands of other people.
Squash aficionados can watch their heroes — Paul Coll (ranked #2 in the world), Diego Elias (#4) and Faraz Kahn (#53) — on October 6.
The site is Intensity — the tennis/squash/fitness/dance center just over the Norwalk line. (It’s also home to the Staples High School squash teams.)
The event starts at 5 p.m. with junior clinics. Adult clinics follow at 6, with the pro exhibition matches beginning at 7.
Admission includes food, drink, and photo and autograph opportunities — something else you’d never get with Federer or Nadal. Click here for tickets.
Paul Coll — the #2 squash player in the world — comes to Intensity.
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Slava Ukraini!
Last week, Westporters Anna Dubchak, Steve Taranko, Vitaly Yakubovskiy and Mark Yurkiw, plus Luba Zam from Norwalk, held the first meeting of the
Ukrainian Society of Fairfield.
The group hopes to assist Ukraine cope with the horrors of the Russian invasion.
Non-Ukrainians are welcome to help too. For more information, email: UkrainianFairfield@hotmail.com.
The Ukrainian Society of Fairfield.
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There’s always something going on at Sherwood Mill Pond.
Matt Murray spotted this great blue heron yesterday. Today, it’s our handsome “Westport … Naturally” feature.
(Photo/Matt Murray)
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And finally … rapper Coolio, the rapper and Grammy winner of hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise,” died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 59. Click here for a full obituary.
This may be the first YouTube video I’ve ever linked to with over 1 billion views.
(“06880” is your source for all local news (and worldwide hit songs). Please click here to support this blog.
In response to the article regarding “past date” food.
As the co-chair of the Westport Woman’s Club Food Closet, I (and many of our dedicated members) have spent many, many hours searching the generous donated food items for the “best by/use by” dates.
While we appreciate the caring, thoughtfulness of the donors to help those in our community who have food insufficiency, we would ask that they take the time to “check dates” and to, please, only donate future dates food.
Thank you all for your help in keeping our shelves stocked and making us possible to provide for our neighbors.
Regarding the Substantial Aquarion Rate Increase…
If you are like me, you probably normally don’t pay much attention to the mail correspondence that we all get from Aquarion. I happened to open a letter that I received this week regarding a proposed rate increase.
In looking at the first page, the increase looks modest 8.2% ($4.25). It states that the average family of 4 uses 8ccf per month. However, the EPA calculates that it is on average 16ccf per month – double of what is on the letter. Using the rate increase as detailed on the letter and 16ccf per month, the bill increase is 17%.
Given sprinkler systems (even running ours only during allowed twice a week), my usage is far more. To give some perspective on old versus new residential rates, see the table below (per ccf):
Current Proposed % Change
Up to 140 ccf $4.234 First 5 ccf $4.999 18%
Next 4 ccf $5.499 30%
Next 11 ccf $6.049 43%
Over 20 ccf $7.247 71%
In the second year there is proposed an additional 6% increase and the third year an additional 3.7% increase.
The main rationale is to recover infrastructure investments of $740 Million. There are a few public hearings on the increase. Beyond speaking up or writing in, personally, I would like to hear from all the candidates for state office their thoughts on the increase.
Hi Dan, I am glad somebody noticed the pink ribbons on the invasive trees at Grace K Salmon park. They were placed by Monica Buesser, Westport garden club conservation chair and chair of Westport tree board and myself (Westport garden club civics chair). Our intention was to highlight the prevalence of these trees for the town. As you mention, this is an invasive tree specie and a host to the destructive invasive spotted lantern fly (Lycorma delicatula).
We tagged 18 trees of heaven (Ailanthus altissima). The Westport garden club is working to engage the town to have these trees removed from the park as soon as possible. Due to their extensive root system and the trees resprouting ability, this will require a coordinated effort.