Right now, there are no fenced dog parks in Westport. (Winslow Park is enclosed, but there are many gaps and areas without walls or fences.)
Andrew Colabella wants to change that.
The Representative Town Meeting member worked with Karen Kramer and Matthew Mandell to create a petition. The goal is to gauge support, to show town officials the need. Click here to see.
There are gates, and some new fences, at Winslow Park. But it is not a fully enclosed dog run. (Photo/Nell Waters Bernegger)
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The Westport Police Department is participating in the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s high visibility distracted driving enforcement campaign. The campaign — beginning today, and running through October 31 — will increase efforts to enforce distracted-driving laws.
Connecticut law prohibits the use of any hand-held mobile device while operating a motor vehicle. Drivers who are 16 or 17 years old are prohibited from using a cell phone or mobile device at any time — even hands free.
The fine for the first offense is $200. It’s $375 for the second ticket, and $625 for the third and subsequent offenses.
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Who knew so many “06880” readers also read the New York Post?
I’d need an entire haberdashery to hand out hat tips to everyone who sent me the tabloid story noting Shonda Rhimes’ purchase of Doug and Melissa Bernstein’s 11-bedroom home. The 7.5-acre property also includes a basketball court, bowling alleys, arcade, home theater, playroom, billiards room, 8 fireplaces, kitchen with a pizza oven, tennis court, pool, playground, and outdoor seating and dining areas.
Karen Scott was the KMS Partners at Compass broker who sold the property to the producer/screenwriter/author/global media company CEO/Television Academy Hall of Fame inductee’s agent. Rhimes will move from elsewhere in Westport; the Bernsteins have bought another home here.
Click here for the full New York Post story.
Shonda Rhimes’ new home.
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Meanwhile, another New York newspaper — the Times — this week ran a Critic’s Notebook piece headlined: “Has War Changed, or Only War Photography?”
It begins by citing a 1991 Staples High School graduate and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist:
Lynsey Addario began taking war pictures when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Only two-thirds of a century had elapsed since Robert Capa documented the Spanish Civil War. But to go from the exhibition of Capa’s Spain photos at the International Center of Photography to the Addario show at the SVA Chelsea Gallery is to traverse not just time and geography but a profound shift in sensibility. Capa’s pictures express his belief in war as a conflict between good and evil. In our time, which is to say in Addario’s, unwavering faith in the justice of one side has perished, a casualty of too many brutal, pointless, reciprocally corrupt wars.
Addario over the last two decades has taken her camera to some of the most dangerous places on earth. A MacArthur fellow, she is a freelance photographer who shared a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting awarded to The New York Times in 2009 for its coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Like Capa, she calls herself a photojournalist, not an artist. She has said that she is dedicated to “using images to undo preconceptions and to show a reality often misunderstood or misrepresented.” She has also named Capa as one of her main influences, even though many of the preconceptions she seeks to undermine are those he enshrined.
Click here to read the full story. (Hat tip: Kathie Motes Bennewitz)
In one of Lynsey Addario’s most famous photos, Ukrainian soldiers try to save the father of a family of four — the only one at that moment who still had a pulse — moments after being hit by a mortar while trying to flee Irpin, near Kyiv. (Photo/Lynsey Addario for the New York Times)
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The Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County has received a $5,000 grant from Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.
It’s for their Dignity Grows chapter, part of a national network to fight period poverty among nearly 30% of menstruators in the U.S. Donors and volunteers fund and pack monthly totes of hygiene and period essentials. They’re delivered free of charge to partner agencies, who then provide them to their clients.
From last September through June, the Federation organized 10 packing events — many in Westport — and delivered 800 totes. The grant will help them expand their reach, to meet a growing need.
A packing event hosted by Sharon Navarro (top right, 3rd from right) and Jen Frank (bottom row, 2nd from right). All participants are Westport residents — except the lone male, Ofek Moscovich. He’s the Federation Israel emissary spending a year here. The group packed 100 totes for LifeBridge Community Services in Bridgeport.
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Who knew there were “professional carvers”?
On Thursday (October 20), you can meet one. DeTapas restaurant hosts one. He’ll serve a “world-class jamon,” paired with special Spanish wines.
The carver will go from table to table, from 5:30 p.m. on. The cost is $45 per person. Guests can stay and enjoy dinner afterward. To RSVP, use Open Table, or contact the restaurant: hola@detapasrestaurant.com; 203-557-0257.
Owner Carlos Pia in his handsomely decorated De Tapas restaurant.
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Speaking of restaurants:
After a successful summer, La Plage pivots to fall. Highlights include “Mussels Wednesday” (Pemaquid Maine mussels with non-stop fries service, paired with a special Pilsner from Spacecat Brewing in Norwalk); “Lobster Bake Thursday” (with head-on shrimp, mussels, clams and andouille), and “Paella Sunday” (clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp, chicken, chorizo).
La Plage also offers a “Halloween Bash” (Sunday, October 30). The winning costume earns 2 tickets to the restaurant’s New Year’s Eve dinner and gala.
Killer water views at La Plage.
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Looking for money?
Connecticut has just published a new “Big List” — names of people owed money from various sources, currently held by the state treasurer.
The website (click here) guides users through a form to complete and have notarized.
If you get a windfall, consider sharing it with Dennis Jackson — the “06880” reader who found the site.
And, of course, with “06880.”
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The Joggers Club is not running out of great ideas.
Besides Fun Runs every Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. at Compo Beach, and Track Night every Wednesday at 6:q5 p.m. (Staples High School), they’re taking part in races throughout the state. Among them:
- Pumpkin Run: October 30 (costumes encouraged)
- Jamie’s Run for Children: November 6 (DJ Party after)
- Hot Coco 5K: November 12 (“Hottest Race in November”)
- Branford Thanksgiving 5K: Thanksgiving
- Christmas Run for Children: December 4 (free beer and live music).
The Joggers Club offers a free race bib to each of those races to one member — and discounted coupons for everyone else.
Club membership is $50 a year (new members get a free Endurance Brooks racing shirt. Click here or on Instagram or Facebook for more information.
$50 a year (And new members get a free Endurance Brooks racing shirt)
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Boo!
The scene outside Winslow Park Animal Hospital changes with the holiday. It’s clear what’s next:
(Photo/Molly Alger)
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We’ve featured wasp nests before, in our “Westport … Naturally” series.
But I don’t think I’ve seen any as large — and scary-looking — as this. Pete Powell spotted it on the Longshore golf course, opposite the green at hole 13.
You sure don’t want to hit a ball near there.
(Photo/Pete Powell)
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And finally … in honor of the Connecticut state treasurer’s trove:
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(Not much to add to the song above. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog.)
The idea of securing the perimeter of Winslow Park is a good one – not least to prevent off-leash dogs from harming wildlife in the adjacent, wooded buffer areas – especially the sensitive nesting areas within the Deadmans Brook Waterway Protection Area. As an aside, I was startled but pleased to see that the former chair of Parks and Rec. has not only dropped his stubborn opposition to this common sense proposal but is now actually a petitioner for it. Better late than never I guess.
Fencing in Winslow is a great idea. Putting in a cross walk from East Main to Winslow also needs to considered. It’s incredibly dangerous crossing Compo to enter the park and very rarely do cars stop to allow pedestrians to cross.
Re: The Jogger’s Club
This morning the Joggers went by us on Hillspoint oblivious to “rules of the road” and were running three abreast and along with the traffic (as opposed to facing/against traffic).
It almost matches the peloton that blasted through the stop sign at Old Mill Deli. After I physically pointed to the stop sign, one of their riders said loud enough for me and others to hear: “I can’t read.” I guess the 20+ riders are above the law. Safe riding be damned.
It was very sad last year to hear about the dogs that died after running out to the road. That being said when I read the town was taking steps to close the openings, I reached out to the head of our recreation department to express my concern that even if some fencing was done the stone walls are low. I expressed that I thought the town was opening themselves up to a lawsuit down the road if another pet ran into the road after being off leash in the park. Last week when I saw the fencing had now been installed I tried to call the first selectwoman’s office but my message for Jen Tooker was rerouted back to the recreation department. I had another pleasant conversation with the head of our grounds department and he told me there was a lot of discussion and the fencing you see there now was the outcome.
I tried again to express my concern to him and put another call in to the selectwoman’s office at the end of last week. I suggested to the recreation person that maybe we need signage that warns of the danger and maybe could hold the town-harmless in the event of another death. I think the town attorney should weigh in. I live nearby and see distracted dog owners looking at cell phones when dogs are off leash near compo along the stone wall. Once when I just called to an owner to be careful that a dog got hit here, their dog almost darted to say hi to me! PHEW! I also don’t know why we don’t have a secure area, ( I don’t own a dog but go there to see them and pet them, if I am lucky ) but I wonder if the people who let them run free would even use it? I hope they would. It is the only truly safe way. Dogs are unpredictable when having that kind of fun with their friends! Fingers crossed!
Why the chain around the cat’s neck….all too much like the ones that dog abusers use to teathr digs to trees and such…get it the hell gone!
If you look more closely you will see that it is actually a chinstrap for a small hat (a fascinator, really) That the cat is wearing. It is dark and blends into the statue and background.
if doing dog park please make sure the fences are high enough. i’d suggest at least 6′.
Thank you for the thought, Dan. However, to anyone who receives a “windfall” from the Connecticut “unclaimed funds” website… Please consider donating the funds to 06880 to support Dan’s excellent local journalism.
My question is who would pay for the enclosed dog run ? My vote is for the dog owners that use the park.