Yesterday’s Roundup included a collage of 4 stop signs, all lying on the ground at Compo Beach.
(Photos/JD Dworkow)
I suggested the cause was vandalism (or a particularly intoxicated driver).
Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
Turns out the signs were blown down in last week’s wind-and-rain storm.
I apologize to all the vandals and drunk drivers out there. My bad.
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Earlier this month, a soon-to-be-demolished home on Ferry Lane East served as a site for SWAT team training.
Yesterday, the Westport Fire Department took their turn
Honing their upper-floor rescue skills, they set up a ladder, broke open a window, went inside, and handed an “infant” (doll) out the window.
While most of Westport was preparing for the holidays, our firefighters continued to ensure that every day here is the safest it can be.
Fire Department training on Ferry Lane East. (Hat tip and photo/Matthew Mandell)
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A group of Staples High School students has taken “the season of giving” to heart.
Sophomore Sophie Smith started Peter’s Heart, a club that raises funds for education and mentorship in Uganda.
They were out in force yesterday at Anthropologie, hard at work.
From left: Addison Welling, Rebecca Schachter, Sophie Smith, Olivia Kuliga.
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Josh Koskoff — the Staples High School graduate, longtime resident and attorney who helped Sandy Hook families win a massive defamation suit against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — is handling another important case.
Along with colleagues at the Bridgeport firm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, he’s representing over 100 plaintiffs. They are women who received fertility treatment at the Yale reproductive, endocrinology and infertility clinic, and their spouses.
Without medication, they were subjected to excruciating pain — which was ignored for years. Their medication was being diverted (stolen) by a drug addicted fertility nurse with keys to the medication cabinet. Yale personnel disregard the women’s complaints. The case is currently in discovery.
The “Retrievals” serial podcast chronicling the case was recently named the #1 podcast of 2023 by both Time and New York Magazine. Click here to listen.
Josh Koskoff
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After years of controversy, the cell tower built on private Greens Farms Road property is up.
Yesterday, a crew did some work, midway up the structure.
(Photo/Rob Haroun)
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Meanwhile, a few yards away — at the Greens Farms Road/Hillspoint Road intersection — there’s a different pole.
Happy Festivus, to all who celebrate!
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Also meanwhile, up in Weston Jolantha — the town’s favorite pig — is dreaming of a pink and purple Christmas.
And dreaming too that someone else will be someone else’s holiday dinner on Monday.
(Photo/Hans Wilhelm)
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Sure, the temperature was 27 degrees this morning.
But at least it’s warmer than the North Pole.
So this couple embraced the relative warmth, at Compo Beach:
(Photo/Karen Como)
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Spotted yesterday on the Post Road:
(Photo/Shirlee Gordon)
“I guess his sleigh was in the shop,” says photographer Shirlee Gordon.
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Sure, traffic was nuts yesterday.
But this guy didn’t care. He chilled on top of the Sherwood Mill Pond garage. Matt Murray — who did his part by not driving downtown — spotted him, for our “Westport … Naturally” feature.
(Photo/Matt Murray)
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And finally … since this Roundup includes 2 stories about poles (above), why not celebrate Christmas with these Polish carols:
(There are just 2 days till Christmas — and you’re still wondering what to get “06880”? Just click here, for a tax-deductible contribution. Your hyperlocal blog thanks you!)
I like the vandal story better ‼️😂
Apology accepted. Appy Nu yr an any or!
Well as far as stop sign poles are concerned, maybe the specifications for a stronger pole and public works using same would be a simple less costly and dangerous
solution? Oh! the rigors of doing things right in the first place! Hah!
The poles are designed to break and fall during high wind storms.
In the ground is a “U” channel post, usually 2-4 feet deep in. It is driven into the ground with a hydraulic jack (or a post driver).
The post for the sign is attached with two bolts, ranging 10,12mm and a flange nut.
Here is the kicker…a breaker bar on a “U” post is inserted between the channel post and actual pole, with two bolts that go through it. It’s to prevent the signs from violently blowing back and forth, side to side, from hitting a car or worse, a person.
So when that bar breaks, it will slide down along the channel post, hit the ground and fall within its place (almost).
Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) calls for break away posts with signage, especially where storms are prevalent. Hope this helps!
(I worked for City of Norwalk Public Works & Traffic Division)
Ray’s comment is the internet all over. First, be wrong. (“Well as far as stop sign poles are concerned, maybe the specifications for a stronger pole and public works using same would be a simple less costly and dangerous solution?”) Second, assume experts know nothing. (“Oh! the rigors of doing things right in the first place!”) Third, exclaim snidely, at the top of your voice. (“Hah!”) Fourth, when corrected by someone who knows better, say nothing. (“.”)