The 17-year-old charged in connection with last September’s carjacking of an Aston Martin from the garage of a Bayberry Lane home would not face a home invasion charge — if he agrees to serve 8 1/2 years in prison.
Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Moran made the offer on Tuesday, at State Superior Court in Stamford. It came “in light of the defendant’s age, behavior while being out on release and lack of adult record.”
The teenager has until October 9 to make a decision. Click here for the full story, on CT Insider.
Footage from a security camera of last September’s carjacking.
=================================================
Spotted lanternflies are (ugh!) back.
But we don’t have to just sit back and look at their fascinating and ugly selves.
Joe Schnierlein, Aspetuck Land Trust offers these tips, via the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry:
SQUISH THEM
And when you do so, do it well. One adult can lay about 80 eggs.
REMOVE ALL TREE OF HEAVEN
The Tree of Heaven is also invasive, so you are doing double duty. Click here for information.
WRAP TREES AND BUSHES WITH STICKY TAPE
Wrap tape around a tree or shrub. Lanternflies get stuck as they climb up the plant. Tape made by Catch Master (4 30-foot rolls for about $24 is so sticky that you also need to put screening or mesh about 1/2 to 1 inch over the sticky tape, to keep birds from getting stuck in it.
SPRAY WITH VINEGAR & SOAP, OR VINEGAR ALONE
Reports are that this is effective. however, plants may react to the acidity.
REMOVE THE EGG MASSES
Click here to see the lanternfly’s life cycle. Spotted lanternfly egg masses can be laid on any surface (outdoor furniture, fence posts, etc.).
Spotted lanternflies last year, at Winslow Park. (Photo/Michael Mossman)
=================================================
A reader writes:
“The Old Mill neighborhood is fed up with the blue crab industry that has arisen on our pristine beach.
“Participants arrive from New York State around low tide anytime after 5 p.m., when they can park legally on Hillspoint Road adjacent to the two concrete stairways down to the beach.
“They often come in groups of 15 at all hours of darkness, each with a bright LED flashlight fastened to their head. The lights disturb the precious marine ecosystem, and the surrounding neighbors’ sleep.
Old Mill crabbers, with LED lights.
“The crabbers harvested crabs the night the town closed the beaches to swimming as a result of the recent huge rainstorm. This could cause serious illness to unsuspecting consumers at the end of the commercial supply chain.
“Perhaps most disconcerting is the trash left behind each night, next to where they park: beer bottles and cans, plastic bottles, food packaging, wet socks, used rubber gloves, cigarette butts, plastic buckets and more.
Old Mill garbage.
“This is just what we see. Who knows what they are discarding in the water that is hidden.
“The town needs to prohibit overnight parking in this area starting at 5 p.m. to any vehicle without a Westport beach permit, and needs to patrol the Old Mill parking lot after 10 p.m.
“This abuse must stop. Our beaches are not intended to support a commercial industry, especially one unsupervised and unchecked by health officials.”
=================================================
Registration for Westport Parks & Recreation Department programs begin online this coming Wednesday (September 4, 9 a.m.).
Click here to see all programs.
To prepare: Sign in to your online account. Under “Account Options,” you’ll see your name with a pencil next to the edit button. Select the edit button; then choose the “Contact Info” tab.
Verify that your email address is current; select the save button at the bottom. You will be directed back to the “account options” page.
Under your family name, you will see your family members. Follow the steps below for each family member.
- select “manage family members”
- choose a name from the list
- Under “Family Member Information,” make any necessary changes. Make sure that the grade (if applicable) is correct; hit “Save.”
- Go to “Contact Information” to verify your cell/home phone, and provide carrier if interested in receiving text messages. Make sure your email is current. Click “Save.”
- Continue this process for every family member.
Have an address change? Email recreation@westportct.gov.
If you are not able to log into your online account, do not create another profile. Email recreation@westportct.gov or call 203-341-5152.
Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities — the non-profit that helps children with learning and attention differences reach their full potential — has a new short video.
It tells the story of who the group is, and what they do, while inspiring and comforting parents of kids with LD and ADHD.
The film — which features honorary chair Henry Winkler – was created by Westporter Robert Steven Williams.
All interviews wee conducted at the Southport School. Click below to watch:
=================================================
Storyfest — the Westport Library’s 7th annual genre-spanning literary festival (and the largest in Connecticut), celebrating all forms of storytelling — is just 3 weeks away.
The event kicks off Friday, September 20, with a keynote conversation with Roxane Gay and Oliver Radclyffe. Saturday (September 21) features a full panel lineup, 2 live podcast recordings, and a dedication to Westport literary icon Sybil Steinberg. Pitchfest caps off the weekend on Sunday (September 22).
Click here for full details.
==================================================
Earthplace calls this a “wonder-‘fall'” time of year.
The environmental and educational center welcomes September with live performances, foraging and wildlife programs, a community volunteer clean-up day, a “Harvest Homecoming” including a nature walk, canoe paddle, family campfire, after-school activities and more.
For details, click here.
==================================================
The honors keep coming for Harold Bailey Jr.
Yesterday, “06880” reported that the longtime resident/TEAM Westport chair/Westport Country Playhouse board member will be honored — with his wife Bernicestine McLeod Bailey — at the WCP gala with Kristin Chenoweth and Mary-Mitchell Campbell on Saturday, September 14.
The previous week — on September 6 ( 2 p.m.) — Bailey will be featured at the Senior Center, through their “This is Your Life” project.
A collaboration with The Legacy Project USA, it’s an up-close-and-personal look at the lives of friends and neighbors, both well known and quiet — before and during their time here.
Rozanne Gates, co-owner of The Legacy Project, will moderate the event. The public is invited.
Harold Bailey Jr.
=============================================
Hummingbirds don’t usually fly too quickly to be photographed.
But this one hung around in Marvin Frimmer’s yard long enough to be captured — photographically, of course — for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.
(Photo/Marvin Frimmer)
==================================================
And finally … today is National College Colors Day. We’ll celebrate with 3 of the greatest college fight songs in the history of athletics.
Feel free to disagree.
(Here’s one thing no one has to fight over: support for “06880.” We all agree: This is where Westport meets the world. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)
Cmon Dan- How could you leave out Columbia!!
Roar, Lion, Roar!
And wake the echoes of the Hudson Valley!
Fight on to vict’ry evermore,
While the sons of Knickerbocker rally ’round
Columbia! Columbia!
Shouting her name forever
Roar, Lion, Roar!
For Alma Mater on the Hudson Shore!
Dear Dan
Please forgive me if this is comment number 2. One wrong move and my response went missing.
First of all I’d like to thank you for your thoughtful email updates about our awesome town. You keep us connected in the best way.
I too got the Aspetuck Land Trust email yesterday about spotted lantern fly control and sent a response back immediately. Please please. No sticky tape on trees. Even with a mesh guard. Hummingbirds for example have a tongue up to 2” long and won’t survive a sticky tape encounter. Same with woodpeckers being tempted by a motionless moth. I’d love to find the brilliant ‘McGyvers’ who rigged up a plastic bag and a few other easy to find items and tried their experiment on Sherwood Island. It looked like it worked.
Thanks for any help!
Best
Chrissey Hunt
Regarding the Spotted Lantern Fly advice- the sticky tape IS NOT recommended. It is tricky to use without also snaring beneficial insects and birds.
Regarding Spotted Lantern Flies
They can be fast to escape when you try to stomp them but 95% land on their backs and can’t fly for a second till they flip back over. Stomp to get them moving then nail them when they land
Go Blue!
Regarding the thug involved in the carjacking: “lack of adult record”???!!! In the eyes of the law, unfortunately since he is 17 and not 18 he is not considered an adult. This is such BS and by the grace of God the victim wasn’t killed in the attack..
Further, Dave, his behavior since the arrest, while out and about, is not an indication of future behavior when he’s not being constantly watched to see how he behave…as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.
URGENT. Please Do Not use sticky tape on trees!!!! Very bad advice. Birds and other small animals get stuck and die horrible death. Dan. Please make this correction. Sorry but seriously unkind to animals.
I just updated the info. Thanks.
Regarding shellfishing, the statement was made: “This abuse must stop. Our beaches are not intended to support a commercial industry, especially one unsupervised and unchecked by health officials.”
Who is “our” in “our beaches”?
Connecticut law makes clear:
“The public has the right to fish and shellfish over submerged lands. Peck v. Lockwood, 5 Day 22 (1811);
“The public has the right to pass and repass in navigable rivers. Adams v. Pease, 2 Conn 481 (1818);
“The public may gather seaweed between ordinary high water and low water. Chapman v. Kimball, 9 Day 38 (1831);
” ‘Public rights include fishing, boating, hunting, bathing, taking shellfish, gathering seaweed, cutting sedge, and of passing and repassing ….’ Orange v. Resnick, 94 Conn 573 (1920);
” ‘It is settled in Connecticut that the public has the right to boat, hunt, and fish on the navigable waters of the state.’ State v. Brennan, 3 Conn Cir. 413 (1965).”
Citations are from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Conservation, “Living on the Shore
Who Owns The Shore: The Public Trust,” https://portal.ct.gov/deep/coastal-resources/living-on-the-shore-brochure/who-owns-the-shorethe-public-trust
Thanks Dan!!!
Lantern flies! Raevn, my big fluffy black Ragdoll cat, has become adept at catching them when they land on the roof top terrace. Brought a huge one in last night as present for me.