Yesterday’s power outage at Post Road East and Myrtle Avenue seemed to come out of the blue.
But there was a good reason for it. A retired former Connecticut Light & Power director explains: “A little wind — actually just over 40 mph — but the real culprit is the very tall trees growing above the 3-phase primary.
“The company has been trimming its circuits on 4-year cycles for many decades, and patrolling all backbone primary circuits each of the 3 interim years between major cycle trims, looking for signs of trouble in any of the trees growing above the circuits.
“But in most parts of the country the utility trims all branches that are above these circuits, so there is nothing but blue sky above when standing beneath the circuits and looking up.
“Unfortunately, Westport historically denied trimming to that extent. So when a strong wind takes an overhanging tree limb, or sometimes an entire tree is uprooted, you get a major outage as occurred there Friday — keeping 597 customers out of power for hours.
“This brings back memories of major storm-related outages in town: Isaias (early August, 2020 when 97% of customers lost power, some for nearly 2 weeks!), Super Storm Sandy (October 2012), Snowtober Storm (Halloween 2011), Storm Irene (August 2011), March nor’easter (March 2010), Winter Double Nor’easter (mid-January 2006), “Perfect Storm” (late fall 1991), Hurricane Bob (August 1991), Hurricane Gloria (October 1985) … all had strong winds and with its tree cover, Westport was usually one of the worst towns in the state as measured by percentage of customers out of power at the peak of the storm.”
Eversource crews working on the outage (with tree cover above). (Photo/Mark Mathias)
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Speaking of the environment: We’re #1!
At least. Westport and Weston are in terms of electric vehicle ownership.
CT Mirror reports today that while just 2.7% of all vehicles in the state are electric, the figures are 10.4% and 10.1% respectively, for our 2 towns.
Click here to read the full story, including a town-by-town comparison.
The most popular manufacturer, by a wide margin.
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The Westport Farmers’ Market celebrates creativity.
Every Thursday, the Imperial Avenue parking lot teems with vendors offering fresh ways to prepare fresh food (and not just produce — there’s meat, baked goods and more). Musicians perform. It’s fun, funky and alive.
There’s a lot to do, and see. It’s a photographer’s paradise too.
Which is why, for nearly a decade, the WFM has run Young Shoots: a digital photography competition for students ages 5-18.
Local artists will judge the entries, by age group. There’s a show on August 20 at Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center. Winners will be announced (and receive cash prizes).
New this year: Every week, a new photo will be featured on “06880” (and displayed at the Imperial Avenue market).
Take it from Miggs Burroughs, noted local artist and Young Shoots co-chair: “Not only does this contest give young talent an opportunity to shine like ripe tomatoes, but it nourishes the community with a feast of photographic goodness!”
Click here for details. The deadline is August 8. The contest is a partnership between the Westport Farmers’ Market, the Artists Collective of Westport, and the Drew Friedman Community Arts Center.
Quinn Fitts’ winning entry, last year.
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With the heat index expected to soar between 100 and 105 degrees tommorrow through Tuesday, Westport has opened several cooling centers.
They include:
- Westport Library (Sunday, 1-5 p.m.; weekdays 9 a.m.-9 p.m.)
- Westport Weston Family YMCA (Sunday, 7 a.m. -6 p.m.; weekdays 5:30 a.m.-9 p.m.)
- Senior Center (weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.)
- MoCA CT (weekdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.)
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There were honors galore, at the Westport Weston Family YMCA’s 101st annual meeting this week. They include:
- Lee J. Edelstein Volunteer of the Year: Kristin McKinney
- Allen Raymond Legacy & Impact Award: Rosemary Halstead
- Edward T. Bedford Outstanding Youth Award, Dani Schwartz, Grant Slippen
Star Employee Recognition Awards:
- Paul I. Becker Employee of the Year: Patrick Freeman
- Above & Beyond: Victoria Walters
- Commitment to Mission: Brian Ference
- Relationship Champion: Alison Ligi
- Rookie of the Year: Miles Grinnell
The event concluded with US Paralympic athlete Matthew Torres’ surprise appearance to present competitive swimming director Ellen Johnston with the Order of Ikkos. The prestigious honor is awarded by Olympic and Paralympic medalists to the coach or mentor who most influenced their success.
Ellen Johnston receives her Order of Ikkos from Matthew Torres. (Photo/Emily MacDaniel)
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Congratulations to Michael Ances!
The Staples High School graduate — and longtime Monroe Public Schools music teacher — is the district’s Teacher of the Year.
Ances — now serving as Masuk High band director — has taught in nearly every school in Monroe.
He goot his start as a 5th grade trumpet player, under the tutelage of Nick Mariconda at Saugatuck Elementary School.
Ances — who also serves as musical director and pit band conductor of the annual high school musical, and the district’s performing arts coordinator — has never forgotten his Westport roots.
In a long story in the Monroe Sun, Ances recalls playing at Radio City Music Hall with the Staples band.
And when Mariconda — who went on to lead the SHS band — retired, Ances and fellow trumpeters Andrew Wilmott and Jon Owens celebrated him with “Bugler’s Holiday, at the annual Westport Pops Concert.
Click here for the full Sun article.
Michael Ances, in the Masuk High School auditorium. (Photo courtesy of Monroe Sun)
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A great crowd celebrated the first full night of summer — and the hottest so far — at the Levitt Pavilion last night.
Dogs in a Pile got the humans dancing on the grass.
(Photos/Susan Garment)
There are 2 more free shows this weekend: Theo Kanel with Katie Lynn Sharbough tonight, and Frank Mastrone & Friends tomorrow.
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Westport has been mentioned in many novels, from “On the Beach” to James Comey’s thrillers.
The newest reference is “I See You’ve Called in Dead,” by John Kenney.
One character tells another that there is a hierarchy of humanity: “#1 Lesbians; #2 Gay Men.”
Then he says: “Imagine a world without us. Clothing, interior design, hair, makeup, choreography, art, theatre, food, topiary. Basically, you’d be left with the gray, ugly world of Eastern Europe during the Cold War or, worse, the soul-searching blandness of, say, greater Westport, Connecticut.”
Despite — or perhaps because of — lines like that, it’s got a 4.6 rating on Amazon. (Hat tip: Amy Schneider)
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Barn swallows fly quickly, in and out of the parking garage at the Riverside Avenue medical office complex. Every year, they nest above the lights.
Johanna Keyser Rossi caught one of the birds, in a rare still moment, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
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And finally … Lou Christie died Wednesday, at his Pittsburgh home. The falsetto singer was 82.
Best known for his #1 song “Lightnin’ Strikes,” he had several other hits. His follow-up to “Lightin'” — “Rhapsody in the Rain” — was banned by many stations, due to its explicit lyrics about “making love in a storm.” (“And in this car, our love went much too far …”) You get the idea.
(It’s a hot weekend in Westport. But whatever the weather, “06880” is here — 24/7/365. If you appreciate our hyper-local coverage of our town, please click here to support our work. Thanks!
As someone whose power went out yesterday, I appreciate everything Eversource does to keep us safe and the power on, but I think its legitimate to strike a balance between mitigating against all possible hazards and maintaining tree cover. Mature trees have significant benefits as well for our climate, carbon mitigation, comfort, biodiversity, quality of life, etc. If our goal is to prevent 100% of tree-related incidents from happening ever, we’d live in a pretty bleak landscape. (It might be nice if they expended some energy rationalizing the decades of out-of-date utility lines and poles that clutter the downtown, in particular. :-))
Yesterday, from the shop across the street, when the crews arrived I observed a second fairly large tree limb that became loose and was hanging. As the crews got out and started walking towards the pole, the tree limb fell and bounced off the power lines and landed right near the crews. They were obstructed from my view by bushed but I heard them yell as the limb came down. Last year there were crews trimming most the trees over there.
Maybe I missed this in the update but were there peace demonstrations on the bridge today for Israel’s unprovoked attack of Iran? Hate has no home here, and all that? Tough times to be a Nuclear Scientist I guess.
And while you were out on No Kings Day, didn’t see pictures of any Netanyahu signs.
Maybe in Westport some wars are ok.
Let’s be real the tree trimming around power lines is a billion dollar business. It’s clear to me as of late things are entering the overdone category when it comes to trimming. And you know someone is profiting while all the customers are paying. This expensive work is not eating into profit margin and being passed through to customers. I agree there needs to be the right balance.