Compo Beach and Weston’s Bisceglie Pond are closed for swimming, due to elevated baceria levels.
Swimming will remain prohibited until samples come back within acceptable levels. Those will be taken on Monday.
Burying Hill and Old Mill Beaches, as well as Sherwood Island State Park, are all open for swimming. Compo is open for all other activities except swimming.
No swimming at Compo until at least Tuesday.
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It’s summer. But “OK To Delay” — the group urging parents to protect middle schoolers from smartphones and social media — is not delaying their efforts.
Next Thursday (July 17, 7:30 p.m., on the sand near the playground), they’ll host “Books on the Beach 203” event, at Compo.
Westport moms, educators and community members will discuss Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation.” It examines the role of “phone-based childhoods” in the youth mental health crisis,
The conversation will touch on the challenges modern families face, and how families can work together to overcome them. RSVP: oktodelaywestport@gmail.com.
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Emmy-winning CNN correspondent Gayle Young is a native Westporter. Her journalism career began as a Westport News writer. She was Connecticut’s finalist for NASA’s Journalist in Space competition.
She’s just published a memoir, “Update: Reporting From an Ancient Land.”
There is plenty about her adventures reporting from the Middle East at the start of the first Gulf War; her work as CNN bureau chief in Cairo and Rome; her award-winning documentaries as a writer and producer for National Geographic Film & Television, and her career as head of multimedia production at the World Bank.
There is also quite a bit about growing up here.
Whether in South Africa for the election of Nelson Mandela, or with Moama Gadhafi and Yassir Arafat, she was always grateful to come home.
She writes too about how helpful Westport officials were in the 1990s, when she was gathering documents to adopt her baby daughter from a Russian orphanage orphanage.
“Update” is available on Amazon, Kindle, Goodreads and Barnes & Noble. To learn more, click here.
Gayle Young
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Speaking of journalism: The New York Times real estate section regularly runs “Renters”: stories of regular people, as they seek a rental that suits their needs, lifestyles (and bank accounts).
The most recent piece highlights Patricia Brennecke, a retired teacher who had to move from a great place in Oakland. She found — miraculously, to anyone familiar with Bay Area housing — an equally great spot in Emeryville.
The cross-continental Westport angle? “Imagine my surprise,” says Steve Doig — who emailed it to me — when I realized the story I was reading was about my classmate!”
Both he and Patricia graduated together, in Staples High School’s Class of 1966.
Once again, our “06880” tagline — “Where Westport Meets the World” — is true. Click here to read the full story.
Patricia Brennecke (Photo courtesy of NY Times)
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Yesterday’s Roundup highlighted the dollar-for-dollar-match fundraising drive on now — through July 31 — at Earthplace.
Every donation goes toward animals: their feeding, medical care and enrichment activities. (To contribute and learn more about Earthplace, click here.)
Meanwhile, if you need a little tug on your heartstrings before you donate: Check out the great video here, or below.
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Congratulations to The Hive!
The non-profit — started and nurtured by longtime Westporters Frederic Chiu and Jeanine Esposito, to “deepen community connections through the arts dialogue, ideas and transformation” — was honored with a US Senate certificate of special recognition.
It included information about the couple’s Beechwood Salons in Westport, and their continuing work with arts organizations across Fairfield County.
Senator Richard Blumenthal presented the honor last weekend, at The Hive’s digs.
From left: Senator Richard Blumenthal, Frederic Chiu, Jeanine Esposito. (Screenshot courtesy of News12 Connecticut).
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Bill Dedman spotted this sign at Stop & Shop …
(Photo/Bill Dedman)
… and writes: “Shucks! Another joy of summer disappearing. Remember the days when, as soon as school let out, we kids rode our bikes down to the grocery to shuck corn.”
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Another sign of summer: Sure, you can play soccer on grass. Or artificial turf.
But there is something special about beach soccer.
These guys — from the O’Dell Group, and others — know it. Amy Schneider captured their early-morning session, at Compo.
(Photo/Amy Schneider)
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Westport Police made 2 custodial arrests between June 25 and July 9.
A 57-year-old Bridgeport man was arresed for driving under the influence, failure to drive right and operating a motor vehicle without a license, following a complaint of an intoxicated man in a resident’s yard who refused to leave. He did so before police arrived, but he was stopped on Greens Farms Road near Valley Road.
A 50-year-old New Milford woman was arrested on an active re-arrest warrant, for failure to appear.
Westport Police also issued these citations:
- Traveling unreasonably fast: 8 citations
- Failure to renew registration: 7
- Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 5
- Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 5
- Operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance: 5
- Failure to comply with state traffic commission regulations: 5
- Driving while texting: 4
- Failure to obey stop sign: 4
- Improper use of markers: 3
- Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 2
- Failure to grant right of way: 2
- Driving under the influence: 1
- Traveling too fast for conditions: 1
- Improper entry/exit on a limited access highway: 1
- Transporting a child without restraints: 1
- Following too closely: 1
- Unsafe backing: 2
- Failure to drive right: 1
- Failure to obey traffic control signals: 1
- Failure to return plates: 1
Always look behind when backing up!
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Robert Horne — a former member of Westport Boards of Finance and Tax Review — died June 28, after a lengthy illness. He was 86.
The UK native earned a degree in chemical engineering from Cambridge, and an MBA from Harvard. He held leadership positions at ICI, Digital Equipment Corporation and Nortel, and was president and CEO of BioCad.
After his public service in Westport, he helped shape the city of Johns Creek, Georgia. Robert enjoyed sailing, water sports and skiing.
He is survived by his wife Ann; sons Mark and Adam; daughter Hannah, and grandchildren Ayden, Addison, Morgan, Paige and Luke.
A celebration of Rober’s life is set for July 26 (2 p.m., Lanier Village Estate chapel, Gainesville, Georgia). In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the LVE Samaritan Fund.
Robert Horne
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Beach plums are blooming — beautifully — near Old Mill Beach.
They’re so beautiful, they’re today’s featured “Westport … Naturally” image.
They look good enough to eat, right off the screen!
(Photo/Judith Katz)
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And finally … on this date in 1553, Lady Jane Grey took the throne of England.
(It’s okay to delay giving your child a smartphone. But delaying support of “06880,” your hyper-local blog? Nah! If you enjoy anything we do, 24/7/365, please donate by clicking here. Thanks!)
So remind me when the water samples were taken? And when they were driven up to Hartford? And when the tests were done? And when the town was notified of the elevated bacteria levels? And when the water was closed to swimming? And who has been swimming in Compo during that 3-5 day (?) period? When will the town start doing its own water testing?
Why is this not reflected on the actual government website that tracks this? https://beachadvisory.ct.gov/BeachAlert/beach-info/?id=be08e1fe-e780-ef11-a671-001dd808ecde
Good question Zach. Maybe because they just can’t be bothered. They have bigger agendas on their mind ! Bigger fish to fry so to speak.
They don’t care about the families who trek to the beach with chairs and umbrellas and precious cargo to enjoy a day at the beach only to discover nobody can swim until at least next Monday.
What is the term for when your ‘Crown Jewel’ is dirty and polluted?
Jock itch
And Eric wins the Internet today
Easy layup John.
‘70
Touche’….maybe a name change is in order? ‘Jock Itch’ Beach….?
Great for crabbin’ too.
5 days of no swimming during our short summer because of inefficiency in the testing process. What a disgrace.
The Compo beach closures are very frustrating, as is the lack of information about what, exactly is going on. The communication has been extremely poor! What is causing the closures and why is only Compo affected? Someone had posted on social media that this was due to sewage discharges from the Westport water treatment plant. Is that true? What are the pathogens people are being exposed to and do people who have been exposed need to monitor for any specific symptoms or take any special precautions? As a regular Compo beach swimmer, more communication is needed!
For up-to-date information on testing visit https://aspetuckhd.org/
Long Island Sound is one big poop pond. Shellfish doing their best but can’t keep up with the overdevelopment on all sides.
It needs a good Noreaster to clean it all out.
Why anyone fishes there is beyond gross.
Interesting contrarian theory!
Generally, folks say—
1. Stormwater Runoff Increases Pollution
During nor’easters, heavy rainfall creates large volumes of stormwater runoff. In coastal towns like those in Fairfield County, this water:
• Washes pollutants (oil, grease, fertilizers, pesticides, trash, pet waste) from roads, lawns, and parking lots into storm drains.
• Often flows untreated into rivers and directly into Long Island Sound.
• Can overwhelm combined sewer systems (where stormwater and sewage share pipes), causing sewage overflows.
2. Beach Closures Are Common After Storms
Due to the spike in bacteria levels (especially E. coli and enterococci) following rainstorms:
• Towns like Westport, Fairfield, and Norwalk often test water quality post-storm and may close beaches temporarily.
• CT DEEP and local health departments recommend avoiding swimming for 24–48 hours after heavy rain.
3. Impact on Marine Ecosystems
Storm-driven pollution harms aquatic life:
• Algal blooms can result from nutrient runoff (nitrogen, phosphorus).
• Sediment plumes cloud the water and smother marine habitats.
• Toxins accumulate in shellfish and fish, posing health risks.
There are numerous groups and agencies that collect data on our beaches and waterways… access to most of them is sometimes hard to find and the results are not easily translatable into and answer to the question: is it safe to swim?
The US Geological Survey constantly monitors various aspects of the Saugatuck River at the Post Rd… well upstream of the river mouth and Compo Beach… where the runoff from lawn fertilizers, pest and weed spray and the like creates the bacteria breeding conditions that… well, it’s water and it flows downstream.
Norwalk River Watch publishes a period report on rivers which has indicated that 56% of the time the Saugatuck River is polluted.
When it rains heavily, the likely source of bacteria causing Compo Beach to close is overflow from the Westport Waste Water treatment plant on the bank opposite the intended Hamlet project.
What surprises me a bit is why Compo Beach closes swimming due to high bacteria counts when over in Saugatuck harbor and up the river there are water skiers, paddle boarders, and others in the water who have had no warning about the pollution
How can Compo Beach be closed and Burying Hill beach open?
Maybe the bacteria are too tired to swim there.
Maybe the contamination is due to “leftovers” from pre-May 31 when dogs were allowed on the beach. I understand some dog owners are less than diligent about cleaning up, particularly if the dog does its business below the waterline. If that’s the case, Mr. Loffredo may be right about the nor’easter.
I would imagine someone could do some DNA testing of the contaminated water to discover the sources.
What was the “Failure to return plates” citation for? As best I can tell, Connecticut has not had a requirement to return license plates for years.
Separately, those aren’t beach plums. They are Rosa Rugosa and the “plums” are actually rose hips. I, also, always thought they were beach plums until I told the landscape guy we wanted to plant some beach plums then pointed to my neighbors rugosa and he explained that they were entirely different plants.
On the rose hips: Thank you for knowing this!! I was gonna say something.