Roundup: Revaluation Appeals, Photos Of The Year, Stop The Bleed …

The deadline to schedule an appointment to review new property assessments has been extended to Friday (December 26). The previous deadline was today.

Actual appeal applications to the Board of Assessment Appeals will be available after the Grand List is signed. They must be filed by February 20.

For more information about the revaluation, click here.  To speak with a member of the Assessor’s Office, call 203-341-1070.

Revaluation assessment reviews for Westport properties can be made today or Friday.

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Two Staples High School graduates — both Pulitzer Prize winners — have 4 photos, in the New York Times‘ annual “Year in Photos” section.

Tyler Hicks (SHS ’88) contributed 3 images, all from Ukraine (February 9, May 18, October 8).

He describes this one (below): “A volunteer with the Platsdarm group collecting the remains of soldiers and civilians killed in the Ukraine war. The recovery of the dead was not always possible as fighting raged along the front, sometimes for weeks or months.”

(Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)

Lynsey Addario (SHS ’91) took this haunting image in Syria (February 15):

(Photo/Lynsey Addario for the New York Times)

It shows a mother tending to her 15-year-old son, who had stepped on a landmine while herding sheep. 

Lynsey says: “Many people think of war as the dangers during active combat, but there are so many casualties after a war finishes. These are the quiet stories that speak volumes about how war has tentacles everywhere.”

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Many — okay, most — Westporters were surprised to learn there was a school snow day yesterday.

Students were thrilled. Parents — probably less so.

The best reaction came from alert “06880” reader Michael Stefanski.

He sends this photo …

(Photo/Michael Stefanski)

… and adds, “The blizzard that shut down schools on December 23. We will prevail!”

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The #1 cause of a preventable death after an injury is … bleeding.

A free Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service “Stop the Bleed” class can help save lives.

It’s January 22 (7 to 8:45 p.m., EMS headquarters, 50 Jesup Road). Click here for more information, and to register.

And while you’re at it, consider a donation to WVEMS. Many residents don’t realize they pay for everything — from ambulances to Band-Aids — themselves.

There are many worthy causes and organizations in Westport. Few are as life-changing — and life-saving — as this.

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“Building Bridges Through Storytelling” — a quilting exhibition — is on display in 3 Westport Library galleries, through March 17.

Like a patchwork quilt itself, the show weaves together 3 distinct yet interconnected exhibits. Each explores how art, memory and narrative bind communities across generations and geographies.

Receptions and talks are set for January 15 (6 p.m.) and January 31 (1 p.m.).


“Covid Quilt” by Maybeth Wirz (left); “Green and Orange” by the Southern Connecticut Modern Quilt Guild.

For more information, including details on each exhibition, click here and here.

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Jolantha — Weston’s favorite pig — gets decked out for every holiday.

But Christmas is special. As you can see below, she goes — well, whole hog.

(Photo/Hans Wilhelm)

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Westport Police made 1 custodial arrest between December 17 and 22.

A 34-year-old Stamford man was charged with larceny, payment card theft, 6 counts of stolen card theft, 12 counts of identity theft, and criminal impersonation, following investigation into a July 2923 report that credit cards and identity documents had been stolen from a wallet in an unlocked vehicle at Birchwood Country Club. He was unable to post $10,000 bond.

Police also issued these citations:

  • Traveling unreasonably fast: 3 citations
  • Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 3
  • Failure to renew registration: 2
  • Texting while driving: 1
  • Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 1
  • Falsification of markers: 1
  • Failure to insure a motor vehicle: 1
  • Operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance: 1
  • Illegal display of a handicap plate: 1
  • Failure to comply with handicap parking regulations: 1
  • Tinted glass infraction: 1
  • Following too closely: 1
  • Failure to comply with state traffic commission regulations: 1

Using a handicap plate illegally is very uncool.

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We get tons of sunset photos — often at Compo Beach — for our “Westport … Naturally” feature.

The ones we publish must be extra-special. A dog always makes us sit up and take notice.

(Photo/Richard Abramowitz)

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And finally … Jerry Kasenetz, a record producer who was one of the kings of bubblegum music,  died this month in Florida, from complications of a fall. He was 82. Click here for a full obituary.

Among the hits he created, for better or worse:

(If 10 people click here and donate to “06880,” I promise to never include the 1910 Fruitgum Company here again. Thank you!)

8 responses to “Roundup: Revaluation Appeals, Photos Of The Year, Stop The Bleed …

  1. Thank you Michael Stefanski for that shocking blizzard picture! As a Canadian, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, I’m LMAO.

  2. The ‘Blizzard’ that shut down the schools apparently extended to the Yard Transfer site behind the Health Dept. building.
    I was there to dump leaves well before closing to learn no one was there! What happened????? (The Health Dept was open)

  3. Congratulations to Lynsey and Tyler. It is amazing! incredible! extraordinary! that two Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers attended the same small town high school within 3 years of each other. Was there something special going on in in the school at that time that influenced both of them? Do they know each other and do they have opportunities to spend time together talking about their experiences.

    • Don’t forget Spencer Platt (Staples ’88). He too is a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer. He took the most iconic photo of the burning World Trade Center on 9/11. He is the third of this remarkable trio of photojournalists.

      • Congratulations to Spencer, too. A trio of Pulitzer Prize winners – wonderful! Didn’t Spencer and his brother attend Greens Farms Elementary School, my children’s elementary school, too.

  4. Tom Duquette, SHS '75

    As a kid back in the 60’s there was nothing like waking up on a winter morning, looking out the window, and seeing a thick blanket of snow covering everything. My sister and I would rush to the AM radio and get our mother to tune in to see if school was canceled. Would we get a highly prized ‘snow day’ off, or just a crummy 2-hour delay? If I saw the amount of snow in the above photo I wouldn’t even bother mom and just start getting ready for class. I hope the kids enjoyed their day even if they couldn’t go sledding if that’s still a thing.

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