National Night Out is coming to Westport.
The event — part of a US-wide community-building campaign to promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie, in all 50 states — is set for Tuesday, August 4. It’s sponsored by the Westport Police Department, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Jesup Green.
There’s plenty of action: live bands, food, K-9 demonstrations, a Dunk-a-Cop tank, smoke trailer, bounce houses, and many other family-friendly activities.
Emergency Medical Services personnel will provide demonstrations on CPR, the LUCAS device, splinting, and other techniques.
Local businesses and organizations are invited to participate. Contact Lt. Sereniti Dobson for more information: sdobson@westportct.gov.
As smoke from Canadian wildfires settled over Westport yesterday — and state officials issued an air quality alert — some residents said, “Whatever.”
This was the late-afternoon scene at Compo Beach:
This week, Congress is debating a law that would require states to observe year-round Daylight Savings Time (unless they exempt themselves before it takes effect).
Congressman Jim Himes wants to know what his constituents think. Click here, for his 1-question survey.
This year’s winner will be honored — and awarded a $10,000 prize — at The Westport Library on November 12.
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AI, we are told relentlessly, is the future.
Young people today must master the technical and cognitive skills necessary to live in a world no one can yet predict.
Patrick McCullough takes a different tack.
Next month, the 1981 Staples High School graduate — an award-winning filmmaker who for 22 years has offered film and arts summer education programs — will run a different type of camp experience: “Futures Prep.”
The hands-on week teaches youngsters “the human skills they need to stay ahead of technology, and thrive in a world where AI will do much of the heavy lifting.”
McCullough’s emphasis is on “creativity, presence, collaboration, focus and flow.” There are no computers at all.
Besides McCullough’s filmmaking, he has coached actors, entrepreneurs and executives, from startups to multinational companies.
He knows how to help individuals and teams make creative decisions and communicate clearly, in uncertain, high-pressure situations.
“Futures Prep” will include games, challenges and teamwork missions — “developing skills kids can actually use,” McCullough says.
Run through Westport Continuing Education at Staples August 3-7, there are sessions for ages 8-10 (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) and 11-14 (12:30 to 3:30 p.m.). The fee is $395.
For more information and to register, click here. Questions? Email Patrick@Filmmakers-Ink.com.
Patrick McCullough
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Speaking of AI: consultant Peter Farnsworth demystifies the vast topic, for client companies and classes for the general public.
On Tuesday, he did it for the Westport Rotary Club.
Farnsworth warned that even savvy individuals can easily be fooled by AI. It can be used by scammers to clone a loved one’s voice on a phone call, manufacturing a fake crisis and asking for money.
His recommendation is simple: “Slow it down. Don’t ever act quickly.”
Peter Farnsworth, at the Westport Rotary Club. (Photo/Dave Matlow)
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100 years after publication, “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” is having a moment.
Dame Agatha Christie’s novel was just included in the New York Times’ list of the best mysteries ever.
It’s also the current production at the Westport Country Playhouse. The show runs through August 1.
The Times says:
Our narrator, a country doctor named James Sheppard, is called to the scene when a wealthy widow apparently dies by suicide. Her fiancé, Roger Ackroyd, says she was being blackmailed by someone who knew she had poisoned her first husband. When Ackroyd himself turns up dead, enter Poirot and a vast cast of suspects, including an entitled stepson, a fanciful spinster, a resentful illegitimate son, a by-the-book retired military officer, a secretive personal secretary and a housekeeper who knows far more than she’s saying. It’s a master class in red herrings, misdirection and unreliable narration, and it ends with perhaps the greatest twist of all time.
As our critic wrote in 1926, “There are doubtless many detective stories more exciting and bloodcurdling than ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,’ but this reviewer has recently read very few which provide greater analytical stimulation.”
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Westport Police made 1 custodial arrest between July 8 and 14.
A 67-year-old Weston woman was charged with evading responsibility, following an investigation into a driver who let the scene of an April accident in the HomeGoods parking lot. She was reportedly not cooperative during multiple attempts to follow up on the matter. She was released on a $1,000 bond.
Police also issued these citations:
- Texting while driving: 18 citations
- Traveling unreasonably fast: 17
- Distracted driving: 11
- Failure to obey state traffic commission regulations: 8
- Failure to obey stop sign: 6
- Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 3
- Speeding: 2
- Failure to carry driver’s license: 2
- Failure to obey traffic control signals: 2
- Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 1
- School zone violation: 1
- Disobeying the signal of an officer: 1
- Improper passing: 1
- Following too closely: 1
- Failure to yield to a pedestrian: 1
- Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 1
- Operating a motor vehicle without a tint inspection: 1
- Failure to renew registration: 1
Disobeying the signal of an officer can result in a citation.
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This guy gives off a strong “don’t mess with me” vibe. But June Rose Whittaker got close enough to snap today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature photo.
(Photo/June Rose Whittaker)
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And finally … Joe Melson, the songwriter who collaborated with Roy Orbison to help create some of the singer’s most operatic ballads, died this month at 91.
You may not know his name. But you sure know some of the hits he co-wrote:
(We can’t sing like Roy Orbison. No one can. But we do publish a pretty good hyper-local blog. If you enjoy a decent amount of it, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)