The Citizens’ Police Academy is one of the best — and most unpublicized, and underrated — programs in town.
25 Westport residents participate in classes that cover many aspects of law enforcement.
They learn about specialized units in the Westport Police Department, as well as how it operates and its role in the criminal justice system.
Participants observe demonstrations, and get hands-on experience with equipment the police use every day.
Instructors include experienced officers, and attorneys from Stamford Court.
In addition to classes, students experience a ride-along with a patrol officer.
They also receive Stop the Bleed training.
The next Westport Citizens’ Police Academy begins September 19. Classes run from 7 to 9:30 p.m. for 8 weeks, on select Tuesdays and Thursdays (September 19 and 26; October 1, 10, 17, 24, and November 7 and 14).
The academy is open to Westport residents 21 and older. Applications are available at police headquarters or by email from Officer Jill Cabana (jcabana@westportct.gov), and are due by August 27.
Residents can learn about this vehicle — and many other aspects of policing — at the upcoming Citizens’ Academy. (Photo/Dennis Wong)
==================================================
Big Y is hiring.
The supermarket — which plans a soft launch starting October 24, in the Post Road East shopping plaza best known now for Angelina’s — begins interviews on August 26.
The hiring site will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, through October 19.
Positions are open in the bakery; meat and seafood; in-store deli and kitchen; produce and floral, and center store. Big Y is also hiring cashiers, overnight stock clerks, and managers and assistant managers.
For more information, click here.
==================================================
Staples High School Class of 1971 graduate Jon Diamond writes:
I was at Compo Beach the other day, and there it was: the Good Humor Truck.
It looked exactly like it did when I was 10 years old. (I think then we flagged it down at Burying Hill Beach.).
I learned that the Good Humor “man” is a woman. Kathryn has been doing this for 25 years, throughout Fairfield County.
The truck is an original — circa 1968 — and still running strong.
As I stopped to talk to Kathryn, other 70-somethings did too. We were all dazzled.
Kathryn, the Good Humor woman. (Photo/Jon Diamond)
==================================================
Speaking of Compo Beach: The extended Mickune family was there yesterday, celebrating patriarch Derm Mickune’s 90th birthday.
His sons and daughters came from as far as Arizona, for the birthday, bringing spouses and grandkids too.
The Mickune “kids” were well known during their time at Staples High School. They enjoyed their time back in their hometown.
And their dad was — as you can see below — all smiles.
Derm Mickune (Photo/Dan Woog)
=================================================
The demise of WCBS 880 AM took Westporters by surprise.
New York’s all-news station will end its programming this month. It went on the air nearly 6 decades ago: August 28, 1967.
It will be renamed the very unmemorable WHSQ says its owner, the oddly named Audacy.
The Philadelphia company owns more than 230 radio stations in the US, including WFAN and WINS in New York.
The new station will launch as sports radio ESPN — joining WFAN in that space.
WINS, meanwhile, becomes the only all-news station in the market.
This being Westport, we’re sure there are readers who have a connection to WCBS NewsRadio 88. If you’ve worked with or for it — or have a memorable story to tell, as a listener — click “Comments” below.
==================================================
In 2023, “06880” introduced Jay Babina to the world.
The Westporter is the founder, curator and mastermind of the Westport Tech Museum — an astonishing repository for over 400 computers, video games, calculators, cameras, radios and more.
Much more.
It’s a spectacular museum.
It’s private, though: in Jay’s attic.
And he’s only 18 years old.
This spring, we visited him again.
Now WSHU has joined the Jay Babina fan club.
Yesterday, the NPR station aired a feature on one of Westport’s most interesting teenagers.
Or most interesting residents of any age, period. Click here to listen.
(PS: NPR posted it on their national Facebook page. And at least for a while, Jay’s story was on the home page of the national network’s website. Very cool — and very well deserved.)
Jay Babina channels Steve Jobs, with Apple’s groundbreaking Macintosh.
=================================================
This summer we’ve seen — among other animals — bears and coyotes on the roads and in the woods of Westport.
(Spotted lanternflies too. But let’s not go there.)
Now there is at least one pig. And a bison.
(Photo/Mary Lou Roels)
At least they’re confined to the Furniture on Consignment II store on Post Road East.
Perhaps they eat lanternflies?
==================================================
Tickets for the Woodside Bash — the great Earthplace fundraiser (Saturday, October 5, 7 to 10 p.m.) featuring great food, live music and a woodsy fall evening — are available now, at a special price.
They’re $100 each through Labor Day. They’re $125 from then on. Click here to purchase.
The fun continues the next day (Sunday, October 6, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), with the annual Fall Festival. The family fun includes food trucks, a climbing wall, corn pool, apple slingshot, donut on a string, nature exploration, animal encounters and more. Click here for tickets.
Outdoor fun, at the Woodside Bash.
==================================================
It’s still mid-August. But it’s already pumpkin time.
At least, pumpkin blossom time.
Matt Murray spotted the flower yesterday, on Compo Road South. It’s our first fall-themed “Westport … Naturally” photo of the year.
Yikes!
(Photo/Matt Murray)
==================================================
And finally … in honor of the first pumpkin (blossom) of the season (story above):
(WCBS is signing off. But your local news source — “06880” — is still here. Please help us stay strong. Please click here for a tax-deductible donation. Thank you!)
