Shortly before 5 p.m. today, Westport Police officers were advised to look for a black Infiniti, occupied by 3 males.
The vehicle had been involved in an armed robbery in Trumbull.
After brief pursuit by Trumbull police, it was last seen southbound on I-95 near Exit 23.
Shortly thereafter, a Westport officer observed the vehicle on Greens Farms Road.
It continued to Bridge Street, where officers successfully deployed stop sticks.
But the driver continued, disregarding officers’ signals to stop.
Pursuit was called off at Saugatuck Avenue for safety concerns, due to the due to the recklessness of the operator.
The vehicle continued southbound on Saugatuck Avenue, at times veering into the northbound lane.
It struck a motorist on Saugatuck Avenue at the intersection with Duck Pond Road, disabling the vehicle. The 3 occupants fled.
With the assistance of Norwalk Police and Connecticut State Police, a perimeter was established. Two suspects were quickly located nearby.
The third suspect was located after a further search.
Saugatuck Avenue was closed briefly, while officers investigated the crash.
An eyewitness reported that the occupants had discarded items on Saugatuck Avenue. A search was conducted, and a firearm was discovered.
The operator of the struck motor vehicle was transported to Norwalk Hospital with minor injuries.
The operator of the suspect vehicle was issued a misdemeanor summons, and charged with failure to drive right, reckless operation, and engaging police in pursuit.
All three suspects are juveniles. They were turned over to Trumbull Police, to be charged in connection with the original incident.
“On Tuesday, in an effort sponsored by Temple Israel and the Jewish Federation, a few of us, including my friend Deborah Slade, met to tie blue ribbons around light poles and similar structures in town, to both heighten and maintain awareness of the hostages still being held in Gaza.
“I spent my time tying up the eastbound side of the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge. Someone followed me later on the other side, with ‘kidnapped’ posters. We didn’t work together, but it works well together.
“Blue ribbons will be going up all over town. Anyone who wants to tie one to a tree in their yard can get ribbons from Temple Israel or the Jewish Federation in Bridgeport.
“With all the fighting going on, not just in Israel/Gaz but all over the world, in the streets and on campuses and in coffee shops, we can’t forget the innocents trapped in those tunnels, fighting for their freedom, very possibly fighting for their lives … if indeed they are still living.”
Blue ribbons on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge. (Photo/Jennifer Wolff)
Just in time for the holidays: Westport’s Department of Human Services’ Giving Program is back.
Donations from community members are a huge help to Westport families facing financial hardship. Dozens of families with school-aged children benefit each year from the program.
This year, rising costs for food, housing and fuel has added strains to many local budgets.
Gift cards and cash donations are matched with families, who then purchase food and simple holiday gifts for their children. Some also buy toiletries, shoes and clothing. Beneficiaries are anonymous.
The program enables parents to personalize their presents, and participate fully in the holiday season.
Residents and organizations can donate cash, checks or gift cards to the “Family to Family Seasonal Holiday Giving Program” online (click here). Contributions can also be dropped off (by appointment) at Town Hall, or mailed to the Department of Human Services c/o Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
Westport residents facing financial difficulties can contact Human Services at 203-341-1050 or humansrv@westportct.gov for confidential assistance.
Westport’s newest stop signs are at the 3-way intersection of Greens Farms Road and New Creek Road (the one that goes underneath I-95, past the train station, and on to Beachside Avenue).
Several “06880” readers were surprised.
The Board of Selectwomen authorized the signs because school buses are now parked at the station. They go in and out often, as cars zoom past on Greens Farms Road.
Or at least, they did zoom.
The new stop signs, looking east. (Photo/Matt Murray)
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Speaking of speeding (and other broken laws):
Westport Police made 6 custodial arrests between November 1 and 8.
A man was arrested for burglary, and conspiracy to commit burglary, after officers responded to a home security alarm.
A man was arrested for burglary and larceny after police responded to a burglary at Greens Farms Academy, and vandalism at the nearby Greens Farms train station.
A woman was arrested for burglary, after a resident awoke to find someone ransacking her kitchen.
A woman was arrested for following too closely and driving under the influence (marijuana and alcohol), after a motoro vehicle accident on Saugatuck Avenue near the train station.
Two men were arrested on warrants for failure to appear.
Westport Police also issued these citations:
Failure to comply with state traffic commission regulations: 11 citations
Traveling unreasonably fast: 5
Traveling too fast for conditions: 3
Operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance: 3
Violation in a construction zone: 2
Failure to obey traffic commission signals: 2
Allowing possession of alcohol by a minor: 1
Speeding: 1
Failure to drive in the proper lane: 1
Following too closely: 1
Failure to grant right of way: 1
Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 1
Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 1
Illegal use of tinted glass: 1
Improper use of markers: 1
Failure to register a commercial vehicle: 1
Violation of license class: 1
Operating a motorcycle without endorsement: 1
If you ride a motorcycle, you better have the proper endorsement on your license. (Photo/Penny Pearlman)
Over a dozen priceless works of art by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Degas disappeared from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in the early hours of March 18, 1990.
Just before 2024’s WestportREADS selection “The Art Thief,” by Michael Finkel, comes Westport Library’s “Vanished” program (November 16, 7 p.m).
40 million Americans are food insecure — including 345,000 Connecticut residents.
Yet 30 to 40% of food in America is wasted, and 70% of that food is edible. Food waste is responsible for 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US.
Haley Schulman, from the Fairfield County office of Food Rescue USA, told the Westport Rotary Club this week that donating food is the best way to both feed our communities and protect our planet.
Food Rescue has saved 44 million pounds of food and 33 million meals in Fairfield County since its inception in 2011. They do it by picking up leftover food from stores, restaurants and schools, and delivering it to pantries and shelters.
For more information on Food Rescue, click here or email Haley@foodrescue.
Haley Schulman, at the Westport Rotary Club.
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It may be late to feature a great blue heron in our “Westport … Naturally” feature.
But this guy hasn’t yet flown south, from his perch on the Saugatuck River.
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
Hurry up, dude. It will be winter before you know it!
From 3,500 feet, in a 3-seat prop plane, I got a remarkable view of our town.
I marveled at the amount of water. The compactness of downtown and Saugatuck. And the many, many trees that provided a canopy, nearly everywhere.
In 1934, a statewide project photographed every square inch of the state.
The images are housed at the University of Connecticut. They’re fascinating.
Fred Cantor found this shot of Westport:
Click on or hover over to enlarge.
Amonghe surprises, he writes, are “how many houses there were by that point in the Compo Beach neighborhood (bottom center of the photo), and the fairly large number of houses in the Compo Hill/Old Mill Beach neighborhood (just above it).
“I imagine most of these were probably not winterized, but still…”
However, Fred adds, “I expected to see more homes directly on South Compo Road, leading from the train tracks to the beach.”
Also of note: The crooked intersection of South Compo, Bridge Street and Greens Farms Road (just above the railroad tracks). It looked a bit different, before I-95 was built 2 decades later.
What do you notice? Click “Comments” below to share your observations.
(Friday Flashback is a weekly feature on “06880.” Please click here to support it — and this entire hyper-local blog. Thank you!)
Readers reacted quickly to last week’s “06880” story on traffic. It was the Comment section equivalent of the back roads of Westport, after an accident on I-95.
Ray Broady moved to Westport in 2014 from Southern California, where he and his wife of 53 years were born and raised. They came here to be closer to their only daughter and granddaughter. Ray retired in great health, after a career in contracting. His hobbies include boating, traveling and DIY projects.
Ray drives around Westport often, and to Greenwich 3 times a week. He wanted to write more than a quick reply to the traffic story. He thought a while, then sent this:
I feel I must somehow reach more Westporters who are as frustrated as I am about the traffic nightmare getting worse by the day in our great town, beyond just the Comments section.
I believe that the major traffic problem areas around Westport, which mainly involve 4 major intersections and roadways, are going to reach epidemic proportions in the near future.
Before COVID, these issues were worsening by the month. Now, after new arrivals, the volume of traffic at these locations has effectively doubled or tripled. Add in the new single-family housing and multi-family projects in planning and approved, and Westport has a recipe for a traffic apocalypse.
I am naming the 4 problem areas in detail, so concerned Westport residents and businesses can put their finger more easily on the map, and hopefully realize that “Rome is burning while Nero fiddles!”
Westporters must come together and put out his fire if we are going to have a wonderful town in which to live, work and play.
Westport’s Four Traffic Ills of the Apocalypse:
The Saugatuck Disaster:Exit 17 off I095 to Charles Street onto Saugatuck Avenue; also Riverside Avenue to the Cribari Bridge/Bridge Street to Greens Farms Road.
The Downton Deluge: Post Road West at the Riverside Avenue/Wilton Road intersection.
Kings Hwy north and Wilton Road, to Canal Street and Main Street.
The Weston Road/Easton Road/Main Street Confusion.
All 4 problem areas are on state highways. This creates a major impediment to solving these problems, because we must have state participation, assistance and approvals.
However, this should not stop or slow efforts to correct and effect cures to these problems. Where there is a will there is a way.
I love this town and what it represents. I am so glad the community cares and contributes to so many wonderful improvements and projects.
However, I feel we may have these traffic nightmares too far down the list of priorities.
We all know for example the growing success of downtown, and now the push to improve Parker Harding Plaza parking and retail access.
The town can shoot itself in the foot if it spends millions on the new project, without curing the difficult access to downtown that has developed.
Businesses will find that traffic-frustrated shoppers and visitors find it too difficult to transit the downtown to avail themselves of the great features if offers.
Public officials and departments should take up this issue in a serious, results- oriented way. Westport residents need to bring strong pressure to bear on these officials and departments to get a quick action plan together, and move this problem to top priority — not lip service, and not excuses.
We all know the Representative Town Meeting addresses and accomplishes a lot of issues, in a great forum of resident input.
But I am not sure this RTM has the heart and fire to tackle this issue without a lot of bitching and nostalgic references to the good old days, when the town only had 12,000 or so residents.
Those days are gone forever. The tomorrow train is racing toward a head-on collision with this town and its future.
Officials sometimes use this resident noise to sweep away the problem of the slate of priorities, and leave it to future discourse. There needs to be far more foresight about how we can keep Westport vibrant. Tackling these traffic problems will help assure a wonderful future for our special town of Westport.
Damn it, Come on, Westport. Let’s do this now!
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Today’s “Westport … What’s Happening” podcast features 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker talking traffic.
In the bi-weekly series — produced by the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston — she talks about Post Road intersection improvements, from Bulkley Avenue to Fresh Market; the Easton Road/Weston Road/Exit 42 clusterf***, and a study of Cross Highway, from North Avenue to Bayberry Lane.
Westport’s weekly volunteer trash pick-up continued on Saturday.
A dozen or so residents, members of Assumption Church and St. Francis Church of Weston joined in clearing litter on Greens Farms Road, near I-95 (and the Assumption Cemetery).
Interested in joining? Email Andrew Colabella: acolabellartm4@gmail.com
Everyone is talking about (and eating) microgreens.
On March 13 (7 p.m.), Wakeman Town Farm offers “Microgreens 101: Grow Your Own!”
The evening covers urban farming, sustainable food systems, minimizing waste, rethinking food production and distribution, nutrition, and (of course) how to get started.
If you sign up by February 6, you can get a starter kit in time.
Westport Country Playhouse’s Family Festivities presents “Woof Woof the Shadow Pup.” The February 12 (1 and 4 p.m.) shadow theater musical is one hour, and appropriate for grades pre-K and up and runs approximately one-hour in length.
“Woof Woof” illuminates the importance of understanding and acknowledging the emotional life of young children. This inspiring story is an invitation for families to experience the magical world of shadow theater.
Besides breaking national age group (85-89 years old) records on the track, Westporter Norma Minkowitz is also a prestigious artist.
“Body to Soul” — her solo exhibition at Fairfield University’s Bellarmine Galleries opens January 27. There’s an opening talk and reception January 26 (5 p.m.). Click here for more information. Click below for a video about Norma’s work.(Hat tip: Jeff Mitchell)
Mark Shufro died peacefully at home in Brooklyn on October 16. He was 66, and had lived for more than a decade with spinocerebellar ataxia-13 and multiple-system atrophy.
Born in New York City, he soon moved with his family to Westport, and graduated from Staples High School. He discovered Ultimate Frisbee there, which was in its infancy at the time but became a lifelong passion.
In his teens Mark established his first business — Marco Sales — distributing swimming pool chemicals to neighbors and family friends. .
At Brown University Mark majored in math and French, studied abroad in France and Colombia, and continued to play Ultimate Frisbee. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in 1979.
Mark worked as an actuary for a year before being accepted into General Electric’s Financial Management Program. Mark earned an MBA from New York University while working at GE Credit and at several other firms. He started his own company, Greyrock Capital Group, in 2001.
Mark married Lisa Kerpen in 1985. After living in Manhattan and Irvington, New York, they settled back in Westport in 1992. There Mark pursued his hobbies of woodworking and tinkering, reading, traveling, skiing and Ultimate Frisbee while raising his family of 4 children
In 2017, as empty nesters, Mark and Lisa moved to Carroll Gardens. Mark continued to be involved with his company, advising and supporting younger members. He also took an active role in research into his illness, funding several important studies at Yale University. He was overjoyed to celebrate the wedding of his daughter Hannah to Roberto Ferdman, a few weeks before his death.
Besides his wife Lisa, daughter Hannah and son-in-law Roberto, Mark is survived by his mother, Edith Evans; sisters Cathy Shufro and Carol Shufro; son Paul; daughter-in-law Lydia Melamed Johnson; son Jacob, and his daughter Sophie. Mark’s father, Arnold Shufro, predeceased him in 2000.
Donations in Mark’s memory can be made to Common Cause. Lisa can be reached at Lisa@shuf.ro.
And finally … on this day in 1986, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
Not a bad class!
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The Planning & Zoning Commission took no action last night on the retail and hotel project known as The Hamlet at Saugatuck.
Discussion, including comments from the public, ranged from building heights and setbacks to where the proposal fits in the town’s affordable housing plans.
Conversations on the text and map amendment requested for The Hamlet will continue on November 14.
The Thanksgiving Pie Sale is only 3 years old. But it’s already one of the most anticipated of all WTF events.
Plus, it’s for a good great cause. Thanks to a partnership with Earth Animal, the Farm and Westporters will raise funds for Connecticut Food Share, helping neighbors in need.
Oronoque Farms is baking up a storm. Choices include apple and blueberry pies (traditional and crumb), and the holiday classic pumpkin pie.
Click here for pie sizes, prices, and pickup dates and times. Orders end November 18.
The Westport Police have released arrest reports for the October 26-November 2 period.
Three people were detained in custody. Two were charged with identify theft. One was charged with conspiracy to commit larceny, forgery and the sale of a controlled substance.
The following citations were issued:
Traveling unreasonably fast (8)
Cell phone, 1st offense (6)
Violation of any traffic commission regulation (4)
The WPD and Stop & Shop are again sponsoring a Thanksgiving Food Drive. All donations support Homes with Hope’s Food Pantry at the Gillespie Center. and Westport Human Services’ Food Pantry.
Police officers and volunteers will accept non-perishable food items and cash donations at Stop & Shop this Saturday (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
The Department of Public Works begins curbside leaf collection on Monday (November 7).
All leaves must be placed in biodegradable paper bags near the curb of a town street by December 5. Residents living on private streets must place their leaves behind the curb of an intersecting town roadway. Leaves placed in plastic bags will not be picked up.
There is no need to call for a pick-up. Crews will complete pick-ups as schedules allow. For further information, call 203-341-1120 or click here.
Meanwhile, extended fall hours begin at the Bayberry Brush Facility (180 Bayberry Lane, behind the Aspetuck Health District.
The yard waste site is now open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. 3 p.m. Extended Saturday hours are in effect through December 10.
Westport residents with valid proof of residency may dump up to 6 30-gallon bags or containers full of leaves without a fee. Plastic bags are not allowed.
Any van, pickup or tag-along trailer exceeding the 6-bag limit will be charged $40 per load. Any vehicle or trailer larger than a conventional pickup with a 4-foot by 8-foot bed will be charged $90 per ton.
Any vehicles with a 9-foot body or vehicles changed to significantly enlarge their factory design size will be charged $90 per ton, estimated at 2 ton without weigh slip ($180).
Dump tickets must be purchased at Town Hall, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or by Department of Public Works, 110 Myrtle Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
It’s been awhile since we’ve had major flooding here. (Knock wood.)
First Selectwoman Jen Tooker, and the Public Works, Planning & Zoning, and Conservation Departments have arranged a series of open meetings to discuss stream flooding and the town’s responses to it.
Officials and personnel experienced in flooding issues and flood plain management, as well as regulations and oversight authority, will attend.
Each meeting will cover specific streams in Westport. There will be a general overview, followed by a forum for anyone to raise specific issues. Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting specific to their neighborhood, but may attend any session they choose.
Information from these meetings will be analyzed, and sent to the Flood and Erosion Control Board to determine flooding priorities.
The meetings will take place in Town Hall on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. The full schedule:
Popular Westport photographer Tom Kretsch is being featured at Picture This – Nylen Gallery, the custom frame shop. The theme is “Chasing the Light.”
There’s a reception November 10 (5:30 to 7:30 p.m.). It’s a chance to relax — just like the moods of his local scenes. For more information, click here.
Their hours were long, the commute hard. They didn’t have a lot of time to see a lot of the city.
Now — with many of them retired — they’re enjoying New York walking tours.
Tuesday’s — the 6th in the series — included a jaunt over the Queensboro Bridge. Also called the 59th Street Bridge (by Simon & Garfunkel) and the Ed Koch Bridge (by no one), it connects Manhattan with Long Island City, via Roosevelt Island.
Check out the photo below. Looks like the Y’s men were feelin’ groovy.
Y’s Men members (from left) former 1st Selectman Jim Marpe, tour director Warren Jahn and Bob Mitchell near the peak of the Queensboro Bridge. (Photo and hat tip: Dave Matlow)
Westport attorneys Ken Bernhard and Ted Freedman have again joined forces for a “Soles4Souls” collection. They’re gathering donations of shoes from residents to help lift people out of poverty, and support those who are homeless in the US and around the world.
From now through Thanksgiving, there are collection boxes at Town Hall, police headquarters and the Senior Center. Donors can drop off new or gently used shoes (with no holes or mold). Please tie the laces together, or use rubber bands to keep matched pairs joined.
In the past, Soles4Souls has collected 3,000 pairs of shoes. Bernhard and Freedman hope for at least 500 pairs this year. For more information, click here.
(From left): Ken Bernhard, 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Senior Center director Sue Pfister, Ted Freedman and Westport Police Officer Ashley Delvecchio start the Soles4Souls drive.
“06880” has performed many civic functions over the years.
We’ve told you where to get COVID vaccines (remember those?).
We’ve given you details on dumping your yard waste after a storm. We’ve provided primers on septic systems.
Today, we’re a Driver Ed teacher.
Alert “06880 reader — and terrified-to-be-on-the-road-these-days Westporter — Lynn Flint sends along these reminders of who has the right-of-way at 4-way stop signs.
Three examples: Hillspoint and Greens Farms Roads; Cross Highway and Bayberry Lane; Cross Highway and North Avenue (tricky, because one of the stops is not visible to all other drivers).
The North Avenue/Cross Highway intersection may be the most dangerous one in Westport without a light. Who goes first?
Here are the rules:
1. The first vehicle to arrive has the right of way. Pretty easy: You get there (clearly) first, you go first.
2. Always yield to the right. When 2 vehicles arrive side by side, the one furthest to the right has the right of way. (That’s “right” — an easy way to remember it.) If there are 3 vehicles, the one furthest left goes last (“left = last”).
3. Straight traffic has the right of way over turning traffic. This applies when 2 cars face each other. If they’re both heading straight, or turning in the same direction (say, both left or both right), both can go at the same time. If one is turning, but the other is not, the turning driver yields to the straight-ahead driver. NOTE: This assumes that a driver who is turning uses the turn signal. That’s the little arm on the steering column. It is not difficult to push up or down, and it is not there for decoration.
4. Right turns take the right of way over left turns. This is Advanced Placement Driver Ed. Imagine 2 cars facing each other. One is turning right; the other is turning left. If they both go at the same time, they’ll crash. So the car turning right — the one closest to the turn — goes first.
There is no written test for this — just a practical exam.
All roads lead to the Greens Farms railroad station.
And — with demand for at-home testing high — drivers lined up early for this afternoon’s distribution of the hard-to-come-by kits.
Town officials announced late this morning that supplies had just arrived. By 1:30 p.m., cars were backed up on Greens Farms Road all the way to the Sherwood Island connector. Soon, the line stretched all the way back to South Compo.
Similarly long lines were reported the other direction on Greens Farms Road, and on adjacent streets like Beachside Avenue, Morningside Drive and Turkey Hill.
With little to do but wait, a number of drivers sent photos to “06880.” Here are a few:
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