Tag Archives: January 6 2021

Roundup: January 6 Pardons, Wind Phones, Isles In The Aisles …

Posted on January 22, 2025 | 43 comments

There is a local angle to the 1,500 pardons granted Monday night by President Trump.

One of the convicted defendants who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 was Benjamin Cohen. The Westport resident — 21 years old at the time of the siege — was arrested in 2023, at his home off Bayberry Lane.

Last summer he pled guilty to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.

Earlier this month he was sentenced to 5 years probation and 6 months of home confinement, and ordered to pay restitution of $2,000.

Benjamin Cohen, in photos released at the time of  his arrest.

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Lynda Bluestein’s final legacy were wind phones.

Two devices — disconnected rotary telephones, used to stay connected to loved ones who have died — were installed last year at the Westport Library. They honor the longtime Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport member, and medical aid in dying advocate.

A new wind phone was installed in the Memorial Garden of the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church in late November. A private dedication ceremony was held January 4 — the first anniversary of Lynda’s death.

Bluestein’s son Jacob built the structure to house the phone, which was donated Vanessa and Dave Bradford.

Lynda sometimes sat in with her husband Paul and Dave Bradford when they played music at the Black Rock Farmer’s Market and PorchFest.

Greenfield Hill Church wind phone. (Photo/Kristyn Miller Photography)

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The Westport Farmers’ Market reminds residents that “self-care and connection” is available every Thursday through March (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), at the winter location: Gilbertie’s Herbs & Gardens Center (7 Sylvan Lane).

In addition to farm-fresh produce and other goods, there are workshops focusing on wellnes (meditations, sound baths, Dharma massages and strength.

“Get Growing” children’s activities spark curiosity and foster connections with nature. Through hands-on experiences, younsters learn about the importance of sustainable living, and the joy of growing and eating local food.

Whether indoor or outdoor, Fatto a Mano always draws a crowd at the Westport Farmers’ Market. (Photo/Frank Rosen)

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Nearly 30 years after the Hartford Whalers fled to North Carolina, pro hockey comes to the Westport Library.

“Isles in Aisles” is a new partnership between the Library and the Bridgeport Islanders, the New York Islanders’ American Hockey League affiliate.

Players will be at the Children’s Library on February 4 (5:30 p.m.), February 18 (4:30 p.m.) and March 3 (4:30 p.m.) to read aloud from their favorite children’s and hockey-themed books. Players will sign autographs afterward..

This is a drop-in event for youngsters, but adults are welcome.

Potential books for Isles in Aisles include “Z is for Zamboni,” “Hero’s Ho Ho Ho Hockey Dream,” “Hockey Morning, Noon, and Night,” “The Magic Hockey Stick” and “The Hockey Sweater.”

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An incorrect time was posted yesterday for “Alice in Webland,” the Triple Threat Academy show set for this weekend at Saugatuck Congregational Church.

The correct times are Saturday, January 25 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, January 26 at 3 p.m.

Children growing up in the digital age can relate to the show’s characters, and learn valuable lessons about balancing social media and living in the moment..

Tickets are $5 (free for senior citizens). Click here to purchase, and for more information.

2nd through 8th graders rehearse for the world premiere of “Alice in Webland.”

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Mollie Klaff Passero — longtime owner of Klaff’s, the store that for many years had a Westport location — died Tuesday, surrounded by her family. She was 101.

From the early 1950s through 2015, she held court in her signature suits and silk scarves, in the Klaff’s of South Norwalk site.

Mollie Klaff was born in Norwalk. She began singing professionally at age 8. By 13 she had her own radio program on WICC. As a young woman she had a successful singing career, touring with Louis Prima.

While performing in Stamford she met her husband, Maury Passero. They married in 1948.

In 1921 her parents started Klaff’s, a plumbing supply company. They added electrical supplies and hardware in the 1930’s. After WWII, they added lumber, building supplies, and complete homes.

They added lighting and kitchen departments in the 1950’s. When they died in the 1950’s Mollie, her sister Debbie and Maury took over the business.

Klaff’s became a destination home design center with locations in South Norwalk, Westport, Danbury and Scarsdale, New York. Their daughter Felicia managed the Westport store.

Here family says, “Mollie treated every employee at Klaff’s as family, with most spending their entire careers working with her.”

Mollie passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 21, surrounded by family. In addition to her children Joe and Felicia, she is survived by her son Jeffery, daughter Lisa, daughters-in-law Amy and Allison, and granddaughters Sasha, Lilli, Eve, and Izabella.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Mollie’s name can be made to Temple Shalom of Norwalk, where services will be held tomorrow (Thursday, January 23, 1 p.m.).

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The mourning (not “morning”) dove that stars in today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature doesn’t mind the cold. It just plumps up its feathers, and watches the world go by.

Lou Weinberg offers this superb photo — and a link to learn more about mourning doves.

(Photo/Lou Weinberg)

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And finally … Garth Hudson died yesterday, in a nursing  home in Woodstock, New York. He was 87.

Described by the New York Times as a musician “whose intricate swirls of Lowrey organ helped elevate The Band from rollicking juke-joint refugees into one of the most resonant and influential rock groups of the 1960s and ’70s,” he was the last surviving member of The Band.

Click here for a full obituary.

(Politics, spirituality,, sports and more are all part of today’s Roundup. If you enjoy this daily feature, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

43 Comments

Posted in Children, Environment, Library, Politics, Sports

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Westporter Arrested For January 6 Capitol Assault

Posted on August 9, 2023 | 79 comments

A Westport man was arrested early this morning, in connection with an assault on US Capitol police officers during the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Authorities set up a staging area at Coleytown Elementary School and surrounded the Bayberry Ridge home of Benjamin Cohen, around 6 a.m. “It was a classic ‘come out with your hands up!’ scenario,” a source told “06880.”

A press release from the US Department of Justice Attorney’s Office in Washington says:

A Connecticut man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement, related to his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

Benjamin Cohen, 21, of Westport, Connecticut, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, both felony offenses. In addition to the felonies, Cohen is charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds or buildings.

Cohen was arrested today in Westport and made his initial appearance in the District of Connecticut.

Benjamin Cohen, at the US Capitol. (Photo courtesy of US Department of Justice)

According to court documents, Cohen was identified by law enforcement authorities among the crowd of rioters gathered along a police line on the West Plaza of the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021. Just before 2:29 p.m., open-source video and body-worn camera footage show Cohen joining rioters in breaching the police line and moving toward a group of officers. Cohen is then seen making physical contact with the group of officers by pushing and shoving them with his hands as the crowd surges forward. Seconds later, Cohen rushes toward the officers again, shoving and striking officers with his hands. At some point shortly thereafter, video footage shows Cohen standing in the crowd of rioters, where he can be heard shouting, “Our House!”

Later, at approximately 2:48 p.m., Cohen is seen entering the Lower West Terrace tunnel, joining other rioters assembling against a police line. Cohen then makes his way deeper into the mob and begins to push against a rioter in front of him as additional rioters join the effort around him. Together, the mob pushed in a concerted “heave-ho” effort against the police line in the tunnel.

After the first “heave-ho,” Cohen participated in subsequent efforts in the tunnel against the police line. At approximately 2:56 p.m., a rush of additional rioters entered the tunnel, and those rioters, including Cohen, engaged in another “heave-ho” effort by moving their bodies in unison back and forth, pushing with coordinated force against the police.

By approximately 3:05 p.m., Cohen made his way back to the tunnel entrance and began rinsing his eyes after having apparently been sprayed by officers. Cohen remained with the mob just outside the tunnel until at least approximately 4:01 p.m., where he continued to assist combined efforts by the mob to push back into the tunnel.

Court documents say that at some point thereafter, Cohen was photographed inside an office inside the Capitol building situated with a window, which had been broken, just to the left of the tunnel entrance. Cohen is then seen in open-source video departing this office through the broken window.

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s New Haven and Washington Field Offices, which identified Cohen as BOLO (“Be On the Look Out”) #379 on its seeking information photos.

Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

79 Comments

Posted in Police, Politics

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January 6: Mourning A Closed Capitol

Posted on January 6, 2022 | 5 comments

Today marks the 1st anniversary of the insurrection at the US Capitol.

Some Westporters will join a vigil, considering how close we came — and still totter — to the end of democracy. Others will urge: “Move on!”

Barbara Dunn Alfinito will think about that majestic Washington building itself.

She’s only been a Westporter since March. A Brooklyn native — with the accent to prove it — her daughter and son-in-law urged her to move here when they bought a home nearby. She resisted — until her 5-year-old grandson said, “Come!”

Barbara Dunn Alfinito

Barbara has spent 40 years as a tour guide. Her passion began in the early 1990s. When her family hosted foreign exchange students, she showed them the sights of New York City and the East Coast.

She soon created a business. Barb’s Getaway specializes in large group tours of New York and DC. She runs shopping, theater, eating and first-time traveler tours, but her favorites are for students. She introduces entire grades to the wonders of those fascinating cities.

Among all the sights, Barbara says, the US Capitol may be the most impressive. It is historic, majestic, and awe-inspiring. When youngsters leave, they are “proud and more knowledgeable. It’s an eye-opener.”

As insurrectionists overran the building a year ago today, Barbara was stunned.

“They got in with knives, guns — you name it,” she says.

One of Barbara’s tour groups, outside the US Capitol.

“When we were there, we went through metal detectors. They took away chocolates. I told the kids over and over again: hair spray, purchases, whatever you have — leave it on the bus.”

A boy once told her he had brass knuckles. He walked over to a planter, to bury them in the snow. Within seconds, the teenager was surrounded by security.

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of adults forced their way — or simply strolled — into the same Capitol. Some carried dangerous weapons.

The building is now substantially closed to visitors. It will not be as open as it was before “in my lifetime,” Barbara believes.

The loss for Americans — particularly students — is incalculable, she says. They’ll lose their sense of wonder and awe. They won’t be inspired to study history.

And the worst part is: “They won’t know what they’ve lost.”

5 Comments

Posted in History, Politics

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Marpe, Scarice Address Capitol Attack

Posted on January 7, 2021 | 33 comments

In response to yesterday’s insurrection at the US Capitol, 1st Selectman Jim Marpe said:

As the chief elected officer of Westport, to watch the behavior and the blatant abrogation of responsibility by the Chief Elected Officer of the United States was discouraging and disgusting.

I am embarrassed for our country. Thankfully, as a community, our local elected officials regularly participate in a civil and respectful process that gives me hope and confidence that our democracy can and will survive.

In addition, Superintendent of Schools Tom Scarice wrote to parents:

I watched the events at the Capitol today with utter disbelief and abject sadness.  By now I’m sure you’ve read countless comments and reflections about the lawlessness and violent attack on our democracy incited by the reckless behaviors and comments of some of our elected officials, including our sitting President.  All I can add to this commentary is my condemnation.

My purpose for addressing the school community is to reassure parents that our team will be ready to receive our students Thursday and serve them in the most professional manner. This is our calling, among the noblest of professions.

Our team is working this evening to make certain that faculty and staff have resources assembled to support their work tomorrow and beyond. Each building principal will meet with faculty and staff to prepare them for the day. Highest among our priorities is to assure each child that they are safe in the school environment.

Thomas Scarice (Photo courtesy of Zip06.com)

Each level will work to maintain an age-appropriate approach. The elementary level will not initiate group discussions on this topic but will be responsive to individual students as the need arises. We cannot make assumptions about how parents prefer to approach such topics with our youngest learners. As a result, we will be responsive in nature. If conversations and questions persist, and an elementary teacher needs to briefly address the class, parents will be informed so that they can appropriately follow up with their child.

The middle school level will address the events of the day in their social studies classes, primarily with a civics lens. It is likely that middle school students have encountered a good deal of unfamiliar historical and political language today related to the process of certifying the election, and the manner in which the behaviors at the Capitol have been characterized by the media, and also social media.

Additionally, the natural inquisitive nature of early adolescence typically sparks dialogue about current events. Our social studies teachers are being provided with tools and resources to facilitate discussions while providing context for our students to comprehend the events of the day, and the implications as we move forward. Any student in need of additional intervention will be addressed through our support staff at the middle school level.

The high school level will also address these events in social studies classes.  Teachers will facilitate the discussion as students generate the questions. Our high school students are close to voting age. Among the relevant topics for classroom discussions are the process of elections, the constitutional role of Congress in presidential elections, and the idea that the events that transpired today are more about our democracy than politics. Alternative spaces will be provided for students during lunch waves and throughout the day to provide support when needed on an individual basis.

This is an emotional time and there will be a range of strong feelings from anger to sadness and fear. There will also be a great deal of confusion on the part of our students. Our high school community is just beginning to grieve the loss of a beloved classmate and the lingering emotional impact of the pandemic remains.  We will aim to validate our students’ feelings and questions, while doing our best to work through some very complex issues.

These strong feelings will be experienced by both students and adults. In my experience, these are the times when the humanity of our work intersects with our professional responsibilities. We are an organization composed of people and we bring all of our strengths and imperfections to our work every day. We will not be perfect, but we will answer the call and bring our professional best to serve your child tomorrow and beyond.

33 Comments

Posted in Children, Education, Local politics, Politics, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Pic Of The Day #1360

Posted on January 6, 2021 | 23 comments

For nearly 4 years, “06880” has proudly posted a Pic of the Day. They celebrate this wonderful town, and the beauty that surrounds us everywhere, every day.

But Westport is just one tiny part of a much bigger, greater, more wonderful nation.

Today, we are not thinking of Westport. We are thinking of the United States of America.

The United States of America.

(Artist unknown)

 

23 Comments

Posted in Pic of the Day, Politics

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