The new and massive I-beams at northbound I-95 Exit 17 have residents wondering: Is there really going to be a new bridge there?
New construction on Saugatuck Avenue, at I-95. (Photo/Tracy Porosoff)
Not exactly.
Sometime this fall, the Saugatuck Avenue bridge will be replaced, using “accelerated bridge construction.”
A new bridge will be constructed adjacent to the existing bridge. That’s what the new I-beams will support.
Over a single weekend (Friday evening to Monday morning), the current bridge will be demolished. The new structure will be installed in its place.
The date for that complicated (but quick) work has not been set. The entire State Department of Transportation project — which extends south to Norwalk’s Exit 16 — is projected to run through November 1, 2024. (Hat tip: Andrew Colabella)
An enormous crowd enjoyed margaritas, special watermelon drinks, and the New York-based taqueria’s signature dishes.
The official opening is Monday (August 7). Click here for more Tacombi info.
Enjoying Tacombi last night (from left): Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service president Mike Burns; 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker; hosts Hightower Financial Group and Judy Michaelis; Tacombi manager; Police Chief Foti Koskinas; WVEMS vice president Larry Kleinman. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Also last night: The Soul Drivers rocked the Levitt Pavilion, with their Memphis Soul sound. Tonight (Saturday) it’s Theo Kandel; tomorrow, Quadrature. Click here for (free) tickets, and more information.
Soul Drivers (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Not far away last night, Massive Diva entertained diners at Walrus Alley. They’re there — right next to Don Memo — every Friday night. Tonight (7:30 to 11) it’s the always-popular Zambonis.
Westport firefighters responded to a house fire on Warnock Drive, off Easton Road.
Most damage was limited to the exterior and front attic space. There were no injuries. Westport Emergency Medical Service and Westport Police assisted.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Warnock Drive fire. (Photo courtesy of Westport Fire Department)
Next up for the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee: a public review and feedback meeting covering additional plans for its “Master Plan for Downtown Parking and Pedestrian Areas: Reconnecting the Riverfront.”
Particular focus will be on the Parker Harding Plaza design.
The session is set for August 22 (7 p.m., Westport Library). All residents and downtown stakeholders are invited to attend.
Information on the project is available on the DPIC website. Feedback is welcome in its comments section.
DPIC also conducts regular public meetings, typically the 2nd Thursday of each month at 8:30 a.m.
Screenshot from the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee website.
Yesterday morning, Diane Bosch and her husband Eric chatted with a team from the space agency, at Compo Beach’s Ned Dimes Marina. A NASA boat was docked there.
As best as the Bosches could determine from the visitors, they were monitoring air quality, and satellite launched earlier this year from Elon Musk’s SpaceX group.
“They were a bit secretive when we tried to understand what they were doing,” Diane reports.
“They did say they were in town from the NASA site in Virginia — and they had nothing to do with the rocket launch the night before.”
And then there’s the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport tag sale.
That event — one of the best bargain-hunting dates on the calendar — is this Saturday (August 5, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., 10 Lyons Plains Road).
Early birds can go at 8 a.m. ($20, at the door).
The indoor event has something for everyone: clothing, dishes, housewares, sheets, towels, pillows, small furniture, rugs, household appliances, artwork, puzzles, toys, electronics and more.
Everything is “priced fairly, to move.”
Questions? Email uuchurch@uuwestport.org, or call 203-227-7205.
Crabbers — with LED headlamps and big nets — were out again yesterday at the Sherwood Mill Pond, starting around 8:20 p.m.
Concerned residents — including environmentalists worried about over-fishing, along with neighbors disturbed by the bright lights — have contacted the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, as well as Westport Police and the Parks & Recreation Department.
Crabbing last night in the Sherwood Mill Pond. (Photo/Matt Murray)
Guardians caring for children do not have it easy.
But, says Westport-Weston Probate Judge Lisa Wexler, they may be eligible for thousands of dollars in grants to help with housing, food, transportation and enrichment activities.
Guardians can be grandparents or other relatives, or sometimes close family friends with long-standing relationships with a child.
Guardians save Connecticut $72 million a year, by keeping thousands of children out of foster care. However, unlike foster parents, Probate Court-appointed guardians receive no financial support for taking on this important (and often unexpected) responsibility.
State Kinship Fund awards grants of up to $550 a child — or $2,200 a family – a year help pay for necessities like glasses and clothing, or enrichment activities like summer camp, art supplies or creative books. The Respite Fund covers childcare, rent, transportation and food. These grants are capped at $2,200 a year.
Applications are at ctprobate.gov under the “Children’s Matters” tab, or by calling the Westport-Weston Probate Court: 203-341-1100.
State grants help guardians pay for enrichment activities.
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Outdoor music continues this weekend on Church Lane.
Accompanying diners and shoppers this evening is Dan Tressler. Tomorrow night: Vinnie Ferrone.
Musicians are sponsored by the Westport Downtown Association.
Outdoor dining on Church Lane.
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It’s the dog days of summer.
And Westport has officially gone to the dogs.
On Monday, Yogi Bear — a 2-year-old Keeshond — was named “Honorary Mayor of Westport” by 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker.
Yogi (accompanied by his friend Cathy Malkin) was at Town Hall to push his agenda of free cookies for all dogs.
As honorary mayor, he promised to spread love and joy everywhere.
Yogi then headed to Old Mill Grocery & Deli, where he shared a slice of vegan pizza with State Representative Dominique Johnson. It’s bipartisan: She agrees with Tooker that there should be free cookies for all dogs.
Yogi Bear with State Representative Dominique Johnson.
An alert “06880” reader spotted a new bat house the other day, at Compo Beach.
If it’s yours, email 06880blog@gmail.com. Include where at the beach you may have lost it. I’ll contact the person who found it, and make arrangements for you to pick it up.
Bat house
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We love our butterflies.
But they often fly too fast for us to appreciate them fully.
Today, we’re in luck. David Hyman captured (on camera) this beauty. Enjoy this beautiful addition to our “Westport … Naturally” series:
They’re surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature: a small, fun beach. Funky Compo Cove. The magnificent Sherwood Mill Pond.
There’s always something to see, smell and hear, 24/7/365.
For a couple of years though, there’s something they haven’t liked.
Starting at dusk, and continuing well past 11 p.m. — sometimes as late as 2 a.m. — up to 2 dozen people have taken over the pond and the sluice that feeds it.
Men, women and children at the Sherwood Mill Pond, late night.
They hunt for crabs. To help see in the dark, they wear LED head lamps.
When they turn toward the nearby homes, their lights shine into bedrooms.
“It’s like a car headlight flashing into the house,” says Matt Murray.
LED lights from crabbers shine in nearby residents’ bedrooms. Hummock Island is in the distance.
This year, he says, crabbing began in June. Based on past years, it will continue into October.
He’s not the only concerned resident. Jann Colabella initially contacted “06880” about the ongoing activity.
In addition to the invasiveness of the LED lamps, Murray worries about over-fishing.
He notes that the crabbing is legal. The only restrictions are on size (taking small crabs are prohibited). Permits are not required.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and Bureau of Aquaculture, oversee the activity.
“They always say to call. But at 11 p.m., I don’t see reps from those agencies running down here,” Murray says.
Crabbing at the Mill Pond in 2022 …
He adds that in that past, Westport’s Police Department Marine Division have set up inspections. “It appears the crabbers have limited IDs and documents,” he says.
Murray notes one solution: changing the parking regulations at Old Mill to 11 p.m. That would allow police to ticket vehicles without a Westport beach sticker. (Many of the cars have New York license plates.)
Currently, they’re required from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. only.
Meanwhile, the crabbing continues.
And all along Old Mill, LED head lamps continue to shine in bedroom windows.
… and 2020. (Photos/Matt Murray)
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As summer begins, and crowds head toward Old Mill — to sit on the beach, fish in the inlet or jump (illegally) from the pedestrian walkway — it’s hard not to notice the handsome white house straddling between Long Island Sound and Sherwood Mill Pond.
What was once a grist mill is now (following 2 fires) a private home. With water flowing underneath, and killer views on both sides, it’s one of those places we love imagining living in.
It’s been a private home for over a century. (Pete Aitkin, the Black Duck owner, is a former resident.)
Here’s what it looked like, around 1910. The colorized image comes from Paul Ehrismann, whose collection of seldom-seen photos seems limitless.
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Sherwood Mill Pond (Photo/Michael Tomashefsky)
