Jennifer Wolff writes:
“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.
Questions? Email adaugelli@westportct.gov or call 203-341-1183.
Every child deserves holiday gifts.
==============================================
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)
=================================================
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)
==================================================
Speaking still of the law:
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).
Panelists include Stephen Kurkjian, journalist and author of a book on the heist, “Master Thieves,“ and Robert Wittman, retired FBI agent and author of “Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures.” Architect Allen Swerdlowe will moderate the discussion.
Click here for more information, and free registration.
Rembrandt’s “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee”: stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
==================================================
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.
==============================================
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!
==================================================
And finally … in honor of our new 3-way stop signs:
(Stap! Help support “06880.” Click here! Thank you!)