(Click To Enlarge)This month, I've spent hours tramping across my roof with energy experts. We've measured its pitch, calculated how closely it faces true south and used high-tech tools to determine what times of day and which months the rooftop will be shaded.
The goal: to figure out how much the sun's free power can offset my home's hot-water and other energy needs.......
"That's your bad boy right there," said Anthony Conklin, an inspector for Mercury Solar Systems of Greenwich, Conn., pointing to a looming sugar maple. ...
Police: Drunken driver fled crash scene, then hit 3 more cars
Yvonne Leon of Cos Cob, Conn., 57, was charged with driving while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of an accident, misdemeanors, said police Lt. James Ladeairous.
Police in Greenwich alerted their Port Chester counterparts Thursday afternoon that a white Acura Integra had fled an accident. Moments later, village police got another call that the same car was seen smashing into cars on North Main Street in the village. A village officer spotted the Acura, with a flat tire, in the parking lot of Cafe Mirage.
Leon was inside.
An ambulance was called and paramedics bandaged her head. She refused to take a breathalyzer test, but police noticed the smell of alcohol.
She was released without bail because she was still bleeding and had to be taken to Greenwich Hospital. She is due in court Monday.
Reach Shawn Cohen at spcohen@lohud.com
or 914-695-5046.
Having said that, the joys of childhood and teen years should always include being able to enjoy times with friends and, as in the case with Wiffle ball, spending time playing an offshoot of what is unique to this country: America's pastime - baseball.
As a coach in the Senior Babe Ruth league in town, and as a former player, the best times of one's young life is being able to quickly assemble a pick-up game on a hot summer afternoon. There is a unique quality to the unstructured nature of doing so.
What the town might consider here is to potentially identify some space, which does not encumber residents or violate land use, so as to develop a similar field that these kids can use, or better, allow them to develop it themselves with the proper sign-off in the end. After all they have endured, I think this community owes that to them.
Christopher W. Hunt
Greenwich
More Letters To The Greenwich Time Editor:A Stamford man was arrested yesterday in Riverside and charged with driving under the influence.
Edward A. Brady, 56, of 1450 Washington Blvd., was pulled over shortly after midnight on Friday morning after police observed him exceeding the 35 mph speed limit on East Putnam Avenue, according to a police report.
During the traffic stop, police smelled alcohol on Brady's breath and noted his speech was slurred, the report said. He also said that he'd had "too much to drink" and subsequently failed a sobriety test, according to the report.
Brady is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Friday, July 1.
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Police arrested JoAnn Bruno, 53, of 16 Mariners Lane, Stamford, Wednesday afternoon and charged her with driving under the influence during a motor vehicle stop on Holly Hill Lane, according to a police report.
A patrol officer saw a white Buick Park Avenue traveling east on Holly Hill Lane swerve across the double yellow line and nearly strike his car head on, according to the report.
The officer pulled over the car on Glenn Street and ordered Bruno out of the car, according to the report.
Police detected the odor of alcohol on Bruno, the report said, and she had slurred speech and glassy eyes.
Police administered field sobriety tests, which Bruno failed, according to the report.
She was released on $250 bond, and is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Wednesday, July 30, according to the report.
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Alexander H. Mascioli, 32, of 24 Hemlock Drive, was arrested by warrant Wednesday afternoon and charged with second-degree failure to appear in connection with a driving under the influence arrest, according to a police report.
Police arrested Mascioli at his residence without incident, according to the report.
He was released on $1,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Wednesday, July 23, according to the report.
**********
Police arrested five teenage boys on July 7 and charged them with one count each of third-degree criminal mischief and conspiracy at criminal mischief, according to a police report.
Four of the boys are 17 years old and the fifth 16 years old, according to the report.
On July 6 police responded to Bible Street on a report that a group of youths had driven by in a car and thrown eggs at automobiles at the residence, according to the report.
The homeowner saw the license plate of the car, leading police to the teenagers, according to the report.
Police withheld the names of the boys because of their age, according to the report. They were all released on promises to appear in court, according to the report.
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“Support the troops with more than lip service”
NEWS from SFTT Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maura Kallaway at 203--629-0288
Betty Cordellos at 203-656-0207
JPG image attached – see end of release
SFTT CHAIR ADDRESSES GOLD STAR WIVES at NATIONAL CONVENTION
Raising Awareness about the Need to Protect the Front-Line Soldiers Who Are Protecting Us
[New Haven, CT- July 17, 2008] Gold Star Wife Eilhys England of Greenwich, CT delivered the keynote opening speech this evening at the 2008 National Convention of Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. The gathering included Gold Star Wives from across the country, meeting this week in New Haven, CT, along with officials from the Veterans Administration in Washington, DC, and local and state officials.
Ms. England is the chair of SFTT, a nonpartisan, apolitical, nonprofit foundation. Its unique educational and advocacy mission is to see that the Pentagon and our elected leaders in Washington get the right equipment, training and leadership for our US troops ‘at the tip of the spear,’ by giving a public voice to and providing a candid forum for America’s front-line forces.
Eilhys England, who co-founded the SFTT Foundation (sftt.org) with her late husband Col. David H. Hackworth, carries on her husband’s legacy as SFTT chair, three years after his death from agent blue exposure during his service in Viet Nam. Col. Hackworth remains America’s most valor decorated officer.
What distinguishes SFTT among the many excellent organizations concerned with the welfare of America’s soldiers is that SFTT is the only one making sure our frontline troops have the proper leadership and training and best equipment possible before and during deployment, to improve their odds of returning home alive and in one piece.
One notable exception is SFTT’s current work behind the scenes and in testimony before Congress last week, to let the public know about what the Washington Times termed Disposable Heroes: using unwitting Iraq and Afghan war veterans to test drugs with severe side effects that have led to suicide and psychosis.
Eilhys England spoke to her sister Gold Star Wives about SFTT’s current urgent focus on substandard equipment – including such basics as helmet liners and body armor – that is standard Government Issue and stressed the life and death importance of making sure that troops fighting for us are sent on their missions with the best available critical personal combat gear: helmets and helmet liners; body armor, rifle, sidearm; and boots. She also introduced John Grant, a father from Arkansas whose son is currently deployed to Iraq. Grant is the first volunteer president of SFTT’s new initiative, Families for the Troops, formed to give families of men and women serving in the military and returning veterans a forum for connecting and sharing information, under the SFTT umbrella.
Other scheduled speakers and special guests during the organization’s convention, July 15 – 19, included Kevin Secor, Veterans Service Organizations Liaison, Office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); CT Governor Jodi Rell; CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal; New Haven Mayor John De Stefano; General P. X. Kelley, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), whose mother was an original member of the New England Region of GSW; General James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and Yale Chaplain Sharon Kruger. The Gold Star Wives last met in New Haven in 1978.
ABOUT SFTT Foundation
SFTT was founded by Col. David Hackworth and Eilhys England Hackworth to educate our country's citizens on the need to give a voice to our serving sons and daughters and to demand that they receive: Equipment superior to the best an enemy can employ against them; Training that fully prepares them to succeed in all assigned missions; Leadership dedicated to selfless service and the timeless values of duty, honor, and country. Through news breaking reporting from the foundation’s Defense Watch webzine and its INTEL CENTER, which is regularly monitored and sought out by major media, SFTT has been instrumental in shining the bright light of public scrutiny on injustices from anthrax vaccines to Abu Ghraib to substandard body armor. SFTT and Defense Watch have been the source, credited and not, for recent front page articles and news segments in the New York Times and the Washington Post, the Washington Times and 60 Minutes, NBC, CNN, ABC and other national print and broadcast news programs. The 501(c)3 organization is supported by donations from concerned individuals. More information can be found on the foundation website: www.SFTT.org
ABOUT Gold Star Wives, Inc.
Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. is a non-profit membership organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress as a unique organization. To be eligible for membership, your spouse must have died while on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces or died from a service-related disability. There are currently 10,000 members nationwide, with over 60 active chapters.
GSW keeps members up to date on legislation that pertains to benefits, other topics or news of interest, and activities around the country and supports its Washington, DC efforts, which are vital to maintaining, much less increasing, the benefits available to the military widows/ers.
The Gold Star Wives of America Vision: We pledge to work diligently and unselfishly in the interest of all who have been called upon in a very personal way to share in the "last full measure of devotion" to our country and mankind. See the GSW website for more information: www.goldstarwives.org.
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JPG Image:
l-r John Grant, President, SFTT’s Families for the Troops; Kathy Upchurch, National President of Gold Star Wives of America, Inc.; Eilhys England Hackworth, Chair, SFTT Foundation; Kathleen Blamire Cardona,2008 National Convention Coordinator, President/Mountain Laurels Chapter (CT),Vice President/ New England Region of Gold Star Wives of America, Inc.
Eilhys England Hackworth (Greenwich, CT), SFTT Foundation (sftt.org) Chair and Gold Star Wife, delivered the keynote address on July 17th at the 2008 National Convention of Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. meeting at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. She spoke about urgency of making sure that frontline troops receive the best available critical personal combat gear: helmets and helmet liners; body armor, rifle, sidearm; and boots to improve their odds of making it home alive and in one piece. John Grant, father of a soldier serving in Iraq, introduced SFTT’s new volunteer driven initiative Families for the Troops.
SFTT (www.sftt.org) is the nonprofit, apolitical, nonpartisan legacy foundation started by the late Col. David ‘Hack’ Hackworth and Eilhys England Hackworth to give a voice to our serving sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and to demand that they receive the best available equipment, training and leadership.
He's safe in Bridgeport as a political refugee after an escape from jail he credits to a miracle from God, but he can't forget the plight of his impoverished and suffering countrymen and women in the Democratic Republic of Congo....
Halley Davis, World Relief partnership officer, said the August home-building project is also relationship-building that involves members of a church in Indiana as well as Congolese churches and pastors, who identify the neediest in their communities.
"You have a lot of orphans and vulnerable children as parents are lost, whether to disease or conflict," she said.
The International Rescue Committee estimates that some 425,000 people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped in Congo since fighting broke out in 1998.
Saturday's show will start at 9 p.m. It will be open to all ages for a donation until 11 p.m., when it will be only for those 21 and over.
For more information about World Relief or to help the Congolese people, call 685-5740.
Perhaps surprising to some, Greenwich was ranked as No. 14 on the list, marking the fourth of the Fairfield County towns in the top 25.
"Greenwich is one of New York City's most exclusive suburbs, but its roots go far beyond being just a bedroom community," according to the study.
The town has a long and distinguished history, dating back to 1640, but now it is better known as the home-base for hedge funds. The study also described Greenwich's climate as "tax-friendly."
To see the entire top 25 list, visit
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0807/gallery.bplive_topearners.moneymag/jump.html
Chocolate Cherry Avalanche, anyone? Or, how about a taste of Bear Tracks? For the uninitiated, the former is a sweet crème vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered cherries swirled with a cherry sauce and chocolate cookie batter. The latter, vanilla ice cream with praline pecans, topped off with heath bars, brownie dough and caramel.....
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Please send your comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com
Dear Panel Members,
Pardon the informality of this letter but I wanted to get you the debate details as soon as possible. Thank you for agreeing to be a panel member hosting a question/answer session between the two Democratic candidates for US House of Representatives in the Fourth Congressional district: Lee Whitnum and Jim Himes.
DATE: August 4, 2008
TIME: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
LOCATION: The Concert Hall at Norwalk Town Hall.
Moderator/MC: Andrew Garfunkel, City of Norwalk Town Clerk 203-854-7747
agarfunkel@norwalkct.org
Panel Members:
Jack Condlin, president
Stamford Chamber of Commerce
733 Summer St # 104, Stamford, CT 06901
(203) 359-4761
jcondlin@stamfordchamber.com
James Walker
City Editor
The Hour Newspaper
346 Main Ave, Norwalk, CT 06851
jswalker@thehour.com
Colleen Flaherty
Reporter, New Canaan Advertiser
42 Vitti St
New Canaan, CT 06840
(203) 966-9541
cflaherty@ncadvertiser.com
Rebecca Surran
TV News Anchor, Channel 12
News 12 Connecticut
28 Cross Street
Norwalk, CT 06851
News12ct@news12.com
Jonathan Kantrowitz
Former Democratic Candidate for Congress
1994 and 1998
Fourth congressional District
jdk@queueinc.com
The venue seats 1,000 and is open to the public. Rules, Panel Guidelines and sample questions will be provided to you. Please confirm that you are indeed still available.
Sincerely,
Ed Moran, Campaign Manager
Democratic congressional hopeful Jim Himes hammered away last night at U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and the Bush administration, saying that they had failed the nation on everything from the prosecution of the Iraq war to economic policy.
Appearing at a Town Hall meeting in Greenwich, Himes accused Shays of ignoring his constituents' warnings against invading Iraq and said the longtime incumbent's decision to go to war was a colossal mistake.
"If Chris Shays had listened to his constituents, we might be in a better place right now," Himes said. "We've sacrificed the moral high ground on this planet."
About 85 people came out to hear Himes, who was five days into a 17-town "Listening and Leading" tour of the 4th District, which includes most of Fairfield County and a sliver of New Haven County.
"We need new leadership. That's why I'm standing before you," said Himes, a married father of two from Cos Cob.
A Rhodes Scholar who was educated at Harvard, Himes, former Democratic Town Committee chairman of Greenwich, was endorsed by his party in May to run against Shays.
Before that can happen, Himes faces an Aug. 12 primary against fellow Greenwich resident Lee Whitnum, who passed out campaign materials last night to audience members and sat in the back of the room during the meeting.
The overwhelmingly pro-Himes audience lobbed the candidate questions on a host of issues, from tariffs on imported ethanol fuel and....
Please Read The Full Greenwich Time Story
Elsewhere in Greenwich, the least expensive homes, or those under $600,000, suffered an 8 percent drop to a median of $498,393....
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Please send your comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com
Southern Connecticut Gas Co. Under DPUC Investigation
State regulators said they began an investigation Wednesday into the finances of Southern Connecticut Gas Co., which earned $12.1 million more than authorized by the state over a 12-month period.
July 16, 2008 |
BRIDGEPORT MAN SENTENCED TOSIX YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FORAIDING THE ROBBERY OFGREENWICH JEWELRY STORENora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ERIC ORTIZ, 36, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his assistance in the robbery of a Greenwich jewelry store. On February 14, 2008, ORTIZ pleaded guilty to one count of committing Hobbs Act robbery. According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, on September 1, 2006, ORTIZ aided and abetted the armed robbery of Betteridge Jewelers in Greenwich. In an effort to facilitate the success of the planned robbery of Betteridge Jewelers, he and his brother, Ernesto Ortiz, created a diversion on Greenwich Avenue by lighting fire to an automobile they had driven to a location just south of Betteridge Jewelers. After lighting fire to the vehicle, the ORTIZ brothers fled the scene in another vehicle. At about the same time, Charles Kertesz entered Betteridge Jewelers wearing a motorcycle helmet and brandishing a firearm and proceeded to rob the store at gunpoint, taking approximately $4.7 million worth of jewelry. Kertesz fled the store with the jewelry in a backpack and mounted a stolen motorcycle to escape. In the course of fleeing the scene, Kertesz dropped the backpack containing the stolen jewelry. ORTIZ has been in custody since his arrest on April 25, 2007. On June 17, Judge Burns sentenced Kertesz to 258 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for committing this armed robbery and the armed robberies of three other jewelry stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release following a prior federal conviction. Ernesto Ortiz has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation - New Haven Violent Crimes Safe Streets Task Force, and the members of local law enforcement agencies including the Greenwich, South Windsor, Glastonbury, Bridgeport, Ansonia, Shelton and Natick (MA) Police Departments. This case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Kaplan and Assistant United States Attorney Paul Murphy. |
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| Paid for by Jim Himes for Congress |
You've probably heard about the Whiffle Ball field by now.
Reporters from News 12, the three Greenwich newspapers, CBS News, the Associated Press and the New York Times have trudged through the neck of Riverside where a dozen teens cleared out brush in a town-owned drainage ditch, erected a plywood replica of Fenway Park's Green Monster and adorned it with American flags and Taco Bell ads.
Their goal? Play Whiffle Ball. Some neighbors' reaction? Hire a lawyer to remove them.
A steady stream of town officials (with 230 people in Greenwich's Representative Town Meeting, there are a lot of them) have visited the field, and it's attracted more passersby than a David Blaine hunger stunt. The teens say Massachusetts minor league team the Brockton Rox and marketing execs from Taco Bell itself have voiced their support.
"Pretend that the president was just here," Justin Currytto, 16, the unofficial leader of the group, whispered to us during an interview mid-last week, trying to trick a red-headed kid returning to the field.
On any given weekday, Currytto said, a dozen teenagers are around; on weekends, it's 40 or so. "Sometimes baseball players from the 1900s come out of the fence," Jeff Currivan, 17, joked.
When neighbors started telling them to get lost and taking their pictures for some presumed court case, Currytto went to the town government. "The police can't pick sides but if they could, they'd be on our side," he said. Indeed, one officer stopped by, not to relay any complaints, but to get the latest on the fate of the field.
A worried neighbor, who wouldn't give his name for fear of retribution (presumably in the form of being repeatedly tapped by yellow plastic bats) said, "We all love Whiffle Ball. I remember games with my brothers but the issue here is that private citizens cannot take public land and put it to their own uses. It sets a dangerous precedent. It's the first step towards chaos."
RTM member Dodie McCollem drove by and said, "I think this is the greatest thing kids can do... Would the neighbors rather see them in downtown Greenwich looking for drugs?" Another woman stopped and scoffed at the field, saying one of the teens in the group had broken into her house but she wouldn't identify the supposed perpetrator or herself.
When we returned on the weekend, the crowd (some drawn by the media attention) had grown with girls, pre-teens and kids from outside of Riverside added to the mix.
"There are other fields but I like this one because you can hit the ball over a wall," said tot Griffin Golden whose pro-field father drove him in from Old Greenwich.
And the neighborhood seemed media-ed out. "Neighbors are keeping to themselves," said Currytto. Buzz about the field was lodged into their Greenwich Time boxes daily and, when approached, residents seemed tepid to talk to another reporter. (You move to Greenwich to get away from the omnipresent media buzz of New York City, right?) "I think it's been played out," said Brendan Cullins, whose house is next to the field. "Most people on this block are fine with it; it's just a handful of people who are complaining."
A woman—later identified to us as Liz Pate, who told Greenwich Time "she has felt like a prisoner on her own property" because of the field—raised her hand and murmured, "please" when we approached her.
The end decision may rest with Greenwich first selectman Peter Tesei, who was also there on Saturday, meeting with the kids and generally "lowering the emotions; the tensions have mushroomed out of control." He says no one has legally threatened the town, that the wall presents a liability and the most likely compromises are the field staying but the wall going or the kids moving to a new locale. He hopes to reason with the angrier neighbors. "The one thing I have zero tolerance for is a lack of civility. Reasonable people can work out a compromise."
As for the media coverage? "It's sad that whenever the media focuses on Greenwich, Connecticut, they always treat it as a snobby, upper-class place" said Tesei, a fifth-generation Greenwich citizen.
Fair enough, but we will point out we talked to more than one maid or housekeeper when we knocked on doors.
