Traffic on NewCanaanite.com increased 8.2 percent year-over-year in 2018. Here’s a look at the 10 most-read news stories (the list does not include columns or Op-Ed submissions). Thank you for reading. If you have not already, please consider signing up for our free daily newsletter, which is delivered to your inbox at 6 a.m. weekdays.
Under the “new” parking plan for Elm Street, this entire area above the crosswalk at Bank of America is “no parking.” Credit: Michael Dinan
10. Elm Street To Lose 15 Parking Spaces — The news we broke in July that New Canaan within just one week would lose more than one dozen parking spaces along the one-way stretch of following a Police Commission vote was the 10th-most-read article of the year. With very little notice, the change took hold after a local resident formally put the town on notice.
9. ‘Upper Crust Bagels’ To Open in Former Bruegger’s Space — The South Avenue home for Bruegger’s Bagels had been vacant for about two months when we broke the news in February that Upper Crust Bagels was moving into the commercial space. Upper Crust opened just a few months later and appears to be going strong.
8. Police Report Details ‘Football Gate’-Marked Cash Bundles Found in Office of Former Assistant to NCHS Athletic Director — An article looking at police reports that detailed the investigation into a former employee of the district’s Athletic Department was the 8th-most-read of the year. The November story regarding Anne Tomaselli included a look at police reports that said she hadn’t notified anyone after being overpaid about $30,000 by the district due to what appears to be a clerical error, and that authorities later found more than $1,500 in cash was in her office in bundles labeled ‘Football Gate,’ from games that had taken place several months earlier. District officials disputed parts of the police account of the investigation.
105, 109 and 117 East Ave. in New Canaan. Streetview
7. Newly Formed Company Spends $5.1 Million on Seven Properties in New Canaan — The seventh-most-read story of the year followed the sale to a single purchaser in August of seven residential properties in New Canaan for a combined $5.1 million, records show, including three contiguous homes on East Avenue totaling .8 acres. All of the properties—they’re multifamily dwellings on East Avenue, as well as Mead Street, South Avenue and Park Street—were sold by New Canaan Country School, and it remains unclear just who the buyer is. Created in June, the company that acquired the properties—called ‘New Canaan Realty Partners LLC’—is itself owned by a New York City-based limited liability company, according to Connecticut Secretary of the State records.
New Canaan High School varsity boys ice hockey team players gather at Darien Ice Rink for a pregame ceremony on Jan. 21, 2018, during which they pay tribute to 10-year-old Nico Mallozzi. Credit: Michael Dinan
6. ‘He Was a Quintessential Rink Rat’: Hockey Community Honors Nico Mallozzi — The tragic news that a 10-year-old New Canaan had passed away in January following a brief illness shocked the community. West School fourth-grader Nico Mallozzi’s untimely passing New Canaan reeling, with members of the boy’s school, faith and youth sports communities sharing remembrances of a vivacious, fun-loving and gregarious youth. As Marvin Minkler, who used to run the facility where the New Canaan boy learned to skate, recalled, “He was a quintessential rink rat. He worked on his game, he wanted to get better. He wasn’t just a player—he was an elite player. He was on track to be an outstanding player.”
5. District Officials, Police Affidavits Detail Lunch Ladies’ Theft of Nearly $500,000 — The fifth-most read news article of the year detailed police affidavits regarding the investigation that led to the arrests of two former school cafeteria employees in New Canaan, accused of stealing nearly a half-million dollars over five years. Known as the “lunch ladies” case, the story went national and continues to receive coverage from beyond the town. It remains unclear whether the arrested women—sisters Joanne Pascarelli and Marie Wilson—also targeted charge accounts kept up by New Canaan parents in order to justify the district’s food costs. District officials have said an auditing professional is examining records.
4. Mountain Lion Seen on Nursery Road — A report in January, deemed credible by local authorities, of a mountain lion sighting on Nursery Road, was the third-most-read news story of 2018. The Jan. 16 sighting on the eastern end of Nursery Road (near the Merritt Parkway) came in from a man who described a tail three feet long—a physical characteristic that distinguishes the cougar from smaller felines, such as bobcats—and saw the animal directly in front of his car, walking under a streetlight, in a well-lit area, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. Additional sightings of mountain lions on Marvin Ridge and Briscoe Roads followed the initial report.
The man and dog involved in the attack. Photo courtesy of the New Canaan Police Department
3. Police Seek Help Identifying Owners of Dog in Vicious Attack — An article that ran following a July 11 dog-on-dog attack at South School was the third-most-read story of the year. Roxie Boris-Lapin of New Canaan, a miniature golden doodle, was gravely wounded in the incident. Police called for the public’s help in identifying the owners of the shepherd dog that attacked Boris-Lapin, people who declined to provide the small dog’s owner their names and left the scene. Though police had a strong response from the community, those people have not yet been identified.
Early design for Canaan Parish redevelopment. Amenta Emma Architects
2. ‘This Definitely Does Not Look Like New Canaan To Me’: Selectman Voices Concerns About Proposed Redesign at Canaan Parish — Selectman Kit Devereaux’s comments in July regarding an early rendering of a rebuilt Section 8 housing complex at Route 123 and Lakeview Avenue formed the basis of the second-most-read news story of 2018. Following multiple public hearings before the Planning & Zoning Commission, including context provided by the New Canaan Housing Authority Board, which worked on the project at Canaan Parish, P&Z approved the project in August.
Rob Amen. Photo courtesy of Tyler Hardy
1. ‘He Took Care of People’: Classmates, Friends Remember 1993 NCHS Graduate Robert M. Amen Jr. — An article that appeared in March, interviewing classmates and friends of Rob Amen days after the 1993 New Canaan High School graduate had passed, was the single most-read story of the year. Amen was Boston College graduate and U.S. Air Force veteran who had served for six years with distinction, including multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He died March 15. One longtime friend and NCHS classmate, Tyler Hardy, said, “I personally did not know a nicer person, and he’s the kind of guy who would just always be there for you, no matter what. Just completely selfless. I absolutely loved who Rob Amen was. He was so easy to be around. Always made everyone around him comfortable.” Amen’s class raised more than $5,000 to donate to The Wounded Warrior Project in his memory, and his name was read aloud at God’s Acre during New Canaan’s Veterans Day ceremony there (audio included in this article).