NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/author/michael-dinan/page/2)
This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we’ve switched things up. As NewCanaanite.com marks its 11th anniversary this month, Bob Doran, the head of NCTV 79, interviews me about the news site, its history and my own experience in running it.
Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:
Police last week arrested a 48-year-old New Canaan woman by warrant and charged her with violation of a protective order. The woman, a Lakeview Avenue resident, is already facing a slew of other charges recently brought by New Canaan Police, according to Connecticut Judicial Branch records. Those include:
Third-degree assault and disorderly conduct (September 2023)
Risk of injury to a child, disorderly conduct and violation of a protective order (October 2023)
Violation of a criminal protective order (November 2023)
Violation of a protective order, third-degree assault and disorderly conduct (December 2023). first-degree criminal trespass and two counts of second-degree violation of conditions of release
Third-degree assault, violation of a protective order and disorderly conduct (January 2024)
Violation of a protective order (October 2024)
Police withheld information regarding the most recent arrest, saying it’s a domestic matter. The woman turned herself in on the warrant for the felony offense at about 10:55 a.m. on Jan.
The New Canaan Food Pantry has seen rising use in the past two years and the need appears to be growing, officials say. The number of individual shoppers using the pantry increased by 22% from fiscal year 2023 to 2024 (from 863 to 1,056) and is already at 769 in fiscal year 2025 (which runs through June 30), according to Marcella Rand, director of the Department of Human Services. “Our food pantry participation has really increased,” Rand told members of the Board of Selectmen during a regular meeting held Tuesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. “This year I did year-to-date so you could see where we are and how we think that the use is really going to be increased.”
Here’s a table showing data on food pantry use:
The Food Pantry provides non-perishable items to qualified individuals and families living in New Canaan. It’s open every other Tuesday for two one-hour distribution sessions, where volunteers sort, stock and bag groceries.
Police after midnight Saturday arrested a 43-year-old Stamford man and charged him with driving under the influence. At about 1:33 a.m. on Jan. 18, an officer on patrol saw a car run a flashing red light after exiting the Merritt Parkway’s Exit 36 off-ramp, according to a police report. The vehicle turned up Old Stamford Road and was stopped at Jelliff Mill Road, the report said. During the stop, the officer smelled alcohol on the driver and found other signs of impairment, it said.
The Board of Selectmen following a strained discussion at its most recent meeting voted 2-1 to increase the compensation for each of New Canaan’s registrars of voters by 3%, to $41,200.
The figure is far less than the $52,000 that one of the registrars, Joan McLaughlin, had been seeking. In addressing the selectmen at their Jan. 7 meeting, McLaughlin said her work doubled with the introduction of early voting in Connecticut last year, as well as a recent shakeup of state legislature districts that resulted in three more for New Canaan. McLaughlin, who serves two-year terms as the Republican registrar in New Canaan, said during the meeting that she worked an average of 32 hours per week last year (up from 20 to 22 hours per week in the past) and that the higher figure was due to 14 days of early voting. “I have 14 days of early voting that starts at 10 o’clock in the morning and ends at 6 o’clock at night,” McLaughlin said during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.