Did You Hear … ?

A building permit application has been filed for a new, 8,600-square-foot home planned for 386 Weed St.—part of a large-scale project for a combined 7-acre parcel that had drawn some criticism from neighbors and originally included a 15,000-square-foot manmade pond that since has been withdrawn from the plan. The new home will include 40 rooms and will cost about $2.4 million to build, according to a building permit application filed May 15. The contractor on the project is Westport-based Coastal Construction and architect is Christian Rae Studio LLC of Easton.

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Animal Control officers fined a Weed Street woman $90 for allowing her dog to roam after they saw her let a golden retriever off leash at Irwin Park at about 12:19 p.m. on May 22. The officers were in an unmarked car and watched the woman waiting for them to leave, which they did and then looped around to the far side of the park where they assessed the ticket for allowing a dog to roam (which now includes an additional $46 fine).

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Lawyers for a former New Canaan Public Schools lunch lady who says she suffered under an abusive food services director have filed a response to the defendants’ claim that the case should be dismissed. According to the plaintiff’s response, citing a deposition by the food services director, he “openly admits that he views female employees as inadequate employees, quasi-dysfunctional, i.e., frightened, distressed, unable to deal with male authority, and emotionally and mentally incapable of relating to the world outside the home.”

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Locali restaurant on the corner of Forest Street and Locust Avenue earned a “Good” rating from New York Times food reviewer and longtime New Canaanite Patricia Brooks. Curiously, Brooks attributes Locali’s use and mention of New Canaan Olive Oil products to “a certain menu pretentiousness” on the part of the restaurant. Brooks notes that the oil itself is produced out-of-state, presumably clarifying for fellow residents that the physical olive trees are neither grown on South Avenue nor pressed on Vitti Street. Meanwhile, Locali—which has earned three positive reviews in our directory—likely has done well to do business with New Canaan Olive Oil, an independently owned shop that donates to and sponsors more than a dozen local charities and events each year, including the Glass House, New Canaan schools, New Canaan Library, Stamford Nature Center, Carriage Barn Arts Center and New Covenant House.

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Part of the Police Commission trial board hearing Friday regarding NCPD Sgt. John Milligan was dedicated to clarifying a rumor that the sergeant had acted inappropriately while serving as school resource officer at New Canaan High School several years ago. Attorneys for Milligan—a union president whose job is at stake after the town paid some $30,000-plus in health insurance premiums beyond what was required when he failed to remove his ex-wife from the municipal plan following their divorce—questioned the viability of an internal NCPD investigation into the matter, saying it had been led by the same individual who had circulated the rumor in the first place. The former police chief, who had led the department at the time, was summoned to the hearing at NCPD headquarters, in part to discuss his recollection of who said what.

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This year’s recipients off the New Canaan League of Women Voters Scholarship are Casey Manzella (L) and Kyla Persky (R), pictured here with Gaby Beecher. “This scholarship is awarded to a student, or students, who have excelled in the study of government and demonstrated a commitment to motivate other students to become responsible citizens,” the league said.

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Animal Control officers on Monday sent a bat found in a Putnam Road home up to a state lab for rabies testing.

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The Eighth Annual ‘Art in the Windows’ kicked off with a successful Pop Up Art Day at the Pop Up Park downtown on Saturday. The event was led by Carriage Barn Arts Center/New Canaan Society for the Arts.

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We’re told that New Canaan’s Kelly Kraus has joined Brotherhood & Higley real estate agency.

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We’re hearing that New Canaan resident Jason Brown made the Dean’s List at Springfield College (3.5 GPA or higher), where he’s studying sports management.

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Silver Hill Hospital has three new board members in the 21-member group and appointed four existing board members to new positions, including the appointment of a new chairman. “Our Board provides us with invaluable expertise that serves the Hospital and the community,” Dr. Sigurd Ackerman, president and medical director at Silver Hill, said in a press release.“I look forward to continuing the work with Peter Orthwein as Chair, and know we can expect great things because of his leadership.I welcome the new board members David Hunt, Robert Kiely, and Cheryl Wiesenfeld, and anticipate that 2015-2016 to be a year of which we can all be proud.”