Dr. Bryan Luizzi

New Canaan Public Schools To Close Thursday After First Confirmed COVID-19 Case in Town

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In a move designed to limit the spread of COVID-19 following the first confirmed case in town, New Canaan Public Schools will close Thursday, district officials said, and starting Friday students will continue learning remotely for two weeks. Faculty and staff “have been working tirelessly over the past weeks to prepare for this scenario,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said Wednesday afternoon in an email to parents. “We have prepared for this scenario by coming together as a district to develop plans that provide our students with a continuing educational experience during the closure,” he said. “These plans will be shared by your building principals in subsequent communications.”

Thursday will count as a snow day, district officials said. Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Police: Young Boy Said To Be ‘Missing’ Is Identified and Found [UPDATED]

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Update 9:10 p.m.

The young boy seen on video surveillance ringing the doorbell of an eastern New Canaan home late Monday has been identified and found, Police Lt. Jason Ferraro said in a media update. “He is home sleeping,” Ferraro said. “No further information will be released at this time. The New Canaan Police Department thanks the community for their assistance in this matter.” The comments ended a very strange hour of local news in town that started around 8 p.m. when Emergency Management Director Mike Handler alerted residents of a “missing child” in the area of Valley Road.

Around Town

‘An Unsung Hero’: New Canaanites Remember Jim Cole 

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Saddened by news of Jim Cole’s passing this week, New Canaanites are remembering the longtime former resident as a dedicated volunteer who served the community quietly and in numerous ways while helping to shape emergency preparedness in town. A former chairman of the New Canaan Police and Fire Commissions who went on to become the town’s director and later deputy director of Emergency Management and served on its Traffic Calming Work Group, Cole died Monday in Florida, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. In calling for a moment of silence at a regular meeting of the Board of Finance on Tuesday night, Moynihan called Cole “a great friend of New Canaan” and “great volunteer” alongside his wife, Nancy Upton. Known for his deep involvement in the Congregational Church of New Canaan, local service organizations and the Community Emergency Response Team, a volunteer group known as ‘CERT,’ Cole was a widely respected expert on emergency response for whom the safety of the community was imperative, according to those who knew him. 

He not only helped plan for emergencies but also rolled up his sleeves to work hard when they struck, according to Mike Handler, New Canaan’s director of emergency management. Handler called Cole “a remarkable guy” who “took community engagement and involvement to a different level” not only as a volunteer but also as a great recruiter who was “fiercely loyal” to those who gave of their time as he did.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Bruce Willis—star of Christmas season film favorite “Die Hard”—dropped into Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee on Pine Street on Monday morning for a cup of brew. ***

A sign posted Wednesday on the door at Hamptonite, a women’s fashion boutique that opened on Elm Street in May 2016, says “no sales can be transacted” there due to a sales and use tax permit issue. ***

The man who was arrested earlier this year after filming a woman in a bathroom at Grace Farms while he worked as a chef at the Lukes Wood Road organization, pleaded guilty to four counts of voyeurism, according to Connecticut Judicial Branch records. ***

The Board of Education opened its meeting Monday with a moment of silence for former President George H.W. Bush. ***

Farmers Table on Nov.

News

National Weather Service: It Was a Tornado 

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The powerful storm that struck New Canaan Tuesday evening was in fact a tornado, officials confirmed. 

Representatives from the National Weather Service after surveying the town said that New Canaan experienced an “EF1 tornado” with winds reaching 100 mph, according to Mike Handler, the town’s director of Emergency Management. 

“Clearly the damage we sustained yesterday was different from prior storms,” Handler said in an email update. “Unlike past hurricanes or Nor’easters, this storm was predominantly isolated to a band along the New Canaan/Norwalk border. Damage to both trees and our electrical infrastructure was severe.”

The Office of Emergency Management opened as the tornado took down trees, limbs and power lines, knocking out power to more than 1,400 local homes, some 75 of which still had not been restored as of 6 p.m. Wednesday. With this storm, we have all just been introduced to severe weather patterns with far less predictive warning than previous storms,” Handler said. “The Town will continue to update its emergency operations plans to ensure that we utilize the very latest and best practices.”

Handler is urging residents to notify police as they discover branches on power lines or downed electrical lines, at the general number of 203-594-3000.