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More Than 1,000 New Canaan Homes Lose Power Following Single-Car Crash on Smith Ridge Road Sunday Afternoon [UPDATE]

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Update 7:21 p.m.

Power has been restored to nearly all New Canaan homes, according to Eversource. Update 6:38 p.m.

Eversource officials say they expect power in New Canaan to be restored by 8 p.m. Sunday. Original Article

More than 1,000 New Canaan homes lost power late Sunday afternoon after a pole-mount transformer blew on Smith Ridge Road following a single-car crash. A sedan traveling southbound on Smith Ridge Road appears to have crossed into the oncoming traffic lane just south of Canoe Hill Road, clipped a guy wire that flipped into the primary, then crashed through the stone wall and into Hannan Field, according to officials at the scene. The accident occurred around 4:39 p.m., according to fire dispatch records.

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PHOTOS: Firefighters Respond to Upper-Story Fire at River Street Home on Friday Afternoon

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New Canaan firefighters on Friday afternoon responded to a structure fire in the upper story of a River Street duplex. Smoke wafted from an attic ventilation grate and opened window of the fire at 6 River St., the northern half of a duplex at the corner of Brushy Ridge Road. An occupant of the 1970-built duplex phoned 9-1-1 at about 1:46 p.m. to report the fire, according to officials on scene. No one was hurt and it wasn’t immediately clear what started the fire, officials said. In addition to the New Canaan Fire Department, New Canaan Police Department and New Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps, responding units include those from the Wilton, Norwalk and Vista, N.Y.

Firefighters arriving on scene saw smoke pushing out of what was discovered to be a very small attic space at the home, which tax records show to have hardwood floors and a wood shingle exterior.

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PHOTOS: SUV Sideswipes Smaller Car at Lakeview and Millport on Monday

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An SUV sideswiped a smaller car at Millport and Lakeview Avenues at midday Monday, officials said. No one was seriously injured in the two-vehicle accident, according to members of the New Canaan Police Department at the scene. Shortly before 12 p.m., a Honda SUV traveling west on Lakeview Avenue and approaching the intersection from the cemetery side struck the driver’s-side door of a Saturn hatchback traveling south on Millport, toward the one-way section, police said. After the collision SUV rolled back from the intersection, hopping the curb on the northern side of Lakeview Avenue Bridge, while the smaller car came to rest in the oncoming traffic lane, facing west on Lakeview Avenue. The New Canaan Fire Department and New Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps also were on scene, and authorities directed traffic through a single lane while a flatbed came for the vehicles.

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PHOTOS: Motorists Transported To Hospital After 2-Car Crash on Smith Ridge Road on Friday Morning

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A two-car crash on Smith Ridge Road late Friday morning sent multiple occupants of both vehicles to the hospital, officials said. It isn’t clear what caused the crash, at the intersection of Michigan Road, just how many people occupied the two cars involved or what was the extent of their injuries. EMTs with the New Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported them to Norwalk Hospital, officials said. Police, fire and paramedics responded to a report of the crash occurred before midday. One car ended up on its roof.

Alex Hernandez

‘It Does Not Come Close’: Fines, Probation for New Canaan Woman Who Caused Near-Fatal Car Crash

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Handcuffed and speaking in halting sentences to two men forced to sit Monday morning in state Superior Court in Norwalk because of injuries they’d sustained in a car crash she caused nearly two years ago, a New Canaan woman in court custody apologized and said she never meant to hurt anyone. During her sentencing on a misdemeanor reckless driving charge that followed the October 2014 crash on Silvermine Road and a subsequent, separate drunk driving charge at Saxe Middle School pickup, the woman, 52, told Michael Bivona and Darryl Shaw that she was “so sorry for everything.”

“I pray for you every day,” the woman, wearing a purple blouse, back pants and sneakers, told the men. She added: “I do not want you to think that you are not on my mind.”

Under a plea deal worked out between her attorney, John Robert Gulash of Bridgeport-based Gulash & Associates, and the office of assistant state’s attorney Nadia Prinz, she pleaded no contest and was fined the maximum $300 for the reckless driving charge and an additional $500 plus court costs and sentenced to six months, suspended after 48 hours. The formal ‘nolo contendere’ plea means that she accepts a conviction though she does not admit guilt.

Judge Alex Hernandez said she also would have to make any “verifiable restitution” following the accident she caused, undergo substance abuse counseling, attend four MADD victim impact panels over the two-year period and may need to use an interlock safety device with her car, pending a DMV decision. Gulash called the sentencing “the result of very extensive discussions” with prosecutors, and said it represents a fair mix of “punishment, treatment and safeguards” for the woman in the future.