With the deer hunting season in full swing, a black bear visited New Canaan in a week that saw town officials mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month—see this information from the police chief—while the venerable Garden Club (with an assist from DPW) planted some new trees right near the entrance to Irwin Park.
Members of the Canaan Parish Chapter of the National Charity League for their seventh grade project (they’re all Saxe Middle School seventh-graders) inserted 1,000 pinwheels into the grass outside of Vine Cottage to mark October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Each pinwheel represents one resident who called New Canaan Police in the past 10 years because of violence in their homes. L-R: Fallon Arnone, Caroline Tuffy, Alex Carlson, Sadie Slattery, Emma Schullman, Ally Leopold and Paula Graham. Credit: Michael Dinan
Here’s the Week in Review.
Town Talker
We reported this week on a smartphone app, Streetchat, which allows students to post photos overlayed with text, comment and vote posts up or down, all anonymously.
The social media platform emerges as district officials renew a “geo fence” that blocks text-only app Yik Yak from public school campuses.
With Streetchat, students are snapping photos around school—including in the cafeteria and library—targeting specific students, teachers and faculty, and writing derogatory things about them.
One screenshot from a busy night on the Streetchat feed assigned to “New Canaan High School” on Sept. 29-30, 2014.
Though it’s possible the schools could install a fence for this app, as well, it wouldn’t stop students from posting those same photos they take in school later when they’re off campus.
The problem of cyberbullying has become more of a challenge not just for the district—which follows state and federal law-mandated protocols for fielding, recording and investigating complaints of abuse—but also for the New Canaan police. Police now are actively are investigating harassment complaints related to cyberbullying at Saxe and the high school.
Downtown
After many months of work, Green & Tonic on Burtis Avenue finally is slated open some time this coming week.
Green & Tonic is slated to open on Burtis Avenue next week. Credit: Michael Dinan
Greenwich resident Jeffrey Pandolfino said the cold-press juice and plant-based food provider is eager to open in New Canaan, where residents are conscious of the role that food plays in physical health.
We also are waiting to see how parking officials solve the problem of cars parking up against the crosswalk near Dunkin Donuts on Elm Street. It’s not a designated parking spot, but motorists pull in there all the time. Officials are trying to figure out what type of barrier is appropriate and effective for it.
167 Summer St. appears slated for demolition. It’s an 1868 home that some local preservationists date even earlier. Credit: Michael Dinan
Land Use
Looks like a 168-year-old home is coming down on Summer Street, despite objections from some to stay the demo until a site plan can be figured out to preserve the structure, even in the midst of a new development.
One local architect who also is a preservationist tells us that New Canaan could do more to put rules on the books that would encourage developers to figure out ways to keep antique homes.
Michael Kraus sets up a Rams score with an INT. Credit: Terry Dinan
Sports
Our weekly Youth Sports Roundup includes some standout performances by young field hockey and soccer players, and for enthusiasts of soccer in New Canaan, a new website has launched that tracks everything NCHS-related.
We also reported on the Board of Ed’s taking in a sizeable donation from the All Sports Booster Club to fund stipends for scores of assistant coaches of boys and girls teams across multiple disciplines, and recorded the varsity football team’s latest gridiron triumph, this one in a penalty-riddled contest at Fairfield Warde.
Public Safety
Police this week warned residents of a suspicious-looking “offer” from a company calling itself “US Airlines,” while investigating cases of a twice-keyed car on Heritage Hill Road and stolen sports memorabilia from a storage area at Irwin. We also learned about the arrest of a Norwalk man, charged with driving under the influence after crashing into a guardrail on Route 123 near Hoyt Farms.