Issuu

March 8 , 2 0 1 9

$1.75

PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

BRIDGEPORT, CT PERMIT NO. 140

Made possible by readers like you, our loyal subscribers, and our advertising partners. Thank you!

LOCAL POSTAL CUSTOMER

Spring Weather On Its Way

Special Camp Section Inside

By Richard Kaufman

S The New Lebanon School Building Committee released its March update earlier this week. Punchlist work will be scheduled after school hours or on Saturdays. Fencing will begin in late March around the old building in preparation for demolition. The project has received its fourth reimbursement from the state of $3.5 mi l lion, tota l ling $15.7 million to date. For photos of t he new school, go to greenwichsentinel.com S The Board of Estimate and Taxation Budget Committee l a s t we e k vot e d t o recommend the 20192020 budget of $443.4 million for the BET to consider. Included in the budget is funding for work on t hree major capital projects: a new proposed northwest fire station, ne w mu n ic ip a l ic e rink and new Eastern Greenw ich Civ ic C enter. A publ ic hearing on the budget will be held on March 26. The full BET votes on March 28. The RTM will have the final say on the budget in May. S The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the Harbor M a n a g e m e n t Commission’s 20192020 budget last week. The budget will remain at $59,250. S Fre e i nc ome -t a x preparation assistance w ill be available in Greenwich until tax day. Volunteers will lend a helping hand from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., in the Hay ton Room on t he t h i rd f loor of Tow n Ha l l on Wednesdays and Thursdays until April 11. Residents can also get help with their tax forms from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Saturdays at Greenwich Library. No appoint ments are necessary for the library, but those who want to go to Town Ha l l shou ld ema i l g r e e nw i c ht a x a i d @ g m a i l .c om or s top by du r i ng hou rs of operation. S Greenwich Police Department Det. Daniel Buc c i w a s re c ent ly named as the Officer of the Month for January. G PD C h i e f , J a m e s He a v e y, pr e s e nt e d Bucci with the award for his investigation i n t o s e v e r a l AT M burglaries. Through his work, Bucci was able to solve several GPD cases, and also helped other state law enforcement agencies solve their open cases. S GPD officer, Justin Quagliani, was recently honored for a s si s t i ng a wom a n who was unconscious. Quagliani responded to a residence on Jan. 25 where the woman was located, and performed cardiopulmonar y re su s c it at ion u nt i l paramedics arrived a nd took over. The woman was taken to the hospital and has been recovering.

Sunset over Moose Pond in Denmark, Maine after another full day at Wyonegonic Camp, the first all-girls’ camp in the nation. Summer may seem far away right now but warmer days will be here before you know it. Our Special Camp Section this week includes four articles from experts in the field. "Singing around the campfire and eating s’mores under a star-lit night sky. The smell of the burning wood weaves in the fabric of campers' clothing. It is almost surreal, compared to the everyday life they live during the school year. At that very moment, the pressures from school don’t exist. For many, this is the fuel they need to get them through long winter months."

March Night Sky

hese next several evenings – March 10, 11 and 12, 2019 – highlight the waxing crescent moon sweeping to the south of the red planet Mars. As seen from North America, the moon will have already swept to the south of Mars by the

time that the two become visible at nightfall March 11. But no matter where you live worldwide, look first for the moon and that nearby red “star” will be the red planet Mars. Jupiter greets early risers a ll mont h long. Look low in the southeast

an hour before sunrise. If you have an unobstructed view, you'll be able to see Saturn and Venus as well, a bit lower in the sky. March marks the 40th anniversary of the Voyager 1 spacecraf t's f lyby of Jupiter, in 1979. Voyager gave us our first detailed,

close-up look at the giant planet and its moons. March ushers in spring on the 20th, with the Spring Equinox, when day and night are of equal length. From now until t he b eg i n n i ng of fa l l daytime will be longer than nighttime, as the Sun travels a longer, higher arc across the sky each day, reaching a peak at the start of summer. You can catch up with NASA at nasa.gov.

Tony Jones at Round Hill Community Church March 17

ut hor of Did G od K i l l Jesus? Searching for Love in History’s Most Famous Execution, Tony will take us on an intriguing biblical and historical journey revealing just how the message of love was subverted and how it can be restored. A reception and book signing will follow the lecture. Here is a preview of some of Tony’s thinking: Why Jesus Died Good Friday is the day that Christians “celebrate”—actually, commemorate—Jesus’ crucifixion. For t he la st severa l yea rs, i n my little corner of Christianity, there’s been lots of talk about the atonement—that is, about what exact ly happened, cosmica l ly speaking, when Jesus died. In fact, the nature of the atonement has

become the bête noire of emergent Christians and the cause célèbre of the resurgent Reformers. Plea se note, I bel ieve t hat Jesus of Na za ret h was a rea l, historic human being who lived from approximately 6-4 BC to approximately AD 26-29. I firmly believe, in unity with the Council of Chalcedon, that Jesus of Nazareth was both fully human and fully divine. This belief is key to anyone’s understanding of the crucifixion. If Jesus was a little less than fully both, then his death means something different than what I think it means. One key to my understanding of the crucifixion is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. At about the age of 30, Jesus arrives at the Jordan River and is baptized by his cousin, John. He then retreats into the

wilderness where, after a 40-day fast, he’s tempted. Really tempted. What I mean is, the result of Jesus’ interaction with “the tempter” was not foreordained. Nor did Jesus know that he was divine in such a way that he wouldn’t cave in to the temptations before him. Had Jesus been cognizant of his divinity, he would not have been truly tempted. Another key to my understanding of the end of Jesus’ life is what he did with the three previous years of his life. It seems to me that he did just a few things: 1) He t au g ht a b out t he Kingdom of God; 2) He performed miracles; 3) He developed a following that included 12 close followers a nd, by t he end, hu ndreds of

See RHCC on Page 7

Changes to Parking Regulations By Richard Kaufman

n Monday afternoon during a special Boa rd of Select men meeting, several changes in parking regulations were made to two Housing Authority of the Town of Greenwich (HATG) properties. In at tenda nce was tow n of Greenw ich Bu si ne s s O p er at ions Super v isor, Roderick Dioqu i no, H ATG Deputy Director, Terry Mardula, and Greenwich Pol ice Depa r t ment D e put y C h ie f, M a rk Marino, who now oversees Greenw ich 's Department of Parking Services. In June of 2013 and September of 2018, the Boa rd of Select men approved HATG proper ties to become pa r t of t he tow n's R e s i d e nt i a l P a r k i n g

Permit Program. A f ter eva luat ion by t he Depa r t ment of Parking Services, several a mend ments to t he adopted town ordinance were proposed. O n M o n d a y, t h e boa rd una nimously approved changes related to McKinney Terrace I & II and Quarry Knoll I & II. The Selectmen approved handicapped pa rk ing for Qua rr y K nol l, as posted a nd marked: two spaces in the vicinity of Building 1-8; three spaces near B u i ld i n g 8 6 - 87; t wo spaces near Community Building; and two spaces near Building 48. The ha ndicapped parking was already in place but not defined in the town ordinance. Thirty minute timed parking was also approved for Qua r r y K nol l i n t he v ici nit y

of t he Communit y Building, Monday through Sunday, seven days a week, as posted and marked. Both Mckinney Te r r a c e a n d Q u a r r y Knoll are now designated a s H ATG prop er t ie s with Residential Permit Parking at all times in the town ordinance. " F r o m o u r perspective, these approva ls are ver y important for us because the people who live there and pay rent should have the first ability to park where they live. That's the main point of this parking policy," Mardula said. Dioquino, Ma rino and Mardula will have to come back to the Board of Selec t men to seek other changes related to HATG properties. In addition, changes to Chapel Lane, La ke Drive and Stuart

Drive were approved. Resident ia l Per m it Park ing was changed to Parking Prohibited. Residents were notified of the possible changes beforehand at the request of Select ma n Sa ndy Litvack: Chapel Lane: North side , f rom R iver side Avenue to dead end, a distance of 0.28 mile, no parking is allowed between the hours 11 a.m., and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. L a k e D r i ve : B o t h sides of street, no pa rk ing is a l lowed bet ween t he hours of 7 a . m ., a nd 10 a . m ., Monday through Friday. Stuart Drive: Both sides north of Wendle Place intersection e x t e nd i n g nor t he rl y t o H ave m e y e r L a n e , no parking is allowed between the hours of 9 a.m., and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

A tree takes down a power line during Monday’s snowstorm. (Matt Bracchitta photo)

unxsutawney Phil might have been on to something. Following the snow that pelted the region earlier this week, it appears as if winter might be retreating soon. According to Jacob Meisel, founder of swctweather.com and Bespoke Weather Services, a weather forecasting service for energy brokers and traders, spring-like weather could arrive on time this year. "There are maybe one or two more systems left, but with the next week-and-a-half looking clear and getting harder and harder to get more winter weather, I'd say that we're basically out of the woods. This past week was really the most activity that we'll get," Meisel said. For Greenw ich DPW Super i ntendent of Highways, Joseph Roberto, last weekend was very busy for the town. “The first [storm] was not a big issue for the town. Temperatures were favorable and cleanup went well. Sunday into Monday was of greater sig n i f ic a nce, acc u mu lat ions a nd plu ng i ng temperatures,” Roberto said. After cold temperatures descended upon the area this week, temperatures are forecast to reach into the upper 40's and into the 50's early next week. Another cold front could possibly move through the following week. Greenwich remains prepared to handle any winter threat. The town began this winter with full barns of approximately 12,000 tons of salt, and currently has about 6,000 tons on hand. “ T he tow n pre p a re s a nd c on sid er s t he possibility of snow until late April, although we hope it stops long before that,” Roberto added. Overall, Meisel believes temperatures will be seasonal through the end of March, unlike last year when there was a winter storm threat seemingly every other week. "I'm not really seeing anything here to make me think that there's going to be a repeat of last winter where we had all that activity late in March into early April," he said. Greenwich is on track to accumulate below average snowfall this winter with slightly above average temperatures. The storms that we did experience mostly featured wintry mixes. Meisel said this was caused by the storm track this year and the inability to trap cold air in the region. From January to February, Meisel said, there was a stubborn ridge across the east that allowed warmer air to ride up the coast. Storms that were moving along that track had more warm air to work with and weren't able to pull down colder air that's conducive to heavy accumulation. Also, downstream across the Atlantic, an "upper level block" was never able to establish, which slows down atmospheric flow and traps cold air across the northeast. As a result, every cold shot that hit the area was gone within a few days, rather than staying for a couple of weeks. When a storm moved in, it pushed out the cold air and brought in warm air, which produced wintry mix precipitation. Cold air would follow on the backend, resulting in flash freezes of standing water. Going forward, Meisel believes April and May will be biased towards the warm side overall. "The east is looking like it will have a slight warm bias as we move t hrough t he spring. There are some cold risks near the tail end of March, maybe into early April, but a rather rapid transition into spring-like weather for April seems more likely at this point," Meisel said. "Nothing like last April where the cold seemed to linger all the way into early May."

As clocks spring ahead this weekend, residents can begin to dream about warmer days ahead.