Did You Hear … ?

It’s Election Day, and the League of Women Voters of New Canaan created this one-page Web guide for local constituents, including a Voters’ Guide to the Candidates, New Canaan 2015 Sample Ballot, Voting District Map and Absentee Ballot Information.

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We’re hearing the Gridiron Club made another outstanding choice for this year’s “Fall Guy.” It’s New Canaan’s own Keith Simpson, noted local landscape architect and civic-minded volunteer, who currently serves with the New Canaan Beautification League, Waveny Park Conservancy, Pop Up Park Committee and Plan of Conservation & Development Implementation Committee, among other groups.

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Police received a report last week of a distressed animal at Whiffle Tree Lane. At about 10:13 a.m. on Oct. 27, the police department’s Animal Control section arrived at the residence to find a small animal caught in an elbow of a gutter. The family dog was nearby and the animal may have been scared to make its way out on its own, Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm said. Ultimately the dog was removed and a handyman let out what the homeowner and Halm both assumed was a bird, but it turned out to be a chipmunk. “We were surprised when we saw the tail,” Halm said.

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Good news here for residents on the east side of town and others who travel to Wilton by way of 106 and typically hit a cell service “dead spot” after turning off of Valley Road: Verizon completed its testing on the new tower at Silver Hill Hospital, and turned on its service Friday.

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Visit downtown New Canaan this week and you may notice that the Holiday Lights are going up in the trees. There are 50 trees and more than 400 strands of lights altogether, and it costs money to see the project of setting them up and getting them down each season—for information on how you can support the effort through a tax-deductible donation, read more here about the New Canaan Chamber Charitable Foundation.

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Petitioning candidate for first selectman, Michael Nowacki, could be heard prior to Monday night’s meeting of the Audit Committee saying that “Operation Honeymoon went perfectly.” He got married Sunday in California.

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The Audit Committee held its own meeting and then met with the Town Council during a special meeting late Monday. The committee perhaps took a half-step back from a letter sent two weeks ago to town officials that read like an ultimatum—certainly the group softened its stance, or at least warmed to the idea of further discussion with both municipal and district officials in the further progress it would like to see in order to feel comfortable supporting an audit of both the town and public schools.

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The lawsuit filed in January by a former lunch lady against the schools’ food services director is in federal court and discovery is ongoing. We’re hearing that a judge may rule this week on a motion to dismiss.

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Congratulations are in order: 2015 NCHS graduate and football standout Zach Allen has been named a 2015 National Football Foundation National High School Scholar-Athlete Honoree. Allen will join four other selected scholar athletes on a trip to New York City to be honored during the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, on Dec. 8 at the Waldorf Astoria.

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A 24-year-old Pound Ridge man turned himself in to police last week after he failed to pay his ticket or appear in court to plead earlier this year. He’d been stopped on the morning of April 24 on South Avenue and issued an infraction for not having a front plate on his car and for an obstructed view of the windshield.

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Two New Canaan girls will be among more than 100 local children modeling the historical and contemporary fashions at the American Girl Doll Fashion Show this Sunday, November 8th at the Stamford Hilton. Lilly Messina and Paiton Pascarella will be part of the show hosted by the Ballet School of Stamford. Tickets for the event are $50 and can be purchased by clicking HERE or by calling 203-358-8853 or email: AGDFS@balletschoolofstamford.org.

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We’ve received dozens of responses to our call for the best days and times for readers to attend a regular monthly Community Coffee, and the most popular days are Wednesdays and Thursdays. We’ll announce a plan for the Coffees soon, likely an alternating mix of both days with morning coffees and evening coffees-with-ice-cream. The Community Coffee is presented in partnership with New Canaan Library.

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Hockey news here: The 36^th Annual Larry Tomaselli Alumni Game will be played at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 27 at Darien Ice Rink. The game’s $5 tickets will be sold at the door, with proceeds going to support the NCHS boys varsity and JV teams (ice time, equipment). If you’d like to make a tax-deductible contribution or if you are an alumnus and would like to play in the game, please contact Fiz Tomaselli at 203-966-4394. All donors and alumni players are invited to a reception after the game at Waveny House.

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Congratulations to the Babe Ruth Baseball League’s New Canaan 15U team, which played its last game of the fall season this past weekend against a strong Darien team. The score ended in a 1-1 tie after 7 innings.

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Finally, Ron Rosenfeld, owner of New Balance New Canaan and Judi Anders, president of the Special Education Network of New Canaan (SPED*NET) presented the YMCA with a check for $10,000. This was a portion of the proceeds raised from the 7^th annual “All Out for Autism” race to go towards renovating the YMCA’s existing playground to include playground equipment accessible for children with special needs: