Letters to the Editor
Letter letters

Letter: Thanks to Everyone Who Donated to the Human Services Household Goods Drive

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To the editor:

On behalf of the Darien Human Services Department, I would like to thank everyone who donated items to our Household Goods Drive last month. In particular, I want to thank Jack Holly and Boy Scout Troop 35 for their overwhelming support. The boys of Troop 35 spent two weekends collecting household goods donations and delivered numerous bags of items to our closet last month. Many Darien residents are unaware that up to 5% of their neighbors live at or below the poverty level. Services are available in town to provide these families and individuals with food and clothing, but not everyday essentials such as toilet paper, paper towels, personal grooming and hygiene products, and cleaning supplies.

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Darien United Supports ‘Our Darien’ Campaign to Rein In Risky Drinking

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To the editor:

This letter expresses Darien United’s support of the “Our Darien” campaign launched by the Thriving Youth Task Force of The Community Fund of Darien. This Campaign is vital to our community as it addresses the important issue of underage binge drinking as well as how surrounding community-wide norms can contribute to adolescent alcohol abuse. Darien United is a coalition of youth workers representing churches in the community as well as the ministries we lead. We provide a platform of mutual collegial support and event planning in order to create safe spaces for students where they can be themselves, enjoy substance-free fun, and explore the intersection of life and faith. We are proud to be clergy members of the Thriving Youth Task Force as our missions inherently converge.

Healthy Living
Risks Women Girls Alcohol 2019

More Drinking, Alcoholism Among Women Now, and They Face Particular Risks

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Women have made many economic and social advancements, but another gender gap is closing: drinking rates among men and women. Researchers believe that rates of female alcohol consumption — and alcoholism — have escalated due to shifting cultural messages about women’s drinking, along with the growing number of women turning to alcohol to alleviate stress. — an article from Mountainside Treatment Centers (illustrations added by Darienite.com)
A 2017 study from the journal JAMA Psychiatry found that drinking rates increased significantly among the general public from 2002 to 2013, and the frequency of high-risk drinking among women in particular spiked by 58 percent. More alarmingly, the study revealed that rates of alcoholism among women rose by 84 percent during the same period. The rise in women’s drinking over the past two decades is not a coincidence.

Healthy Living

Letter: Come to the April 10 Discussion on Women and Alcohol

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To the editor,

I wanted to bring your attention to the upcoming “Women & Alcohol: A Community Conversation” event being held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 10 at Darien Library. The event is being put on by the Darien Library and YWCA Darien/Norwalk as an evening to have an honest dialogue with local experts on alcohol and women’s health, social drinking, role modeling and the rise of alcohol use among women. The event came about because I noticed the emphasis on alcohol in our community, the way drinking is made light of on social media and how women are being increasingly marketed to by advertisers. This coinciding with the significant increase in alcoholism in women and alcohol-related deaths made me want to have a community conversation around it. I took this idea to the YWCA who in turn brought it to the Darien Library and the conversation began in earnest to make this forum happen.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

Elon Musk’s Idea of ‘Hyperloop’ Trains a Bit Too Loopy: Cameron on Transportation

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Is Elon Musk a brilliant innovator, or is he just smoking dope? Well, we know the answer to the second question as a viral video has shown him puffing (legal) weed on a talk show. The man is under a lot of stress, right? There’s no doubt that Musk’s privately funded ventures in space travel and electric cars are prescient, maybe even profitable someday. But his transportation vision for the Hyperloop has yet to be proven viable.

Letters to the Editor
Letter letters

Letter: Response to Jim Cameron’s Column From a ‘Zombie’

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To the editor:

Jim Cameron’s commentary concerning the issue of highway tolls in Connecticut is unfortunately very out of touch. Sadly when an opposing viewpoint is voiced on a given issue, the voice is labeled by its detractors as trolling, both counterproductive and disturbing.  In elementary school we would simply hold our hands over our ears yelling aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.  Not much has really changed. Highway tolling was not an issue that lost or won an election; it was another issue that was misrepresented by the party that won the governorship. Quoting electoral vote totals does not equate to endorsement of a particular idea. The promise made was for border-only tolls and/or truck only tolls, (which most of us knew to be illegal), a commitment that sits right up there with “you can keep your doctor.”

Purporting residents want highway tolls is another perfect example of Hartford creating a narrative advancing an agenda regardless of population desires.  Congratulations, another false bill of goods sold, not something to be proud of.

Letters to the Editor
Letter letters

Letter: Cutting Deer Population Won’t Help Reduce Ticks — Friends of Animals President

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To the editor:

Kudos to Doug Tallamy, entymologist and author of Bringing Nature Home, for helping to change people’s mindset across the country about the birds and the bees. He is educating people about how insects like moths and caterpillars are indispensable when it comes to biodiversity in ecosystems and that the best thing we can do for wildlife and the environment is plant native flowering plants, trees and shrubs in our own backyard. He brought his empowering and poignant message to the Darien Library Thursday evening and it was thrilling. But Tallamy veered out of his lane of expertise and undermined deer when the topic of ticks and Lyme Disease came up, and that was disappointing. Tallamy seemed unaware of a study conducted at Penn State University showing that deer exclusion in smaller areas is likely to amplify ticks and produce tick-borne disease hotspots where rodents are ubiquitous.

Letters to the Editor
Letter letters

Letter: Friend of Controversial Greenwichite Carl Higbie Encourages Him to Run for 4th District House Seat

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Editor’s note: Carl Higbie of Greenwich has indicated he might run for the Republican nomination for the Fourth District U.S. House of Representatives seat currently held by Greenwich Democrat Jim Himes. Along with this letter to the editor, Darienite.com has included here some links to recent coverage of Higbie in GreenwichFreePress.com. We don’t normally do this for a letter to the editor, but we think background information is in order for someone who may be on the Darien ballot next year. To the editor,

My name is Benji Irby, your neighbor from down in the Bronx. I have a friend in Connecticut – a true son of Connecticut that I want to tell you about.

Art Exhibits
Letter letters

Darien Arts Center Board Members Thank Caffè Nero for Hosting Fundraiser

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To the editor:

We are fortunate to have many individuals and local businesses that value the importance of arts in our community and that support the Darien Arts Center. The DAC, which is not subsidized by the town of Darien, solely depends on funding from its programs, donations, grants, and fundraising. Recently, the DAC has been extremely fortunate to gain a new friend in Caffè Nero, which generously hosted a fun, artistic evening of live music, delicious food and their famous coffee drinks to benefit the Arts Center. See also: Live Acoustic Music at ‘Coffee and Culture’ Benefit for Darien Arts Center at Caffè Nero Feb 28

Additionally, Caffè Nero is exhibiting the paintings of recent DHS graduate and 2018 Ginny Wright Scholarship recipient, Nadia Czebiniak. Her paintings can be seen at Caffè Nero, 1075 Post Road, all week.

Maritime Aquarium
Plastic Water

Maritime Aquarium Supports Ban on Plastic Carry Out Bags in Darien; Public Hearing on Wednesday

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In light of the Town of Darien considering a ban on plastic carry out bags, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk celebrates such municipal efforts and encourages other communities to take up the cause. — an announcement from the Maritime Aquarium

A public hearing is planned for Wednesday, Feb. 6 to gain Darien residents’ input on a proposal to ban plastic bags. If such an ordinance is drafted and eventually approved, Darien would join Westport, Greenwich and Norwalk in Connecticut, and Larchmont and Rye Brook in Westchester County, New York, in prohibiting retail stores from offering plastic bags for purchases. Many other municipalities in Connecticut and New York are considering similar legislations.

Government & Politics
Letter letters

Letter: Instead of More Tax Increases, CT Should Try More Spending Cuts

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To the editor:

Democrats are all about taxes! Darien residents and Connecticut residents have had enough!  Lamont is “now considering” taxing groceries. So, if I spend $100 on groceries, I will have to pay another $6 plus to the State government for the right to eat; if I want my asthma meds — $349/month — that equals another $20 to the state for the privilege of being able to breathe! I won’t get started on the excess state property tax he proposes to add to our already existing municipal property taxes! But I would like to remind Lamont and his cronies in Hartford who look for taxation instead of reducing/cutting expenses, that not everyone in the “Gold Coast” is wealthy!

Animals
Darien Cops Website Coyote

Letter from Friends of Animals: Fencing, Not a Kill Permit, Is What’s Needed to Protect Pets from Coyotes

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To the editor:
The incident involving an attack on two dogs in Tokeneke is a most unfortunate event, but there is no reason why Darien residents should react by applying for kill permits from DEEP [the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection]. First, an invisible fence is not sufficient to keep dogs on one’s property protected because that electric fence won’t prevent other dogs, foxes or coyotes from entering one’s yard. There is fencing that will protect dogs and prevent wildlife from entering one’s property — but it’s five-foot woven-wire stationery fencing with extenders facing outward at the top of each post, not invisible fencing. Fencing needs to extend at least 8 inches below the surface, or have a galvanized-wire apron that extends out from the fence at least 15 inches. Prevention is the best strategy for minimizing encounters and conflicts with coyotes, foxes and other indigenous wildlife who shouldn’t be persecuted.

Letters to the Editor
Letter letters

Letter: Get Connected to Make Changes: Come to a Darien Democratic Party Meeting

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To the editor:

I am a Darien resident and fan of Cristina Mittermeier, a conservationist, photographer, and co-founder of Sea Legacy.  She describes the attitude too many have as “S.el.f.i.e.” or “someone else is fixing it, eh?” Every day, we see what kind of government we got when apathy set in and, after the 2018 election, what people who wanted to counterbalance the Trump administration earned from becoming informed and engaged in the process. When we don’t show up, what affects us doesn’t reflect us and our government affects all of us in so many ways. Last Sunday, the Darien Democrats held an open house at Upper Crust Bakery and Cafe on the Post Road to grow the party and encourage civic participation on all levels.