Darien Morning Briefing: 2.3.12, Friday

Today is Friday, Feb. 3, 2012.

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THIS MORNING, starting at 9:30 and running to 1:30 p.m.:

Tax-Aide Free Tax Help: Darien Library. A "reparation and e-filing program administered by the AARP Foundation in conjunction with and under the auspices of the IRS, is coming to Darien Library. Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest volunteer-run tax assistance and preparation service and is available to all individual filers regardless of income or age."—from the library announcement.

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HEADLINES

• Charge: Woman Stalked, Shook Down Brian Cashman

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults:

• Tax-Aide Free Tax Help: 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Darien Library. A "reparation and e-filing program administered by the AARP Foundation in conjunction with and under the auspices of the IRS, is coming to Darien Library. Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest volunteer-run tax assistance and preparation service and is available to all individual filers regardless of income or age."—from the library announcement.
• Film: Moneyball: 7:30 p.m. (1 hr., 53 min.), Darien Library—IMDb—trailer—HD trailer—Rotten Tomatoes—Moviefone—Academy Award nominations: Best picture, Best actor in a leading role: Brad Pitt; Best supporting actor: Jonah Hill; Best adapted screenplay; Best sound mixing; Best film editing
• Get Free Tickets Now for USAF Falconaires Jazz Concert: The U.S. Air Force Academy Jazz Ensemble will perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m., March 3 at Darien High School, but tickets, which are free, must be reserved in advance, so get them now, while they last. You can get a maximum of four. For more details, se the Darien Patch .
• Darien Summer School online registration has begun. A copy of the course catalog is posted with on Darien Patch.
  
• The Catherine Lindsey Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present a series of workshops at Darien Library in February, March and April. "Interested playwrights should submit ten pages of their scripts to Robert Cusack at robert.cusack1@att.net by Feb. 1, 2012. [...] The workshops will allow the playwrights to refine their scripts, which will then be submitted to the Darien Library Selection Committee. On Sunday, June 10 at 2 p.m., the Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present the first public-staged reading of selections from the plays in the Library’s Community Room."—from the announcement on the library website.

Kids:

•  Meet South American Animals: Stamford Museum & Nature Center: 6 to 6:45 pm (Ages 3 - 6) 7 - 8 pm (Ages 6 & older) "Join Chris Evers, director & founder of Animal Embassy, for this exciting look at the incredible and varied wildlife of South America. Meet a variety of South American Animal Ambassadors."— on Darien Patch 
• SATURDAY: Take Your Child to the Library Day: Darien Library. "Families are encouraged to bring their children to get their very first library cards. There will also be other special events throughout the day" including Family Storytime: 11 to 11:30 a.m., Lego Club: 1 to 2 p.m., Storytubes Lab: 2 to 4 p.m.—library announcement 
• SUNDAY: Fairytale Princess Meet and Greet Lunch: Reserve for this event from noon to 4 p.m. at restaurant. "For little princesses (and you know who they are), the restaurant has a [princess-themed lunch] which it describes as 'a regal afternoon of fondue. We will have our own adult princess to provide fun and entertainment for all the younger royals who would like to join her [...]" Reservations accepted between 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m." Cost: $29.95 per adult/$19.95 per child.
• Two free swiming classes at the YMCA: "For two weeks in February (February 6 - 10 and Feb 13 - 17) the YMCA's aquatic department will be offering complimentary parent/child swim classes on weekday mornings."— on Darien Patch.
• Darien Summer School online registration has begun. A copy of the course catalog is posted with on Darien Patch.
  
• Create a video about a book you like, and enter it in the StoryTubes competition to win a prize. This week, Darien Library will have video equipment available for kids and teens from 5 to 18 years old to create their video, which can be entered into a competition from Jan. 20 to Feb. 20. The video equipment is available today from 1 to 6 p.m.

Teens:

• Darien High School Schedule for an "A" day: 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
• February Doings at the Depot (calendar)
• WRITING COMPETITION: For this third annual event sponsored by library, there is "$100 for the winner in each age group and category, You will also have the opportunity to meet with published authors and have your work printed and read by a large audience. And can you imagine putting this on your college applications?" Poetry, fiction and nonfiction are all accepted. If you have any questions, call Erica at 669-5225. [...] To enter email your entry along with the application form to teenstaff@darienlibrary.org beginning on Jan. 1.  Participants have until Feb. 28 to enter for a chance to win cash prizes.  An awards ceremony will conclude the competition on Saturday, March 31."—from the Darien Library website.
• VIDEO COMPETITION: Create a video about a book you like, and enter it in the StoryTubes competition to win a prize. This week, the library will have video equipment available for kids and teens from 5 to 18 years old to create their video, which can be entered into a competition from Jan. 20 to Feb. 20. The video equipment is available today from 1 to 6 p.m.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: 7, 9:30 p.m. (2 hrs., 9 min.)—IMDb—trailer—HD trailer—Rotten Tomatoes—Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor: Max von Sydow
• The Descendants: 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. (1 hr., 55 min.)—IMDb—trailer—HD trailer—Rotten Tomatoes—Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, George Clooney; Best Director, Alexander Payne; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Editing

And "Moneyball" is playing at 7:30 p.m. in the Darien Library (see above)

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

All meetings take place in , 2 Renshaw Rd., unless otherwise noted. Since Darien town government provides no reliable, centralized list of town government meetings, and there is not enough time in the day to go searching for them, this list may well be incomplete:

No known government meetings are scheduled for today.

FORECAST as of 10:26 p.m., Thursday (update)

• Friday: "Sunny, with a high near 43. Northwest wind between 9 and 11 mph."
• Friday Night: "Rain, mainly before midnight. Areas of fog before midnight. Low around 43. Southwest wind between 8 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible."

INTERSTATE 95 TRAFFIC CAMS

See also Darien Patch's "Traffic & Gas Prices" page.

• Stamford: southbound, Exit 8 - Elm St.

• Stamford: northbound, south of Exit 9 - Lockwood Ave.

• Darien southbound, north of Exit 9 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien northbound Exit 12 - Tokeneke Rd.

• Darien northbound, south of Exit 13 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien southbound, Exit 13 - Rt. 1 (Boston Post Rd.)

• Norwalk southbound, Exit 15 - Stuart Ave.

• Norwalk Rt 7 south of Exit 1 - Connecticut Ave.

• Norwalk northbound, Exit 15 - Rt. 7

TIDES & TIMES

• Sunrise: 7:03 a.m.
• Sunset: 5:12 p.m.

• Low tide: 1:29 a.m. (0.9') 
• High tide: 7:38 a.m. (6.6')
• Low tide: 2:13 p.m. (0.5')
• High tide: 8:14 p.m. (6.1')

HOW TO USE PATCH:

Forecast obtained from the National Weather Service; tide information obtained from saltwatertides.com (calibrated to Long Neck Point).