Darien Morning Briefing: Thurs., Jan. 5, 2012

Today is Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012.

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Parents of freshmen at Darien High School are invited to the Auditorium at 8:45 a.m. today for an informal question and answer session about midterm exams, registration for next year, and other matters, according to the high school homepage.

HEADLINES

• (Heather Borden Herve's "Patch In" column)

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults:

• St. Luke's Parish School Open House: 10 a.m. at the school, 1864 Post Road, behind St. Luke's Church. "This is for the 2012-2013 school year for children ages 2 - 5 years old," according to on Darien Patch.
• Lecture: "Prospect for Islamic Radicalism in the Arab World" 10 a.m. at the Darien Community Association, 274 Mansfield Ave. From on Darien Patch: "Ed Husain,The Council on Foreign Relations will be the openning speaker for this year's Academic Lecture Series on Global Issues. [...] Ed is a frequent commentator on NPR,BBC,CNN,Fox, Bloomberg, and Al Jazeera.  His articles appear in New York Times, Wall Street Jourrnal, Financial Times, as well in his blog "The Arab Street".
• Panel Discussion with Organizing Experts: 7 p.m. at Darien Library. From the library website: "We're hosting a panel of organizers from the group F.O.C.U.S. who will share their expertise on topics ranging from clothing to paperwork. Presented by Cara Brook of S.O.S. LLC, Janet Barnes of Connecticut Closet and Shelf, Jen Burke of JKB Organizing, and Susan Lovallo, CPA, CPO of Clutter Solutions, LLC. The panel will be moderated by Matt Baier of Matt Baier Organizing, LLC."
• Sidewalk replacement at Noroton Heights Station: "Sidewalk Construction will begin at the Noroton Heights Train Station on Jan. 3, 2012 weather permitting. The sidewalk affected connects Heights Road sidewalk to railroad platforms on the north side of the tracks (southbound side). Work is expected to take one week to complete."—from
• 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:

• Drop-in Baby Laptime: 9:30 to 10 a.m. in the Storyroom at Darien Library. "Pre-walking babies and caregivers participate in a lapsit storytime," according to the announcement on the library website.
• 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.
• JAN. 28-29: Cinderella on stage—Tickets available now: Darien Town Hall Auditorium, 4 p.m. Presented by the British Amateur Theatre Group as a benefit performance for the YWCA Darien/Norwalk. Tickets are $10 in advance (available by calling the YWCAat (203) 655-2535 or online at YWCADarienNorwalk.org) or $12 at the door.

TEENS

• Darien High School Schedule for a "Homeroom B" day. Periods: 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Homeroom | 5
• "Useless Trivia" from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Darien Library.
• Today is 12 days before midterm exams on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Darien Library will stay open late: until 10:30 p.m. from Sunday Jan. 15 through Thursday, Jan. 19. According to the library's announcement: "Also, as we did last year, we'll be offering study breaks in the Teen Lounge on the evenings of Monday the 16th and Wednesday the 18th. We will be stocked with lots of goodies, plus cupcakes for you to decorate and then devour. And you can also grab a few rounds of Wii Sports to blow off steam while you're at it."
• 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.
• BANDS & ACTS COMPETITION: JAN. 28: The free event will feature free food. "A $350 first prize and $150 runner up prize will be offered to the best acts, chosen by members of the Darien Teen Advisory Board (Caroline Farrington, Katherine Feehan, and Dylan Gabriel ). Come to see all of your friends perform or come and be in the show! If you are interested in being an act, talk to any of the judges, Caroline Farrington, or Danielle Tilford."—from the library website. Here's the application form to download and fill out.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked: 7 p.m. (1 hr., 27 min.) —IMDb—trailer—trailer—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
• War Horse: 7 p.m. (2 hrs., 26 min.)—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
  
  

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

All meetings take place in , 2 Renshaw Rd., unless otherwise noted.

• Budget Committee of the Board of Education, 7 p.m., Board Meeting Room in Darien Public School's administrative offices (also known as "Town Hall") (agenda)
  

FORECAST as of 9:19 a.m., Monday (update)

• Thursday: "Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. West wind between 10 and 15 mph."
• Thursday Night: "Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. West wind between 6 and 13 mph."

INTERSTATE 95 TRAFFIC CAMS

Also see 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

• Low tide: 2:07 a.m. (0.7')
• Sunrise: 7:19 a.m.
• High tide: 9:03 a.m. (6.9')
• Low tide: 2:51 p.m. (0.3')
• Sunset: 4:39 p.m.
• High tide: 8:50 p.m. (6.2')

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