Week in Review

We'll start with the bad news: as reported Tuesday, Darienites may pay upwards of 11 percent more on their water bills if a draft ruling on Aquarion's proposed rate hikes is finalized. But there's good news, too: at least they won't be paying more to ride the New Haven Line before December.

As Darien Public School students are all too aware, classes begins Monday, and Patch has the full list of where and when to wait for that familiar yellow visitor. (Be warned: the times are set earlier this year to accommodate first-week jitters and hitches, according to DPS Finance Director Richard Huot.)

Does the stress of the fall semester already have you looking for a quick getaway? Have a gander at Jim Cameron's rundown of local orchard options or our video portrait of nearby Weir Farm.

This week's police reports revealed the arrest of a Stamford woman for leaving her children locked in a car while she shopped at Whole Foods, as well as a break-in on Tulip Tree lane and an arrest for providing alcohol to minors. Two additional arrests were made in dramatic fashion Tuesday as officers nabbed the alleged burglars of a home on Hillcrest Ave. And in Westport, a Darien man turned himself in for reportedly placing a threatening phone call.

Elsewhere in Patch's weekly logs, firefighters responded to a small wood chip fire outside Whole Foods and the Town Clerk reported a $4.4 million sale on Pear Tree Point Road.

In sports, Patch took a first look at the 2010 Blue Wave football team and previewed of the upcoming Vineyard Race, which will feature at least five Darien-owned boats this year. The improbable Little League World Series run by our friends in Fairfield also .

And in public health news, the local Red Cross says blood supplies are critically low, mosquito viruses are still a concern in the region, and members of the medical community told Patch this week that chlamydia remains a prevalent but poorly understood disease in Fairfield County.

Did we mention Patch got a facelift this week? Explore away and let us know what you think!