Wildcat Girls Defeat Portland in Gritty Game

OLD LYME — The Old Lyme girls notched an important Shoreline Conference victory yesterday when they defeated Portland 32-28. The low-scoring game was played in Old Lyme and takes the Wildcat’s conference record to 4-2.

Coach Bugbee commented after the game, “After a slow start to the game, we improved throughout the second and third quarters,” adding, “We hung on through the fourth quarter for the win, against a very determined Portland team.”

Emily DeRoehn scored 14 points and took seven rebounds along with two steals while Sam Gray grabbed nine points, six rebounds and two steals.

Upcoming games for the girls are Tuesday, Jan.7, at Haddam-Killingworth and Friday, Jan. 10, when they face Amistad in Old Lyme. Junior Varsity games tip off at 5:30 p.m. and Varsity games at 7 p.m. All games are open to the public.

Talking Transportation: Speed Kills

Jim Cameron

Speed kills … and I don’t just mean methamphetamines.  Speeding on our roads is linked to over 36,000 deaths each year in the US.  That’s almost 700 deaths a week … 100 a day.

If a hundred people die in a plane crash, we go nuts.  But if they die on our roads we see it as the cost of doing business.  As one blogger put it… “it’s high time to stop sacrificing safety on the altar of speed”.

Most of those 36,000 deaths are pedestrians or bicyclists.  But tens of thousands of those deaths involve the motorists in the cars tied to the “accidents” caused by distracted driving, drink or drugs or fatigue.

Federal statistics show if you’re hit by a vehicle going 20 mph you have a 90% chance of surviving.  If the car or truck is going at 40 miles an hour your survival chances are just 10%.  Speed kills.  So why are we all driving so fast?

Because we have so far to travel and want to save time getting there.  In Connecticut, our homes and our work are far apart because we can’t afford (or don’t chose) to live closer to our jobs.  And either because we don’t want to (or chose not to), we don’t take mass transit, preferring the cocoon of our cars.

Sure, seat belts in cars save lives… if you wear them.  And air bags and other tech in cars are helping us avoid many accidents. But the death toll keeps climbing, especially where cars occupy the same driving space as bikes and pedestrians.

Consider New York City.

In 1990 there were 700 traffic deaths in NYC.  But by 2018 that number had dropped to 202, thanks to “Vision Zero”, Mayor de Blasio’s ambitious, billion dollar plan to reduce road deaths to zero by 2024.  More bike lanes, sidewalks and a 25 mph city-wide speed limit have made a big difference.  But this year saw an uptick in deaths, most of them involving bicyclists driving on city streets lacking bike lanes.

In Connecticut we have nowhere near the same density of urban traffic fighting for space with folks on two feet or two wheels, but neither do we have sidewalks in many towns.  Or bike lanes.  But we do have speeders, scofflaws and insufficient enforcement.

When it’s not crawling bumper-to-bumper, try driving 55 mph on the Merritt, I-95 or I-84 and see what happens.  As a State Trooper once told me as we cruised along at about 75 mph with the flow of traffic, “I look for the driver likely to cause an accident” by weaving or not signaling lane changes.  Even those enforcing our laws admit they don’t or can’t keep up with motorists’ need for speed.

Even when the cops do look for speeders, legal radar detectors and laser-jammers help violators from getting caught.  Attempts to install red-light cameras in Connecticut have always failed due to a combination of Big Brother paranoia and fears of the safety tech being turned into an unending revenue spigot for Towns and cities.

Weather conditions of course exacerbate the problem, especially with those driving the tanks we call SUVs who think they are immune to the laws of physics.

Bottom line:  can’t we all just chill out a bit and think of the safety of others if not ourselves?

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media.

About the author: Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien RTM.  The opinions expressed in this column are only his own. You can reach him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com  For a full collection of  “Talking Transportation” columns, visit www.talkingtransportation.blogspot.com

 

Our Top 20 Stories of 2019

Articles and op-ed’s related to the Old Lyme election dominated our Top 20 most read stories of 2019. This photo shows First Selectman Tim Griswold, who was elected in November, and former First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder, who lost per place on the board in the same election.

LYME/OLD LYME — Looking back over our most widely read stories in 2019 for Lyme and Old Lyme, it’s really no surprise that stories and op-ed’s related to the Old Lyme election dominated our Top 20.

Other topics featured in our Top 20 included the outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), which ultimately claimed the life of an Old Lyme resident, the proposed and now withdrawn (for the moment) plan by the Governor to impose a new regionalization structure on Connecticut public schools, the Sound View sewer referendum, and discussions relating to the future of Halls Rd.

Our top two stories however, were centered on Lyme, where Dexter the German short-haired pointer went missing, and sadly — as far as we know — was never found, and in another unfortunate affair, a luxury sailboat sank in Hamburg Cove.

While Lyme had a relatively quiet and uncontroversial election season in which, at the end of the day, the Democrats saw all their candidates elected or re-elected, Old Lyme went through a bitter and hard-fought election, which ultimately drew the highest percentage turnout (36.7 percent according to figures published by Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill) in the state.  In a sea-change of town government, former Old Lyme Selectman Tim Griswold – a Republican, who was not even on the ballot when it was originally announced – unseated incumbent Democrate Bonnie Reemsnyder for the top spot and fellow Republicans swept into power pretty much across the board.  Election stories came in at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 18th, 19th and 20th.

The distressing EEE situation was covered in articles, which came in respectively at 4th, 8th and 17th place, while a piece on the Town of Old Lyme’s 300-acre land purchase from the McCulloch family notched 6th spot. The land acquired is intended to become Open Space apart from six acres designated for Affordable Housing.

Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser’s comments on the state’s forced school regionalization proposal came in at 9th place closely followed by one of our favorite stories, which was about the work of Jennifer Tiffany and Bill Hurtle to re-launch the former Lyme Farmers Market as The Farmers Market at Tiffany farms.

Articles on the controversial sewer proposal for Sound View and subsequent referendum took 11th, 13th and 14th places while the 12th spot was taken by an optimistic piece on the re-birth of Lyme Academy of Fine Arts – once again an independent academy and no longer a college of the University of New Haven – as it moves forward in the world.

Our list is rounded out with the announcement of the death of Candy Green, former owner of the Old Lyme Inn and Rooster Hall, who passed away in February 2019, which garnered 15th place and the list of Frequently Asked Questions wriiten by the Halls Rd. Improvement Committee, which took the 16th spot.

This is also a perfect time to acknowledgeagain  the contributions of our loyal band of columnists, the majority of whom have been writing for us for many years.  Jim Cameron writes lucidly about a great variety of  transportation matters, Felix Kloman offers incisive reviews of books galore, Lee White tempts our palates with the most wonderful recipes, and Nicole Prevost Logan writes with a Paris perspective on European — sometimes global — affairs.  Two new columnists have recently joined their ranks; Doris Coleman takes a look at the fascinating facts and figures recorded by Old Lyme Emergency Services and Tom Gotowka writes about the always interesting view from his porch.

We thank them all sincerely for their terrific columns.

 

A la Carte: A New Dish for a New Decade — Roasted Shrimp, Caulifower with Quinoa

Like many of you, I have made one or two or more resolutions. I, for one, am on that intermittent fasting. I don’t eat before 11 a.m., nor after 7 p.m. This is an easy diet for me: I like lunch more than breakfast and I often am in bed at 8:30, where I read for at least two hours. So dinner at 6-ish works for me. I have lost around seven pounds since mid-December, even with the holiday parties. 

My friend Judy promises to watch less television and learn how to use more of her computer’s abilities, especially Google maps, since she is an assessor. I am promising myself that I will buy fewer shoes and clothes. All summer long I wear my jelly sandals, of which I have around 15 pair, and in the winter I wear boots outside. I never wear shoes in my condo, even when the temperature hovers around 20 degrees. As for clothes, my Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack and Macy’s have zero balances.

Almost everyone I know are getting into plant-based food meals. I eat chicken and fish a few times a week;  I have a hamburger or a lamb chop maybe once a week. I do like pasta and chili, whose main ingredients are the beans and the pasta rather than meat balls or pork. I also have stopped at Burger King a few times for that Impossible Burger. With the mayonnaise-based dressing, onion, lettuce and tomato, I don’t miss the burger at all. Truth to be told, I only order my burgers at Haywire in Westbrook.  Once Jack Flaws opens his new place in Centerbrook, I will be a true carnivore, if only for a few hours.

Today, though, I will be making this for dinner. This recipe comes from the free magazine from Stop & Shop. I had just read on Facebook that Ina Garten now only serves shrimp that she has oven-roasted. Evidently Stop & Shop’s test kitchen thinks the same way.

Roasted Shrimp and Cauliflower with Quinoa Tabbouleh

From Savory by Stop and Shop, January 2020

Yield: serves 4

One-half cup dry quinoa, rinsed
3 cups cauliflower florets
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
One-quarter teaspoon salt and pepper
1 cup fresh parsley
1 pound frozen, peeled deveined raw shrimp, thawed
One-quarter teaspoon salt and pepper
One-quarter teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook the quinoa according to package directions.

In a medium bowl, toss the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper; reserve bowl. Arrange on a large rimmed baking sheet in single layer. Roast 15 minutes.

Meanwhile. Very finely chop parsley and add to a large bowl. In the same bowl cauliflower was in, toss the shrimp with the smoked paprika, 2 tablespoons of oil, and salt and pepper.

Once cauliflower is roasted, push cauliflower to one side of baking sheet and arrange shrimp in a single layer on other side. Roast 5 minutes until shrimp are cooked through and cauliflower is tender.

Fluff the quinoa and add to bowl with parsley. Add lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the shrimp and cauliflower over the quinoa .

Kick off the New Year With a Walk in the Woods! Lyme Land Trust Hosts Pleasant Valley Hike Today

This merry bnd of hikers gathered for the 2019 New Year’s Day hike led by Lyme Land Trust. Why not join them this year?

LYME — Start off the New Year with a refreshing walk in the woods!

Everyone is welcome to join a New Year’s Day Hike on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020 to Pleasant Valley Overlook from 1 p.m. to roughly 3:30 p.m. Wendolyn Hill, Lyme Land Trust Board member, and Lyme Open Space Coordinator, will lead a walk to the overlook in Pleasant Valley Preserve.

The view from the Pleasant Valley Pverlook in Lyme is unobstructed at this time of year.

This is the time of year to gain a beautiful, unobstructed view of the Lyme vista. The walk is relatively easy most of the way, with a moderate climb to reach the overlook. A portion of the George and Rosemary Moore Trail will be followed.

The entire walk is about three miles. There will be a snack break on the overlook. Bring something to drink.

Inclement weather will cancel the hike. Check lymelandtrust.org for updates.

Directions: Rte. 156 north to left on Macintosh Rd. (across from Beaver Brook Road.) The parking area is about ¼ mile down on the right. Meet at Pleasant Valley Parking Lot at 1p.m.

Registration is appreciated at openspace@townlyme.org