Update 8:15 a.m. — Most of the busier roads are in good condition, but back roads may be icy. Most walkways, many parking lots and driveways are ice-coated.

Update, 7:30 a.m. — Police reports icy lots at RHS. Police and ambulances reporting icy conditions on smaller roads, driveways. Prospect Street icy.

Update, 7:10 a.m. — Car slides down Craigmoor Road driveway and hits tree; no injuries. Two-car accident in Dunkin Donuts lot on Danbury Road. Vehicle off Woodcock Lane.

Update, 7:05 a.m. — Surfaces are very slippery. (Two ambulances have just been dispatched for people, aged 22 and 51, who have been injured in falls in different parts of town; unknown whether ice-related.)

Update, 5:40 a.m. — Traffic is moving smoothly on well-treated state roads like Route 35 and Route 7. Light freezing rain continues to fall.

Monday, 5 a.m. — Ridgefield is waking up to a thin coating of ice that is making driving hazardous.

Schools are on a two-hour delay today.

Light precipition and 27 degree temperatures have led to the icing of roads and walkways. Trees are also icing.

The National Weather Service says icy conditions may continue this morning, but rising temperatures will turn the freezing rain to plain rain by noon.

The Ridgefield Highway Department and state DOT sanders are on the road.

There have been no power problems reported in connection with the icing.

The Ridgefield Library will present the third in a three-part travel series on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m., led by travel concierge and writer Susan Farewell and covering “The Europe You Haven’t Seen.”

A former travel editor at The Condé Nast Publications in New York City, Ms. Farewell has written travel stories for many publications. She is the author of several travel books including How to Make a Living as a Travel Writer, Hidden New England and Quick Escapes from New York City.

For more information and to register visit ridgefieldlibrary.org or call 203-438-2282.

Ivar Opgaard

Ivar Opgaard,  an early expert in computer applications and a 39-year resident of Ridgefield, died peacefully in Stuart, Fla., on Nov. 29. He was 85 years old and the husband of Sigrun Opgaard.

Mr. Opgaard was born in Alta, Norway, on July 20, 1928. He met his future wife, Sigrun Vistnes, while serving in the Norwegian Air Force in Stavanger, Norway. They were married on April 3, 1954.

In 1957 he moved to the United States to establish himself in the computer industry. He worked for Teleregister, the first company to create a computerized airline reservations system as well as an electronic stock reporting system for stock brokerages. Later he worked for Philips electronics, where he helped create a new generation air traffic control system for the Federal Aviation Administration.

For the last decade of his career, he worked for Ergotech in Danbury, where he helped integrate ergonomic technology into many companies including Boeing, Sikorsky and Harley-Davidson.

Mr. Opgaard retired in 2002 and moved from Ridgefield  to Stuart.

A member of Sons of Norway Skaugum Lodge in Stamford, he served many Lodge officer positions including president. In Florida he was a trustee of Sons of Norway Gulfstream Lodge. He volunteered at Martin Memorial Hospital. He also served as a building president of Conquistador Condominium.

Besides his wife of 59 years, Mr. Opgaard is survived by son, Reidar Opgaard of Newton, Ala.; a daughter, Anna Brooks of Vero Beach, Fla.; a daughter, Irene Mardal of Bethel; a son, Andrew Opgaard of Cornwall;  and a daughter, Ingrid Opgaard of Vero Beach;   five grandchildren: Andrew Opgaard, Brendan Opgaard, Christina Sansolo, Thomas DiLillo and Mitchelson Brooks; brothers Leiv Opgård, Per Opgård, Gudmond Opgård and sister Ingeborg Li, all of Norway.

A celebration of his life will take place Sunday, Dec. 15, at 11 a.m., at the Conquistador Club House in Stuart.

Skype is a new workshop available through Ridgefield Continuing Education.

Participants will learn about how to use this free way to communicate on the Internet.

Instructor Eileen Burton has been training adults to use Skype, eBay, iPhone and iPad for many years.

Class meets on Wednesday, Dec. 11, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Venus Building (use entrance opposite the Police Station). Cost is $44. Ridgefield Seniors (age 62 and older) pay $35. Visit www.ridgefieldschools.org or phone Peggy Bruno at 203-431-2812 for more information or to register.

Dear EarthTalk: What are some ideas for being greener this holiday season? —Beth Livingston

While the holidays are festive and fun, they can take a toll on the environment. All that shopping, decoration, food preparation and travel adds up to more carbon emissions and more waste. But there are ways to minimize our impact and still celebrate the season in grand style.

For starters, buy fewer gifts. Homemade, personal gifts are always appreciated as much or more than something store-bought. Paint a painting, bake a cake, or make a playlist of favorite songs. EarthEasy.com recommends giving services instead of goods to cut down on the materialism of the holidays: “A great gift could be an hour’s massage at a local spa, or music lessons for a budding musician.”

Other service gift ideas include childcare or tutoring, dog walking, cooking, window-washing, a car wash and vacuum or even Internet/computer lessons. Another way to cut down on the amount of stuff passing under your tree is by having a Secret Santa exchange among grown-ups so that every adult doesn’t have to get gifts for several others.

Another way to save energy and waste is to tone down the holiday decorating, especially with regard to lighting. A 2008 report commissioned by the Department of Energy found that holiday lighting across the U.S. uses up some six terawatt-hours of electricity per year, which is equivalent to the total electricity consumption of half a million homes in a month. If you do still decide to indulge in holiday lights, try to go LED. The smaller “light emitting diode” bulbs don’t get hot to the touch (and are less likely to start a fire) and consume a fraction of the electricity of their incandescent predecessors while lasting 10 times longer. HolidayLEDs.com gives customers who recycle their old holiday lights with them a voucher for 15 percent off a new order of LED lights.

Believe it or not, your choice of a Christmas tree affects your environmental footprint as well. The Epoch Times reports that artificial trees are not necessarily the answer, as most are made out of petrochemicals, PVC, metals or sometimes even lead, and can’t usually be recycled so end up in landfills after a few years of useful life. Furthermore, some 80 percent of artificial trees are made in China, meaning shipping them on trucks, railways and container ships uses a lot of fuel and emits a lot of carbon dioxide accordingly.

Getting a real tree, preferably one that is organic and sustainably harvested by a local tree farmer, is a better choice. After all, real trees provide habitat for wildlife while they are growing, and they filter dust and pollen out of the air while producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide. The Epoch Times adds that typically one to three tree seeds are planted for every Christmas tree harvested in the U.S. And if you get a potted (living) Christmas tree, you can keep it for years after the holidays pass, either in its pot (or a bigger one as it grows) or in the ground outside.

Of course, another way to keep your carbon footprint down over the holidays is by just staying home. A third of the carbon emissions we generate in our daily lives come from driving our cars, so why not stay off the roads over the holidays? And air travel is one of the biggest carbon splurges any of us indulge in, so not jetting across the country to visit in-laws might be the best environmental action you take all year.

CONTACTS: EarthEasy.com , www.eartheasy.com ; The Epoch Times, www.theepochtimes.com ; HolidayLEDs.com , www.holidayleds.com/holidayledscom_christmas_light_recycling_program  .

EarthTalk is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E – The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com .

Craig McNamara of Danbury crossed the trench he and co-workers from NY-CONN Corp. were digging last week, as work started on the long-planned traffic light on Route 7 by the driveway to Regency at Ridgefield, Laurel Ridge and Ridgefield Crossings. —Macklin Reid

Men and machines began digging along Route 7 as work started last week on the long-awaited traffic light where the highway meets the access drive shared by Regency at Ridgefield, Ridgefield Crossings, and Laurel Ridge Health Care Center.

Lobbying for the light goes back a few years, but the campaign gained urgency this summer when there was a fatal car-motorcycle accident at the site.

Construction will take a couple of months, perhaps longer.

“Assuming that weather is not a problem, they should be done sometime between the beginning of February, the end of March,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.

Of course, with winter’s frosts and snows coming on, work free from weather problems isn’t something that can be assumed with confidence.

“Frost doesn’t help — that’s why they’re getting the trenching done now,” Mr. Marconi said.

The other potential delay is waiting for the equipment — the signal light, and related mechanical and electronic components in the support system — to be approved by the state and delivered.

“The problem lies in obtaining the equipment,” said Town Engineer Charles Fisher. “Once the equipment submittals are approved by the State of Connecticut, the contractor will place an order for them. It typically takes 10-12 weeks.”

The contractor, Danbury-based NY-CONN Corporation, already has the paperwork in with the state, and has started doing the roadside digging.

“Their game plan now is to do the trenching work while the asphalt plants are open,” Mr. Fisher said. “And if we have a mild winter, they plan on continuing their work by pulling the necessary cable through the conduits that they’ve just installed, and potentially late February and early March the equipment will be in, and they can install it, which will go quick.

“Typically what happens in a construction project is the contractor will give to us equipment  submittals — the exact piece of equipment that he will be using. In this case it will be the traffic light, the controllers, all the of the equipment.

“And those submittals have to approved by State of Connecticut. Those were submitted two weeks ago.”

He is confident in NY-CONN.

“Our contractor is very well experienced with traffic light installation in the State of Connecticut. They do them all over the state. They work with the state. And they have a good relationship  with them, so it should go quickly.”

Four lanes of Route 7 traffic were moving by workers as they did their jobs Tuesday, and officials say nearly all the work can be done without stopping traffic on the highway.

“Most of the work is going to take place off the highway,” First Selectman Marconi said. “There will be a point when they do need to get out on Route 7, sure.”

“I’m guessing, only for a very short duration when they have to string the cable across Route 7,” Mr. Fisher said. “It won’t be for any appreciable  amount of time, maybe 10 minutes.”

As Mr. Fisher describes it, the plan is for a trip-signal light that would be green for north-south traffic on Route 7 most of the time. Cars coming out of the driveway on the eastern side — serving Regency, Laurel Ridge and Ridgefield Crossings — would have the ability to trip the signal and trigger a change of the light.  Cars on the driveway to the west won’t have that ability to prompt a light change.

“The people on the other side will not have a direct light, because they did not participate financially in the project,” Mr. Fisher said.

Cars on the west should continue to be able to pull into the southbound flow of traffic, of course, and will likely gain the ability to cross traffic and go north when the light serving the driveway on the east stops traffic on Route 7 and goes green for the driveway across the highway.

“When there’s a green light at the Regency, essentially they’ll have a green light, also,” Mr. Fisher said.

The project’s bid construction cost is $125,477, Mr. Fisher said, but there will also engineering bill and the budget for the entire job is  $175,000.

A state grant covers $75,000. The town’s contribution comes mostly as time by personnel working on the project. And remainder of the cost is covered by the donations from private “stakeholders” who lobbied for the light. These include: The Regency at Ridgefield; Toll Brothers, which built The Regency; Laurel Ridge and its owner Athena Health Care; and Ridgefield Crossings and its owner Benchmark Senior Living.

Town officials are happy to see construction work on the light begin at last.

“I think it’s going to be a great improvement to the safety of everyone,” Mr. Fisher said.

“We’re excited that it’s finally coming to fruition.”

Update, 7:10 — Snow has begun to fall.

Tuesday, 5:40 a.m. — Because of the forecast of snow today, Ridgefield schools will be closed.

School officials said the closing is “because of caution about forecast and timing of  weather and road conditions.”

Most area school districts, such as Danbury, Wilton, Weston, New Canaan, Greenwich, and Darien, are closed, too.

The National Weather Service reports that up to five or more inches of wet snow are expected in this area.

Snow is predicted to begin falling soon and continue until around 5 p.m.

Accumulations of three to five inches are predicted, “with locally higher amounts possible,” the weather service said.

The weather service is also warning that there may be black ice on some roads and other surfaces this morning, the result of yesterday’s moisure freezing overnight.

My wife and I moved to Ridgefield a year and a half ago seeking a better quality of life, for ourselves and future children. Although both native to Queens, we had both grown tired of the noise, filth and crime of city life.

Needless to say that, when we first visited Ridgefield on a interview, it was love at first sight. While it was in fact my wife’s interview, I gave my employer notice the next day. I was sold , and ready to move and start fresh in a town that was was nothing like I’ve known. Clean, quiet beautiful with people who appreciate their community and children.

As a third generation veteran, this was the America that I had fought for but frankly never lived in. Even after having been initiated by the cold dark of Sandy’s wake , and one of the hardest winters in some time we still love it here. It is our hope to start a family and participate in social spiritual community organizations.

Ridgefield truly embodies all aspects of quality living a family could want. All but one…

Wednesday, December 4, 06:25 a.m.: While returning home after my daily coffee run, driving south on Ridgebury Road, I approached the stop sign at George Washington Hwy. As I began to pull off I noticed a a set of headlights speeding up to me in my rear view mirror.

Seconds later I’m being blinded by high beams, tailgated and honked at. Why? What was my crime?, I was obeying the speed limit!

After having had enough I stopped my car, opened my door and shouted “What’s the G#d Dam speed limit?“ and why are you on my a@@?!” Yes, I know, ill advised even under the best conditions, but I was livid.

Imagine my surprise to see that the other driver was a well-groomed young lady, no different than any other working mom type  (who I’ve chosen not to embarrass, and omitted her license plate),

I wish I could say that this is a rare event, but it’s not. My morning drive has become increasingly more stressful having to dodge, 1: Soccer moms running late with a big bad SUV, and 2: Contractor dads with a big bad utility truck, in a rush.

I have found my neighbors to be some of the most reckless, aggressive, thoughtless speeders I have ever seen. Just one man’s opinion? Maybe But anyone with a Ridgefield Press twitter account knows to look out for this weekends wreck on Route 7. It’s a weekly sure bet in our town that the Tigers are going to win, the deer are going to destroy my garden, and someone will wreck their car in town.

Why have I chosen to soapbox this matter, having never blogged or posted anything on social media? Because, Its getting worse and I fear if we all don’t stop and think about our actions behind the wheel, a child will be killed.

In my past I operated heavy equipment for the Air Force and held a master license. I’ve driven some of the world’s most dangerous vehicles under the absolute worst conditions. From Arctic ice sheets to blinding sand storms, I’ve seen it all.

This experience has also exposed me to some of the most horrific accident scenes one could imagine, here and overseas. I tell you that it cannot be said enough: Speed Kills!

At 06:25 a.m. school buses are out and running . Our kids are out there sometimes in the dark waiting for them.

I wonder, what was the other driver rushing to? Was it worth the potential taking of a neighbors life?

I don’t have children yet and if I can slow down for your kids, why can’t you? If 25-30 MPH isn’t fast enough for all of you then start a campaign, lobby our selectmen (persons). Request a reevaluation of our roads speed limits.

But, for the sake of our young people, please slow down. Stop bullying cars who refuse to join you in you race with death.

To the readers I’ve already lost along the way — the “What’s the big dea” type — if you really feel like you’re not part of the problem and that a little reckless driving when it’s dark and the roads are “empty” isn’t a big deal, let me leave you with this thought. The difference between a slum and a suburb is not the buildings or the land but the way its people conduct themselves within. Please take it from a recent transplant: If you don’t want Ridgefield to turn into a nice looking-ghetto, stop driving like thugs.

P.S. This was not intended to be a critic of the many hard working men and women of our town’s public safety and police. They are the finest and most professional law enforcement agency I ever had the privilege of being protected by.

Ridgefielders who’ve come to appreciate Fire Chief Heather Burford in her seven-year tenure in town may attend a farewell reception for her this Friday, Dec. 13, from 7 to 9 at the Community Center’s Lounsbury House on Main Street.

“Everyone’s invited to wish her good will in her new assignment in Seminole, Florida,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.

Chief Burford confirmed last week that she had accepted a position in Florida leading a fire and emergency medical service twice the size of the Ridgefield’s.

The reception Friday will feature beer, wine, soda, coffee and “munchies,” and the price is $25 at the door.

The fire department asks that people planning to attend to RSVP for head count purposes to RNA8071@gmail.com .

Town and state highway crews have been out since at least 4 a.m., treating roads for ice.

About three inches of snow fell on Ridgefield yesterday, and where melting occurred, hard ice has formed overnight as temperatures dropped to around 17 degrees.

As of 5:30 a.m., there was no indication there would be a delay in the opening of school.

Using Social Networks is a two-hour Ridgefield Continuing Education workshop that demystifies Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

This class will teach what these sites offer, how to set up accounts, how to promote a person or business, and how to join groups and communities to network with other people.

Instructor Lance Whitney is a web master, technology writer and author who has taught many continuing education courses.

Class meets Friday, Dec. 13, or Jan. 24 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Venus Building (old high school). Cost is $44.

Visit www.ridgefieldschools.org or phone Peggy Bruno at 203-431-2812 to register.

When the state’s attorney for Danbury released the evidence file on the Newtown elementary school massacre, the catalog of destruction included weaponry, rigorous “game” practice, pre-planning and methods which lay bare the tools and madness of the perpetrator.

It is easy to dismiss the cache of weapons and detailed plans as the work of an outlier. Ghoulishly, it may provide fuel for those who argue that better laws cannot stop a madman’s intent.

But the report from Newtown not only indicts our reluctance to recognize how we functionally enable mass violence via lax gun controls but also to how we emotionally enable violence due to barely there mental health services and intervention.

Common sense and patriotic devotion to the common good requires regulating the lawful sale and use of guns. President Obama urged Congress to pass legislation requiring universal background checks on firearms purchases, banning the sale of assault weapons and limiting the capacity of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds. But the National Rifle Association and its allies in Congress mounted a campaign against any new gun-control legislation, and a bill that would have expanded background checks was defeated in the Senate. On the heels of the attack on state Sen. Creigh Deeds in Virginia by his troubled son and the release of the Newtown report, a clear-eyed Congress should take up this issue and pass a bill because it is the right thing to do. Cynically, Congress can claim that passing such a bill demonstrates bipartisan commitment to “making Washington work again.”

Just as pressing, it is time to open the eyes of legislators and others to the urgency of mandating full mental health coverage in private and public plans (ACA requires some level of coverage; Medicaid is not required to provide for adults, CHIPs are limited, plans with under 50 employees limited, etc.) as well as to consider enacting the equivalent of “mandatory reporting” requirements when a child or adolescent exhibits the kind of emotional and social behavior which leads to sociopathic destruction of self or others. The report said that at least a decade earlier, while in elementary school and throughout his adolescence, Lanza was found to have “significant social impairments and extreme anxiety,” as well as a “lack of empathy” (a mark of a sociopath) and “very rigid thought processes.” It mentioned that he had obsessive-compulsive disorder, “couldn’t stand to be touched,” and “communicated with his mother only via email” (living under the same roof). Much was made of his refusal to take medication or undergo behavioral therapy, which applies to an adult (i.e., older than 18 years old), not to a child or adolescent who falls under the protection, care and duty of parents, and other caregivers.

How much longer can we fail to intervene in circumstances where (just like child abuse) disorders can have devastating lifelong effects on the individual and others? It is time to open our eyes and take action, on the functional and emotional contributors to gun violence.

The writer is chair of the Democratic Town Committee, which provides this column.

Ridgefield High School has issued the first quarter honor rolls.

Grade 9, High Honors

Holland Ackerman, Lauren Ahern, Matan Alon, Patrick Andrews, Christopher Auslander, Laura Barlow, Jake Barrett, Julia Batti, Johanna Benson, Maxwell Berger, Liliana Betschart, Jacob Bodner, Alyssa Bonanno, Kelsey Bordash, Caroline Boyle, Natalie Brassinga, Evan Brenner, Lucy Briody, Aneeka Britto, John Buczek, Alexander Burns, Dylan Carey, William Carpenter, Jackson Cashman, Lauren Chakraborty, Andrew Chang, Devlin Chang, Maya Christianson, Matthew Cocchi, Grace Collins, Anabel Cordano, Sloan Coughlin, Emma Cowles, Lauren Cushman, Alexandra Damron, Elena Dapkus, Kenneth Day, Sydnie DeMarco, Erin Desimone, Emma Devine, Anthony DiFabio, Caroline Dyson, Miriam Ehrlinspiel, Lilian Epley, Olivia Epley, Zachary Esemplare, Elana Everett, Sarah Ford, Ryen Fujitani, Julie Gaisser, Jordan Gilbert, Gillian Giordano, Grace Goodwin, Kendra Gordillo, Ariana Gravinese, Nicole Greene, Amelia Hadar, Ann Hage, Nicole Hamilton, Daryn Harris, Matthias Howley, Rianna Iorillo, Katherine Jasminski, Desmond Kager, Sean Keegans, Colleen Keenan, Ava Kelley, Ella Kemp, Mikaela Kiernan, Nicole Kiernan, Emma Kirchner, Sarah Klotz, Ethan Knapp, Benjamin Kotlov, Jennifer Kramer, Madeline Kutler, Kaitlyn Kynast, Karena Landler, Karen Lang, Patrick Lang, Emily Laramie, Xavier Larino-Maymi, Nicholas Laudati, Emma Lee, Alec Leonard, Clara Lerchi, Catherine Li, Dylan Livingstone, Collin Lowe, Abigayle Lunsford, John Lynch, Andrew Mathes, Rachel Maue, Brianne McGill, Kaitlyn McMullan, Devin Meenan, Matthew Mortinger, Nina Moss, Eva Murphy, Owen Murray, Jared Nussbaum, Meaghan O’Hara, Julia O’Malley, Jessica Oren, Petros Papadopoulos, Nicholas Patterson, Kelley Phippen, Claire Pisanelli, Charles Pratt, Emily Preston, Daniela Puchall, Brogan Quick, Taylor Ranney, Helen Redmond, Liam Riebling, Kendall Rogoff, Jenifer Rojas, Noah Rosenblum, Grace Ruble, Victoria Rusinko, Patrick Ryan, Peter Rychlik, Sean Santori, Kevin Santoro, Anneke Schole, Margaret Scott, Jane Searfoss, Jessica Seel, Isabelle Seward, Steven Signorelli, Matthew Sigworth, Josephine Simon, Byron Sleight, Fair Smith, Owen Smith, Lazaro Sotolongo, Nicholas Squitieri, Luke St. Pierre, Rose Staudt, Rian Stewart, William Taranto, John Thompson, Julia Tierney, Andrew Tran, Nicholas Van den Nieuwenhuizen, Joshua Verdejo, Sara Vivian, Muge Wang, Kailey Westington, David Yang, and Julia Yu.

Grade 10, High Honors

Maya Abrahams, Talia Abrahams, Jake Acquadro, Brendan Agliardo, Taylor Arnold, William Barth, Matthew Bartolucci, Tierney Beauregard, Spencer Benedetto, Alexander Bernhardt, Adam Bigelow, Rachel Black, Schuyler Blair, Morgan Bohrer, Charles Bonaparte, Alexandria Bonfiglio, William Brady, Caitlyn Brandon, Jennifer Brian, Madeline Burns, Gwenyth Byrne, Julie Cahill, Zachary Cameron, Nicola Campos, Nicholas Carey, Anne-Marie Carruthers, Robert Castle, Ryan Chester, Dante Cobelli, Margaret Comer, Mackenzie Cone, Michelle Cope, William Crowley, Kennedy Cutter, Mikaela Dalessio, Matthew David, Alexandra DiGiacomo, Julia DiLauro, Maria Dillon, John Diorio, Imogen Dodd, Allison Donnelly, Brendan Donnelly, Alexa Dragon, Caroline Dranow, Kabir Dugal, Chloe Edwards, Sarah Engelberg-Nolan, Steven Everett, Kenneth Fitzpatrick, Patrick Francis, Elizabeth Garlick, Amanda Gervais, Carla Giannattasio, Gregory Girolamo, Richard Gordon, Olivia Gorski, Liam Griffin, Katherine Groves, Kathleen Gruendel, Alessandra Guccione, Emma Hackett, Peter Halmos, Toby Hardiman, Morgan Hartmayer, Emma Hergenrother, Julia Hinkle, Casey Ho, Seth Hochberg, Chelsea Hopper, John Hornig, Kyle Horsa, Alexandra Howell, Katerina Howie, Emma Hubler, Max Issokson, Ryan Johnson, Kathryn Jordan, Harrison Jumper, Lina Kane, Nell Kane, Emily Kerr, John Kiernan IV, Hannah Kim, Lorenzo Kinnicutt, Kristofer Klemm, Rebecca Lawrence, Chase Levesque, Harrison Levesque, Kate Lindenburg, Ally Livingston, Kate Lombardozzi, Elizabeth Lordi, Mia Lott, Taylor Lust, Edward Lynch, Casey MacDonald, Brian Maher, Erika Marr, Alexander Marshall, Anna-Sophie Massek, Colleen McCarthy, Meaghan McGowan, Molly McMahon, Callahan Meachem, Daniel Mines, Andrew Morrison, Siqiao Mu, Patrick Mullery, Allyson Myers, Brian Nelson, Andrew Northcutt, Hannah Nossan, Michael O’Brien, Natalie Parker, Omar Pasha, Sarah Patafio, Claire Phelan, Leah Phelan, Kendall Phillips, John Pieterse, Margot Racy, Isabella Rendon, Emily Robertson, Miles Russo, Michelle Salzbrunn, Emma Sandhu, Noah Sasse, Gursimar Sawhney, Danielle Schwartz, Jacquelyn Schwartz, Jennifer Schwartz, Aspen Shafer, Skylar Shafer, Kathryn Shea, Matthew Shirvell, Michael Shofi, Taren Siano, Gunnar Smith, Harry Smolin, Casey Snow, Isabella Spanos, Sarah Strange, Claire Taben, Luke Tannenbaum, Nina Taubes, Matthew Thaxter, Owen Tortora, Jackson Turek, Alexander Walker, Claire Ward, Sarah Wilson, Georgianna Wood, Kimberly Wroblewski, Brandon Ye, Jacqueline Yeranossian, and Ryan Young.

Grade 11, High Honors

Bradley Alexander, Hanna Arfine, Gretchen Ball, William Baughman, Hannah Belden, Alexandra Bellusci, Georganna Benedetto, Evan Bloch, Emily Borrello, Sarah Bracken, Cavan Briody, Elizabeth Browne, Matthew Bruehlman, Allison Callanan, Julia Carboni, Melissa Carpenter, Jackson Cherner, Christopher Cocchi, Stephanie Colao, Jenna Columbia, Michaela Coughlin, Joseph Coyle, Jaclyn D’Ambrosio, Adam Davidovich, Sophia Davis, Maxwell Day, Randy Deng, Cathryn Depuy, Zachary Devine, Kyle Duke, Allyson Ehrlickman, Benjamin Freed, Julia Garbow, Paul Garlick, Emma Gengo, Austin Gilbert, Camila Grandberg, Lauren Gunthner, Ryan Hallahan, Devon Harford, Grace Heller, Sarah Hill, Julia Isaac, Jonathan Jaffee, Annika Jaques, Eve Jeffries, Joseph Kaufman, Liane Keegans, Matthew Keegans, Samantha Kiernan, Avesh Krishna, William Kutler, Megan Kynast, Austin Langer, Kristen Li, Karl Liapunov, Zoe Lindwall, Erika Lowe, Amy Lucisano, Shane Luery, Claire MacMillan, Grace Maglieri, Alexandra Magliulo, Abigail Marks, Grace Marra, Simon Mathias, Carly Mercede, Hannah Mercorella, Lily Meyers, Kathryn Middlebrook, Erin Molyneaux, Skylar Morley, Benjamin Muller, Brooke Murad, David Nica, Andrew Oakes, Alyssa Pagliuco, Julianne Papadopoulos, Nicole Parson, Jared Pass, Nicolette Pavain, Madison Perrott, Madison Pesce, Alessandra Petrazzini, Allison Petty, Nicholas Pham, Amanda Piazza, Allison Savino, Jennifer Schaller, Sarah Searfoss, Kathleen Seavy, Douglas Shea, Emma Shickell, Grace Shyer, Alison Sicinski, Kiran Singh-Smith, Clare Skillman, Liam Smith, Samuel Smith, Brian Sulli, Rebecca Sullivan, James Turner, Jacinta Utubor, Christopher Vandervoorn, Rebecca Vandervoorn, Miller Vaughan, Samantha Watts, Eliza Wendel, Brendan Winne, Corinne Wolyniec, Lisa Xiao, and Nancy Zhou.

Grade 12, High Honors

Natasha Armbrust, Kevin Auslander, Sarah Baer, Nataliya Baltsevych, James Barile, Nimay Barman, Olivia Beatty, Drew Bedard, Griffin Bell, Lawrence Bermudez, Kaitlyn Birch, Zachary Black, Katherine Blum, Anna Boucheva, Biana Bova, Luke Brady, Vaille Brank, Matthew Brennan, Jack Brewster, Melissa Budicini, Logan Byers, Michael Cali, Sandra Carpenter, Ciara Carruthers, Drew Chapman, Rachel Corley, Jordan Costa, Jonathan Curran, Lily Damron, Shannon Davis, Philip DiGiacomo, Connor Duncan, Seamus Edson, Nicholas Esemplare, Jennifer Esslinger, Noah Feinberg, Andrea Ferrero, Jordan Fischer, Adam Fischetti, Natalie Gaisser, Claire Glubiak, Emma Glubiak, Gabriela Goldsmith, Isabelle Gordon, Maxine Gorelick, Gregory Graham, Christina Gramling, Amanda Grose, Colleen Gruendel, Devin Gund, Thomas Haughney, Sarah Heft, Madeline Heinke, Sarah Heinzmann, Emily Herbstman, Laura Hergenrother, Courtney Herrington, Graeme Hewett, Kelley Ho, Samantha Holmes, Willow Hubsher, Donald Jancin, Dominic Jesuthasan, Megan Johnson, Daniel Keenan, James Kelly, Lia Kessler, Michael Kim, McKenzie Knupp, Ryan Konopka, Kalia Krichko, Catherine Lenz, Anna Levy, Jacob Litt, Emma Llanos, Mary Lodigiani, Brittany Lombardi, Griffin Lovallo, Colin Maher, Dylan Maher, Shaina Mahoney, Aimee Manderlink, Alyssa Manfro, Alexis Masciotti, Gabrielle Mazzilli, Callan McCormick, Kristin McKeown, Christopher McLean, Marguarette McSpedon, Sarah Mickool, Bryson Mosley, Nicolas Moss, Emily Motill, Felicia Nadel, Callum Neeson, Erin Norrison, Jack Orzechowski, Dane Palmer, Jessica Palmiotto, Jenna Patterson, Daryl Pazer, Vindhya Rao, Kent Rapp, Adam Rayfield, Wilhad Reuter, Allison Riley, Maud Rodamar, Michael Rosamilia, Miranda Rosenblum, Daniel Salciccioli, Meredith Santoro, Christopher Savoca, Megan Schellong, Adam Spiegelman, William Stamatis, Holly Storm, Emily Straley, Lydia Strong, Philip Sumberaz, Addye Susnick, Shannon Taddonio, Terrance Taubes, Peter Tortora, John Tregurtha, Paige Trevisani, Andrew Truskowski, Caroline Turner, Jonathan Vayness, Katarina von Kuhn, Cassidy Walsh, Shannon Walsh, Monika Wiktorzak, Madison Wiley, David Witthoft, Kyle Wolfarth, Cassidy Zhang, and Michael Zhu.

Grade 9, Honors

Anthony Alfredo, Christina Anderson, Kristen Anderson, Caroline Andrews, Dana Bedard, Daniel Behnke, Camryn Bell, Kayla Bell, Robert Bello, John Boehle, Mathew Bornstein, Anthony Borrello, Alec Boxer, Jessica Boxer, Garrett Breslin, Kellen Brewer, Connor Bryant, Daniel Buthorn, Madeline Cartwright, Alexandra Caruso, Jonas Chang, Harrison Chuma, Robert Cohen, Matthew Colin, Rachel Cooper, Christopher Costello, Catherine Costigan, Grace Courtney, Brenna Creamer, Tobias Dalton, Constantina Daly, Arianna Danzig, Courtney Davis, Maxwell Davis, Bradford DeMassa, Burke Depuy, Anthony DiMeglio, Eric Dollins, Henry Droher, Lauren Dyson, Catherine Edwards Van Muijen, Victoria Edwards Van Muijen, Matthew Fernandes, Anna Fernandez, Joshua Finn, Cayla Fisher, Michael Foscaldi, Andrew Fowler, Grace Franklin, Abigail Freeman, Ricco Froehlich, Sarah Furfaro, Lucas Furneri, Julia Gerber, Lauren Gonet, Gabriel Gordon, Lindsey Gordon, Haley Greene, Peter Guasti, Hailey Guerra, Katherine Hackett, Daniel Halmos, Erik Hanson, Katelyn Hellrigel, Evan Hogan, Jason Holmes, Samuel Holzhauer, Claire Hooper, Ethan Hynes, Daniel Ignatowich, Ruby Isley, Drew Jackse, Justine Jacobs, James Jaffee, Grace Jeffries, Robert Jewell, Megan Julier, Jordan Kegler, Calvin Keller, Margaux Kelley, Hannah Kendrick, Megan Keough, Anna Kesten, Eleanor Keyes, Joshua Kim, Griffin King, Nicholas Kinkead, Robert Kinsman, Caitlin Kissell, Caleb Knapp, Nile Korobkov, Ryan Lacerra, Caroline Lanzarone, Hannah Latorre, Isabella Leal, Michelle Legan, Henrik Liapunov, Jack Lincoln, William Lombardi, Christopher Longo, Connor Looney, Angela Lozado, Thomas MacMannis, Theo Magill, Marcella Maguire, Jacqueline Mandel, Jack McGeary, Thomas McKee, Hannah McNeece, Kevin McSpedon, Aidan Meachem, Daniel Mellinger, Lauren Mello, Andrew Mercorella, Elizabeth Middlebrook, Julia Middlebrook, Keely Missinne, Nicholas Misurelli, Courtney Mitten, Kristina Mitten, Nicholas Molyneux, Riley Morrison, Colin Motill, Haydn Mueller, Eve Nastasi, Hazel Neil, Molly Nethercott, Joseph Newborn, Shane Palmer, Shalaina Parikh, Cassandra Pavain, Robert Pesce, Danielle Pfleger, Lucie Picard, Andrea Quartucio, Megan Rayda, Julia Realander, Kevin Riley, Emily Rodgers, Alison Ryan, Caroline Rychlik, Elizabeth Sacchi, Sara Santisi, Alexander Scheck, Erin Schneider, Thomas Schwartz, Matthew Shannon, Aidan Sleigh, Hayley Snyder, Julia Sorgie, Maddison Speetzen, Amy Stoogenke, Erik Sullivan, Caeleigh Tannian, John Thrasher, Giuliana Tripuzzi, Dillon Trombetta, Nathaniel Trozzi, MacKenzie Tunnard, Ciara Van de Merlen, Matteo van Wees, Ruby Verbitsky, Juliana Waite, McKinley Walsh, Abbey Walter, Julie Wang, Carly Wein, Brandon Wong, Nicholas Young, and Marissa Yulo.

Grade 10, Honors

Oluwadamisi Adetona, Daniel Alindogan, Christina Alvarez, Victoria Ammirato, Rafael Antunes, Steven Arditti, Isabella Arms, Sarah Atterbury, Matteo Avellini, Nirav Barman, Olivia Basile, Sarah Battipaglia, Andrea Bernhardt, Liam Birmingham, William Bodner, Emily Browne, Patrick Budicini, Grace Burns, Jessica Camarda, Courtney Carbone, Kendell Carlson, Natalie Carnazza, Sydney Carroll, Thomas Carvo, Toni Chadwell, Caroline Chapman, Dylan Chelednik, Stephen Clouse, Ava Colarusso, Micah Collins, Matthew Colville, Claire Condron, Delaney Conlan, James Conley, Emily Connett, Courtney Connors, Catherine Crespo, Sean Culhane, Bridgitte Curnan, James Cutolo, Peter Dearth, Michaela Desimone, Cody Dingee, Alastair Dinnan, Colin Donnelly, Richard Donovan, Ameesha Dugal, Taran Dugal, Gwendolyn Ellis, Nicholas Falkenberg, Hannah Finn, Emily Fitzgerald, Megan Fowler, Scott Galgano, Jordan Ghidossi, Jeffrey Gilbert, Liam Greenan, Brian Grevers, Leo Grizzaffi, Olivia Grossman, Alexandra Guarino, Kelsey Gund, Alexander Harmon, Anna Healy, Matthew Hemley, Martin Herlihy, Avery Higham, Jackson Hinds, Megan Hoban, Jennifer Houser, Meghan Hyatt, Joseph Irwin, Ashley Jimenez, Ryan Johanson, Ryan Johnston, Justin Joyce, Dolores Kane, Adam Karashik, Bret Kaser, Sophie Kaufman, Alana Keisling, Kyle Kendall, Austin Kenyon, Nicolette Kingdollar, Rachel Kisken, Erik Kriz, Edward Lavelle, Timothy Lenz, Nicola Levy, Addison Llanos, Ian Locascio, Sarah Loughran, Richard MacGregor, Navin Mani, Kyle McCormick, Liam McDevitt, Nolan McDonald, Mary-Kate McGeary, Lindsay Melagrano, Maximilian Meyer, Ian Mickool, Mikhaela Miller, Ryan Miller, Brielle Moro, Jeffrey Mosia, Erin Murphy, Melissa Murphy, Victoria Nazworth, Juliette Negron, John O’Connor, Nicholas Palazzo, Brendan Pallant, Justin Pan, Jonathan Passman, Austin Pavone, Sofia Penn, Jack Peters, William Peters, Robert Philbin, Tatiana Pisoni, Harrison Porter, Katherine Pratt, Hannah Rapaglia, Emily Riina, Andrew Rizzo, Emma Rosenblatt, Kira Rosencrans, Jordan Roth, Brendan Ruberry, Alexandra Salazar, Alan Schaaf Martinez, Cullen Scheer, Liv Schoenbeck, Wyatt Schwartz, Dylan Schwasnick, Jonathan Seem, Rebekah Silver, Sofie Sogaard, Paul Standish, John Steer, Leanne Steinowitz, Colin Storm, Jeffrey Storm, Amanda Stucki, Angela Sun, Michael Taben, Amanda Terbrusch, Henry Thomas, Hayden Townsend, Paige Trant, Lucas Vergara, Lindsay Voves, Claire Watsik, Sean Weaver, Kimberly Weinstock, Jack Weston, Caleb Wilfinger, Lindsay Wilkes, James Wilkinson, Athena Zacharakos, Emma Zachary, and Rachel Zeolla.

Grade 11, Honors

John Ahern,   Daniel Albano, Alexander Altman, David Angelo, Christopher Arnold, Amanda Backman, Kevin Batti, Andrea Bedard, Matthew Berger, Sarah Blumrich, Siena Boccuzzi, Amber Bodeur, Sage Bornstein, Pauline Bouissou, Allegra Boylan, Danielle Brewi, Christopher Brown, Nicholas Bryant, Craig Burke, Cole Butchen, Clarissa Campos, Elizabeth Carr, Madison Carroll, Alyssa Cataldo, Matthew Chittenden, Jamie CoConis, Caitriona Collins, Jonchristian Consavage, Megan Conway, Andrew Cooper, Claire Cordano, Rachel Corry, Matthew Cross, Ty Cruz, Moira Cunius, Andrew Curiano, Elizabeth D’Aiuto, Beatrix Dalton, Vasyl Davydov, Camila De Sousa, Lauren DeAcutis, Grace Delinger, Bradley DeVito, Ryan Devlin, Christopher DiFabio, Sara Donnelly, Austin Drukker, Shelby Dubin, Ryan Dunn, Dakota Evans-Boyajian, Qiyuan Fan, Steven Favorite, Jacob Feldman, Gillian Fennell, Haele Ferguson, Max Fine, McKay Flanagan, Hannah Fleming, Zachary Fogg, Nicholas Freeman, Alex Gabriele, Samuel Gallo, Brett Getz, Meredith Gillis, Megan Gold, Hannah Goodman, Laura Goodman, Travis Gordon, Janie Grossman, Amanda Guarino, Laura Gustafson, Juliana Guzy, John Hage, Julia Hall, Lilia Harrington, Bailey Harris, Margaret Harris, Marina Harris, Sara Hastings, James Hesemeyer, William Holzhauer, Keith Horvath, Grace Howley, Oliver Jones, Sophie Jones, Kiera Julian, Benjamin Kagan, Ciaran Kager, Sarah Kaiser, Adam Kelemen, Colleen Kelly, Juliette Kelly, Dean Kisciras, Hunter Knibbe, Henry Korpi, Brittany Kouroupas, Caroline Kramer, Lauren Kudera, John Kuveke, Robert Kvenvik, Thomas Kwalwasser, Jacob Lantner, Megan Laslo, Mark Liguori, Margaret Lindenburg, Wright Lindgren, Ryan Looney, Christian Lusardi, Jake Madeson, Kiana Maisonet, Matthew Marcon, Jack Maydan, Robert McCarthy, Patrick McCaughey, Shannon McKeown, Kaitlin McMahon, Ryan McSpedon, Ian Meyers, Olivia Miloro, Amanda Milot, Casey Mitten, Jacqueline Mora, Shayla Morris, Chelsea Morrison, Caroline Nethercott, Heather Nichols, Benjamin Nussbaum, Mariana O’Brien, Claire O’Connor, Elaina O’Donnell, James O’Hara, Dominika Ortonowski, Rebecca Ouellette, Christina Paccadolmi, Elizabeth Pagano, Julian Pagliuco, Socrates Panageas, Akshay Parikh, Robert Peckham, Natalia Perez, Lincoln Peterson, Jacques Petrazzini, Samantha Petrazzini, Lindsay Polo, Christopher Potter, William Poundstone, Ashlie Pysa, Patrick Racy, Robert Rapp, Ethan Realander, Alex Redmond, Bridget Redmond, Bailey Rivera, Nicholas Rogoff, Jyles Rupprecht, Alexandria Sabido, Nicole Sabovik, Elizabeth Schoenherr, Emma Scott, Jordan Segalman, Jillian Sharp, James Sheridan, Kevin Side, Mason Siegel, Olivia Simon, Robert Smith, Kristian Sogaard, Jonathan Spicci, Sarah Springer, John Stamatis, Daniel Stegman, Isabel Stoddart, Dawoon Suh, Kurt Sullivan, Nicole Syrotiak, Stephen Thaxter, Lauren Trant, Caroline Treschitta, Jonathan Uy, Scott Van de Merlen, Andrew Ventrella, Benjamin Viggiano, Paul Volante, Kristin Von Ohlsen, Abigail von Recklinghausen, Timothy Walsh, Kayleen Walter, Philippa Walton, Marlee Wasserman, Lillian Whitmore, Erin Whitton, Yue Yang, Rowan Young, and Adam Zukowski.

Grade 12, Honors

Shanni Alon, Josefina Altamiranda, Manuela Alvarez Hernandez, Margaux Amara, Joseph Ammirato, Paige Andrews, Allison Arnold, Chad Ballard, Ryder Barrett, Connor Beauregard, Alec Black, William Bonaparte, Zachary Bonitatebus, John Boscia, Margaret Brassinga, Caroline Brian, Noah Broder, Ryan Brucato, Cameron Calia, Brianna Carlson, Connor Carlson, Stephen Cartwright, Emily Casciari, Jai Chauhan, Issaac Cho, Andrew Chuma, Killian Clancy, John Clouse, Sean Connolly, Starr Coughlin, Haley Creamer, Carly Cugine, Donal Culhane, Alyssa Deem, Maria D’Jay, David Dobson II, Donald Droher, Christopher Eckstrom, Katherine Ehinger, Katharine Ettinger-Curnan, Noelle Farmer, John Findlay, Alexander Fish, Morgan Fleming, Andrew Franco, Laura Franklin, Erin Freeburg, Gabrielle Friedman, Meghan Galloway, Kiana Gaston, Ian Ghidossi, Lucas Goff, Isabelle Goldstein, Jeremy Gordon, Chelsea Guerra, Thomas Guillaume, Elizabeth Hagele, Jessica Hamilton, Rachel Harrington, Drew Hassenstein, Jacob Hawker, Amy Hellrigel, Samuel Hemley, Diana Homiak, Trevor Hopper, Abbagale Horton, Madeline Hubler, Alyssa Inman, Ruby Isaac, Sara Jackson, Kelly Janasek, Emily Johanson, Matthew Johnson, Rachael Johnson, Christian Jones, Griffin Jones, Robert Jones, Adam Kay, Robert Kelly, Matthew Kissell, Thomas Knortz, Konstantinos Kouroupas, Michael Latorre, Samantha Lewis, Soyeon Lim, David Linder, Andrew Liontonia, Marisa Lobelson, Keely Lockwood, Joseph Lordi, Alexander Madore, Brendan Maguire, Samantha Maiolo, Charles Malwitz, Joliette Mandel, Madeline Masi, Aidan Mauro, Tara Mazur, Amelia McGrath, Andrew McKee, Erin McKenna, Charlotte McLam, Abigail McVeigh, Riley Meachem, Ryan Meegan, Clare Mellinger, Yair Misaray, Ellie Molwitz, Adam Moreyn, Keillor Mose, Lily Moussavi, Gregory Murtaugh, Abbey Nesbitt, Michael Nyland, Christian O’Connell, Sarah O’Donnell, Nicole O’Shea, Sean Parks, Christopher Perrault, Benjamin Peters, Elizabeth Peters, Cailin Petrovich, Jillian Pfeiffer, Lincoln Phillips, Alec Pisanelli, Michelle Pollack, Erin Purvis, Kean Quick, Jillian Rajkumar, Heather Rankine, Josh Reiss, Eleanor Rhea, Samuel Rostow, Jessica Roth, Jennifer Rowella, Annie Russo, Fermin Ruybal, Magdalena Salamon, Joseph Santisi, Samuel Sarath, Lauren Savino, Amanda Scammon, James Schibli, Matthew Schonberg, Karla Sedeno Rosas, Katherine Seel, Kelly Shannon, Allie Short, Emma Sicinski, Abigail Side, Oliver Smith, Bryan Souza, Jayme Soyak, Natalie Spanos, Daniel Standish, Claire Stanziale, Daniel Stucki, Saritte Susnick, Brett Susser, Laura Trainor, Tyler Trombetta, Hunter Tuccio, Jason Tulloch, John Tusa, Arianne Ureta, Lea Vivian, Jordan Voves, Eric Waite, Caroline Waldo, Zachary Ward, Erik Weber, Tyler Welton, Patrick Weston, Diana Witte, and David Wool.

Here are some of the stories and features in this week’s Ridgefield Press, out today in print and e-edition:

• Bidders, including Toll Brothers and a co-housing group, have offered up to $4 million for the Schlumberger 10 acres.
• Just what is “co-housing”?
• Robotics and human geography are among the new courses planned for the high school.
• Ridgefield has a new gift store and a new Asian restaurant.
• Despite the rain, the Holiday Stroll drew crowds and was deemed a success.
• Ridgefield schools are exceeding state targets.
• The sale of the site for a proposed hotel will face voters on Monday.
• Ridgefield dogs are providing comfort to the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
• Murph previews the RHS boys basketball and hockey teams.
• Just Girl It aims to build girls’ confidence, and more.
• A survey has found little interest in changing school hours, and the Board of Education has dropped the issue.
• Tips for party planning and English pudding are among the features in this month’s Home magazine.
• The town’s newest fire engine has been out of service with problems for a good part of its first year.
• Many businesses are offering extended hours for the holidays: A list.
• A local physician discusses the benefits of breast feeding — and misconceptions about it.
• Just what is a “titicus” anyway? (And what rhymes with it?)
• The cost of health insuring the school staff is the best in the county, says a consultant.
• Letter-writers address Sandy Hook, the proposed hotel, Schlumberger land, taxes, the Holiday Stroll, the Molly Ann Tango Foundation, Iran, candles, and pool time.
• The GMC Sierra 1500 4WD Double Cab SLE is a comfortable and competent performer, says our reviewer.
• The Ridgefield Press is on Facebook — become one of more than 1,625 friends and get news updates. Facebook.com/RidgefieldPress.
• 7,877 people have signed up for Ridgefield Press news bulletins via Twitter. You can, too, by stopping by twitter.com/RidgefieldPress.

For newsstands carrying The Press, click here.

Interested in the proposed cell tower that will overlook the Titicus River Valley? Now’s the time to listen, not talk.

Danbury-based Homeland Towers, which is developing the Ridgebury site with AT&T, is hosting a public information session Saturday in the lower level conference room in town hall at 10:30 a.m.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi stresses that townspeople should not mistake Saturday’s meeting for a public hearing.

“This isn’t something where people can come in and state their opinion,” Mr. Marconi said Tuesday afternoon. “I have requested AT&T and Homeland be there to present site development plans to anyone who’s interested and to answer any questions that may come up after their presentation.”

“This is not a town-sponsored event,” he said. “It’s their game.”

Mr. Marconi will be present to represent the town.

He added that after Saturday’s information session the application will go before the Connecticut Siting Council.

“The public hearing in town will be scheduled only after the siting council’s review is complete,” he said.

Ray Vergati, the site development manager for Homeland, said Saturday’s meeting should last about 90 minutes.

“We are bringing a PowerPoint presentation that will include some photos of the proposed tower and some diagrams of how it will operate in the area,” he explained. “Typically, we make our presentation and then open the room up for any and all questions the public may have.”

He expects to face questions about the tower’s height, what it will look like aesthetically, and why his company has selected to construct it in this area of town.

Last month, Mr. Marconi acknowledged the idea of having an informative meeting in Ridgefield had been discussed for several months, but plans were only able to be put into action when the town received the applicant’s technical report on Nov. 4.

“We’ve discussed the idea of having an information meeting here in town for some time now and this is that opportunity for our residents.,” he said.

He talked with the applicant’s attorney Chris Fisher, who could not be reached by press time yesterday, about a potential date within the next 60 days to set up a hearing.

Under state regulations, town officials have 90 days to review the application after receiving it and have only 60 days after that date to schedule a public information session.

Mr. Vergati said last month that the town has no control over the application from a zoning perspective and that the report filed last week was intended for the town to weigh in from a “purely advisory perspective.”

“This is the standard process,” he said. “The siting council is not involved yet and they won’t be sent the report until after the 90 days is up.

“They’ve been doing this a while and they’re very savvy when it comes to looking at these applications.”

He estimated that it would take the state’s siting council five to six months to review the proposal and then vote whether to pass it.

If it gets approved, then the town would be given 30 days to approve a building permit for the site location, Mr. Vergati said.

This is when a public hearing will take place, Mr. Marconi said.

According to the technical report, the tower site will bring wireless service to more than 5,000 residents in the area.

More than 30 single-family homes are described as being within 1,000 feet of the proposed tower site, including one as close as 264 feet to the northeast of the site.

The 3.19-acre site would be accessed off Old Stagecoach Road.

Guitarist and songwriter Hayden Turek and singer Jeff Hancock form the local band County, which released its first EP, titled Homewrestle, on Oct. 17. Mr. Turek and Mr. Hancock, a pair of RHS graduates, both participated in several bands in high school before partnering together to create the folk duo. —Diego Alacron photo

From screaming and slashing death metal to singing and strumming country-folk, Jeff Hancock and Hayden Turek have been on a musical roller coaster since their first collaboration together in high school up to the release of their first studio album last month.

The duo, which is now performing under the band name County, is making a return to “how music used to be” in their debut EP, titled Homewrestle — a six-track record the Ridgefield High School graduates believe is a significant improvement from what they’ve done in the past.

“One thing I feel that really makes our music special is that we’re not trying this to be cool anymore,” said Mr. Turek, the group’s songwriter and guitarist. “Our music speaks very plainly, it’s not incomprehensible — it’s stuff anybody can understand and relate to — and we’re not dressing up and prancing around making a scene and it’s starting to work out because of that.”

“We both feel a lot more comfortable and it’s easier to be honest and bare my soul now than it was before,” he said. “It didn’t work out when I was younger because there was always something in the way, preventing me from doing that.”

The partners met at RHS through the band Green River Mourning, which was competing in the Battle of the Bands in 2009.

Mr. Hancock, County’s lead singer, was brought on to be the group’s “screamer,” shouting indecipherable chants during loud, deafening performances.

However, Mr. Turek made a discovery during practice one day that would alter both their musical careers.

“Jeff and I always liked all types of music — we were never just metal heads or punks,” he explained. “So we thought about adding a soft song to our set list because Jeff was like, ‘Yeah, I can sing,’ and we found out soon enough that he could really sing, which came as sort of a surprise, because all he had been doing was screaming into the microphone for six months.

“That was the first time I heard Jeff sing,” he said. “We were really blown away, we had no idea.”

For Mr. Hancock, returning to singing actual lyrics, as opposed to screaming noises, proved to be a gift, sparking what he calls a “crucial connection” with Mr. Turek that’s he’s had ever since.

When Battle of Bands ended that year, the duo went their own separate way and haven’t looked back.

“We’ve both been in plenty of bands with other people, and we figured out that it just didn’t work,” said Mr. Hancock, who had been in two bands before joining County. “There was always something — people disagreeing with each other or seeing the direction of the band differently — so we knew when we branched off from them after Battle of the Bands, it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Working in a smaller group is so much easier to see stuff through.”

Mr. Turek, who currently attends the University of Rhode Island, said he usually agrees with Mr. Hancock, which saves them time that other bands spend having creative clashes.

When Mr. Turek made his return to music earlier this year, he said, it took him a long time to write the songs, “probably a lot longer than normal songwriters.”

“It always comes to me in a different order,” he said. “Sometimes you write the first line and flow from there, sometimes you get the chorus and work around it to create the song, and then sometimes you get the last lyric and you have to work back and figure out the rest, which is always the hardest method.

“You walk around and do all this other stuff, but the whole time you are mulling over ideas in your head and thinking about the music,” he said. “I don’t really ever sit down to write these songs, it just sort of happens  — it’s like a pastime almost, and it’s easier that way.”

The third track, titled “Go and Love,” Mr. Turek describes as a coming of age song about someone struggling to find himself.

He perfected the lyrics while singing them out loud in the shower.

This internal struggle was so embedded in the lyrics that it ultimately became apart of the record’s name.

“I was just walking, and those two words — home and wrestle — just came to my head and it sounded cool, and I looked into it to see if it could be an album name and it wasn’t, so we went with it,” Mr. Turek recalled. “It’s not about broken homes, it’s more soul wrestling — something that’s completely inside you, your internal battle — and that’s how the CD name was born.”

Although Homewrestle is their first studio album — produced by Ridgefielders Justin Roth and Chris Penny under the record label Intrinsic Audio — the partners put out two CDs before their Oct. 17 debut.

“Those first two records, we were still kids who didn’t really know what we were doing,” Mr. Turek said. “I think this is a new thing. The other stuff was us growing up — now we have something to work from.”

Both artists give credit to a production team that “helped us see it through to the end.”

“I desperately needed a fresh set of ears to make it fresh again, because I was pretty close to giving up,” Mr. Turek said. “Chris and Justin gave us the reassurance and the great studio work that really ended up saving us.”

Mr. Hancock said County had worked on about 20 songs with which the duo went pretty far, but they never could perfect them for the album.

Those tracks that didn’t make it onto Homewrestle will be material for the band’s second album.

“We don’t give up on those songs. They get recycled and worked on later — nothing is ever thrown away permanently,” Mr. Turek said.

The partners arrived on the band name because it was short, simple and catchy.

“We were looking for a one-word band name for a while,” Mr. Hancock said.

“I didn’t want the band name to be something too epic and be too much of a big deal,” Mr. Turek said. “I didn’t want it to have too much meaning, rather have it be a name that is sound-good and would catch on easy, similar to our music.”

Mr. Turek first started playing guitar in fifth grade as a way to do what he’s specifically trying not to do these days — be cool.

“I wasn’t cool and I wanted to be, and I thought the guitar would help me, so I started practicing,” he said.

His first band — the Cross Keys — was a “Beatles-type” pop band that dissolved in elementary school prior to his “emo band” in middle school.

In high school, he taught himself to play the piano, but spent a majority of his time focusing on developing his heavy metal skills.

However, he’s doesn’t like to be defined by one genre and takes inspiration from a wide variety of artists, from the Scottish folk band The Corries to the hard rock band Black Sabbath to Woody Guthrie.

He also cites Elvis Presley, the Almanac Singers, and Paul Robeson as artists who have sparked his imagination.

Add in Mr. Hancock’s musical taste, and County has perhaps the most diverse sources of inspiration of any two-man band ever.

“I draw a lot of inspiration from singers who give a lot of emotion,” he said, citing Aaron Lewis from the band Staind, Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters and previously Nirvana, and Maynard James Keenan of Tool. “Those kind of guys give me goosebumps up and down my body.

“I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but one day I realized that was the type of music I wanted to make for others.”

The two said they make music because they want others to feel it. “My favorite part is when you get the shivers,” Mr. Turek said. “When you hear your own music and that happens, there’s a good chance it’s doing it for someone else, and we’ve heard some of our listeners say they get the chills listening to us, which we love to hear.”

Mr. Hancock added that County hopes to produce a full-length album in the future, but neither band member has an eye set for a live performance of their first record.

Mr. Turek said more practice time is needed and the band would like to build a following online before it takes a show on the road.

“Our music is weighted heavily on lyrics, so people should know what we’re about, what we’re saying before they come to see us play live, and you need to establish yourself before that happens,” he said. “This thing is a true partnership between me and Jeff — without one of us we’d sound totally different.”

For musicians who once perfected the art of screaming as a form of expression, this singer and songwriter seem to be maturing at a rapid pace so that one day they can be heard loud and clear. And no, not that loud.

To hear County’s first studio album, visit county.bandcamp.com/ or facebook.com/countyband .

Farmingville Road (looking east toward Ligi’s Way bypass) was jammed. —Steve Coulter photo

A huge traffic jam occurred early this afternoon after a construction crew effectively shut down Route 35, Danbury Road, north of Copps Hill Plaza.

The crew was installing a utility under the highway to the site of a new office and apartment building south of the Recreation Center.

Apparently the crew closed at least one lane, and then both lanes wound up being blocked by around 1 p.m.

At least five police officers descended on the area to deal with huge traffic backups, and Ridgefield fire police were also called in to help re-route traffic.

The problem was cleared up by 2:30 p.m.

The construction site on Danbury Road. The new building will be offices and apartments.—Steve Coulter photo

All Ridgefield students in grades kindergarten through 12 can participate in the seventh annual Housatonic Resource Recovery Administration (HRRA) Recycling Poster Contest.

This year’s poster theme is “How to Recycle Organics” (food scraps).

Official entry blanks will be available through most of the public schools or the Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield. Entry blanks for Ridgefield students will also be available on HRRA.org.

So far Ridgefield High School, East Ridge and Scotts Ridge Middle Schools, Veterans Park, Farmingville, and Barlow Mountain Elementary Schools as well as the Boys & Girls Club are participating.

All entries must be turned in to either a participating school, the club or town hall by Feb. 21. Judging of Ridgefield entries by grade will take place before the regional deadline of March 7, (all first place winners’ posters advance to the regional judging).

There are cash prizes and a chance to have winning work exhibited on a billboard. Winners are also honored at various ceremonies.

Major sponsors of the contest are All American Waste, Union Savings Bank and Winters Bros. Waste Systems, along with the HRRA Regional Recycling Task Force.

Further information on the contest, visit HRRA.org or contact Ellen Rossini, 2014 Poster Contest coordinator, at highway@ridgefieldct.org.

Art imitates life, which may explain the profusion of movies about zombies. After all, zombies now stalk the country, Connecticut included — from Adam Lanza in Newtown a year ago to John Louis Lynn, who last weekend massacred his former girlfriend and her two cousins at her apartment in Manchester before shooting himself to death when confronted by police outside.

Nobody wants to acknowledge it, but government seems unable to do much about the zombie plague. In response to the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut rushed to enact legislation, but none of it, from minor gun restrictions to suppressing crime scene photos, would have impeded the crime. The federal government seems inclined to start throwing money at mental health, but such treatment is far from reliable and most gun violence is less a matter of mental health than the failure of drug criminalization, which still can’t be addressed seriously.

Newtown itself seems to have figured all this out; it has placed armed police at its schools and is doing good deeds and lighting candles in memory of the slaughtered innocents.

The massacre in Manchester demonstrates the weakness if not the futility of government’s interventions against “domestic violence.” Women abused by their current or former boyfriends or husbands, like the woman murdered by her former boyfriend in Manchester, are offered “protective orders” from a court but don’t always want one, and such orders deter no thug resolved on violence. Many women murdered by an abusive ex have a protective order, and many abusive exes, like Lynn, the perpetrator in Manchester, have criminal records or records of violating protective orders.

But Connecticut’s courts and prosecutors can’t be bothered to hasten prosecution of domestic violence and protective order violations, so the thugs remain free with plenty of time to do more harm, and in many cases their sometime girlfriends stay involved with them and even make excuses for them.

While Lynn appears to have had only part-time work at a pizza shop and his attractiveness as a mate may be lost on many people, his mother told WFSB-TV3 in Hartford that he had managed to father seven children with different women and lately had been depressed about his inability to support them all. More likely he was just depressed about the child support orders piling up against him.

No matter, of course. In Connecticut child support from taxpayers is always available without judgment, and its facilitation of thugs like Lynn and his befuddled prey will never be questioned any more than the befuddlement of his prey, the collapse of the family, and the government’s exploding costs of remediating child neglect and abuse will be. Questioning this stuff would be politically incorrect.

For in Connecticut there are no social strictures anymore and few legal ones, or at least few that can be relied upon. If you want to be protected here, you have to protect yourself. Taking up with a thug will always be easier than getting rid of him.

• • • 

This doesn’t mean that thugs can’t turn their lives around and shouldn’t have a chance to, for society’s sake as well as their own. If a criminal record is to block all opportunity for advancement, it would be better to make every criminal sentence a life sentence than almost guarantee that offenders will return to crime.

That is part of a controversy in Hartford, where Mayor Pedro Segarra appointed as his deputy chief of staff a man with a serious criminal record. The man resigned when the record was brought to the mayor’s attention in advance of a background check that wasn’t performed as it should have been.

The problem here wasn’t the record itself but that the job applicant did not disclose it and the mayor didn’t ask in time — a problem of deception. If the record had been acknowledged when the appointment was announced and the mayor had explained why he felt that the appointee had rehabilitated himself in the nine years since his last conviction, there might have been few objections.

Chris Powell is managing editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.

Christmas is coming, and holiday shopping is already here. Many Ridgefield businesses are staying open longer and later for the season.

Here are some extended holiday hours.

Books on the Common: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 9-7; Thursday and Friday, Dec. 12 and 13, 10-6, and Dec. 19 and 20, 10-7; Christmas Eve, 9-5, “or until the last procrastinator leaves the store.”

Ridgefield Music: Monday-Thursday, 11-7; Friday, 10-6, Saturday 10-5; Sunday, 1-5; Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, 10-3.

The UPS Store: Monday to Friday 8:30-6,  5:30 UPS pick up; Saturday, 9-5, 1:30 UPS air only pick up. Sunday, Dec. 15, 12-4.

The Loft at Bissell’s: Monday-Friday 9-6; Saturday 9-5; Sunday, 9-3; Christmas Eve, 9-4.

nancy O: Monday-Wednesday, 10-6; Thursday, 10-8; Friday, 10-6; Saturday, 9- 6; Sunday, noon-5. Christmas week: Monday 9-6; Christmas Eve, 9-2; New Year’s Eve, 10-3.

Ridgefield Bicycle Co.: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 10-6; Thursday, 10-7; Saturday, 9-5; Sunday, 11-4; Monday, Dec. 23, 10-6; Christmas Eve, 10-2.

Craig’s Fine Jewelry: Monday to Friday, normally 9:30-6, extended to 9-8 Thursdays, Dec. 12 and 19, Friday Dec. 20, and Monday Dec. 23; Saturday, 9-5; Sundays usually closed but open Dec. 22, 11:30-4; Christmas Eve, 8:30-4.

Addessi Jewelers: Daily, 10-6; Sunday, Dec. 22, 11-4; Christmas Eve, 10-3. Appointments available.

Interiors & Designs by Ursula: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 10-5:30; Thursday 10-8; Sunday, 11-5; Christmas Eve, 10-noon.

Olley Court: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 10:30-5:30; Thursday, 10:30-7; Sunday, 12-4.

The Purple Frog Gift Shop: Monday,  Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 10-6; Thursday, 10-7; Sunday, 10-4; Christmas Eve, 10-4.

The Frame Shop of Ridgefield: Tuesday-Thursday, 10-6; Friday and Saturday, 10-5; Sunday, 12-4; Mondays, by appointment.

Ayindisa Fair Trade Gifts: Monday-Thursday, 10-6:30; Friday, 10-7; Saturday, 10-6; Christmas Eve, 10-2.

The Candlelight Shoppe: Monday-Saturday, 10:30-5:30; Sunday, noon-4;; Christmas Eve, 10:30-4.

Hutton’s Men’s Wear: Monday-Wednesday and Saturday, 10-6; Thursday-Friday, 10-8; Sunday 11-5; Christmas Eve, 9-4.

Children’s Cottage: Monday-Saturday, 9:30-4:30; Thursday, 9:30-6.

Ally Bally Bee: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 10-6; Thursday, 10-8; Sunday, 11-4; Christmas Eve, 10-4.

The Little House Shoppe: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 10-5:30; Thursday, 10-7; Saturday and Sunday, 8-5:30; Christmas Eve, 10-4.

Lyn Evans Potpourri Designs: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 10-6, but 10-8 on Dec. 13; Thursday, 10-7 but 10-8 on Dec. 19; Sunday, 12-5, but 10-6 on Dec. 22; Christmas Eve, 9-4.

Prospector Theater Pop-Up Shop: Monday-Friday, 10-5; Saturday, 10-4.

The Hickories Holiday Farm Store: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 10-5 until Christmas.

Opticare: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 8:30-5:30; Tuesday and Thursday, 8-5:30; Saturday, 8:30-1; Christmas Eve, 8-noon.

Adam Broderick: Monday, 7-6; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30-10; Friday, 7:30-9; Saturday, 7-5, but 7-9 Dec. 21; Sunday, 8-5, but 8-9 Dec. 22; Monday, Dec. 23, 7:30-9; Christmas Eve, 7:30-3:30; Thrusday, Dec. 26, 10-10; New Year’s EVe, 7:30-5:30.

Ridgefield Salon & Spa: Monday-Friday, 9-7; Sunday, Dec. 22, 10-2; Christmas Eve, 9-3; Sunday, Dec. 29, 9-4; New Year’s Eve, 9-4.

Susi Laura Message Therapy: Monday-Friday, 10-6; Saturday and Sunday, 10-5; Thursday and Friday, Dec. 19 and 20, 10-7; Monday, Dec. 23, 10-7; Christmas Eve, 10-6.

Saltanta Cave: Tuesday-Friday, 12-7; Saturday, 9-5; Sunday, 10-4; Christmas Eve, 9-4.

Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce: Monday-Friday, 9-3; closed Dec. 23-27.