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By STAFF REPORTS
Snow has begun falling across southwestern Connecticut this morning, leaving a slick sheen on roads and causing treacherous  driving conditions.

In addition to snow, according to the winter weather advisory posted by the National Weather Service, sleet and rain are expected to overspread the region into late this afternoon.

Most precipitation is forecast to end by about 6 p.m., the weather service says. There will be lingering snow and rain showers, however, throughout New Year’s Eve.

About 1 to 3 inches will accumulate along the shore and 3 to 4 inches inland.
Sunset will take place occur at 4:34 p.m., and sunrise tomorrow will be at 7:18 a.m. There will be a full moon tonight.

High temperatures today are expected to be in the mid-30s, with light and variable winds.

On New Year’s Day, the weather service forecasts a chance of snow showers before noon, then a chance of rain later in the day. The first day of 2010 will be cloudy, with a high near 42.

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The identity of the man killed in an accident early Sunday on Greens Farms Road in Westport has been released.

Police on Monday said that Charles Rochlin, 24, of Meeker Road in Westport died from injuries he suffered in the crash. The chief state medical examiner’s plans an autopsy today.

Rochlin was the passenger in a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Matthew Packer, 25, of Long Lots Road in Westport, police said.

The accident took place about 2:45 a.m. Sunday in the area of 109 Greens Farms Road. The Jeep was traveling west when Packer apparently lost control and struck a tree, according to police.

Both men were transported to Norwalk Hospital, where Rochlin was pronounced dead.

The crash remains under investigation by the Westport Police Department’s Detective Bureau and Accident Investigation Team. The Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Unit was asked to assist with forensic evidence and will be working with local detectives.

Police ask that anyone who saw the accident or has information about it to call the Police Department at 203-341-6000

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A meteorological lump of coal …

That’s the weather that has been unwrapped this gray Christmas Day in southwestern Connecticut. But enjoy the dry, relatively balmy mid-day temps in the upper-30s range, because things are going to get worse later this evening, according several online weather data sources.

While the temperature will be in the tolerable range of the upper-20s tonight and into tomorrow, by 8 or 9 p.m., showers are expected to close in on the region and continue drenching the region all day tomorrow. So pack an umbrella and break out those new boots for the rounds of gift-returning and partying on tap for Saturday.

Miserable as the day here may be, most will be grateful that they’re not in the Great Plains, where a fierce blizzard is strafing the nation’s mid-section for a second day with several feet of snow and ice.

Let it snow, indeed.

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A holiday tradition of “note” takes place later today on the grounds of Pequot Library in the Southport section of Fairfield.

The library at 720 Pequot Ave. will host a community caroling event from 4 to 6 p.m., and anyone is invited to join in and give voice to those great songs of the season.

A new feature of the program this year is that carolers bring an unwrapped that will be donated to the public school libraries in Bridgeport. This worthy suggestion came from library member Ruth Frantz, according to an e-mail from Dan Snydacker, the library’s executive director.

Anyone looking for guidance on the kinds of books that school libraries may be looking for can check the library website, pequotlibrary.org, where the Connecticut Library Association’s list of recommended books for children of all ages is posted.

The library staff is even willing to sell you one (or more) from 20 titles that they like, and they will buy and deliver the books in your name or someone else’s. A great last-minute gift idea.

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The storm sweeping through the region this morning is shaping up as the classic stereotype for southwestern Connecticut — south of the Merritt/Cross parkways there’s been more rain than snow and north of the parkways there has been a lot more snow.

Right now, the coastal region is being lashed by strong winds. Easterly blasts this morning are being measured from 25 to 30 mph, with gusts up to 45 to 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Combined with a driving rain of between 1 to 2 inches an hour through mid-day, there is nary a flake of earlier snowfall in the coastline communities.

But up “north,” in communities such as Monroe, Shelton and into the Naugatuck Valley, the snowfall total ranges from 4 to 6 inches, although the precipitation as of 9 a.m. has changed mostly to rain.

For people traveling — or trying to — between the two weather zones, it can be more than a little disorienting.

We’ll be checking on the storm throughout the day on connpost.com, but with the rain, high-wind and flash-flood advisories in effect through the afternoon, expect a bumpy ride for the better part of the day.

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As if the simple act of making a telephone call had not recently become infinitely more confusing with the advent of 10-digit dialing, this morning we here in “203 land” have been hit with a bona fide problem.

It seems that any call within the 203 area code that requires an additional “1” is not going through.

We have called AT&T for an explanation of the problem, but so far no call back. Perhaps the corporate spokesman’s phone is similarly afflicted.

As soon as we have some info to share about this telecommunications hangup, we’ll let you know.

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Documents on cases filed by 24 people who claimed to have been abused by priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, and which were settled in 2001 for $15 million by the diocese, have been released today.

In a statement issued just before 1 p.m., the diocese announced it has complied with a court order to release documents relating to the clergy sexual-abuse cases. They include, according to the diocese, “pre-trial materials such as motions, depositions, testimony, and correspondence, all produced in pre-trial activity throughout the 1990s.” The claims were made over incidents in the 1960s and ’70s.

The diocese fought release of the documents for more than seven years, contending much of the material has previously been reported.

However, of central interest in the secret records is the role played by then-Bishop Edward Egan and other diocesan officials in responding to complaints of sexual abuse and in managing the clergy accused of abuse.

The diocese, as required by the court’s order, delivered CD-ROMs with copies of the documents at issue directly to Waterbury Superior Court and to lawyers for the four newspapers that had sued to force the release of the documents. The Connecticut Post was not among those litigants, however, we expect to gain access to the material through the court later today.

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 BRIDGEPORT  – Mayor Bill Finch said today that the city will ask the U.S. Department  of Housing and Urban Development for money to pay for installing fire sprinklers throughout the P.T. Barnum Apartments public housing complex, where a family of four perished in a blaze three weeks ago.

 “The only real, final solution is to sprinkler all of those apartments,” Finch said.

The mayor, speaking on behalf of a task force established to look into the tragedy, said that since the fire the Fire Department and Bridgeport Housing Authority have been organizing discussions with Barnum tenants about fire safety, too.

 “I think fire safety in the front of our minds is critical,” the mayor said. “We went door-to-door. We went to Longfellow School and had an assembly with 250 children, all of whom were in rapt attention.”

 Finch said that education is a short-term step. The city will approach HUD with its money request after cost estimates are prepared, he said, adding that installation of sprinklers would be a long-term solution.

 Also attending the noontime press conference were BHA Executive Director Nicholas A. Calace, Fire Chief Brian Rooney and state Rep. Charles Clemons, a former firefighter.

 Tiana Black, 22; her 4-year-old twin daughters Nyaisja and Tyaisja Williams, and her son Ny’shon Williams, 5, died of smoke inhalation in the Nov. 13 blaze in their apartment in Building 12.

 The exact cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, officials said, other than that it’s know that it originated in the kitchen. Residents at the West End housing complex and others have raised questions about fire safety because there is only one door to enter and leave the two-story, upper-floor units. Black’s apartment was on the second and third stories of the building.

 The complex was constructed in 1950. It has 18, three-story buildings with 20 units each.

 Prior to a renovation completed in the early 1990s, there was an emergency fire door linking the top-floor apartments, providing a second route of exit. But these have since been walled off in an effort to improve crime security. As it stands now, the apartments have only one door, although they meet all existing fire codes, officials said.

 Firefighters reported that the smoke detectors in Black’s unit may have been sounding for as long as 20 minutes before a “911” call to firefighters was made.

 The bodies of Black and her twin girls were found by the apartment door, while the body of her son was found in an upstairs bedroom.