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The selection of Westport resident Ralph Steinman as a recipient of this year’s Noble Prize for medicine received widespread attention Monday, not just because of the tribute to his groundbreaking research in the human immune system and how it can be harnessed to fight disease, but because announcement of the prestigious honor came just three days after Steinman’s death.

In addition to coverage of Steinman’s achievement and tragic death here on westport-news.com, the website of Rockefeller University in New York, where Steinman was a biology professor, has more details about his award-winning research, as well as a webcast and photos of his family at a press conference Monday.

The link is here.

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See if they make the grade.

The four candidates for the Westport Board of Education — Mark Mathias and Michael, Democrats, and Jeannie Smith and Jennifer Tooker, Republicans — are scheduled to debate tonight (Monday, Oct. 3) in a forum sponsored by the Westport League of Women Voters.

The Nov. 8 municipal election is just about a month away, so this will be one of the few times voters can take their measure of all the school board contenders in one place.

The debate gets under way at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium. It will also be televised on public-access cable Channels 79 (Cablevision) and 99 (AT&T).

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Even though the dog days of summer are waning with the official start of fall last week, “dog days” at Compo Beach are just beginning as of  Saturday, Oct. 1.

That’s right, canines are allowed at Westport’s largest beach through March 31 as long as they and their owners conform to the following regulations:

• Dogs are prohibited from the pavilion, playground and boardwalk.

• All dogs must be leashed in all areas of the park except in the designated off-leash area of the beach south of pavilion, including South Beach. Off-leash regulations are posted at the entrance of the designated area.

• Owners are required by law to clean up an animal’s defecation.

• Owners who violate any of the rules are subject to a $77 fine.

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Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Services is offering new sessions of several training programs.

Free to Westport residents and municipal employees is the American Heart Association “HeartSaver “ CPR program. There is a fee for non-Westport residents.

Also, the next session of the National Safety Council’s Defensive Driving Class training program offered by WVEMS is set for Oct. 10 and 18 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Students must attend both sessions. Fee is $15; many insurances companies offer discounts for those who have completed the program.

The CPR classes are scheduled mornings, afternoons and evenings, as well as weekends if students need them. The instruction covers life-saving adult, child and infant CPR; obstructed airway management, and use of automated external defibrillators.

WVEMS also teaches AHA HealthCare Provider and first-aid classes for a fee. The organization also offers free, non-certification classes — Introduction to CPR and AED — that take less than 30 minutes.

Classes are held at Westport Police/EMS headquarters, 50 Jesup Road, and arrangements can also be made for classes at other locations.

The defensive driving program includes a classroom-based review of collision prevention; steps to ensure that both the driver and the vehicle are ready for the road; conditions that affect driving, how to deal with impaired drivers; how to manage emotions while behind the wheel; how road rage affects drivers; how to avoid the six most unsafe driving behaviors, and other safe driving strategies.

The driving classes will also take place at Westport Police/EMS headquarters, 50 Jesup Road.

For more information or to sign up, e-mail cpr@westportems.org or call 203-341-6030.

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The pool at Staples High School has reopened to the community for the season.

The pool, which reopened Monday, is available to all Westport residents, 6 years old and over, and their guests for recreational and lap swimming.

Fees are $7 daily for town residents and their guests, as well as a variety of memberships.

For details on schedules and fees, check here.

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A meeting for Westport homeowners whose property is subject to potential or repeated flooding will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Westport Fire Department headquarters, 515 Post Road East.

Douglas Glowacki, an emergency management program specialist for the state, will be on hand to make a presentation and answer questions about flooding risks. He will also discuss applying for hazard mitigation grant.

The session is expected to last about two hours. An additional meeting on flooding problems and questions is expected to be scheduled in the near future, fire officials said.

Property owners unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting are encouraged to call fire headquarters at 203-341-5000 for more information.

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Here’s some info from the Internal Revenue Service about the agency’s efforts to help taxpayers having problems in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene:

• Under the federal disaster declaration, the Internal Revenue Service can postpone certain deadlines for taxpayers. For instance, deadlines falling on or after Aug. 27 and on or before Oct. 31, have been postponed to Oct. 31, 2011.

This includes corporations and other businesses that previously obtained an extension until Sept. 15 to file 2010 returns, and individuals and businesses that received a similar extension until Oct. 17. It also includes the estimated tax payment for the third quarter, normally due Sept. 15.

In addition, the IRS is waiving the failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 27 and on or before Sept. 12, as long as the deposits are made by Sept. 12, 2011.

The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located in a designated disaster area and applies automatic filing and payment relief. But affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area must call the IRS disaster hotline at 1-866-562-5227 to request tax relief.

• Taxpayers in a federally declared disaster area have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either this year or last year. Claiming the loss on an original or amended return for last year will get the taxpayer an earlier refund, but waiting to claim the loss on this year’s return could result in a greater tax saving, depending on other income factors, the IRS says.

Individuals may deduct personal property losses not covered by insurance or other reimbursements. For details, see Form 4684 and its instructions.

Taxpayers claiming the disaster loss on last year’s return should put the Disaster Designation “Connecticut/Tropical Storm Irene” at the top of the form so that the IRS can expedite the processing of the refund.
Download forms and publications from the official IRS website — www.irs.gov — or order them by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). The IRS toll-free number for general tax questions is 1-800-829-1040.

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Westport’s Representative Town Meeting may be non-partisan, but it also threatens to be pretty non-competitive in the Nov. 8 municipal election.

Town Clerk Patricia Strauss, in announcing Tuesday that one week remains for residents to file petitions to run for the 36-member legislative body, noted that so far only two people have submitted petitions. Meanwhile, 27 incumbents are seeking re-election.

“Residents interested in running for the RTM can pick up a petition at the town clerk’s office,” Strauss said in a statement. “After gathering 25 signatures of registered voters in the petitioner’s district, return the petition to the town clerk by Tuesday, Sept. 13. My staff will gladly review the instructions with the petitioner.”

So far, Strauss said, 15 people have shown interest in running as petitioning candidates, but only two have followed through and filed their petitions.

Even if all 15 potential candidates return petitions, Strauss said, seats in only four of the nine RTM districts will be contested — Districts 2, 3, 6 and 9. Four RTM districts will have no contests — Districts 1, 4, 5 and 7. And one district, District 8, will be short one candidate for the four seats.

In the statement, Hadley Rose, RTM moderator, said, “I’d like to see more competitive races … There’s nothing wrong with having contested races in every district. I encourage residents to get involved with the non-partisan RTM.”