Authorities in Greenwich are investigating what caused three mansions in Old Greenwich to go up in flames during Hurricane Sandy.

The multimillion dollar homes located at 36, 44 and 45 Binney Lane went up in flames around 6:00 p.m. Monday.

One neighbor described hearing a “loud explosion” just before the first home went up in flames.

Authorities said Binney Lane had been under a mandatory evacuation because of flash-flooding concerns from the storm surge.

No one was injured in the fires.

As of press time, 20,889 out of 27,918 CL&P customers in Greenwich were without power.

A Greenwich resident was rushed to the hospital after her son found her unconscious in her car.

It is believed the elderly woman turned to her car for heat after her power went out at her home on Hollow Wood Lane due to Hurricane Sandy.

Her son found her Thursday afternoon unresponsive in her car with the engine running and the garage door closed.

The Pemberwick woman was rushed to the hospital, where she was treated for carbon monoxide.

He says it was a joke, but threatening to kill anyone, especially the president of the United States of America, is a crime and he should be a jail.

The teenage son of Greenwich billionaire Peter Brant and former supermodel Stephanie Seymour stated publicly that he wants to kill President Barack Obama, and as far as we know, no law enforcement officers went knocking on his door.

Peter Brant II and his friend Andrew Warren were texting each other the day after President Obama was re-elected and Warren told Brant “Guess were (sic) poor now,” to which the Greenwich resident replied “I have a contingency plan, Kill Obama hahaha.”

Warren then replied “HAHA well Atleast (sic) women have rights.  Oh wait I don’t care,” to which Brant said “Hahahahahaha exactly.”

Brant then posted the exchange on the social networking site Instagram.

If Brant was the average Joe whose father was not a billionaire not only would the Greenwich police be knocking on his front door but the FBI would also.

Why aren’t the authorities talking to this boy?!

Brant has since apologized, but who cares he committed a crime, throw his ass in jail!

We should all look this good at 70.

During an appearance on the Katie Couric talk show, Judge Judy Sheindlin showed a picture of herself in a white bikini.

The picture of the Greenwich resident was taken last month while she and her husband, Jerry, were on vacation in The Exumas with their five children to celebrate her 70^th birthday, which coincided with her 37^th wedding anniversary.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Judy on many occasions and I can tell you that there is no photo-shopping done to this picture.  She has the body and the face of a much younger woman.

You go GIRL!!!!!

A New Haven man accused of robbing a Greenwich man at gunpoint earlier this month has been arrested.

The victim told police on the night of November 19 he was walking west on Fairfield Road when he was approached by a Caucasian man on a bike who ordered him to get down on the sidewalk while pointing a silver handgun at him.

The suspect, who was later identified as Lamar Lawrence, then patted down the victim and ordered him to hand over his wallet and cellphone. The victim, who only had his silver iPod Nano and his driver’s license did as he was told.

While the victim was lying on the sidewalk a motorist driving by saw the bicycle and assuming there was some sort of an accident got out to assist the men.

The victim told police 19-year-old Lawrence told him to “act natural” as the motorist was walking towards them.

Lawrence then fled the scene on the bike, which was reported stolen from outside the CVS in Cos Cob earlier that day.

The victim and the passersby called 911 and police began searching for Lawrence, of 130 Sylvan Avenue, Apt 202 in New Haven, on the mountain bike by the driveway of a home on Sinawoy Road, where he had been staying.

Officers searching the home found the silver gun that was used in the robbery.

Lawrence was charged with first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a firearm, interfering with an officer, sixth-degree larceny and risk of injury.

He is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford today.

A 36-year-old Greenwich man succumbed to injuries he suffered when he was struck by a locomotive train in Texas last weekend.

Authorities in Abilene said Mark Karuzas was lying on tracks on Pine and South First streets around 2:40 p.m. Saturday, when he was struck by the train.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

It wasn’t immediately known why the former Greenwich High School grad., with a criminal record, was lying on the tracks.

According to Taylor County court records, Karuzas was arrested for burglary of a habitation on August 26 and again on November 20.

Calling hours will be held for Karuzas from 4-8:00 p.m. Friday at the Castiglione Funeral Home on Hamilton Ave.  A memorial service will be held at the funeral home at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

If at first you don’t succeed try and try again….

A 26-year-old Greenwich man was arrested twice on Monday and again on Tuesday for the same offense.

Authorities said Mark Jan Traisman, of 1 Indian Chase Drive, violated a restraining order by entering a relative’s home this week.

In addition to being charged with first-degree criminal trespass, first-degree violation of conditions of release and criminal violation of a restraining order, Traisman was also charged with illegal possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia after police found heroin, syringes and cooking spoons in plain view when they went to arrest him.

He was released from police custody after posting $10,000 bond.

A Greenwich real estate investment firm is suing two banks that allowed a former employee to cash checks she was not entitled to.

Nutmeg Investment Partners,located at 44 Greenwich Avenue, is suing Bank of America and Greenwich Bank & Trust for cashing fraudulent checks that their former office manager Claire Balducci made out to herself and cashed at several of their locations during a three-year-old.

Forty-six year old Balducci, of Stratford, pleaded guilty to wire fraud charge in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

Nutmeg claims from September 2008 to November 2011 Balducci, who had access to the company’s six bank accounts, wrote several checks to herself and third-party vendors, which she deposited to her personal People’s United Bank account, totaling around $1.1 million.  In addition, the real estate firm said Balducci opened a J.P. Morgan Chase credit card in the company’s managing partner’s name and authorized herself as a co-user of the account.  She then used the credit card to purchase personal items.

Authorities said she Balducci used interstate wires in the scheme by calling the J.P. Morgan Chase call center outside of Connecticut from telephone numbers in Connecticut to arrange setting up the credit card account.

Balducci, who was released from police custody on $250,000 bond and placed on home confinement under electronic monitoring, faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on March 6.

Nutmeg’s attorney Mark Sherman, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of his client over the summer, said his client “wants justice…. [because] the checks were cashed at various banks in the area to my client’s detriment.”

As of press time a trial date had not been set.

ESPN anchor Hannah Storm is set to return to work today, three weeks after she was seriously burned in a propane grill accident at her Greenwich home.

The sports announcer was cooking dinner at her Backcountry home on December 11 when the accident occurred.

The award-winning sportscaster and producer said she was grilling dinner when she noticed the flame on her outdoor BBQ grill had gone out.  She said she turned off the gas and when she reignited it, it exploded.

The mother of three was rushed to the Trauma and Burn Center at Westchester Medical Center, where she was treated for second-degree burns to her chest and hands, and first-degree burns to her face and neck.  She lost her eyebrows, eyelashes and some of her hair.

Storm’s 15-year-old daughter, who was at home at the time of the accident, called 911, while a computer technician, who was repairing the family’s computers, assisted the journalist.  Her husband, Dan Hicks, who is a NBC sportscaster, returned home a short time later with the couple’s two other children to find her in pain.

Storm will host ABC’s telecast of the 2013 Rose Parade today.

A Greenwich man was arrested over the weekend for pulling a gun on a neighbor during an argument.

Raffaele LaPietra, of 41 Alexander Street Apt. B, was charged with two counts of second breach of peace, two counts of threatening, two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, failure to secure a loaded firearm and risk of injury to a minor.

Neighbor Scott Karsen told police he and 43-year-old LaPietra, who share a common driveway outside their Chickahominy residence, had been arguing over space when LaPietra pulled out a weapon, which police later said was registered, and pointed it at him in a threatening manner.

After taking statements from all parties, officers arrested both men and Karsen was charged with breach of peace.

It’s unclear why LaPietra was charged with risk of injury to a minor.

Damn, Kelly Rippa lives very large.

The South Jersey native just put her Manhattan apartment on the market for $24.5 million.

The “Live with Kelly and Michael” co-host and her hunky husband, Mark Consuelos, purchase the 6,800sq-foot, five-bedroom loft at 76 Crosby Street in SoHo in 2005 for $9.1 million.  They did massive renovations, but all-in-all if they get their asking price they will be walking away with a HUGE profit.

Rumor has it that Mark and Kelly are looking for a place in Greenwich to share with their three children.

An elderly New York City couple escaped serious injuries when their car flipped over at Todd’s Point over the weekend.

The couple was taking a leisure ride at the point on Saturday when the 69-year-old male driver lost control of his car while turning near the Greenwich Boat and Yacht Club area.

The red car flipped over and landed on its roof.

The unnamed couple escaped without injuries.

It’s unclear what caused the driver to lose control of his vehicle.

Those of us who live, work and play in Greenwich, Connecticut consider this community a very comfortable and luxurious place to live, and for the most part it is, but occasionally there can be trouble in Paradise. This is one such story.

 In 2011 Gerald Jones, my co-author on “Greenwich Secrets” relocated to southeastern New Mexico in the hope of finding a slower, quieter and cheaper way of life.  Armed with a masters degree from Yale University and another from Fordham Jerry anticipated no problems in finding a job. In fact he expected a position to open for him teaching at a small local college.

His well laid plans came to nothing as he discovered a very closed, bias and employee unfriendly atmosphere in the far right wing town of Roswell (of UFO fame) so after 14 harrowing and difficult months Jerry headed back to Greenwich, a place he has called home in years past, arriving just two weeks before Hurricane Sandy.

It was his hope to re-establish himself and return to life in this comfortable little town of affluence and prosperity.  Things, once again, did not go as planned. The already flagging economy was further dented by the aftermath of the hurricane and the job market in the New York City Metro Area, did not hold the promise that it once had.

So, now Jerry sits unemployed in our veritable Paradise scouring the internet for jobs in the fields that he is familiar and capable in, but to no avail. Six months of searching have come up with not even a single interview. It is a sad story of the economic situation that we are currently digging ourselves out of as a nation and as a community.

Jerry has experience in customer service, administration, corporate training, writing, education, public relations and promotion and yet the employment situation is a buyer’s market and a 53 year old is not considered a prime resource in today’s youth oriented work place. So, he sits day after day hitting the  job sites hoping to find some hope in the faceless and sterile online hiring practices of a system devoid of genuine human contact.  We wish him good luck, something he really needs in his life right about now.

If anyone has ideas, suggestions or assistance to offer Jerry you can contact him through the Greenwich Diva.

Authorities are investigating the death of a Greenwich man who died earlier today in a single vehicle accident on the Merritt Parkway.

The victim, who has been identified as Daniel Taylor was pronounced dead at Norwalk Hospital around 12:15 a.m.

Authorities said 38-year-old Taylor, of Pemberwick Road, was driving his BMW 740i south near Exit 40B when for unknown reasons he lost control of the vehicle and ended up down an embankment in the vicinity of Creeping Hemlock Drive.

Taylor, who was alone in the vehicle, was rushed to the hospital where he died.

It is believed Taylor was on his way home when the accident occurred.

Name the Greenwich housewife who illegally rented out her estranged father-in-law’s Backcountry estate.

According to sources, the housewife was going through a NASTY divorce and was strapped for money so she placed an ad on Craigslist asking for $3,000 for the servant’s quarters.  When her father-in-law found him he had everyone removed from the property but now the housewife refuses to return the money.

I heard she got a large deposit!

I am not a lawyer but I am guessing this is illegal…isn’t it?

I guess she needs to go to her minister and confess or maybe she already did!!!

A former student from a prestigious all-boys school in Greenwich has come forward to say he was sexually assaulted by a teacher during the 1980’s.

The Brunswick School alumnus told school officials the alleged crime occurred while he was at summer camp in New York state.

A letter was sent home to parents on Tuesday informing parents that the former student, who has not been identified, contacted them several days ago to inform them that while he was a student in the middle school he was sexually assaulted by a teacher.

Headmaster Thomas Philip told parents that although the alleged crime did not occur on school premises because it involved a former student and a former employee they felt it was necessary to notify them.

Philip said the teacher, whom he did not name, left the school almost 30 years ago; however, he did not say whether he resigned or if he was asked to leave.

Greenwich Police Department and the Department of Children and Families have been notified about the alleged crime; however Police Capt. Timothy Berry said since the incident did not occur in his jurisdiction GPD would not conducting an investigation.

An 18-year-old Greenwich girl turned herself over to police this week after a warrant was issued for her arrest over a January 11, 2013 accident in Stamford that almost killed two people.

Stamford police said an intoxicated Alexa Stafford was traveling westbound on North State Street when she ran a red light and drove her Ford Focus into a Mitsubishi Galant driven by 28-year-old Mallisai Itha, of Stamford, who was traveling northbound on Canal Street.

Itha suffered some minor injuries however a front seat passenger in his car was nearly killed in the accident.  The 31-year-old passenger spent three weeks in the hospital on a ventilator.

A back seat passenger in Itha’s vehicle suffered a broken collar bone.

Authorities said Stafford’s blood alcohol content was above 0.08, the legal limit for adult drivers.

Stafford, of 8 Rusitc View Road, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a motor vehicle and a single count of driving while under the influence, illegal possession of alcohol b a minor, reckless driving and failure to obey a traffic control signal.

She was released after posting $25,000 bond.

A Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation member has been charged with drunken driving.

Republican Gregory R. Bedrosian, of 25 Pecksland Road, was arrested around 2:00 a.m. after he was spotted by an officer veering his 2012 Audi A6 across the double yellow line on Arch Street.

The officer pulled Bedrosian’s vehicle over and while speaking with him he detected a strong smell of alcohol. 46-year-old  Bedrosian was given a field sobriety test, which he failed.

It wasn’t immediately known whether Bedrosian plans to step down from the BET.

A Greenwich Saks Fifth Avenue employee is accused of stealing merchandise from the upscale store and reselling them through the internet.

Thirty-year-old store security guard Mario A. Chavez, of Port Chester, was charged last Wednesday with first-degree larceny.

Police were first alerted to the theft by someone who witnessed “suspicious” transactions occurring outside the Greenwich Avenue store.

According to a police report, an investigation began November 2012 after Saks Fifth Avenue “received information that Chavez may be responsible for theft.” Police spokesman Lt. John Brown said more than $65,000 in apparel including shoes, purses and coats were reported missing.

As of press time $40,000 worth of the items were recovered.

Chavez, who was released from police custody after posting a $5,000 bond, is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford tomorrow.

Authorities said Chavez stole about $67,000 worth of merchandise.