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Stragglers packed up belongings in cars, trucks and a least one pickup truck before an evacuation order took effect on Friday in a tiny village in eastern Switzerland that is facing an urgent rockslide threat.

As geologists and other experts in fluorescent vests took measurements on Friday, villagers and vacationers bared their emotion that the centuries-old Alpine village of Brienz — home to under 100 residents — could be soon be subsumed under spilling rock.

Swiss authorities say about 2 million cubic meters of rock on an Alpine mountainside overhead could soon come crashing down.

Erosion over generations has left the bald-faced mountainside white, gray and orange with exposed rock and earth, and a few boulders have already made their way onto the edge of the village in the verdant valley. One sat menacingly next to a small wood cabin.

The rumble of shifting ground, the sporadic crackle of rocks colliding, and the remains of dead trees and dirt sliding down the mountain facade Friday brought an eerie sense of portent to the village and underscored the rising urgency for locals to get out of town by the 6 p.m. deadline set by authorities.

Earlier this week, authorities upgraded the alert status to “orange,” which meant residents had to evacuate but could also return during the day to pick up belongings, if conditions allowed.

By Friday evening, authorities had raised the alert to “red” — meaning that no returns would be allowed for the foreseeable future, said Christian Gartmann, a member of the crisis management board in the town of Albula, which counts Brienz in its municipality.

One woman loaded up a pickup truck with a caged pet turtle, named Max, and other belongings as neighbors packed up cars and trucks, too. Barriers blocked off roads and a sign under a portable traffic light read: "Extreme danger of rockfall when red.”

A Zurich woman who has for years vacationed in the bucolic village stood back about 30 meters (100 feet) from a barrier on the edge of the village to look up worryingly at the mountainside.

Centuries-old Brienz straddles German- and Romansch-speaking parts of the eastern Graubunden region, sitting southwest of Davos at an altitude of about 1,150 meters (3,800 feet).

The mountain and the rocks on it have been moving since the last Ice Age, officials say. But on Tuesday, they said measurements indicated a “strong acceleration over a large area” in recent days, and “up to 2 million cubic meters of rock material will collapse or slide in the coming seven to 24 days.”

Gartmann said experts estimate a 60% chance the rock will fall in smaller chunks, which may not reach the village or the valley. The landslide could also move slowly. But there’s also a 10% chance that the rock mass may spill down, threatening lives, property and the village itself.

Glacier melt has affected the precariousness of the rocks over millennia, but melting glaciers due to “man-made” climate change in recent decades wasn’t a factor, he said.

Krishna Winston, Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, Emerita, and Professor, College of the Environment, Emerita, was recognized with the Tom ODell Distinguished Service Award by the Rockfall Foundation at a ceremony held Thursday, October 6.

The award, which recognizes long-term accomplishments in environmental conservation and preservation, was given for Winston’s many years of advocacy for the environment in Middletown.

Winston’s formal service to the City began in 1989 when she was appointed to the task force that designed Middletown’s recycling program. When mandatory recycling began in Connecticut two years later, she became the chair of Middletown’s Resource Recycling Advisory Commission, a position she still holds. Currently, she is a member of the Pollinator Pathway group and the City’s Clean Energy Task Force (CETF). In addition, Winston convenes the Sustainable Middletown Team, is president of the Jonah Center for Earth and Art and participates in the Environmental Collective Impact Network (ECoin).

“The Rockfall Foundation encounters many individuals in the Lower Connecticut River Valley who are working to improve the environment and to living a more sustainable lifestyle; no one is more dedicated to that effort than Krishna. She is a true environmental champion,” said Tony Marino, the foundation’s executive director. His interview with Krishna, pictured below can be viewed here.

Winston’s passion for the environment began long before she arrived in Middletown 50 years ago. It started as an outgrowth of her upbringing in southern Vermont. Growing up on a subsistence farm, with its hard work and isolation, had a lot to do with contributing to her connection to the environment and experiencing the rhythms of the seasons. Her family cooked with a wood stove, heated the house with a coal furnace, owned a Jersey cow, and raised much of their food. Experiencing this way of life and helping with seasonal chores like haying and maple-sugaring, she learned “where things came from and where they ended up.”

Having parents who worked at home gave her a work ethic and influenced her perspective on work-life balance. “Work is life if you do what you love,” Winston said.

Winston’s interest in recycling work came from a childhood where the family repurposed everything. “When I first arrived in Middletown, I looked for recycling and found the drop-off at the City Yard,” Winston said.

When one of her former students, Janet Brooks ’75, who had become an environmental attorney, started a petition to the Common Council to establish a Recycling Task Force, Winston not only signed the petition but also joined the Task Force. “I stayed on the task force for one or two years, and [Krishna] stayed forever. I didn’t realize I was starting a 30-year passing of the baton,” Brooks said.

From that early connection, Winston has contributed to sustainability in Middletown in numerous ways. This summer, she spent four hours almost every week at the Farmers’ Market on the Green, educating shoppers on recycling and salvaging food waste for composting. She has also promoted recycling and sustainability at Wesleyan, serving on committees and developing a course called “The Simple Life.”

Her work ethic has impressed her fellow CETF members and is an example of community engagement, linking Wesleyan and Middletown together. “Krishna is one of the most active volunteers on the Clean Energy Task Force. Whether helping pull together an Energy Plan, working through the Climate Emergency Resolution that was passed unanimously by the Common Council, or compiling information on Energy Coordinator job descriptions, Krishna’s expertise and sharp eye have been invaluable,” said Anna Salo-Markowski, Chair of the Middletown Clean Energy Task Force and Development Associate at Wesleyan University.

Equity is a big part of Winston’s sustainability efforts. She finds it frustrating that much environmental activism doesn’t connect directly with social justice. However, Winston is gratified that sustainability awareness is growing, filtering down to initiatives that work with younger children, like school gardens. “I am eager to spread the word and work with the low-income and minority populations who always bear the brunt of environmental abuses and crises,” Winston said.

Despite the challenges, Winston exemplifies pragmatic idealism and remains hopeful, “One thing at a time, step by step.”

Much like her work translating German literature into English, Krishna has translated lessons about the environment from her childhood into a commitment to environmental sustainability, from which she hopes the Wesleyan and Middletown communities will benefit future generations.

Key Takeaways:

OSF OnCall, the digital health arm of OSF HealthCare, joined with Imaging Centers of Illinois LLC to celebrate the opening of a modern retail imaging center that will serve a wide area and numerous communities in the Sterling-Rock Falls region. The center will offer low-cost imaging services in an easy-to-access location, at the intersection of First Avenue, state Route 40 and U.S. Highway 30.

OnCall Imaging is located within 7,800 square feet of the former Illinois Bank & Trust Building at 1609 1^st Avenue, with convenient, on-site parking. The building has been renovated to provide a welcoming, easy-to-navigate atmosphere and has been equipped with state-of-the-art, non-invasive imaging technology to offer 3D mammography, X-rays, ultrasound, CTs, MRIs and Dexa scans for bone density.

A blessing of the building was followed by a ribbon cutting involving several Chambers of Commerce in the region. OnCall Imaging will be open for screening and diagnostic services October 30.

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We know often when a person needs to get imaging completed, they can need it quickly for a diagnosis. So, we made sure to offer same-day options with self-scheduling or walk-in appointments. Quick, convenient access to affordable imaging services can make a critical difference in treatment approaches for diseases such as cancer.

Jennifer Junis, Senior Vice President Digital Health, OSF OnCall

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Junis added, “We believe this new center will offer a timely level of service, clinical excellence, and transparency with upfront pricing listed on the OnCall Imaging website (oncallimaging.net) that will help us fulfill our OSF Mission to serve with the greatest care and love.”

On Call Imaging is prepared to help physicians and advance practice providers optimize diagnostic evaluations for patients, communicate results and recommendations, and provide innovative solutions for improving the patient experience.

“I am pretty connected in the community, and I heard regularly from individuals and insurers that this type of imaging facility was needed,” stressed Pete Harkness who is among the lead investors in the joint venture. “This is about seeing an important gap in health care services in the region, and joining forces to provide a sustainable option to ensure imaging can be provided when it’s needed and within a reasonable distance for residents in the region.”

Currently, there is no retail imaging center in Lee and Whiteside counties.

MIDDLEFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) — A home on Ross Road in Middlefield has become the focus of several complaints because tires keep piling up on the property.

News 8 spoke with the homeowner’s son, Salvatore Russo, who said he started collecting tires for a wall that was approved to be built. He said he’s collected about 4,000 so far.

Not only do they fill the backyard of his mother’s Ross Road home, but now some are in the front yard as well.

“Would you want to buy a house on that road? Jerry Finch, a Middlefield resident asked. “Come on.”

Finch and other neighbors say they have been complaining about the property to the town and state for years,and now the tires have gotten out of hand.

“I’m on the conservation commission, and you know, unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Finch said. “We know that’s a breeding grown for mosquitos, but again, it’s falling on deaf ears.”

News 8 spoke with the first selectman and said a cease and correct order was issued about four months ago but was ignored. After that, a citation was issued, fining the owner $150 a day. The next step would be taking the owner to court. The owner’s son, however, said he is working with the zoning officer in town to try to avoid that.

“Somebody called the DEEP, or whatever, and then they went to where I was getting rid of the tires, and then the tire place where I was getting rid of them said I can’t bring them no more,” Russo said.

He said he is trying to get rid of the tires and the ones in front of the house are ones he has moved from the backyard. He also said getting the tires taken away isn’t going to be cheap.

“They said it will be three trucks, $1,300 each truck, and they’ll come out here,” Russo said.

He also said it hasn’t been easy.

“Right now, like I said, I put off my back surgery, and I had to go back to work to get rid of these,” Russo said.

Removing the tires may not come soon enough for his neighbors’ liking.

“God forbid if those ever caught on fire, you would not be able to put those out,” Finch said.

After 20 years working in "corporate America," Jill Serra decided it was time for a career change.

The Seymour resident spent Thursday afternoon setting up the latest addition to the Rich Farm Ice Cream franchise at 1 Lorraine Terrace in Middlefield, where Wood and Smoke BBQ used to run seasonally until 2019. Serra opened up her business in tune with the July 4 holiday, just as the original stand in Oxford did. She held a soft opening to work out any kinks the next day, and enjoyed a fair number of customers hungry for the cold treats on hot summer days.

“I’m excited about this new beginning [and] new chapter in our lives,” she said.

Serra has long been a fan of the company’s slow-churned, small-batch ice cream since it opened its first stand in Oxford in 1994. Her personal favorite flavors are black raspberry and coconut. The five-generation family farm dates back to 1950, and was originally named Ajello’s Farm, after Raffaele Ajello, the great-grandfather of Dan Rich, who launched the ice cream business adjacent to the farm. Rich Farm has three other ice cream stand locations in Connecticut (Oxford, Bristol and Brookfield) and another in Placentia, Calif., run by a family member.

Serra said she and other franchise staff members had been searching for a new location for a couple of years before the Middlefield location came on the market. The location provides the same open atmosphere as the other locations, with cows grazing nearby and six picnic tables, Serra said, and customers are already bringing blankets and sitting out on the grass while their kids run around.

“... I am excited to be part of the [Rich Farm] family. It’s a high-traffic location and has a good feel,” she said.

Serra passed her health department inspections last week, and, in the run-up to the holiday weekend, spent most of her time making batches of ice cream. The stand will be open daily from noon to 9 p.m. through Dec. 22.

To ensure brand consistency, the location will carry the same two dozen everyday flavors as the other shops, as well as seasonal flavors such as Irish cream (in March), Cowabunga (June), and upcoming fall blends, including pumpkin Oreo and caramel apple.

There is also a rotating list of specialty flavors, such as salted caramel bacon, lemon meringue pie, cinnamon bun, Hawaiian cow, Fluffernutter and the popular Jersey cow.

Besides traditional ice cream, which uses all-natural ingredients, dairy-free and sugar-free options are also available including dairy-free chocolate peanut butter swirl. The ice cream contains no corn syrup, growth hormones, polysorbates or phosphates, Serra said. Serra notes she will have fresh waffle cones daily and expects to soon add soft serve to the menu. She will also make ice cream cakes and other holiday treats the parent company is already known for, such as ice cream cannolis and ice cream pies.

"I believe in the product," she said. "It’s a premium mix that we use that makes the ice cream very rich and creamy. And it's just delicious."

That product has earned Rich Farm multiple accolades on both the state and national levels. Hearst Connecticut readers voted Rich Farm as the state’s best ice cream shop in 2021 and 2023, and this year it was featured on Yelp's list of the country's top 100 ice cream shops based on customer reviews. Rich Farm Ice Cream was also recognized as a Dairy Farm of Distinction by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.

Rich Farm Ice Cream is unlike other ice cream shops, Serra said. “We use high- quality ingredients and it’s made fresh daily on premises."

The Middlefield location will be open on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m., Serra said. Starting Saturday, the shop will be open from noon to 9 p.m. daily. For information, visit Rich Farm Ice Cream, Middlefield on Facebook.