A chilly, wet start to this Memorial Day weekend will only get better the closer we get to the actual holiday, according to the National Weather Service. Most of today, howev er, will be a washout in southwestern Connecticut, with periodic showers, gray skies and breezy conditions. Tonight, there remains a 40 percent chance of showers, with temperatures falling to a chilly low of about 40 degrees.

Ahead by a goal at halftime, second-seeded New Canaan held fourth-seeded Greenwich scoreless in the second half in its 8-5 victory in the championship game of the FCIAC Tournament at rainy Brien McMahon High School. Junior Henry Stanton, the game's MVP, tallied twice, while senior captain Puck Richardson had a goal and three assists for the Rams, who beat Ridgefield in last season's conference title tilt. Greenwich, which suffered a 12-0 regular season loss to New Canaan and was eliminated by the Rams in last year's FCIAC quarterfinals, received two goals apiece from senior attack Will Gibian and junior attack James Paradise. The Cardinals won the opening faceoff and scored on its second possession, as Gibian converted a shot from close in 1:48 into the opening quarter. Gibian put a shot from the perimeter past Rams junior goalie Trent Nader (12 saves), giving the Cardinals a 2-1 edge with 7:53 left in the first quarter, but the lead was short lived, as Kraus tallied the equalizer a minute later. After Paradise scored off Alex Moeser's setup, senior Duke Repko and Richardson found the back of the net, putting the Rams ahead, 4-3, after an action-packed first quarter. Nader had another strong game in goal for the Rams, as did senior William Waesche (9 saves) for Greenwich, which played the second half without leading scorer Kyle Foote, who suffered an undisclosed injury in the opening half.

At halftime of its FCIAC championship clash with archrival New Canaan at Brien McMahon High School on Friday, the Darien girls lacrosse team found itself in fairly uncharted territory: Up to that point, New Canaan had limited the effectiveness of Darien's usually potent attack by possessing the ball and slowing the pace In the second half, however, an eight-goal output by the Blue Wave provided them with the margin necessary to capture the FCIAC championship, 12-10. Playing in rain that ranged from steady to a downpour, the Blue Wave took the lead for the last time when Emily Stein scored her fourth and final goal on a bounce shot with 7:31 remaining for the 10-9 lead. Darien gave itself a two-goal cushion with 6:03 left on the clock when game MVP Jena Fritts assisted Hollis Perticone. The Rams gave themselves a chance when Olivia Hompe assisted Bea Eppler with 1:46 remaining to cut the Blue Wave lead to 11-10. New Canaan briefly had possession after Kelly Armstrong won the draw, but Darien got it back and went to work on running out the clock. After taking a timeout, New Canaan stormed back to tie the game as Hompe assisted Lily Citrin before scoring the game-tying herself.

Repair crews fixed a cracked rail joint bar last month in the area of track on the Bridgeport border where an eastbound Metro-North train derailed last Friday and was struck by a second train, according to federal investigators. The joint repaired by the railroad in April is not the same one federal investigators have focused on after finding two pieces of rail broken apart at a joint bar at the scene of the crash last Friday evening which injured 76 people, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Nicholas Worrell said. Allen Zarembski, a rail engineering professor at the University of Delaware College of Engineering who worked for the American Association of Railroads for 27 years said that the underlying flaws that eventually develop into rail breakages at joints can remain barely detectable for years before rapidly progressing over a series of months to cause a derailment or other accident. During an interview, the engineer of the eastbound train told investigators that he observed something not right with the track ahead as he approached the Interstate 95 overpass, and that his train had ground to a halt before being struck, according to the announcement. Working through wireless radio frequency spectrum, a positive train control monitors the position and speed of trains throughout a railway and transmits necessary orders to on-board systems when it is determined that a train needs to stop to avoid a crash. Worrell said that NTSB investigators have collected a wide array of evidence including photos, video, data from on-board the railcars, and maintenance and inspection records for the trains involved in the crash.

The annual New Canaan Memorial Day Parade starts at 9:30 Monday morning in front of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 111 Oenoke Ridge, and will continue down Main Street culminating in a ceremony at Lakeview Cemetery. Russell Kimes, a lifelong New Canaanite, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2000 to 2008, and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 where he was the battalion intelligence noncommissioned officer.

The Board of Selectmen Tuesday morning approved $65,737 for the purchase of three used cars for the police department and fire marshal. First Selectman Robert Mallozzi added that the mechanics the town uses are only in those two brands, so there would also be a learning curve if the town went out and bought Toyotas. According to the best recollection of Town Administrator Tom Stadler, there is no ordinance that requires a request for proposal for such a purchase, or for any purchase. According to a search of the Town Charter, there is also no such mandate for a formal RFP.