Amazing news out of Atlanta this week, when it was formally announced that the next president of CNN will be Chris Licht. The former executive producer of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and “CBS This Morning” on CBS, Chris is currently the showrunner of “The Late Show” and executive vice president of special programming at ViacomCBS. Locally, of course, we know him as a Newtown native who at age 9 tracked down an NBC correspondent while on vacation to solicit advice for a career in television; son of Peter and Susan, who still live and work right here in town; husband to Jenny, and dad of two sons. Chris, 50, is expected to formally move into his new position in May, once Discovery merges with WarnerMedia. Regardless of how one feels about CNN and its reporting, from one newsroom to another we can all agree on this: Huge, huge congratulations to Chris and his entire family.

Speaking of change, the new page on the calendar means another month of free walk-in COVID vaccination clinics in town, although we are certainly hoping that even the number of those will begin to dwindle soon. Nurse Practitioner Nancy Rhodes continues to coordinate many of the in-town events, working with Griffin Health and Connecticut Department of Public Health. As of this week, the clinics have moved once more, this time to Newtown Community Center. There is an adult (ages 12 and up) clinic planned for Monday, March 7, and then a pediatrics clinic (for ages 3-8) planned for Friday March 25. Check our calendars in print (always on page A-2) and online for full details. Reservations are not available for these clinics, but Nancy is always happy to answer questions. The Newtown resident can be reached by calling 845-641-7277.

Want to meet Nancy without going through a clinic? She will be the featured guest next week when C.H. Booth Library hosts an author program on Thursday, March 10, when she will talk about her book, Caregiver Success. See this week's paper for a sneak peek at the program and/or our calendars for additional details.

Interested in joining the local American Legion Post? Not sure what its mission is, but curious? American Legion Post 202, which serves Newtown and Brookfield, is planning a Coffee & Donut Meet & Greet next weekend. The event will be at Brookfield Town Hall, 100 Pocono Road in Brookfield, on Saturday, March 12, from 9 am to noon, and everyone is welcome. Membership is open to veterans, active duty, Reserve or National Guard members, as well as any spouse, parent, daughter or son, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the aforementioned. Newtown resident Donna Monteleone is the current Acting Commander. She says the organization is a great way to meet people and make new friends, get involved in our community, schools, participate in events, and more. Reservations are not needed but additional information is available by contacting Monteleone at 203-577-9568 or AmericanLegionNewtown@gmail.com.

Newtown State Representatives Mitch Bolinsky (R-106), Tony Scott (R-112), and Raghib Allie-Brennan (R-2) and State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28) are joining FAITH Food Pantry, 46 Church Hill Road (behind St Rose of Lima Church), in asking residents to support donations for cat and dog food, both wet and dry, during the pantry’s next monthly food drive. “During tough economic times, especially with the rising cost of human and pet food, and other essential goods due to high inflation, pet owners are being forced to choose on whether to buy food for themselves or their pet,” an announcement reads. Volunteers and the delegates will be collecting donations on Saturday, March 5, between 10 am and noon.

Want to get an early start on Lose The Litter and still have time to visit Newtown Earth Day Festival this spring? Newtown Lions Club will be hosting its annual springtime roadside clean-up event on Saturday, April 23. Initially scheduled to begin at 10 am, the club will instead start offering road assignments and hanging out garbage bags and disposable gloves instead at 9 am. They’ll be at the front lawn of Newtown Middle School on Queen Street … where, coincidentally, the Earth Day Festival will also be returning, that same day. The festival is scheduled for 10 am to 4 pm, giving those who help clean up a roadside or two plenty of time to return to Queen Street for the family-friendly event filled with environmental organizations, local service groups, vendors, refreshments, live entertainment and much more.

Big thanks this week to former resident and self-proclaimed “recovering journalist” Scott Rutherford, who shared a fabulous link on our Facebook page recently. After we posted a photo of Newtown General Store — teasing the publication of “ABCs of Newtown: G is for General Store” by Shannon Hicks in our February 18, 2022 print edition — Scott found a link that takes viewers to something Shannon missed in her story: the Breyer’s Ice Cream commercial filmed many years ago at 43 Main Street. Shannon picked up on some Rheingold commercials filmed there in September 1965, but missed the 1970s Breyer’s commercial. Visit oddballfilms.com and put Breyer’s Ice Cream Newtown CT into the search bar. Then sit back and enjoy the 30-second spot. We did!

In case you missed Jim Taylor’s “Revaluation ‘Update’ Ramping Up For 2022 With Vendor Hired” story in last week’s paper, here’s a reminder that Vision Government Solutions has been hired by the Town of Newtown to begin the latest town-wide revaluation project. This year’s revaluation is an “update revaluation,” meaning that it is mostly based on the sales of the last few years and the only home inspections are of homes that have been recently sold, as well as looking at any current construction. It will determine where the values of all properties have gone since the last revaluation in 2017. There are five major phases to a municipal revaluation: Data collection, market analysis, valuation, field review, and informal hearings. During these phases over 100 tasks will be implemented in order to successfully complete the revaluation. The data collection phase, which started this month, is where the town currently is, with two inspectors from Vision going around town looking at homes that were recently sold and new construction. The Assessor’s Office, the First Selectman’s Office and the Police Department all have the names, cars and license plate numbers of these inspectors. If residents have questions about individuals who may be inspecting their homes, they should feel free to call any of those three agencies to confirm if it is a Vision inspector. Additionally, the inspectors will be wearing name tags to help identify them.

Did you know that Turning The Page, Books Etc, 477 Main Street in Monroe, which is owned by Newtown resident Pia Ledina, hosts events? It has a virtual visit with middle grade author Michael D. Beil set for March 10, just to name the first event coming up. From the book store’s weekly newsletter, I learned that March is slated to have a number of events and April is quickly filling up fast too. Check turningthepagebooks.com for store hours and for more upcoming events.

Newtown Community Center Director Matt Ariniello announced this week that “In alignment with the Office of Early Childhood and the Department of Public Health, Newtown Community Center will release mask mandates for all youth program participants regardless of vaccination status. The facility will operate as a mask optional facility. Those who continue to wear their mask will be supported in their choice and masks will be readily available at the Community Center Welcome Desk. While we are happy to see things moving in a positive direction, we ask that you continue to monitor for any symptoms of COVID-19 or other illnesses and refrain from entering our facilities or programs if you are unwell.”

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. On Fat Tuesday, Bee employees adapted that sentiment and instead told each other: “Don’t choke on the plastic baby.” When a king cake was shared this week in the Newtown Bee office — having taken a circuitous route from the award-winning Sugar Love Bakery in Slidell, La., to two stops in Newtown before finding its way to 5 Church Hill Road — it was a happy way to step into the season of Lent. For the uninitiated, King Cakes are a Mardi Gras tradition, a sweet bread covered with yellow, green and purple sugars, with a plastic baby baked right in to the cake. The person lucky enough to find the baby within their slice becomes king or queen for the day. Fortunately for everyone in our office, Lynn Remson was first to cut into the cake and found the baby when she made her slice. According to at least one online source, finding the baby also means that person provides the king cake the following year. We’ll let Lynn know that part of her win eventually.

I am excited for this new month, and I will be even more excited next week if you promise to... Read me again.