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Organizers Say ‘Think Outside The Bait Box’ A Huge Success

Published: Apr 18, 2026 7:45 am

On Saturday, April 4, Think Outside the Bait Box was held at Newtown Community Center.

Sponsored by Newtown Conservation Commission, the informative program was intended to bring awareness of the harm caused by rodenticide anticoagulant pesticides used in bait boxes placed around homes and buildings and responsible for secondary poisonings of birds, owls, hawks, foxes, pets, and even children.

Guest speaker Christine Cummings from a Place Called Hope Rehabilitation Center in Killingworth brought ambassador Koso, an adorable eastern screech owl and miraculous survivor of rodenticide poisoning.

Nicole Rivard, Friends for Animals, and Joshua Levin, CT Votes for Animals, also enlightened attendees to the issues and solutions to protect wildlife, pets, and children from rodenticide poisonings.

Organizers say the event was well attended and those who were there felt it was an excellent and enlightening program on a serious issue.

Koso, a screech owl, was the star of “Think Outside the Bait Box,” presented April 4 by Newtown Conservation Commission. Koso has the rare experience of being poisoned by rodenticides and surviving. —Bee Photos, Glass

Christine Cummings from A Place Called Hope was the main speaker during “Think Outside the Bait Box.” Cummings discussed the dangers of using rodenticides and their negative impact on birds, animals, and even children. —Bee Photos, Glass

Emily Whittaker (left), Newtown’s Municipal Animal Control officer, and Adria Henderson, who has been on the Newtown Animal Control Board for 11 years, were also on hand to help the audience members understand the depth of the problem rodenticides are causing to wildlife and children. —Bee Photos, Glass

Newtown Conservation Commission hosted "Think Outside the Bait Box" on April 4 at Newtown Community Center. —Bee Photos, Glass

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So your counterpoint is that The Bee prints the same number of pages regardless of how much content appears in it. If that is true, then I stand corrected. I actually doubt that is the case.

Elections Have Consequences XXIV

Thank you for continuing to read my letters and bringing attention to them. As I said the last time you went through this tortured calculation, the Bee would be printing the same number of pages with or without my contributions. Why not spend your time writing a letter to the editor trumpeting all the great triumphs you think Trump has accomplished?

The Bee publishes about 3,800(1) copies each week. This is now the 24th installment of “Trump’s Triumphs,” and these pieces generally run about 9 to 11 column inches each. Given the Bee’s broadsheet page size of 16.75" by 22.75" — or roughly 136 column inches per full page — that means this series has consumed the equivalent of about 6,700 full broadsheet pages over 24 installments, or roughly 0.42 acres of paper surface. If those pages were laid down end to end, sheet by sheet, they would stretch from the flagpole all the way to the transfer station — about 2.4 miles. On the theme of Earth Day, it is worth remembering that at some point, it stops being civic discourse and starts looking like a remarkable waste of paper. Source figures: 3,800 copies per week, approximately 10 column inches per installment, 136 column inches per full page, 7.35% of a page per installment, across 24 installments.

I strongly urge the Board of Selectmen to reject this proposal.

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Excellent forum hosted by these young college students. They posed difficult but very important questions, especially about the increasing costs of living in Newtown; what qualifications and qualities Brandon Moore, the candidate for CT State Representative that appeared for the forum, brings; the candidate's ability to lead; and the ability to make difficult choices. Brandon Moore was impressive. He was on point and focused on improving the quality of life of Newtown residents. My husband and I were huge opponents to his candidacy, believing some of the things that have turned out to be untrue, but thankfully we asked a lot of questions and observed a lot behind the scenes, and Brandon Moore is a solid, knowledgeable, honest and strong candidate.

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Organizers Say ‘Think Outside The Bait Box’ A Huge Success

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