To the Editor:

Dear representatives of Newtown,

My family has lived in Newtown for 36 years. We have long realized what a jewel our small, independent hometown newspaper, The Newtown Bee, is. At a time when most news has been digitalized and consolidated under regional and national franchises, having true local journalism and a printed paper is important and worth protecting.

With the many financial pressures on small independent newspapers, the requirement for publication of official notices in the printed paper is a regular source of income that they cannot afford to lose. [See editorial, June 4, 2021, The Newtown Bee] I urge you to remove the section of HB 6641 that requires municipal notices to be published on the website instead of in the printed paper.

Please support local news.

Thank you for your consideration,

Barbara Richardson

31 Osborne Hill Road Extension, Sandy Hook June 11, 2021

Editor’s note: Rep Mitch Bolinsky notified The Newtown Bee this week that HB 6641, to which the writer refers, “has been folded into the much broader, 88-page, HB-6448, as amended by LCO 10181, ‘An Act Concerning Access to Local Government, the Modernization of Local Government Operations, Regional Councils of Government and the Provision of Outdoor Dining,’” and that “References directing notice only to electronic means no longer exist.”