To The Editor:

Okay, so the gloves are off. The AmyBeth Laroche team attacked the Newtown Bee for publishing a Letter to the Editor about Ms. Laroche’s car tax issue. The Bee did nothing wrong, was substantively accurate and honored the 1st Amendment. But enough of that. Let me share a specific example of Newtown Bee excellence ... Bee journalist, Sam Cross.

Since 1877 Newtown has been blessed with an outstanding weekly newspaper. I can’t even think of Newtown without it. We are extremely fortunate to have the Smith and entire Bee family working so dedicatedly to keeping us informed about what’s happening around Town. (Transparency — my youngest daughter, a journalism major, did a summer internship with the Bee, so I have some direct knowledge as to that dedication factor).

With that said (not at the expense of any other Bee journalists), I want to comment on the outstanding reporting of Sam Cross. Ms. Cross covers the Borough among other areas. She attends Board of Burgess meetings and more. Her accuracy, thoroughness and readability are exceptional. But that isn’t why I’m writing this Letter, either. I’m writing because I want to commend her for the recent coverage of our farming community. I have lived in Newtown for more than 35 years. I thought I knew a lot about our local dairy, fruit, vegetable, flower and garden businesses. Well, I was happy to learn there was much I didn’t know. I learned so much from her articles in the Bee, and the human aspect to the reporting makes me wish we could have an update every other month.

Too often people only shout out to complain. This is a shout out of “Well Done!”

Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Newtown Bee!

Jim Gaston

Newtown