Date: Fri 10-Apr-1998

By SHANNON HICKS

Published: Aug 13, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNON

Quick Words:

Tydes-Asylum-Bosstones-104

Full Text:

ON THE ROAD/SHANNON HICKS

At next weekend's free radio 104 concert to celebrate Earth Day, MIND TYDES

will be among the roster of performing bands. The Earth Day show is Sunday,

April 19, all afternoon, at Bushnell Park in Hartford. Admission is free.

The Newtown foursome will also be included in the station's Radio 104Fest,

which is coming to the Meadows in Hartford on Monday, May 18. That's a lousy

day to be presenting an all-day concert, but when you consider most of these

"day-long" festivals don't get underway until after 2 pm or so, it isn't too

bad. Radio 104Fest, if you have somehow managed to miss any of the ten or so

spots for the concert the station plays daily within every hour, will feature

MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES, BARENAKED LADIES, SOUL ASYLUM, FASTBALL, CHERRY

POPPIN' DADDIES, K'S CHOICE, GUSTER and PURE, among others. The show is

scheduled to have 20 bands in all. Tickets are $25 for reserved seats, $20 for

the pavilion, or you can try about 17 times a day to win them from the radio

station...

The concert marks the first announced outdoor show for the Meadows' fourth

summer season. Hurrah!

Heard from ETHEL KAUFMAN this week. She is one of the "friends" who performs

with Al Grammatico and friends, a quartet that performs American standards of

the 20s to the 60s. The group will be at One Front Street in Bethel on

Wednesday, April 22, beginning at 7 pm. Reservations are suggested if you plan

to get there in time for dinner, but there is no cover charged to simply enjoy

the music. The restaurant is at, well, 1 Front Street (on the corner with

Greenwood Avenue). Hard to miss it. Details, call 778-5253.

Why on earth do people still insist on planning and building supermarkets with

zillions of cash registers across the front of the store if store management

is never going to have all the registers open at the same time? Until next

week, I'll be seeing you... on the road.

COA Welcomes New Alternate, Discusses Senior Alliance

BOE Recognizes 2026 Profiles In Professionalism Honorees

C.H. Booth Library Hosted Another Successful Volunteer Fair

Fire Reports | April 28-May 4, 2026

Well that is some spin. The Democrats have a super majority on the LC and passed the Education Budget without serious consideration of if the voters could afford the multi million dollar increase. "Was the request justified?" rather than "is this needed?" and "can the voters shoulder yet another large increase?" The voters rightly sent it back. Then for some reason all the discussion around reductions to the increase seemed to be coming from the classroom, rather than administration and overhead costs. Is this a coercive tactic to manipulate parents into supporting the budget like tacit threat of cutting freshman sports was two years ago? Who believes the Democrats did not caucus privately before the meeting and came in with a number already worked out? This is the Dems budget, they own it.

Education Cuts: Who Voted For What

I think it is important that we do not villainize every black box seen around a home, business, farm, or municipal property. A black exterior station does not always mean rat poison is being used. These stations can hold a number of different products, including monitoring blocks, snap traps, non-toxic bait, anti-tick bait stations, organic salt- or cornmeal-based control products, and newer fertility-control approaches intended to reduce rodent populations without traditional poisons. The better conversation, in my opinion, is not simply “black boxes are bad,” but rather: what is inside them, who is maintaining them, and whether the rodent issue is being managed responsibly. Exclusion, sanitation, trapping, habitat reduction, and careful monitoring should all be part of a responsible IPM strategy. To be fair, on my own property I do use rodenticides, including Bromethalin and Bromadiolone, in secured bait stations. But that is a choice I make for my property, based on my circumstances and the risk I am trying to manage. I also believe property owners should understand the tradeoffs and be encouraged to use the least harmful effective method whenever possible. I support protecting Newtown’s wildlife. I also support giving residents accurate information and not assuming that every black box represents reckless or unsafe pest control. The goal should be responsible rodent management, not fear of the box itself.

Discusses Policy Against Rodenticides

Debora, thank you! I accidentally doubled the project prices by adding the bond to the appropriation. Thank you so much for catching that and pointing it out. With the corrected numbers, the voters approved a combined $1.32 million for a salt shed ($600k) and library pavement ($720k), while rejecting the $1.12 million replacement turf. Regarding the 80s, I truly respect the hurdle of 14% mortgage rates. My point is simply that the math has shifted: in 1980, while the rates were higher, the price of a home relative to earnings was significantly lower. We are facing a different, but equally crushing, financial wall. Ultimately, it is disheartening that voters who recognized safe sidewalks and parking lots as essential, dismissed a playing field in the exact same condition. The turf has passed its life cycle and is just as much of a liability as the library’s pavement, the only difference is that this safety concern affects thousands of children who, coincidentally, cannot vote. These are apples-to-apples needs. I was hopeful our community would agree that all Newtown residents deserve safe conditions, regardless of which facility they utilize. Again, I would be remiss not to mention that when 82% of residents don’t show up, we have to deal with the interests of those who did. Hopefully, the next referendum will have a bigger turnout.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Thanks for the reply. I meant the numbers you presented in your letter. I found one place where other numbers were listed: https://www.newtownbee.com/04232026/get-out-and-vote-on-the-2026-27-proposed-municipal-and-school-budgets/?q=\\\%22advisory%20questions\\\%22. In that article, the numbers were cited as: Treadwell field: $1,125,000 Library: $720,000 Salt Storage: $600,000 As one who started out in the early 80's when inflation was double digits, my 1985 mortgage rate was 14%, and child care costs were comparable (in present value), I shared your grief but never considered the voters ironic or shameful. PS. I agree college tuition is ridiculous. Thankfully, universities are offering (or considering) waiving all or most tuition for middle class families (upwards of $200,000 incomes). Hopefully, they'll also reconsider their need for those funds in the first place.

Sure! Child care costs: https://www.ffyf.org/2022/10/13/data-child-care-prices-continue-to-rise-ahead-of-midterm-elections-outpacing-inflation/ (also from 2021-2025 we had 2 children in a local daycare in Newtown and it cost us $3200 a month, so that's a number I am very familiar with) Home price / median price vs income source: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/home-price-income-ratios Tuition increase vs inflation: https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/noting-a-decline-in-middle-class-students-colleges-provide-more-aid/ Hope this helps :)

Log In

Date: Fri 10-Apr-1998

Leave a Reply Cancel reply