The Board of Education unanimously hired Lorrie Rodrigue of Oxford to fill the position of principal at Newtown High School and Jill Bontatibus Beaudry of Newtown for the assistant principal position ...
Police Chief Michael Kehoe said May 16 that Lieutenant George Sinko, 49, who served as a town police officer for nearly 25 years, had submitted his letter of retirement from the police department, eff...
Connecticut Democrats poured into their state convention Friday, May 16 pledging that whatever it lacked in drama it would make up for in passion. The more than 1,800 delegates at the Connecticut Conv...
Approaching its 90th year as Newtown’s private land trust, the Newtown Forest Association (NFA) is seeking volunteers for an anniversary committee.
In an email appeal sent to supporters, the NFA asked...
First Selectman Pat Llodra is seeking residents to fill several opening on local appointed boards and commissions. In some cases the appointments are required to be affiliated with a specific politica...
UNCASVILLE — Tom Foley, who lost a historically close election for governor in 2010, was overwhelmingly endorsed Saturday by the Republican State Convention for a second try at defeating Democrat Dann...
The ripple effects of a half-million dollar grant Newtown received May 19 will have immediate and positive implications for property owners waiting to hook up to a new Hawleyville sewer line extension...
State Senator John McKinney (R-28), along with State Representaves Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) and Dan Carter (R-2), are inviting any interested Newtown residents to a legislative wrap-up on the just concl...
Police have added to their expanding list of local copper pipe thefts two incidents that occurred at vacant houses near the intersection of Sugar Street, West Street, and Boggs Hill Road.
In one case,...
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 :)
Shame on NAFC. Unless you have not read about the controversy surrounding why I left Michelle Ku’s campaign, I cannot understand why you would endorse a candidate that uses homophobic and stereotypical tactics to run a campaign. Ask her to share the texts sent to her committee involving “diva” and Spanish tshirts because “Brazilians” are moving into Newtown. As if Latinos are all Brazilian and don’t understand English. Shame on you.
Nothing says “community spirit” quite like declaring moral bankruptcy because voters didn’t fund your preferred project.
Apparently, approving basic infrastructure that everyone uses—like functional sidewalks and parking for a facility that all community members use and salt that keeps those touchpoints functional in winter—is now evidence of generational selfishness. The real irony isn’t in what passed or failed; it’s in accusing others of self-interest while insisting they should have voted for something you happen to value. That’s not “us”—that’s just a different version of “me.”
Voters weighed priorities and made a choice. Calling that “shameful” doesn’t elevate the argument—it just reveals how little tolerance there is for democratic outcomes that don’t go your way. If the takeaway is that more people should show up and vote, fair enough. But let’s not pretend disagreement is a character flaw. Sometimes the electorate simply decides that not every nice-to-have is a must-have.
Tom, I appreciate you sharing your perspective. My advocacy isn't about a personal 'vested interest' in a single field; it is about the Standard of Newtown.
While you categorize the salt shed and library parking as 'essential' and the turf as an 'upgrade,' I would argue they all fall under the same umbrella of maintaining town assets.
The Turf Field ($1.4M): This was a replacement project for a facility used by thousands of youth athletes, not a new 'luxury' add-on.
The Salt Shed ($1.2M) & Library Parking ($1.4M): These were passed at almost identical price points.
The point isn't to say these items aren't important; it’s to ask why we find the money for infrastructure that serves one demographic while claiming we are too 'fiscally strained' to fund infrastructure for another. When we categorize things we use as 'essential' and things our neighbors' children use as 'extras,' we aren't having an honest discussion about priorities, we are picking winners and losers.
The goal of my letter wasn't to be 'unproductive,' but to sound the alarm for the 82% of residents who didn't show up to the polls. We cannot be a community that only thrives in parts. If we want Newtown to remain a place where people want to move and raise families, we have to invest in the next generation with the same urgency we use to fix our parking lots.
