News

Holiday Celebration Will Be Twice As Bright In Sandy Hook

By Kendra Bobowick

Published: November 08, 2013 12:00 am

The annual holiday tree lighting in Sandy Hook Center will have an extra glow this year. Organizers will decorate and light two trees during December’s holiday festival — the evergreen on The Glen nex...

NAA Planning December 12 Volunteer Day, Vigil At National Cathedral

Published: November 08, 2013 12:00 am

Heather Smith, communications director for Newtown Action Alliance (NAA), has announced that the organization hopes to rally support for a vigil in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the NAA sister organi...

60 Years Later, Navy Vet Receives Korean War Service Medals

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: November 08, 2013 12:00 am

It has been more than 60 years since the Korean War ended, but there was a last detail that remained to be accomplished for Stanley Polcyn, a US Navy veteran who served with distinction in that Southe...

Ambulance Garage Walls, Frame Going Up

By Kendra Bobowick

Published: November 08, 2013 12:00 am

Clerk of the Works Brian Feeney tightened his hard hat. He and Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps member Stuart Rieve entered a construction site filled with heavy machinery, scaffolding, the beginning...

Dog Park Closer To Completion

By Kendra Bobowick

Published: November 08, 2013 12:00 am

Grass seed flew as Nelson Lopes pushed a spreader across sloping ground at the Park and Bark dog park site Wednesday, October 30. He worked with other Parks and Recreation Department crew members this...

Fire Reports October 31 - November 6, 2013

Published: November 07, 2013 12:00 am

The dispatchers at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center report the following fire calls and the responders: Thursday, October 31: 10:25 am, motor vehicle accident, near 85 Toddy Hill Road, ...

The Last Time Newtown Built A School In Sandy Hook

By Alissa Silber

Published: November 07, 2013 12:00 am

“Sandy Hook School — 1956 — Visitors Welcome.” The white sign is now iconic, having appeared in countless news video clips and photographs following 12/14. The date, 1956, was the year the school open...

Police Reports, October 27 - November 5, 2013

Published: November 07, 2013 12:00 am

DUI Charge Police said that on the evening of October 27, they responded to a report that a motorist was driving erratically on Berkshire Road, so they went to the area to seek the driver. Police...

Project On Schedule- School Board Gets SHS Update

By Eliza Hallabeck

Published: November 07, 2013 12:00 am

Representatives of Svigals + Partners, Consigli Construction, and Diversified Project Management attended the Wednesday, November 6, Board of Education meeting to update board members on the plans for...

Open-Burning Season Has Started

Published: November 07, 2013 12:00 am

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead said this week that the open-burning season has started. Residents who wish to do open burning should go to the fire marshal’s office at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose...

The Way We Were

Silver Alert For Blue McGrath Ended

Top Of The Mountain

Cargo Van Driver Taken To Hospital Following Collision With Gas Tanker

Knotweed Initiative Program Planned

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.

The ‘Me’ Generation

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 :)

The ‘Me’ Generation

Copyright ©2026 The Newtown Bee / All rights reserved