It is time for Newtown Middle School’s annual Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest entries to go on display on the front lawn of the school, 11 Queen Street.
Roughly 26 years after Wesley Learning Center opened at Newtown United Methodist Church for the 1993-94 school year, a new director, Diane Fuchs, has taken its helm.
Newtown Middle School’s annual Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest, which raises donations for local charities, will return to the front lawn of the school, 11 Queen Street, October 19 and 20.
The Newtown Marching Band & Guard hosted nine Connecticut marching band and guard ensembles at its Annual Joseph P. Grasso Marching Band Festival on Saturday, October 5, at Newtown High School’s Blue & Gold Stadium.
As leaves drifted in the day’s warm breeze, Housatonic Valley Waldorf School’s “dragons,” “trees,” and “angels” participated in a game on September 27 for its annual Michaelmas festival.
After roughly a three-year process and a two-year evaluation, the Board of Education heard results and plans from an English language arts (ELA) study at its meeting on October 1.
Newtown High School (NHS) students who earned Commended Student recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Program were celebrated at the school on September 26.
The Newtown Marching Band & Guard performed its 2019 show “Life Sentence” at the September 28 USBands Marine Corps Invitational at the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis, Md.
Newtown High School students Milan Chand and Hannah Jojo began serving as the new student representatives to the Board of Education at its meeting on September 17.
It's a bit ironic.
On July 31, 2025, Bruce Walczak wrote that "evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government." He also promised to respond to constituent inquiries and to "close the loop," even when there wasn't an immediate answer.
Two weeks of silence in response to a legitimate question seems difficult to reconcile with that pledge.
The standard wasn't set by his critics—it was set by Bruce himself. Just another politician ... say whatever is necessary to get the job.
Original letter: https://www.newtownbee.com/07312025/a-commitment-to-responsiveness/
CT primaries are closed to voters not registered with the party's designation. Dems can't vote in Rep. primaries and, vice versa. Unaffiliated and Independent voters cannot vote in them. Keep primaries closed!
Bruce, welcome to the conversation.
Your recent statement after the storm — admitting that you should have communicated “faster, more completely, and more personally” — was fine as far as it went. But this is not just about one storm. It is about a pattern. You ran on openness, responsiveness, and transparency, even saying that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government.”
The problem is that Newtown residents have been dealing with exactly that silence from you since you were elected.
Newtown’s Emergency Management page says the town, together with the Office of the First Selectman, provides “critical public information and warning” during emergencies. The town also rolled out CodeRED cellphone registration on March 24, 2022 so residents could receive emergency information directly.
So where were you when police were searching for missing 23-year-old Kateri Doty in January? Where were you during the brush fires near the Newtown town line in April? Where were you on April 22, when state police and Newtown police were searching for two people who fled an I-84 crash and a canine search moved into the Church Hill Road area?
Residents should not be hearing about a missing person, wildfire conditions, or police tracking dogs moving through backyards from Facebook, neighbors, or kids in town. They should be hearing from their town government.
This is not really about whether you personally press the CodeRED button. Or how many task forces you have created. It is about leadership. You are the First Selectman. You are responsible for making sure the town communicates clearly, quickly, and visibly when public safety is involved.
So yes, it is nice that you have finally acknowledged the problem. But the public did not need this storm to figure it out. We have been saying it for a long time.
Bruce, you were missing when the town needed to hear from you. The question now is whether this storm finally woke you up, or whether this is just another late apology followed by more silence.
The topic may be the same but the narratives every other week differ and I appreciate the installments. Rebuttals on factual content rather than focusing on form would improve the discourse.
