With parents being asked to keep things extra safe this Halloween season this is a good time to also remind residents that there are thematic special events also being planned in Newtown this weekend and beyond. There are safe special events across the state as well.
Pomperaug Valley Garden Club will welcome Sandy Hook resident Nicole Christensen, who will present a lecture on “Snake Jumping Worms,” online via Zoom on October 13.
The Great Pumpkin Challenge, founded by Mackenzie Page in 2011 when she was in eighth grade at Newtown Middle School, will return for its tenth presentation this Halloween season.
Registration for individuals, families, businesses, sports teams, and organizations interested in participation in a new competition being hosted by Newtown Parks & Recreation is due by tomorrow afternoon.
Four buildings that were once residential duplexes at Fairfield Hills State Hospital, long emptied and now falling into disrepair, became the frames for art installations put into place last Monday morning.
The final installment of a series of municipal information sessions ahead of an Election Day referendum on whether to include a possible residential component to the Fairfield Hills Master Plan will be presented virtually as a Facebook Live webcast at 7 pm on Monday, October 5.
Dear Alyssa, Kelela, and Brandon,
We send our sincere sympathy to you and your family. We will also keep you in our prayers asking our Lord to grant you comfort and peace.
With love,
Vince and Sandy Venitelli
Bruce, your advice that voters should “read, listen, and engage” would be much more persuasive if you practiced it yourself.
You campaigned on openness and responsiveness. You declared that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government” and promised to answer constituent inquiries within two days. Yet you never answered my straightforward public question about Main Street demonstrations, traffic disruption, pedestrian safety, and the effects on local businesses.
After taking office, meaningful public engagement has largely been replaced by “Brews with Bruce” at the Senior Center—requiring reservations and, for some residents, a day pass. That is not accessible, townwide engagement. Previous first selectmen held open coffee hours and walk-and-talk sessions that any resident could attend.
Then came the failed storm communications, your apology, and another promise to communicate better—followed shortly afterward by more silence while multiple police agencies conducted a significant search near Saw Mill Road.
You now tell voters to examine what candidates say and “how they say it.” I would suggest going one step further: compare what politicians promise while seeking office with what they actually do after winning.
Your record presents a stark contrast. You told voters exactly what they wanted to hear to get the job, then failed to live by those promises. Whether that is dishonesty or simply indifference, it is the same familiar, two-faced politics you once claimed you would replace.
Nothing says “I care about Newtown homeowners” quite like lining Main Street with plywood campaign billboards—apparently built just inches below the size at which officials say they can take action. At this rate, we’ll need property-tax relief just to offset the loss in curb appeal.
