A tribute band made up of some of the area’s best musicians paying tribute to The Zac Brown Band will headline a September 20 concert on the grounds of Fairfield Hills that will mark the beginning of the 2024 Newtown Arts Festival.
The World Heritage Cultural Center this week announced the winners of the 2024 inaugural EmpowHer Newtown Awards. The awards will be presented Saturday, August 24, at HillTop Kitchen in Sandy Hook.
Ben’s Lighthouse has announced a major fundraising event this autumn: "A Very Special Evening of Music and Song with Rosanne Cash, John Leventhal, and Joe Henry."
The EmpowHer Newtown Award Committee, presented by the World Heritage Cultural Center, reminds readers that the inaugural awards will be celebrated during a public event this month.
Panacea & Friends will be combining talents with the Willie-Portera Trio for their annual Labor Day Weekend concert/dance at the pavilion of Dickinson Memorial Park.
Newtown Cultural Arts Commission will award two or more project grants with a total of $2,500 in two categories, individual artists and groups that bring the arts to Newtown.
Musicals at Richter (MAR), celebrating its 40th season as the longest-running outdoor theater in Connecticut, announces its 2024 season of musicals and children’s theater.
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After taking office, meaningful public engagement has largely been replaced by “Brews with Bruce” at the Senior Center—requiring reservations and, for some residents, a day pass.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.
