Botsford, Sandy Hook, and Hook & Ladder volunteer firefighters responded during a thunderstorm at about 4:01 pm on Monday, August 19, to a fire that was reported to be in the vicinity of Interstate & Lakeland Lumber at 46 Swamp Road in Botsford and found the blaze to be located nearby, amid the industrial ruins of the former Batchelder aluminum smelting plant at 46-A Swamp Road.

Two local residents formerly active with Relay For Life in Newtown are organizing a new event to honor cancer patients and survivors, remember those lost to cancers, and raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

Residents are reminded that the Town’s two public swimming locations will shift into their end-of-summer hours this week.

Workers for Empire Paving General Contractors of North Haven were back on the job last week at Mile Hill Road, where they are preparing to replace a failed large culvert that formerly carried Deep Brook diagonally south-to-north below that busy roadway.

Older drivers are distracted more than eight seconds longer than their younger counterparts when they use certain in-car infotainment systems because the technology is hard to use and poorly designed, a AAA study has revealed.

Three members of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission (SHPMC) joined First Selectmen Dan Rosenthal for the group’s monthly town meeting at the Municipal Center on the evening of August 8.

Town Planning Director George Benson said this week the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has given preliminary approval to the town’s proposal for a 1,500-foot-long driveway, which would extend from 6 Commerce Road, providing access to town land proposed for industrial development and to the planned Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary.

Newtown Police Department K-9 Officer Felicia Figol has been named the Connecticut Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for “exceptional service” by the American Legion of Connecticut.

Putting an end to rumors that the inclusion of mixed-use residential development at Fairfield Hills is a done deal, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal told The Newtown Bee this week that no decisions will be made until a public referendum on the subject is held next April.