On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, a large contingent of motorcycles, joined by a police escort, will roll through Newtown and other area towns to honor those who died on September 11, 2001.
While there will not be a Newtown Labor Day Parade for the second year, one resident continues to finalize plans for an alternate offering next Monday morning.
As part of the ongoing Rochambeau Bridge reconstruction project, the navigable channel between some of the bridge’s pillars will temporarily be closed to marine traffic.
The Board of Finance (BOF) approved three key appropriations at its August 26 meeting before sending them to the Legislative Council for consideration.
The Pootatuck River was roiling Thursday morning, and hundreds of local homes were in the dark after the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida passed through the region during the overnight hours of September 1-2.
After spirited discussion, the Legislative Council this week voted 9-3 to extend a local indoor mask mandate that was announced nearly a week earlier by First Selectman Dan Rosenthal.
Ahead of a possible storm surge when the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida reach this area, managers of Lake Lillinonah have announced a planned water level lowering to begin tonight.
Bruce’s letter paints a picture of runaway development, but the real story is the collapse of local cooperation — not the rise of §8-30g. That law has been on the books since 1990. For decades, towns and developers worked together to shape projects that made sense: added sidewalks, deeper setbacks, fewer units — genuine compromise.
What’s changed isn’t the law, it’s the politics. A loud social media mob has made any compromise politically toxic. The “no growth” crowd demands nothing be built anywhere, ever, and bullies anyone who suggests otherwise. Planning and zoning boards no longer negotiate; they hunker down, hoping to appease the Facebook comment section.
But here’s the irony — when compromise dies, developers stop compromising too. Once a project triggers §8-30g, the town can fight it, but state law ensures the developer will eventually win. So instead of working out a reasonable design, everyone heads to court. The developer doubles the unit count to pay for the lawyers, and the town burns taxpayer money trying to lose more slowly.
That’s how we end up with the very projects the NIMBY mob fears — because they made reasonable development impossible.
If people truly care about Newtown’s character, they need to stop the performative outrage and start engaging in real planning again. Screaming “no” to everything isn’t preservation — it’s self-sabotage.
I’m honestly surprised Bruce had to look up what an “agreement in principle” means. After years of business experience and managing 200 people, I would have expected that term to be familiar by now. Hard to believe it’s a new concept at this stage in his career. Although rest assured Newtown, vote row A and when times get tough, we have Google to help the selectman.
I asked AI what does agreement in principle mean
An "agreement in principle" is a preliminary, non-binding understanding reached between two or more parties that outlines the fundamental terms of a future contract. It is considered a stepping stone toward a formal, legally enforceable agreement.
This type of agreement is used to establish mutual intent and a basic framework for negotiations before the parties commit to a detailed, final contract.
