News

Sobriety Checkpoint Nets One DUI Arrest, Many Other Violations

Published: July 28, 2014 12:00 am

Police report that during a sobriety checkpoint that they held on the evening of Saturday, July 19, and early morning hours of Sunday, July 20, at the intersection of Wasserman Way and Trades Lane at ...

HealingNewtown Project To Phase Out, But NCAC Arts Programs To Continue

By Shannon Hicks

Published: July 26, 2014 12:00 am

The era of HealingNewtown programs is coming to an end. Launched in January 2013 by Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC), with the Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut and the Connecticut Offic...

Summit At Newtown: South Main Street Mixed-Use Building Gains P&Z Approval

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: July 26, 2014 12:00 am

Following a July 17 public hearing, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approved the construction of an 18,750-square-foot mixed-use two-story building at a 2.35-acre site at 146 South Main Stree...

Sports Car Runs Off Hawleyville Road, Hits Tree

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: July 25, 2014 12:00 am

About 2:33 am on Sunday, July 20, police received a call reporting that a vehicle had driven off the road and gone down an embankment alongside Hawleyville Road (Route 25), near the Brookfield town li...

Two Sessions Slated On SHS Project

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: July 25, 2014 12:00 am

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are scheduled to conduct a public hearing on the zoning aspects of the proposed new Sandy Hook Elementary School at 7:30 pm on Thursday, July 31, at Newtow...

Airplane Crashes Into Swamp Near Danbury Airport; Pilot Uninjured

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: July 25, 2014 12:00 am

DANBURY – A single-engine 1984 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane crashed near Danbury Municipal Airport on the evening of Thursday, July 24. The airplane was approaching Runway 35 from the south for a landi...

DOT Describes Church Hill Road Improvement Project

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: July 25, 2014 12:00 am

State Department of Transportation (DOT) officials this week provided more details on their plans to improve a 1,100-foot-long section of Church Hill Road, including realigning the broadly offset inte...

Cluster-Style 23-Lot Residential Subdivision Proposed

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: July 25, 2014 12:00 am

Two development firms are proposing the construction of a cluster-style residential subdivision that would hold 23 single-family house lots on a 167-acre tract. Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) member...

Local Residents Join Anti-Christie Protest In Greenwich

By Nancy K. Crevier

Published: July 25, 2014 12:00 am

Dave Stowe, vice chairman of Newtown Action Alliance, joined more than 50 Newtown, Sandy Hook, and area residents in Greenwich on Monday, July 21, where at least an additional 150 people gathered to p...

'Free State Parks Weekend' July 26-27 At All Connecticut State Parks

Published: July 24, 2014 12:00 am

HARTFORD — Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Robert Klee this week announced that as part of the ongoing celebration of the state park...

The Way We Were

Silver Alert For Blue McGrath Ended

Top Of The Mountain

Cargo Van Driver Taken To Hospital Following Collision With Gas Tanker

Knotweed Initiative Program Planned

Well that is some spin. The Democrats have a super majority on the LC and passed the Education Budget without serious consideration of if the voters could afford the multi million dollar increase. "Was the request justified?" rather than "is this needed?" and "can the voters shoulder yet another large increase?" The voters rightly sent it back. Then for some reason all the discussion around reductions to the increase seemed to be coming from the classroom, rather than administration and overhead costs. Is this a coercive tactic to manipulate parents into supporting the budget like tacit threat of cutting freshman sports was two years ago? Who believes the Democrats did not caucus privately before the meeting and came in with a number already worked out? This is the Dems budget, they own it.

Education Cuts: Who Voted For What

I think it is important that we do not villainize every black box seen around a home, business, farm, or municipal property. A black exterior station does not always mean rat poison is being used. These stations can hold a number of different products, including monitoring blocks, snap traps, non-toxic bait, anti-tick bait stations, organic salt- or cornmeal-based control products, and newer fertility-control approaches intended to reduce rodent populations without traditional poisons. The better conversation, in my opinion, is not simply “black boxes are bad,” but rather: what is inside them, who is maintaining them, and whether the rodent issue is being managed responsibly. Exclusion, sanitation, trapping, habitat reduction, and careful monitoring should all be part of a responsible IPM strategy. To be fair, on my own property I do use rodenticides, including Bromethalin and Bromadiolone, in secured bait stations. But that is a choice I make for my property, based on my circumstances and the risk I am trying to manage. I also believe property owners should understand the tradeoffs and be encouraged to use the least harmful effective method whenever possible. I support protecting Newtown’s wildlife. I also support giving residents accurate information and not assuming that every black box represents reckless or unsafe pest control. The goal should be responsible rodent management, not fear of the box itself.

Discusses Policy Against Rodenticides

Debora, thank you! I accidentally doubled the project prices by adding the bond to the appropriation. Thank you so much for catching that and pointing it out. With the corrected numbers, the voters approved a combined $1.32 million for a salt shed ($600k) and library pavement ($720k), while rejecting the $1.12 million replacement turf. Regarding the 80s, I truly respect the hurdle of 14% mortgage rates. My point is simply that the math has shifted: in 1980, while the rates were higher, the price of a home relative to earnings was significantly lower. We are facing a different, but equally crushing, financial wall. Ultimately, it is disheartening that voters who recognized safe sidewalks and parking lots as essential, dismissed a playing field in the exact same condition. The turf has passed its life cycle and is just as much of a liability as the library’s pavement, the only difference is that this safety concern affects thousands of children who, coincidentally, cannot vote. These are apples-to-apples needs. I was hopeful our community would agree that all Newtown residents deserve safe conditions, regardless of which facility they utilize. Again, I would be remiss not to mention that when 82% of residents don’t show up, we have to deal with the interests of those who did. Hopefully, the next referendum will have a bigger turnout.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Thanks for the reply. I meant the numbers you presented in your letter. I found one place where other numbers were listed: https://www.newtownbee.com/04232026/get-out-and-vote-on-the-2026-27-proposed-municipal-and-school-budgets/?q=\\\%22advisory%20questions\\\%22. In that article, the numbers were cited as: Treadwell field: $1,125,000 Library: $720,000 Salt Storage: $600,000 As one who started out in the early 80's when inflation was double digits, my 1985 mortgage rate was 14%, and child care costs were comparable (in present value), I shared your grief but never considered the voters ironic or shameful. PS. I agree college tuition is ridiculous. Thankfully, universities are offering (or considering) waiving all or most tuition for middle class families (upwards of $200,000 incomes). Hopefully, they'll also reconsider their need for those funds in the first place.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Sure! Child care costs: https://www.ffyf.org/2022/10/13/data-child-care-prices-continue-to-rise-ahead-of-midterm-elections-outpacing-inflation/ (also from 2021-2025 we had 2 children in a local daycare in Newtown and it cost us $3200 a month, so that's a number I am very familiar with) Home price / median price vs income source: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/home-price-income-ratios Tuition increase vs inflation: https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/noting-a-decline-in-middle-class-students-colleges-provide-more-aid/ Hope this helps :)

The ‘Me’ Generation

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