Gary Andrew Marinelli, 67, of Newtown, passed away on July 11, 2019, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was born on May 22, 1952, in Oakland, Calif., to Carmine and Laura Marinelli.
He is survi...
David R. Hutchins, of Newtown, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, July 14, 2019. Born on February 14, 1964, David was a proud resident of Newtown for the last 17 years. He was a loving and devoted fa...
Mrs Susan Wiard Seman, 77, of Mebane, N.C., formerly of Newtown, passed away on July 13, 2019, at the Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington. She was born in Washington State to the late Rober...
Morton Marvin Siegel was born February 19, 1927, in Far Rockaway, N.Y. He passed June 28, 2019, in Redwood City, Calif.
Mort had many fond memories of growing up in New York City, where he met and mar...
“Drowning” by Chris Young
“Still got your number in my phone,
And even though you don’t know I listen
I still call and wait ‘til the tone
Just to hear you saying, ‘Leave a message,’
Since you’v...
Jennifer Garofalo, 49, of Orlando, Fla., passed away on June 24, 2019, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was born on November 28, 1969, in Danbury. She was a Brookfield High School graduate i...
Julie Ann (Harpe) Pierce, of Newtown, age 56, was called home to God on July 2, 2019. She passed peacefully following a long illness. Julie was a warm, friendly person with a sunny personality, a big ...
Irwin J. Miller died on Saturday, July 6, 2019, in Norwalk. He was born on February 19, 1926, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Bertha and Philip Miller. Irwin and his wife of 71 years, Vivian Berger Miller, move...
CT primaries are closed to voters not registered with the party's designation. Dems can't vote in Rep. primaries and, vice versa. Unaffiliated and Independent voters cannot vote in them. Keep primaries closed!
Bruce, welcome to the conversation.
Your recent statement after the storm — admitting that you should have communicated “faster, more completely, and more personally” — was fine as far as it went. But this is not just about one storm. It is about a pattern. You ran on openness, responsiveness, and transparency, even saying that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government.”
The problem is that Newtown residents have been dealing with exactly that silence from you since you were elected.
Newtown’s Emergency Management page says the town, together with the Office of the First Selectman, provides “critical public information and warning” during emergencies. The town also rolled out CodeRED cellphone registration on March 24, 2022 so residents could receive emergency information directly.
So where were you when police were searching for missing 23-year-old Kateri Doty in January? Where were you during the brush fires near the Newtown town line in April? Where were you on April 22, when state police and Newtown police were searching for two people who fled an I-84 crash and a canine search moved into the Church Hill Road area?
Residents should not be hearing about a missing person, wildfire conditions, or police tracking dogs moving through backyards from Facebook, neighbors, or kids in town. They should be hearing from their town government.
This is not really about whether you personally press the CodeRED button. Or how many task forces you have created. It is about leadership. You are the First Selectman. You are responsible for making sure the town communicates clearly, quickly, and visibly when public safety is involved.
So yes, it is nice that you have finally acknowledged the problem. But the public did not need this storm to figure it out. We have been saying it for a long time.
Bruce, you were missing when the town needed to hear from you. The question now is whether this storm finally woke you up, or whether this is just another late apology followed by more silence.
The topic may be the same but the narratives every other week differ and I appreciate the installments. Rebuttals on factual content rather than focusing on form would improve the discourse.
Congrats to all the 275 graduates.
For context...class of 2005 had 360 students, the number of graduating seniors seemed to cap out in the late 2000's in the low 400's.
