Arthur L. Torrence, 90, formerly of Newtown, died peacefully May 13, at home, in the company of his family. He was born December 12, 1927, in Port Chester, N.Y., the son of the late Arthur L. and Flor...
Laura B. Santos, 97, of Newtown and Trumbull, died May 12, in Ludlowe Center, Fairfield, with her loving family by her side. Born in New Bedford, Mass., on November 10, 1920, she was the daughter of t...
Shelton Eugene Beardsley, 89, formerly of Sandy Hook; Rotonda West, Fla.; and Livermore, Maine died May 6. He was born November 1, 1928, in Derby. He was son of the late Alice Shelton and Edward Beard...
Theresa "Terry" Koczy Komornik, 85, a longtime Newtown resident, died peacefully May 9, at home. She was born October 2, 1932, the daughter of Paul and Madeline Koczy of Fairfield.
Mrs Komorni...
Vera G. Grieve, 75, of Danbury, died peacefully May 8, after a valiant fight with colon cancer, at the Regional Hospice and Palliative Care Center for Comfort Care and Healing, Danbury. Born in Poughk...
Alan Harmon Marsh, 83, of Rotonda West, Fla., died May 6, at Fawcett Memorial Hospital. Born on November 1, 1934, in New Milford, the son of the late Ira and Mildred Couch Marsh, he served in the US N...
Grace "Betty" (Burr) Ruscoe, 99, of Wallingford, died May 5, at the Masonic Health Care Center in Wallingford. She was born in Newtown, December 12, 1918, daughter of the late George U. and Grace (Joh...
Gail A. Long, 78, of Pennsylvania, died peacefully April 28, at home under hospice care, after a long and brave battle with breast cancer. She grew up in Los Angeles but spent most of her life in Sand...
Vincent L. Beechel, Sr, 95, of Newtown, died May 5, at his home, surrounded by his family. His loved ones say he is reunited with his beloved wife, Frances, and his daughter, Patricia. He was born in ...
Gail A. Long, 78, of Pennsylvania, died peacefully April 28, at home under hospice care, after a long and brave battle with breast cancer. She grew up in Los Angeles but spent most of her life in Sand...
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.
