Rita L. Klees, 68, of Newtown, died peacefully March 29, at Danbury Hospital, after a courageous four-year battle with ALS. She was born on December 15, 1949, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
She will be lovingly re...
Thomas Joseph Keegan, Sr, 89, of Fairfield, beloved husband of the late Arlene R. Keegan, died peacefully March 30, at home surrounded by his loving family. Born in Bridgeport, the son of the late Rut...
Kenneth S. "Ken" Josselyn, 70, of New Milford died March 23. Born on January 12, 1948, he was the eldest son of Margaret "Peg" and Carlton "Kyper" Josselyn of Westport.
His siblings, Cynthia Landin of...
Richard James Selleck, 65, of Bethel died March 26, at Danbury Hospital. He was the husband of Donna (Clark) Selleck. He was born in Norwalk, on July 31, 1952, and was the son of Alice (Wenzel) Sellec...
Michael J. "Mike" Walsh, 61, of Roxbury, died March 26. He was born January 8, 1957, in Albany, N.Y., and was the treasured husband of 34 years to Nina Bonacci Walsh and the son of Margaret (Bement) W...
Lawrence A. "Larry" Cavanaugh, 80, of Newtown died March 23, at Danbury Hospital. He was born in Waterbury on September 6, 1937, son of the late Frances (Pettit) and John Cavanaugh.
His lovin...
Mary Jane Anderson, 84, of Woodbury died March 16. She was born on September 15, 1933. She wrote a column called "A Dog's Life" in The Newtown Bee for more than 20 years.
Three children, seven grandch...
Robert Michael "Bob" DeCarlo, 51, of Sandy Hook, beloved husband of Wendy (Johnson) DeCarlo, died March 20. Born September 13, 1966, in Stamford, he was the son of the late Theresa (Luberto) and John ...
Cynthia Proulx "Cindy" Hedrick, 59, of Newtown died unexpectedly March 21, at her home. She died peacefully in her sleep with family members nearby. She was born in Fitchburg, Mass., on August 14, 195...
Edite "Edie" Mei, 82, of Newtown, formerly of Bethel, died peacefully March 22 at the Lutheran Home in Southbury, after a courageous battle with melanoma. She was born in Riga, Latvia, on March 17, 19...
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.
