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Sandy Hook School Students Launch Space Talk

By Eliza Hallabeck

Published: Apr 09, 2014 12:00 AM

Flight engineers on the International Space Station helped Sandy Hook Elementary School students celebrate the end of the school’s One School One Read program on Tuesday, April 8. Seated inside Monroe...

DRS Reminder: Sandy Hook Workers State Assistance Payments Not Taxable Income In CT

Published: Apr 08, 2014 12:00 AM

HARTFORD — In cooperation with the Judicial Branch’s Office of Victim Services, the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) offered a reminder on April 7 to taxpayers who received Sandy Hook Workers Assi...

Questions (And Answers) About CT's New Girls' Detention Unit

By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, ©The Connecticut Mirror

Published: Apr 07, 2014 12:00 AM

When the state’s child welfare agency announced it needed to open a locked facility for troubled girls who break the law, state legislators had a list of questions they needed answers to if they were ...

Gun Rights Activists Protest State's Gun Law

By Associated Press

Published: Apr 07, 2014 12:00 AM

HARTFORD (AP) — Gun rights activists gathered outside the Connecticut State Capitol over the weekend and protested the one-year anniversary of the state’s wide-ranging gun control law. The legislation...

Failed Gutter-Heating System Causes House Fire

By Andrew Gorosko

Published: Apr 07, 2014 12:00 AM

At about 8:12 pm on Saturday, March 29, about 25 volunteer firefighters responded to an automatic alarm from a home at 54 Mt Pleasant Road where a system used to electrically heat drainage gutters fai...

Local Attorney Now Attending To Clients Of Paul S. Lux

Published: Apr 05, 2014 12:00 AM

James M. Powers, Attorney at Law, LLC, of New Milford announces that, effective immediately, it will be attending to the clients of recently deceased Attorney Paul S. Lux of Lux & Timmel LLC in Newtow...

Making Room For More Tennis At Treadwell

By Kendra Bobowick

Published: Apr 05, 2014 12:00 AM

Soft ground bore scars left by heavy machinery as Parks and Recreation crews dug out 21 tree stumps Wednesday at Treadwell Park. Pine, hemlock, and several birch trees that came down several weeks ago...

Two Residents Honored By White House As 'Champions Of Change'

By John Voket and Shannon Hicks

Published: Apr 04, 2014 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two Newtown residents, the father of one of the 12/14 victims and the daughter of a 12/14 survivor, have been named Champions of Change by The White House. All of this year’s honore...

Absentee Ballots Available For April 22 Referendum; Absentee Voting Hours April 19

Published: Apr 04, 2014 12:00 AM

Following the approval of the Legislative Council on April 2 to send a request for $111,066,204 to voters to cover town and school services, along with annual debt service for capitol projects (carrie...

Council Unanimously Passes Zero-Increase Budget Request To Voters

By John Voket

Published: Apr 04, 2014 12:00 AM

“One and done!” That was the final comment of longtime budget critic and Legislative Council member Dan Amaral as he stood with fellow council members, and the Boards of Selectmen, Finance, and Educat...

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.

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 :)

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Sandy Hook School Students Launch Space Talk

DRS Reminder: Sandy Hook Workers State Assistance Payments Not Taxable Income In CT

Questions (And Answers) About CT's New Girls' Detention Unit

Gun Rights Activists Protest State's Gun Law

Failed Gutter-Heating System Causes House Fire

Local Attorney Now Attending To Clients Of Paul S. Lux

Making Room For More Tennis At Treadwell

Two Residents Honored By White House As 'Champions Of Change'

Absentee Ballots Available For April 22 Referendum; Absentee Voting Hours April 19

Council Unanimously Passes Zero-Increase Budget Request To Voters