Philanthropic initiatives across a widening landscape of businesses, nonprofits, and even utilities, are trying to respond to help fill some of the growing burdens faced by local and state residents.
Banks serving Newtown are quickly falling in line by either limiting customer interactions with staff or closing certain branch operations while encouraging depositors to utilize computer banking services and ATMs to access cash or to transact other applicable business.
Business name: The Station Dance Academy
Address: 6 Mile Hill Road, Newtown
Owners: Nicole Russo-Henderson and Leon Henderson
What is your business background? We have recently moved b...
More than 150 attendees sampled Creole-inspired cuisine and a selection of beverages, socialized, and danced to mix of pop and Zydeco music as the Newtown Chamber of Commerce hosted the first annual event celebrating Mardi Gras.
Paul Patterson has always had the heart and soul of a farmer, and now he is ready to share all the success he has enjoyed and friendships he has made at Blue Jay Orchards over the past 35 years with a new owner.
State Senator Will Haskell recently visited Newtown manufacturer Sonics & Materials, Inc along with several students from the Advanced Manufacturing Program at Housatonic Community College.
Senator Ha...
On Wednesday, February 12, Working Women’s Forum invites motivated individuals to learn the three-step formula for living life with passion and purpose at the group’s monthly gathering and networking meeting.
Bruce’s letter paints a picture of runaway development, but the real story is the collapse of local cooperation — not the rise of §8-30g. That law has been on the books since 1990. For decades, towns and developers worked together to shape projects that made sense: added sidewalks, deeper setbacks, fewer units — genuine compromise.
What’s changed isn’t the law, it’s the politics. A loud social media mob has made any compromise politically toxic. The “no growth” crowd demands nothing be built anywhere, ever, and bullies anyone who suggests otherwise. Planning and zoning boards no longer negotiate; they hunker down, hoping to appease the Facebook comment section.
But here’s the irony — when compromise dies, developers stop compromising too. Once a project triggers §8-30g, the town can fight it, but state law ensures the developer will eventually win. So instead of working out a reasonable design, everyone heads to court. The developer doubles the unit count to pay for the lawyers, and the town burns taxpayer money trying to lose more slowly.
That’s how we end up with the very projects the NIMBY mob fears — because they made reasonable development impossible.
If people truly care about Newtown’s character, they need to stop the performative outrage and start engaging in real planning again. Screaming “no” to everything isn’t preservation — it’s self-sabotage.
I’m honestly surprised Bruce had to look up what an “agreement in principle” means. After years of business experience and managing 200 people, I would have expected that term to be familiar by now. Hard to believe it’s a new concept at this stage in his career. Although rest assured Newtown, vote row A and when times get tough, we have Google to help the selectman.
I asked AI what does agreement in principle mean
An "agreement in principle" is a preliminary, non-binding understanding reached between two or more parties that outlines the fundamental terms of a future contract. It is considered a stepping stone toward a formal, legally enforceable agreement.
This type of agreement is used to establish mutual intent and a basic framework for negotiations before the parties commit to a detailed, final contract.
