The non-stop joke machine that is the Broadway play Laughter on the 23rd Floor is the current production at The Sherman Playhouse under the direction of Dan Friedman.
Newtown Poet Laureate Lauren Clifford has been working for a few years on poetry to celebrate America 250, the 250th anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Independence. She will share some of those works during a reading at her hometown library next Tuesday evening.
Former Newtown resident Gael Lynch has traveled many paths to her recent publication of "Ivy Leigh Ever After," a middle grade novel with multigenerational leanings. Those travels will continue later this month with a week-long return to her former hometown.
The Newtown Visiting Nurse Association Thrift Shop raised $500 to support the Newtown Middle School Garden and Outdoor Classroom project after the success of its recent fundraising initiative.
Dear Alyssa, Kelela, and Brandon,
We send our sincere sympathy to you and your family. We will also keep you in our prayers asking our Lord to grant you comfort and peace.
With love,
Vince and Sandy Venitelli
Bruce, your advice that voters should “read, listen, and engage” would be much more persuasive if you practiced it yourself.
You campaigned on openness and responsiveness. You declared that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government” and promised to answer constituent inquiries within two days. Yet you never answered my straightforward public question about Main Street demonstrations, traffic disruption, pedestrian safety, and the effects on local businesses.
After taking office, meaningful public engagement has largely been replaced by “Brews with Bruce” at the Senior Center—requiring reservations and, for some residents, a day pass. That is not accessible, townwide engagement. Previous first selectmen held open coffee hours and walk-and-talk sessions that any resident could attend.
Then came the failed storm communications, your apology, and another promise to communicate better—followed shortly afterward by more silence while multiple police agencies conducted a significant search near Saw Mill Road.
You now tell voters to examine what candidates say and “how they say it.” I would suggest going one step further: compare what politicians promise while seeking office with what they actually do after winning.
Your record presents a stark contrast. You told voters exactly what they wanted to hear to get the job, then failed to live by those promises. Whether that is dishonesty or simply indifference, it is the same familiar, two-faced politics you once claimed you would replace.
Nothing says “I care about Newtown homeowners” quite like lining Main Street with plywood campaign billboards—apparently built just inches below the size at which officials say they can take action. At this rate, we’ll need property-tax relief just to offset the loss in curb appeal.
