Features

Way We Were Week Ending October 11, 2019

Updated: Oct 25, 2019 02:46 PM

News as printed in The Newtown Bee 25, 50, 75, and 100 years ago.

Way We Were, Week Ending October 4, 2019

Updated: Oct 25, 2019 02:48 PM

A look back at Newtown 25, 50, 75, and 100 years ago.

Snapshot: Alex Radachowsky

Published: Oct 11, 2019 08:00 AM

Occupation: I own Designs by Alex. I do kitchen and bath design and planning. I’ve been doing that since 2013. I had experience in project managing before — doing customer service, helping the con...

Sandy Hook Resident On A Roll With Game Company

By Alissa Silber

Updated: Oct 11, 2019 08:48 AM

Smirk & Dagger games are not your grandma’s missing piece Monopoly set you have played a hundred times. Sandy Hook resident Curt Covert, owner of Smirk & Dagger, founded his business in 2003 to craft a new breed of board games that appeal to a variety of ages and preferences.

The Top Of The Mountain

Updated: May 13, 2024 04:22 PM

Newtown, from a cat's point of view.

Exploring Newtown’s Historical Places: The Hawleyville Chapel

By Alissa Silber

Published: Oct 11, 2019 07:00 AM

Discover the past and present of some of Newtown’s lesser-known historical sites in The Newtown Bee’s series dedicated to retracing the role these places once played in town and what they stand as today.

NCC Open House Features Flu Shots, Kites, Bugs, Belly Dancing

Updated: Oct 10, 2019 02:18 PM

The Newtown Community Center welcomed residents to an open house on October 5.

Castle Hill Farm Maze Has An Especially Corny Feel This Year

By Andy Hutchison

Updated: Oct 10, 2019 03:10 PM

Why do cows wear bells? Because they don’t have horns, of course. If this corny joke is your sort of humor, or even if it is not, you can get lost... in the Castle Hill Farm corn maze, that is. Castle...

Busy Spiders Weave Webs At EverWonder’s Story Lab

By Alissa Silber

Updated: Oct 10, 2019 11:23 AM

Volunteer Pam Fagan led a Story Lab program at EverWonder Children’s Museum, all about spiders, on Tuesday, October 8. Children and their adults gathered around Ms Fagan as she read The Very Busy Spid...

Paul Brautigam Marks 30 Years, 3,500 Properties Surveyed

By John Voket

Updated: Nov 05, 2019 01:46 PM

Paul Brautigam and his staff at Brautigam Land Surveyors PC have been delivering for clients across Newtown and the region, amassing a total of 3,500-plus projects completed in 30 years.

Semiquincentennial Community Concert, October 4

Newtown Restaurant And Business Appreciation Week October 16-25

Newtown High School To Host 2026 Veterans Day Assembly Lunch

Home & Garden Fall 2026

Fire Reports | September 9-15, 2026

An incredible event... again. Thanks so much to Leslie and the entire gang who make this gathering of friends, family and classmates happen every year! And thanks to Devery Stickles for his generous support. This event is truly the Heart & Spirit of Newtown!

Dozens Enjoy Annual Panacea Labor Day Weekend Concert

Michelle Embree Ku raises valid concerns about local property taxes, but ignores a basic political reality: Representative Mitch Bolinsky serves in the minority in a legislature dominated by a single-party supermajority where minority-party proposals are routinely sidelined. Suggesting that a single minority representative could rewrite the state's ECS formula is politically unrealistic and disingenuous to Newtown voters. Despite those odds, Mitch’s CGA track record speaks for itself. He led the charge to protect special education funding, preserve Drug-Free School Zones, safeguard school safety drills, advance science-based structured literacy, and defend homeschooling choices for families. If Ms. Ku knows how to fix the ECS formula, what has she done to convince her own party—the same party that controls the House, Senate, and Governor’s office? If the supermajority has the votes to fix ECS today, why hasn’t it happened during the 13 years she cites? Adding another seat to a supermajority that made Connecticut one of the highest-taxed states won't help Newtown taxpayers. If the current majority hasn't delivered relief with absolute power, expanding that majority won't change the outcome. Newtown’s interests are best served by keeping Mitch in the House and increasing Republican margins to provide real checks and balances. When one party holds every lever of power, accountability disappears. Strengthening the minority ensures our town’s voice is heard, not drowned out.

ECS Funding Debate Should Focus On Results

The idea that a freshman Democrat would be able to stand up to the special interests and prioritization of urban districts that are the base of that caucus to deliver results for Newtown is laughable - especially someone who could not even build the "relationships, coalitions, and the support necessary" to garner the endorsements of her fellow Democrat Council members ahead of Newtown's local caucus this spring. More likely Newtown would see something akin to Leeper in Fairfield, performative actions after vote counting, while privately advancing their party's interests over their community's.

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

Cheryl Ghent

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.

Encourages Consideration Of State Candidates

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Way We Were Week Ending October 11, 2019

Way We Were, Week Ending October 4, 2019

Snapshot: Alex Radachowsky

Sandy Hook Resident On A Roll With Game Company

The Top Of The Mountain

Exploring Newtown’s Historical Places: The Hawleyville Chapel

NCC Open House Features Flu Shots, Kites, Bugs, Belly Dancing

Castle Hill Farm Maze Has An Especially Corny Feel This Year

Busy Spiders Weave Webs At EverWonder’s Story Lab

Paul Brautigam Marks 30 Years, 3,500 Properties Surveyed