Congratulations to former superintendent of Newtown Schools Evan Pitkoff, for his fast running on Sunday, April 6. The running Super, who finished near the front of the 5K race sponsored by Stratton-F...
April 14, 1989
“Originally, it was designed for eighth graders as a final get-together dance before students moved on to high school,” according to Lou Villamana, principal of Newtown Middle Scho...
Occupation: I’m a geneticist by training. I’m retired from WestConn, but still teaching local flora there. Formerly, for 32 years, I taught genetics and plant physiology there.
Family: I have ...
There are a lot of good things to say about eggs. An affordable source of high quality protein, even when paying for the priciest organic eggs, they contain numerous vitamins and minerals, unsaturated...
The 2014 Daniel Barden Highland Mudfest was held last weekend, and more than 1,100 people paid to run, walk, and romp in the mud for a few hours in New York. They also got to crawl through a pipe part...
Fairfield County Chef’s Table, Extraordinary Recipes From Connecticut’s Gold Coast, released March 3 by Globe Pequot Press, is a book of recipes and photographs from more than 50 of Fairfield Coun...
The stories of a corporate executive who left his job to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy among inner city teens, an athlete who withstood racial hatred to break baseball’s color barrier...
Thirty-five participants did battle in two sections at the C.H. Booth Library on Saturday, March 29, for the title of 2014 Connecticut State Chess Champion.
The championship section was won by Nationa...
WATERBURY — Whether a fan of the late, great guitar wizard Jimi Hendrix looking to see how some of the world’s best living axe wielders reimagined his work, or a perennial attendee to the Experience H...
April 7, 1989
The Board of Education is taking another look at its smoking policy for the high school, which allows a provision for designated smoking areas. The board reviewed policy made in Jul...
Tom, I appreciate you sharing your perspective. My advocacy isn't about a personal 'vested interest' in a single field; it is about the Standard of Newtown.
While you categorize the salt shed and library parking as 'essential' and the turf as an 'upgrade,' I would argue they all fall under the same umbrella of maintaining town assets.
The Turf Field ($1.4M): This was a replacement project for a facility used by thousands of youth athletes, not a new 'luxury' add-on.
The Salt Shed ($1.2M) & Library Parking ($1.4M): These were passed at almost identical price points.
The point isn't to say these items aren't important; it’s to ask why we find the money for infrastructure that serves one demographic while claiming we are too 'fiscally strained' to fund infrastructure for another. When we categorize things we use as 'essential' and things our neighbors' children use as 'extras,' we aren't having an honest discussion about priorities, we are picking winners and losers.
The goal of my letter wasn't to be 'unproductive,' but to sound the alarm for the 82% of residents who didn't show up to the polls. We cannot be a community that only thrives in parts. If we want Newtown to remain a place where people want to move and raise families, we have to invest in the next generation with the same urgency we use to fix our parking lots.
Michelle, I am sorry to see that you are also a victim of fabrications. All those rumors that go round that seem so convincing. All so often, those rumors are little more than convenient lies. This has been happening for several years and hopefully we can come together to stop them.
Until then, I ask that those of you who have heard disparaging remarks about the candidates take the time to meet with them to ask them directly what you are concerned about. Get to know them better rather than assume. We all will have better representation both locally and state-wide if you do so.
This is disappointing because it frames voters who rejected the Treadwell turf replacement as selfish or anti-youth. When I suspect that Katherine's motives were likely because she has some vested interest in those turf fields, which makes it exceptionally selfish.
There is a clear difference between maintaining basic town infrastructure and approving an athletic facility upgrade. Library sidewalks, parking access, and a salt storage facility support safety and essential town operations. The turf field may be worthwhile, but it is still a different type of request.
Residents can support youth sports and still question the cost, timing, or priority of a specific project. Calling that selfish, or turning it into a generational argument is unfair and unproductive.
Newtown is better served by honest discussion about priorities, not by accusing voters of lacking community spirit because they disagreed on one ballot item.
