At least according to the scoreboard — a 23-0 triumph at Immaculate of Danbury in the season opener on April 13 — Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team showed no signs of rust.
As if missing all of last spring wasn’t enough of a hit for Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team, the coronavirus continues to impact the Nighthawks’ 2021 campaign.
There is a new head coach on the Newtown High School girls’ tennis court — but in reality, not a whole lot is different from the coaching standpoint since the team last competed, two years ago.
In 2019, Habby Farah brought the Newtown Tennis Association’s Tennis Open back to town after it was on the shelf for a season and had only been held once over the course of a decade.
Newtown High School’s girls’ lacrosse program begins the season with a small roster of 26 team members, a handful of whom are sidelined because of coronavirus protocol.
Joanna Closs, coach of the Newtown High School softball team, and her Nighthawks, are looking to make the most of return to the field following last year’s coronavirus-canceled season.
It may be a couple years removed from the last time Newtown High School’s baseball team has been on the diamond, but Coach Ian Thoesen is optimistic his squad can build off the success it had back in 2019.
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.
