Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ track and field teams competed in meets April 23 and 24. The girls visited Pomperaug of Southbury on April 23 and defeated the host Panthers 101-49, topped Stratford 136.5-13.5, and Immaculate of Danbury 103.6-41.5.
Newtown High School’s softball team had a pair of rewarding victories over challenging South-West Conference foes this past week. The Nighthawks came from behind for a 2-1 walk-off win over visiting Notre Dame-Fairfield under the lights at Treadwell Park on April 29.
Newtown High School’s boys’ volleyball team hasn’t had many challenges during its unbeaten start to the spring; the Nighthawks generally make quick work of their opponent, and won nine of their first 11 matches by 3-0 scores.
Newtown High School’s baseball team made it four consecutive games with nine runs, beating a trio of South-West Conference teams handily this past week.
Highlighted by a fast finish from Cory Benson, who was ninth in the 60-64 age group, Newtown/Sandy Hook had quite an impressive showing in the Boston Marathon on April 15. Benson completed the annual race in 3:22.31.
What seemed a few months ago like a destined-to-be-completed ice rink project to be retrofitted into the existing NYA Sports & Fitness building within Fairfield Hills is no longer in the cards.
Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team defeated host Pomperaug of Southbury 18-1 on April 18, and Tucker Garrity’s three assists (to go along with a trio of goals) made him the program’s all-time leader with 134 assists.
Ties in lacrosse are unusual enough — Newtown High School’s girls’ team hadn’t had one in more than a decade, if ever, before a 9-9 deadlock with visiting Pomperaug of Southbury on a damp April 11 night — but the way in which this game ended up a stalemate is all the more unusual.
The second annual Run4Hunger-Newtown, benefiting FAITH Food Pantry, will take place on Saturday, May 11, on the campus of Fairfield Hills. The race starts at 8:30 am.
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.
