A combination of strong preparation, talent, and everything falling into place at the right time for Newtown High School’s boys’ cross country team led to the Nighthawks celebrating a South-West Confe...
Months of practice-makes-perfect efforts to nail sometimes complex routines — made up of tumbles, flips, basket tosses, pyramids, dance, and more — will come down to just two and a half minutes of per...
Experience is on Newtown High School football team's side this this fall as the Nighthawks try to improve on their winning ways from a year ago.
Last year, Coach Bobby Pattison’s Nighthawks posted a 7...
With 42 team members — 36 swimmers and six divers, the most third-year Coach Becky Osborne has had — there will be plenty of in-team competition for roles during meets for the Newtown High School girl...
It is the start of a new era for Newtown High School’s boys’ soccer team.
Charley Amblo, who has extensive coaching and playing experience, takes over as head coach, and he is looking to change the cu...
Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team is once again on a mission to dethrone South-West Conference king Joel Barlow of Redding. The Nighthawks defeated the Falcons in their first of two regular...
Newtown High School’s boys’ soccer team will look to be a factor in the South-West Conference with a mostly-new look. In addition to Charley Amblo taking over head coaching duties (see related story),...
Newtown High School’s girls’ soccer team, coming off a run to the South-West Conference tournament championship game and Class LL state tourney quarterfinals, brings back plenty of experienced players...
Newtown High School’s field hockey team begins the campaign with a strong work ethic that Coach Stephanie Kearns is hopeful will help carry her Nighthawks to some postseason success.
“I’m really looki...
With the publication of installment No. 26, Trump’s Triumphs has now consumed enough broadsheet paper—approximately 3.6 miles—to stretch from the center of Newtown, past the dump, and nearly to Sand Hill Plaza. That is the amount of paper used to print these 26 installments alone. Do you think they will stop before we get to Monroe? If Trump becomes 48 in 28 then we would make the sound for sure!
Dave, you are right that only those in the Borough signed onto the law suits, as it was made clear during the Borough meetings that signers had to be residents of the Borough. However, as you know, there was a concerted effort by the Newtown Conservation Coalition to organize people (throughout town) and to orchestrate actions intended to foil the overall development.
If one searches the Bee for “Newtown Conservation Coalition” one will find many articles and editorials that cite the coalition. More that 18 of those articles and editorials, from March 2024 through February 2025, are about the Castle Hill Development and include direct quotes from the NCC head/founder including, e.g.,:
1) Newtown Conservation Coalition founder Dave Ackert has sagely urged his fellow NCC members to “stick to the relevant regulations issues and concerns in your testimony,” as “general opinions and concerns will not be considered when making their decision." [https://www.newtownbee.com/08292024/borough-zoning-to-begin-20-60-castle-hill-public-hearing." [https://www.newtownbee.com/08292024/borough-zoning-to-begin-20-60-castle-hill-public-hearing]
2) “We’re being sold a lot of things,” said Ackert. “The developer said he is going above and beyond in preserving open space, but the only part [of the plan] that doesn’t have houses are the steep slopes. He’s not avoiding buildable land, he’s using every buildable inch.” [https://www.newtownbee.com/09272024/borough-zoning-hears-perspectives-on-castle-hill-development]
In addition to the articles and editorials, you (Dave) also wrote over 8 letters related to the development, in essence speaking for the residents, e.g., saying “On behalf of hundreds of concerned residents living within 500 feet who signed protest petitions, and residents downstream who’s property and finances could also be negatively impacted, I ask the BOS to rescind the discontinuance decision now.” [https://www.newtownbee.com/07102025/discusses-rochambeau-trail-and-6-commerce-road]
The main tools for the Newtown Conservation Coalition are FOI complaints and legal action. These actions have increased the amount both the Town and the Borough have had to pay for legal counsel over the last few years. The cost is shared by all households and businesses for Town actions. Unfortunately, it is shared by very few, relatively speaking, for Borough actions. This year’s Borough costs are $58,000 to date. There were FOIA/legal actions in 2024 and 2025 too. Eventually, we will all see if that was money well spent. My sense is that the answer is no.
my concern is not limited to this single FOIA request or this one case. It is the broader pattern of obstructionism, fear-mongering, and personal nastiness reflected in your Facebook page and other public commentary.
You routinely call people to action by presenting only one side of complicated issues, assigning the worst possible motives to those who disagree with you, and giving little consideration to the legitimate concerns or perspectives on the other side. That may generate outrage and attention, but it does not make you a constructive participant in Newtown’s civic affairs.
You are entitled to question public officials and pursue whatever legal remedies are available to you. But you should not pretend that your own conduct, rhetoric, and repeated escalation of disputes have played no role in the hostility and expense surrounding these matters.
Newtown would be a nicer and more productive community with less of this kind of divisive behavior.
