The 27th Annual Jack Friel Memorial Golf Scramble, sponsored by Newtown Scholarship Association (NSA), was held at two courses, Newtown Country Club and Rock Ridge Country Club on June 17.
The Mad Dash Adventure Race, Newtown's Mud Run, will take place at Fairfield Hills on Saturday, June 29. The Elite and Superhero/ Team races (4.3 miles) begin at 8:30 am; the Mini Dash (seven mini stations finishing in the mud) is at 9:45 am; and the Open Course race (1.7 miles) is at 10 am.
Justin Halmose won another race, and a neck-and-neck battle produced a close finish among the top women in the 5K, as Lyndsey Fregoe was the top female in the Rooster Run race on June 15.
The game of balls and strikes, America’s Pastime, has predominately been a boys’ and man’s game. But while the underhand pitch game of softball is the route most girls take for competition, there are some who prefer throwing fastballs overhand style.
The CH Booth Library’s 10th Anniversary Turkey Trot Celebration Committee has announced a new layout for this year’s racecourse. The milestone event will take place on Thanksgiving morning, November 28.
The Nighthawks Summer Baseball Camp, led by Ian Thoesen, coach of the Newtown High School baseball team, and other instructors, has several sessions in June, July, and August.
Bobby Pattison, coach of the Newtown High School football team, invites youth football players who will enter into grades 2-8 in the fall, to attend the Second Annual Nighthawk Football Camp.
The Newtown Open tennis tournament will be held the weekend of June 22 and 23, at Dickinson Park check-in and main site) as well as Treadwell Park and Newtown High School.
The 45th Annual Rooster Run, to benefit Newtown Scholarship Association, will take place on Saturday, June 15, beginning at 8 am, on the campus of Fairfield Hills.
They zig-zagged back and forth along the trails, up and down the hilly Holcombe Hill Wildlife Preserve property at 65 Great Hill Road, on June 9. Competitors — 47 in total — put their endurance and off-road running capabilities to the test in the Holcombe Hill 5K.
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.
