Newtown Daily Briefing: Friday, May 18, 2012

Have an announcement or an interesting bit of news?  Let us know!  Click here  to post announcements, and here to post events.

Today's Weather  weather.gov

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 73. Northeast wind at 8 mph becoming southeast. 

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. South wind between 4 and 7 mph becoming calm.

Question of the Day http://www.almanac.com

How long are baking soda and baking powder good to use after opening?

For baking soda and baking powder to be effective in your baking, they should not be more than one year old.

Events and Announcements 

The Police Department will be participating in a regional checkpoint loooking for violations along with police departments in Newtown, Brookfield and Redding.  The following dates and locations are set for checkpoint enforcement.  Newtown  Monday, May 21

 The Garden Club of Newtown: May 18- May 21, 2012, All day, The Cyrenius H. Booth Library, 25 Main St, Newtown, CT  for more information.

 All NEWTOWNERS are requested to use their creativity and help us celebrate Paint the town Purple on Thursday, May 17th. Purple is the official color of the American Cancer Society relay for Life and the universal color that represents all Cancers. Few suggestions of how you can support this awareness campaign:

-Fly purple balloons outside your homes and offices.

-Wear something Purple.

-Display Relay messages.

Let us all come together and display purple and show that there is HOPE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST CANCER. Paint the Town Purple is a kick off to the upcoming Newtown Relay for Life on June 1st, at Fairfield Hills in front of Newtown Youth Academy.

Newtown Forest Association 2012 Annual Meeting The NFA 2012 Annual Meeting will take place on May 17th from 6 – 9 p.m. in the Alexandria Room of the Edmond Town Hall on Main Street. Following the business portion of the meeting, attendees will be treated to a presentation by noted Professional Landscape and Garden Designers Brid Craddock entitled, “Small Native Trees for Residential and Street Plantings,” a slide presentation of native trees best suited to our Connecticut climate.  For more information, click here. http://newtown.patch.com/events/newtown-forest-association-2012-annual-meeting

Learn TV Production! Open Registration CTV-21 is the community access channel in the Charter 14-town franchise area.  CTV-21 is open 6 days a week and is available for anyone to use regardless of whether or not they have Charter. There are custom training classes that can be taught based on the project proposed, and there is a regular 18-week training opportunity that adults or students (17 and over) can take that will provide the confidence for creating something they will be proud to call their own. (Note: The 18-week training opportunity also has limited space available for residents outside of Charter’s service area.)  11 Commerce Rd, Newtown, CT 06470 (CommunityVision 21 Office, Studio)   Next on May 17, 18, and 19  http://newtown.patch.com/events/learn-tv-production-open-registration  For more information, click here. 

Town Meetings 

9:00 am Planning and Zoning Commission, Special Meeting, Municipal Center

Today in History

1652 - In Rhode Island, a law was passed that made slavery illegal in North America. It was the first law of its kind. 

1798 - The first Secretary of the U.S. Navy was appointed. He was Benjamin Stoddert. 

1896 - The U.S. Supreme court upheld the "separate but equal" policy in the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. The ruling was overturned 58 years later with Brown vs. Board of Education. 

1897 - A public reading of Bram Stoker's new novel, "Dracula, or, The Un-dead," was performed in London. 

1917 - The U.S. Congress passed the Selective Service act, which called up soldiers to fight in World War I. 

1934 - The U.S. Congress approved an act, known as the "Lindberg Act," that called for the death penalty in interstate kidnapping cases. 

1942 - New York ended night baseball games for the duration of World War II. 

1951 - The United Nations moved its headquarters to New York City. 

1953 - The first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound, Jacqueline Cochran, piloted an F-86 Sabrejet over California at an average speed of 652.337 miles-per-hour. 

1980 - Mt. Saint Helens erupted in Washington state. 57 people were killed and 3 billion in damage was done. 

1983 - The U.S. Senate revised immigration laws and gave millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program. 

1998 - The U.S. federal government and 20 states filed a sweeping antitrust case against Microsoft Corp., saying the computer software company had a "choke hold" on competitors which denied consumer choices by controlling 90% of the software market. 

1998 - U.S. federal officials arrested more than 130 people and seized $35 million. This was the end to an investigation of money laundering being done by a dozen Mexican banks and two drug-smuggling cartels.