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Wanting Peace and Quiet: Newtown Officials Ask for Space

via WTNH

The first anniversary of the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School is just days away. As the community braces itself, it's also asking the members of the media to do its job, and then leave as soon as possible. 

At a press conference live-streamed by television station WTNH, Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra asked members of the press to ask their questions, write their stories, and then to give the town some space.

"The community needs time to be alone," she said, "and to reflect on our past year in personal ways without a camera or a microphone. There's an emotional and economic toll that we pay when the media descends on us. So we ask for your forebearance after today, and respectfully request that you allow us a time of peace and quiet."

Credit via WTNH
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via WTNH
At Monday's press conference, from left, Newtown Youth Academy co-director Cody Foss, Newtown Police Chief Mike Kehoe, Llodra, Newtown Interim Schools Superintendent John Reed, and Newtown minister Matt Crebbin.

Llodra previously said that the community will have no town-wide memorial this Saturday. She said she is trying to respect the world's interest in town of Newtown, while balancing that with the community's own needs.

Jeff Cohen started in newspapers in 2001 and joined Connecticut Public in 2010, where he worked as a reporter and fill-in host. In 2017, he was named news director. Then, in 2022, he became a senior enterprise reporter.

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