Newtown Officials: Please Stop the Gifts

Newtown officials have literally received more gifts than they know what to do with. Town leaders say they greatly appreciate the vast quantity of items sent to the town—but they can't cope with any more. So they've asked people to stop sending things for now, the AP reports. At the moment, they've got "warehouses full of items" that they need to process, they say; once that's done, they'll let people know how to continue helping. As for financial gifts, a United Way fund to help the town has hit $3.5 million.

Meanwhile, Newtown has announced a plan for the various memorials that have been created around town: The "thousands of flowers, letters, prayers, signs and photos, teddy bears, and more" are set to be turned into soil for a permanent memorial, the town's first selectman says, via the Newtown Bee. "This will be sacred soil, holding all the sweet messages and symbols of love and hope, of kindness and sadness, visions for a better future, and promises to forever remember the ones lost in this sad attack." (More Newtown, Connecticut stories.)