United Illuminating had some planned outages Sunday morning that affected hundreds of customers in the Fair Haven section of New Haven as the power company upgraded its electrical system.

About 993 people were expected to lose power between 6 and 10 a.m. during scheduled outages during upgrades to "help ensure reliable service in the future," accoring to a press release from UI. A second series of upgrades scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon will likely affect about 17 customers.

The power company notified customers of the scheduled outages as workers upgraded the electric infrastructure around the Fair Haven Substation.

Customers on Alton Street, Atwater Street, Blatchley Avenue, Chatham Street, Clinton Avenue, Ferry Street, Fillmore Street, Grafton Street, Humphrey Street, James Street, Lombard Street, Main Street, Monroe Street, Peck Street, Pine Street, Poplar Street and Rowe Street were affected.

Anyone with questions can call UI's scheduled outage hotline at 877-491-9533 for more information.

The Silas Deane Highway has reopened near the Wethersfield/Rocky Hill town line after crews repaired a water main break, according to Rocky Hill police.

Police say the break happened near the intersection of the Silas Deane Highway and Town Line Road and was first reported at 6:50 p.m. Saturday. Water service was shut down around 8:50 p.m., but it was restored by 6 a.m. on Sunday, according to Metropolitan District spokeswoman Kerry Martin. Martin said this was a 12-inch water main that was installed in 1963.

Several homes and business in both Wethersfield and Rocky Hill were affected by the break.
 

Contaminated water that was once stored next to defunct nuclear reactors at Japan's crippled Fukushima Nuclear Power plant was discharged into the sea for the first time on Monday, its owner said, NBC News reported.

At 10 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET) the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said it had started discharging 850 tons of treated water, after securing the agreement from government agencies and local fisherman.

A recently-installed water purification system that removes radioactive materials like cesium and strontium had allowed them to remove the water safely, they said.

Law enforcement in the St. Louis region should "minimize use of militarized weaponry," according to a 197-page report entitled "Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity" released early Monday, NBC News reported.

"Direct the state to cease providing, and local departments to cease using, militarized weaponry" that is not proportional to the situation, the report stated.

The report examines the causes of the the unrest following the death of Michael Brown, 18, who was shot dead by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. It was compiled by a 16-member commission appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon.

Police are investigating after a car crashed into a rock wall at an apartment complex in Rocky Hill on Monday morning.

It happened around 8:15 a.m. in the area of 1800 Silas Deane Highway. Police and firefighters responded and notified the town building department, according to police.

Footage from the scene shows significant damage to the wall, but police said the apartment building itself was not affected.

It's not clear if anyone was injured.

No additional information was immediately available.

Hartford police arrested a man in connection to a 4th of July shooting.

Aven Adorno, 28, of Hartford, is facing weapons charges.

Hartford detectives and police responded to 51 Bonner St. in Hartford on July 4 to investigate reports of shots fired close to 9:49 p.m.

The suspect was described as a 6-foot-tall man with dreadlocks who was wearing a red shirt. He left in a black car, police said.

Police found shotgun shell casings and a cell phone in the area.

No one was injured and no property was damaged.

Police located Adorno, who is on supervised parole, after identifying him as a suspect. He confessed to police that he was involved in the shooting.

Hartford police and Department of Corrections personnel in the shooting task force brought him to the Hartford Correction Center.

Police obtained a warrant on Aug. 20, charging him with criminal possession of a firearm, unlawful discharge of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment and weapon in a motor vehicle.

A judge set his bond at $250,000. He is incarcerated and will be taken to Hartford Superior Court for his arraignment.

Hartford police arrested a Pomfret man accused of coming to the capital city to make an illegal gun trade for narcotics, police said.

David Frost, 27, of Pomfret, is facing weapons charges.

Police and special operations officers were conducting surveillance on Sept. 11 after receiving information that Frost was due in Hartford to "trade an illegal firearm for narcotics" when they saw the suspect in a car at the Citgo at 410 Market Street, police said.

Hartford police searched his car and seized an American Arms .22 caliber pistol concealed in a pillow case.

Frost admitted to police that the gun was his. He is a convicted felon.

Police charged him with criminal possession of a firearm and having weapons in a motor vehicle.

South Windsor police have arrested a woman accused of taking part in a scheme to use a stolen credit card.

Deborah Nevin, 64, of South Windsor, was arrested on a warrant on Friday and charged with burglary in the third degree and trafficking in Personal Identifying Information

Police arrested Nevin after investigating a resident’s complaint filed in June reporting that someone had stolen and used her debit cards.

Video surveillance footage showed a man using the stolen debit card and he implicated Nevin, police said.

Police obtained warrants for both suspects.

Nevin was later released on a $50,000 surety bond and is scheduled to appear at Manchester Superior Court on Sept. 24.

A man with a gun robbed a Webster Bank in Manchester on Monday morning and a $2,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to a conviction in the case.

Police said a 6-foot-tall man wearing a gray hoodie and New York Yankees baseball hat robbed the Webster Bank at 1041 Main St. around 9:30 a.m. on Monday.

He fled the bank with the money and no one was injured during the robbery. The man remains on the loose and the Connecticut Banker's Association is offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the robber.

Police are looking into whether this case is connected to two armed gas station robberies on Sunday.

The Mobil gas station, at 427 Hartford Road, was robbed around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. A man with a knife, dressed all in black, went into the store, demanded money and cigarettes and left the store after getting what he was looking for. He was described as thin and around 5-feet-10.

The second robbery was at the BP Mart at 886 Hartford Road around 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The report police received said a man carrying a knife and wearing a black hoodie
, blue jeans, black shoes and a Wal-Mart bag over his head, jumped over the counter around 4 p.m. and grabbed cash before fleeing the store.

The robber is around 5-feet-6, weighs about 150 pounds and speaks with a slight Spanish accent, police said.

Anyone with information on any of the cases is asked to call Manchester Police at (860) 645-5510. All calls can remain anonymous.

Manchester Police are investigating two armed robberies at local gas stations on Sunday.

The first robbery was at the Mobil gas station, at 427 Hartford Road.

Police said a man with a knife, dressed all in black, went into the store at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, demanded money and cigarettes and left the store after getting what he was looking for. He was described as thin and around 5-feet-10.

The second robbery was at the BP Mart at 886 Hartford Road around 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The report police received said a man carrying a knife and wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans, black shoes and a Wal-Mart bag over his head, jumped over the counter around 4 p.m. and grabbed cash before fleeing the store.

The robber is around 5-feet-6, weighs about 150 pounds and speaks with a slight Spanish accent, police said.

Police are investigating and working to obtain surveillance video from the stores.

They said they do not know if the robberies are connection and ask anyone with information to call Manchester Police at (860) 645-5510.
Nobody was injured during the robberies.
 

An off-duty Hartford Police Officer arrested a man who was climbing the fence at the new Yard Goats baseball park and said the suspect had a ski mask and a sock full of ammunition, according to a news release from police.

There have been several recent burglaries at the park, including from the construction trailers, police said and an officer who was on his way to work saw a man climbing the northeast fence of Dunkin’ Donuts Park.

A Hartford Police sergeant located the suspect, identified as Courtney Newman, 28, of Manchester, detained him and found a bag of .22 caliber ammunition in his sock, along with a ski mask.

Newman, who has a prior conviction for a felony weapon charge, was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a firearm and ammunition and second-degree criminal trespass.

Bond was initially set at $10,000, but was increased to $100,000.

He is die back in court on Oct. 6.

Milford police have arrested a man known as the “Teardrop Bandit” in connection with a local bank robbery, police said.

Robert Chadronet, 37, of East Providence, Rhode Island, is suspected of robbing People’s United Bank, at 1636 Boston Post Road, as well as several other prior bank robberies, police said.

Chadronet, who is known as the “Teardrop Bandit,” walked into People’s United Bank around 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 18, handed the bank teller a note that said he had a weapon and wanted the money from the teller’s draw, police said.

After the teller handed Chadronet the cash, he fled the scene. No did not show a weapon and ran toward Woodruff Road, police said.

Police from Milford and East Providence, Rhode Island took Chadronet into custody at his house on Thursday in connection with the People’s United Bank robbery.

He is also suspected in a robbery at a Citizen’s bank in Wareham, Massachusetts on Sept. 9, according to a news release from Wareham police.

He was previously convicted of a bank robbery committed in Foxboro, Massachusetts in February 2005.

A 2007 article in the Sun Chronicle, a newspaper in Massachusetts, says Chadronet had a tear-drop shaped tattoo under his left eye, but it might have been temporary, because he did not have one when he was arrested under suspicion of a hold up. 

Chadronet was extradited back to Connecticut, where he is being held on $250,000 on the charges of second-degree robbery and third-degree larceny.
 

The town of Canton is facing a budget deficit because of the lack of volunteer emergency medical technicians and town officials are looking for solutions to the shortage.

The ambulance service relies on volunteers, as well as a private firm for coverage, but Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner said the town is relying more on the paid firm because there are not enough volunteers to fill the shifts.

As a result, there is a deficit of more than $70,000 in the fire and emergency medical services department.

They have covered the cost with money from elsewhere in the budget, but they are now looking for a permanent solution.

Skinner said volunteers are more difficult to find because Canton requires advanced EMT certification, which is beneficial to residents because first responders can do more when they arrive at the scene.

“It’s the actual training, and the amount of training and the time it takes to get the advanced level certification has been what’s resulted in difficulty in getting the volunteers,” Skinner said.

The town is also considering hiring paid paramedics instead of the volunteer EMTs, but that would be an additional expense estimated at roughly $300,000. Currently, if a paramedic is needed in Canton, they are called from UConn or Farmington.

With that idea still up in the air, there is no word yet where the money for the paramedics would come from or if taxes in Canton would go up as a result.

In the meantime, town officials said the shortage is not affecting response times to medical emergencies.

More volunteer EMTs are currently in training, but the town y is looking for as many as possible to help fix the shortage.
 

An impressive stretch of summer-like weather is ahead this week.

Tomorrow features unlimited sunshine with temperatures in the lower-80s both inland and at the shoreline.

A large area of high pressure will park over the eastern United States and stay put through the end of the week.

That means dry, sunny weather with high temperatures in the middle-80s inland and lower-80s at the coast through Friday.

The 2015 rainfall deficit is 3.9 inches at Bradley International in Windsor Locks and 5.2 inches at Sikorsky Airport in Bridgeport. Recent rain has helped, but the long stretch of dry weather this week will only mean the deficit gets bigger once again.

A cold front approaches next weekend, but it should lose most of its moisture as it advances east. It will be squished between two large areas of high pressure, thus, most of next weekend looks dry with temperatures still on the warm side, close to 80 degrees.

Stay with the NBC Connecticut First Alert weather team for the very latest forecast on-air, online and on the app.

You may have noticed something exciting the last time you went to fill your tank - cheaper gas.

In Connecticut, gas prices have been falling since mid-July according to AAA.

Nationally, there’s been a decrease of around 27 cents per gallon. AAA says that decrease can be attributed to the cost of crude oil.

“A gallon of unleaded today is around $2.51, a year ago on this same date it was $3.71” says Amy Parmenter, spokesperson for AAA.

NBC Connecticut found several happy drivers filling up for under $2.20 at stations in Berlin.

“It’s hurts your pockets, you know. So prices as it is now… its helpful” said Jesus Cruz, of Hartford.

“I guess I end up thinking I’ll go further since it is cheaper” said Erika Beaudoin from Newington.

Drivers say buying gas is one of those inevitabilities that they’ve just learned to deal with, no matter the cost. But low prices certainly make paying that necessary cost a lot easier.

“Whether its $2.19 or $3.50, you have to buy it anyway. But its also nicer when its cheaper” said Beaudoin.

AAA says prices could fall even more in the coming months.

“You usually see a drop off in gas prices at this time of year because the demand is less. We’re done with the busy travel season. We do expect the gas prices to keep going down through December” said Parmenter.

A Southwest Airlines flight heading from Rhode Island to Florida was diverted to Bradley Airport on Monday because of a mechanical issue, according to officials from Bradley.

According to a spokesperson for Southwest, the pilot received an "instrument notification" regarding the plane's wing flaps sometime after takeoff and decided to divert the flight out of "an abundance of caution."

The Connecticut Airport Authority said Southwest Flight 776 landed safely in Connecticut. The runway was briefly closed after landing but has since reopened.

Five crew members and 143 passengers were on board, according to Southwest.

The plane has been taken out of service and is being inspected. Southwest officials said authorities will investigate to determine why the plane's instrument notification went out.

Southwest is sending another aircraft to pick up the passengers from Bradley, according to the airline. The replacement plane is scheduled to arrive at 10:30 p.m.

The flight left T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island and was heading to Orlando, Florida. Online records show the flight departed around 1 p.m. Monday.
 

Police have arrested the man accused of stabbing another person in the city of Groton and leaving him with a punctured lung.

Richard Sawyer IV, 33, of Poquonnock Road in Groton, has been charged with first-degree assault.

Police said Sawyer stabbed a 25-year-old man in the chest and neck during the early morning hours of Sept. 8. The victim was rushed to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital for treatment of a punctured lung.

Sawyer was held on $500,000 bond and is due in court Sept. 15.

It's not clear if he has an attorney.

A woman found an armed intruder in her South Windsor condo early Sunday morning and police are searching for the man.

Police said the resident interrupted a burglary when she returned home to the Bryrewood Condominiums on Twin Circle Drive around 1 a.m. When she opened her front door, she saw a tall, thin man with a gun in his hand, standing in her kitchen, so she ran and called 911.

The intruder appeared to be in his mid-20s. He was dressed all in black and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, according to police, who searched for the man, but did not find him.

Police believe the man got into the first-floor unit through an open window, so authorities are reminding residents to lock windows and doors when they are not home and report any suspicious activity to the police immediately.

Anyone with information about the break-in should call South Windsor Police at 860-644-2551.

A two-alarm fire forced two families from their rooms at an extended-stay motel in Berlin, according to the fire chief.

Officials said an adult, infant and 10-year-old were initially reported to be trapped when flames broke out at the Salisbury Motel at 829 Berlin Turnpike around 3:15 p.m. It turned out to be a false alarm, however, and the family showed up 40 minutes later.

Three of the building's four units were affected. Fire Chief Jim Simons said the building is uninhabitable and the Red Cross is on its way.

Five people in two families were displaced. No one was hurt in the fire.

Crews are investigating to determine the cause.

Route 72 is congested in Plainville after a crash closed the westbound side of the highway and one eastbound lane on Monday evening, according to state police.

Police said the highway has reopened but traffic is moving slowly.

Injuries have been reported.  It's not clear how many cars were involved or how many people were hurt.

Check back for updates on this developing story.