A 34-year-old man was transported to the hospital Monday after he was shot in Waterbury.

 Waterbury police say they responded around 8:50p.m. for reports of shots fired in the area of 17 Coe St. When they arrived they found the victim, William Hart of Waterbury, suffering from two gunshot wounds, one to each leg. Hart was transported to Saint Mary’s Hospital. His injuries do not appear to be life threatening.

 Police believe the shooting, which took place in the front yard of 17 Coe St, was the result of a long-standing dispute between Hart and a female neighbor. Hart reportedly argued with the neighbor earlier Monday and the female later returned with either family or friends which resulted in the shooting.

 The suspect is described as a male about 6-foot-3 wearing a white shirt and dark pants.

 The Waterbury Police Detective bureau is investigating. Anyone with information should contact police.

A 27-year-old Florida woman missing in Ecuador since the country's devastating earthquake last weekend has reached her family and told them she is safe, NBC News reported.

Gentri Thurlby, who runs a tiki bar in the hard-hit northwest coastal region of the country, told her father via Facebook Monday night that she managed to flee her building and take shelter on a nearby beach, suffering only minor injuries from falling debris.

"Just as she got outside, a balcony from the building actually fell on her. She got cut and thought she broke her arm, but it ended up just badly bruised," Richard Thurlby told NBC News.

The death toll from Saturday's 7.8-magnitude quake reached 413 by Monday night. 

Two atheist groups are suing a Southern California public school district for allegedly "censoring" ads offering scholarships to college-bound seniors who write essays about what it means to be a nonbeliever in the Antelope Valley.

The nonprofit Antelope Valley Freethinkers and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national secular group in Wisconsin, filed a federal lawsuit last week against the Antelope Valley Union High School District in Lancaster.

The groups allege that the district censored their scholarship ads while allowing ones from Christians, Catholics, Jews, Scientologists, the LGBT community and even one about "What the Second Amendment means to you."

The Freethinkers, who develop "opinions based on science and reason in contrast to faith and dogma," offer scholarships "Why I'm Good Without God: Challenges of being a young nonbeliever" and one for minority nonbelievers.

Every year the Freethinkers offer thousands of dollars in scholarship money to high school students who compete in its scholarship contests. Typically, about 10 to 20 high school students win money each year. Winners are also chosen at the college and graduate level, court documents said.

David Dionne, the president of the Antelope Valley Freethinkers, alleged that he was told that the district "couldn't approve the scholarship the way it was worded because it would upset some parents," the lawsuit said.

Neither Dionne nor officials from the Antelope Valley Union High School District responded to messages seeking comment.

The district allegedly singled out, "Perhaps you've been ridiculed, harassed, or punished for speaking up against religion in the classroom, at school events, in government, or within your family."

When Dionne offered to reword it, the official told him in an email, "We simply do not have the time to 'word smith' language that might be acceptable to the district and yet meet the intent of your organization. If you wish to consider a pursuit of this matter — I would invite this potential dialogue early next spring, when we would have time to consider alternate language."

The District's General Counsel Bridget L. Cook, responded to follow up letters saying "since the District is a limited public forum, we reserve the right to determine what information we allow to be disseminated in our schools."

Cook claimed that the Freethinkers proposed essay prompts "appear to promote anti-religious expression and contain argumentative undertones toward religion. Therefore, the District will not be distributing this scholarship information to students."

At least 28 people were killed and almost 200 injured after a suicide bomb rocked the heart of Afghanistan's capital on Tuesday, NBC News reported.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which occured outside of the country's main naitonal security agency.  

Counterterrorism forces "pinned down the terrorists" who entered the National Directorate of Security, according to interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.

Kabul police chief Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters at the scene that 28 people had been killed and 180 injured. The Ministry of Public Health, meanwhile, put the number of wounded at 327.

Connecticut State Police are responding to a tractor trailer crash in Wallingford.

Police say a tractor trailer flipped over and went up in flames on 1-91 northbound near exit 15.

Officials are transporting one person to the hospital with minor injuries.

Both the right and center lanes are closed.

No further information was immediately available.

Check back here for details.

President Barack Obama travels to Saudi Arabia this week amid mounting tension over a bill backed by many families of 9/11 victims, who believe that the Gulf country played a role in the attacks.

The legislation would allow Americans to sue foreign countries if they are found to be responsible for terror attacks on U.S. soil.

Saudi Arabia, which has always denied involvement in the attacks, has responded by pledging to sell off $750 billion in American assets if efforts to hold the country responsible for 9/11 are successful.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters that he can't say whether the matter will come up between Obama and the Saudis in the upcoming trip, but that the recent attention on the bill "might change that equation."

Donald Trump has extended his support in the 2016 presidential race among Republican primary voters to a record 40 percent as the field has narrowed, but he is still locked in a tight battle with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows.

Trump gets the support of 40 percent of Republican primary voters, while Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas gets 35 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in third place, has the support of 24 percent of GOP primary voters, according to the poll.

The margin of error for Republican primary voters in the poll is +/- 5.6 percent.

Trump outperforms Cruz most decisively among Republicans who do not have a college education (45 percent to 38 percent) and men (42 percent to 35 percent).   

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be making a campaign stop in Connecticut on Thursday, ahead of the April 26 primary, according to her campaign.

It will be a public visit, but it's not clear where it will be.

Her campaign said she will discuss her plans to deal with gun violence in communities, as well as plans to break down the barriers that hold too many families back.

Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, will be in the state on Wednesday for a campaign event in Hartford.

Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ohio governor John Kasich have both visited Connecticut. Trump was in Hartford on Friday. 

Kasich visited  Sacred Heart University in Fairfield earlier this month and is coming back on Friday, where he will be at Glastonbury High School.

The candidates have also been spending money on advertising here.

Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has not visited Connecticut during the campaign cycle, but he has spent $765,000 on ads for Connecticut TV stations, according to FCC filings.

The layoffs of state workers continued Monday with 89 workers at the UConn Health Center receiving notices they were losing their jobs.

The employees who received notices today were relieved of their duties at the close of business Monday, according to a news release from the governor's Office of Policy and Management.

Through Monday, 351 state employees have been laid off.  Employees from the Department of Children and Families, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Social Services and Department of Economic and Community Development have all received layoff notices.

The commissioner of the Department of Correction told employees last week that 147 employees would be laid off, but those notices have not yet gone out.

Last week, Gov. Dannel Malloy unveiled a new budget plan to deal with the state's $922 million deficit.  The plan included 2,500 layoffs of state workers.

The Governor's Office said more layoff notices will go out in the future and that they will occur over time.

A Pennsylvania woman is now on probation after her fitness tracker's information proved she was awake and walking around at a time she claimed to have been sexually assaulted.

The woman made a false police report saying she was pulled out of bed and sexually assaulted, but her Fitbit showed otherwise, according to NBC's "Today" show.

That evidence "sealed the deal" for prosecutors, Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman told "Today."

Law enforcement can use a warrant to obtain information from fitness trackers, many of which include GPS devices.

A 21-year-old Naugatuck woman has been arrested after a child swallowed marijuana while in her care, according to police.

Police said they responded to St. Mary’s Hospital at 5:47 p.m. on Friday to investigate and determined that the child ingested a small amount of marijuana while Sheila Varela, 21, of Naugatuck, was taking care of her.

The child was not harmed, but the state Department of Children and Families was notified.

Varela was charged with risk of injury to a child. She was released on a $1,000 non-surety bond and she is due back in court on April 27.

It’s not clear if she has an attorney.

Police are investigating a robbery at a Middletown bank on Monday evening and they are asking for help to identify the robber.

Police said the man entered the TD Bank at 911 Washington St. at 5:25 p.m., implied he had a gun hidden in his hooded sweatshirt, threatened the manager and asked for a large sum of cash.

He fled to a getaway car that was described as a white mid-1990s sedan that might have a vinyl roof. It was behind the bank, between a car wash and Home Depot, police said, and a man with dark short hair was driving.

The bank robber has slight facial hair, and a shaved head and some gray on the side. He is around 220 pounds and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, dark sneakers and dark sunglasses, according to police.

The Connecticut Bankers Reward Association is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the bank robber.

Anyone with information should call Middletown Police Department Detective Bureau at 860-638-4000.

Stamford-based AmeriCares is preparing to send relief to the people of Ecuador after Saturday’s devastating earthquake and the organization is airlifting medical supplies and other necessities to the South American nation.

The supplies are expected to reach Ecuador in the next few days.

The death toll of from the earthquake is in the hundreds, with thousands more injured and many still unaccounted for.

Two AmeriCares staffers are expected to arrive in Ecuador by Tuesday night and will work with existing non-governmental organizations to develop a plan for relief and rebuilding.

“It’s been very hard to reach the rural areas. So, until we have a full assessment on the ground, we don’t know exactly what the extent of our supply will be. But that’s also why we’re sending people,” Jed Selkowitz, senior vice president of communications for AmeriCares, said.

As AmeriCares learns more about the full scope of this monumental tragedy, they’ll send more supplies and possibly more manpower.

They said they will continue to lend a helping hand for as long as necessary.

Police said they have found the car that hit and killed a 43-year-old Greenwich man on Sunday night and have tentatively identified the driver who fled the scene.

Edward Setterberg, 43, was hit around 11 p.m. on East Putnam Avenue by Hillside Road, police said.

On Monday, police said they were looking for a Mercedes Benz ML350 -- model year of 2006 or later -- with damage to the right side of the grill, which was described as a silver honeycomb style with a Mercedes Benz logo in the center of it.

Police are still investigating.

Anyone with any information is asked to call lead investigator, Officer Roger Drenth, at (203) 622-8014 or the TipLine at (203 622-3333 or 1(800) 372-1176 or email tips@greenwichct.org.

University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball head coach Geno Auriemma returned from the hospital on Tuesday morning, the school's associate sports director confirmed.

"He is feeling better and enjoying some time with his family," Pat McKenna, UConn's associate director of athletic communications said. ". Coach Auriemma and his family wish to express their appreciation and gratitude to everyone for their thoughts and prayers."

Auriemma was taken to the hospital on Saturday morning, according to UConn officials.

University officials confirm that Auriemma decided to deplane a flight at Bradley International Airport because he was not feeling well. The coach had been ill for several days prior to the incident, according to the university.

Earlier this month Auriemma missed a parade celebrating his team’s fourth consecutive national title due to illness.

His family asks for privacy during this time. 

Two Manchester sisters are accused of shoplifting at a Vernon Kmart and trying to hide the merchandise in a stroller.

Police said the incident happened on Thursday and they have arrested Jasmine Cabassa, 21, and Jessica Cabassa, 19, of Manchester. The sisters were out with children at the time, police said.

Both have been charged with risk of injury to a child and fifth-degree larceny. Bond was set at $10,000.

A "pissoir" might be commonplace in France — but it's shameful and degrading to a group of Christians and neighbors in San Francisco, who sued the city last week in an unprecedented move.

The heated debate revolves around a European-style public urinal in Dolores Park, located near the city's colorful, predominantly gay Castro neighborhood. The $40,000 pissoir (Piss-WAH) was erected at the corner of 20th and Church streets after neighbors demanded something be done about public urination.

According to plaintiff attorney and Pacific Justice Institute president Brad Dacus, it's the only pissoir in the country, and therefore the first lawsuit of its kind.

Dacus said the open urinal is a "slap in the face" to passersby who have public urination "thrust upon them." He vowed to take the issue to the Supreme Court if need be.

"The open-air urination hole violates the privacy of those who need to use the restroom but would be required to expose their bodies and suffer the shame and degradation of urinating in public view," the lawsuit states. "Seclusion in bodily evacuation is a societal norm and constitutes one of the most basic expectations for privacy."

It also calls the pissoir "indecent," "offensive to the senses," "grossly unseemly" and "offensive to manners and morals."

Dacus' institute filed the suit April 14 in San Francisco Superior Court along with Oakland-based attorneys Kevin Snider and Michael Peffer of the Pacific Justice Institute and Conrad Reynoldson of Seattle's Washington Civil and Disability Advocate.

Plaintiffs include the San Francisco Chinese Christian Union, Richard Lam, Peggy Lam, Patrick Sullivan and Sylvia Terpstra, all of whom either use the park, live near the park, or take the J-Church Muni bus there.

They claim the pissoir is a health hazard that violates the city's plumbing code and discriminates against women and the disabled. But Supervisor Scott Wiener said those arguments are thin: There are 26 other traditional toilets elsewhere in the park for women and those in wheelchairs.

He said Recreation and Parks Department leaders feel the urinal is working, but conceded that more screening will be added to the open-air bathroom.

The pissoir was part of a $20 million park renovation stemming from a year's worth of community meetings — at least 50 — which included talks about a new kind of toilet in Wiener's district.

"The community wanted to try a pissoir in the southwest corner of the park near 'gay beach,' to take the pressure off the rest of the bathrooms," Wiener said. "It's mostly males who are there anyway, it wasn't expensive and it can be easily removed if it doesn't work out."

Wiener also said the urinal was created with the goal to "expand restroom capacity in the park so people stopped urinating on people's houses and to make it easier for people to go to the bathroom."

Neighbor Cheryl LaBrecque said she isn't personally offended by the pissoir but can sympathize with families who have small children.

"I might be bothered by it," she said.

Holly Greenberg, formerly of Manhattan, said it's nothing to get flustered about.

"I can ignore it," said Greenberg. "I'm from New York."

For its part, the city of San Francisco issued a snarky, unabashedly left-leaning press release titled "Ain't that a pissoir?!" In it, the city calls the Pacific Justice Institute a bunch of "religious conservatives" represented by a legal foundation that the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as an "anti-LGBT hate group."

City Attorney Dennis Herrera pointed out Dolores Park is known for its storied "counter culture," which embraces "immodest sunbathers, pot brownie vendors, spectacular city views, and famously irreverent 'Hunky Jesus' contest." Herrera also proudly noted the park — where 5,000 people can gather on a busy weekend day — ranks No. 1 on Yelp among San Francisco's best nude parks.

"If I had to predict the top 100 things in Dolores Park likely to offend these plaintiffs, I wouldn’t have guessed that this would make the cut," city attorney spokesman Matt Dorsey said.

But to Dacus, nipping the pissoir in the bud is important because the moral tone will set a precedent for the entire country.

"We don't have this in the United States," he said. "We don't accept this culturally, morally, and more importantly, we don't accept it legally. The city of San Francisco is obligated to comply with the law. They can't ignore that simply because of their own political desires to placate some group."

NBC Bay Area's Mark Matthews contributed to this report.

A Bristol man is accused of setting property he owns in Milford on fire.

Firefighters and police responded to 31 South Wind Lane in Milford on Dec. 8 after a fire broke out and investigators determined it had been set.

Investigators also discovered that the gas stove was left on and a candle was unattended and burning inside the residence on a previous occasion.

The fire on Dec. 8 started in a bedroom in the center of the room, but the source of the fire is not known, officials said.

Milford Police have an obtained an arrest warrant for the homeowner, Douglas McDonald, 35, of Bristol, and took him into custody on Monday.

He was charged with first-degree arson, first-degree reckless endangerment and first-degree criminal mischief.

He posted a $50,000 bond and is due in Milford Superior Court on May 17.

If you plan to start running and join NBC Connecticut in our Run for Today campaign, you might find yourself asking where to start.

When it comes to running, start from the ground up.

"When you come in, we'll take you through a full gate and biomechanical analysis where we'll discuss the type of running you're doing, the amount of running, the surfaces, any preexisting injuries you might have,” Chaz Koch, manager of Sound Runner in Glastonbury, said.

What you wear underneath your shoe is also important.

"We always recommend a synthetic or a wool sock,” Koch said. “That's going to stay in place on the foot enough to pull the moisture away and keep the foot relatively dry."

And don't forget to keep track of your run.

"We carry anything from a basic Timex watch, where it just has a stop watch on it," Koch said.

"Technical watches, which would be a GPS focused watch that does real-time pacing, distance, calories, they've actually gone so far as to have heart rate straps build into the wrist. They can do vertical oscillation, cadence, any cool features based on what you're looking for during your workout," he said.

If you plan on running along outdoors without a cell phone, don't forget your ID.

"Road ID is a company that makes basically small emergency contact into pieces that can be worn on an individual on their wrist on their shoe,” Koch said. “I personally have the dog tag version of it. (It) just lists my name, my address, my emergency contact and then any allergies you might have."

Before and after your run, it's important to take care of your body and stretch it out.

"We have some great tools that you can use to kind of enhance the stretching process. The orb, which is good to get into the muscles and get some release -- the stick to really get in there and sort of to work the kinks out,” Koch said. “And in order to keep running efficiently and healthy, you want to make sure that you're trying to stay as loose as possible."

And we want to have as much fun as possible at our Run for Babies 5K and walk on May 1. No matter what you’re running ability is, sign up today to join the NBC Connecticut team by clicking here.

A state police dog was injured while searching for a missing woman in Monday night.

Police responded to Rocky Neck State Park around 9:40 p.m. to help search for a missing 49-year-old woman.

While searching for the woman, K9 Porter fell off a 20-foot rock wall and injured his right front leg, according to state police.

Trooper Warren, who handles Porter, took his partner to an emergency veterinarian's office for treatment. State police are still waiting to hear if the dog's leg is broken.

Porter is resting at home while he recuperates, police said.

The missing woman was found safe.