Middletown police arrested a mother after her young daughter was found wandering alone in a parking lot Thursday.

Idhssaine Khadija, 32, of Plaza Drive in Middletown, was charged with risk of injury to a child.

Police said they responded to the Petco at 816 Washington Street around 11:29 a.m. after a report of an unattended child. When police arrived the caller was there with a child around 20 months old. According to police, the child was not wearing shoes and her feet were dirty from walking barefoot outside. It was 86 degrees outside at the time.

Police also noted the child’s diaper was full of pee, and she had some kind of rash on her legs and face.

The child could not speak so police began searching a nearby apartment complex for her family. Police found a woman, later identified as Khadija, walking around the complex parking lot with a four-year-old boy talking on the phone. According to the arraignment report, the woman “seemed to be in a state of panic.”

Officers asked the woman if she was searching for her daughter and she answered yes, the report states. The arraignment report said that when police told her the child had been found nearby, she “abruptly ran from the parking lot to her second floor apartment” and left her 4-year-old son behind.

Officers followed her upstairs and discovered another child, this one 2 months old, had been left unattended while Khadija searched for her daughter.

Khadija told police her daughter may have been missing from their apartment for several minutes before she released and began looking for her. She called her husband at work, but did not call police, the report said.

After establishing the situation, police determined the child was missing for approximately 35 minutes.

Police also questioned Khadija about the rash on her daughter’s face and she told them she had not taken the child to a doctor, according to the arraignment report.

The girl was acting lethargic and police suspected she may have been dehydrated, so she was transported to Middlesex Hospital for evaluation. Her mother remained at home with two other children. The child’s father picked her up from the hospital a short time later and returned home, at which point police arrested Khadija.

Khadija was released on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Middletown court on Tuesday.

Nearly 500 additional state Department of Developmental Services employees will be laid off, according to state officials.

The budget plan for fiscal year 2017 includes 492 additional layoffs, which brings the total number of layoffs for the department to 605.

The layoffs are part of an ongoing state workforce reduction.

The state’s plan for DDS includes reducing publicly run residential facilities, as well as institutional facilities.

“We are in a new economic reality and we must continue to adapt. As the world changes, we must change with it and state government must provide high-level services more efficiently. As we work to transform state government, these transitions will undoubtedly be difficult for the families and the employees, but they are nevertheless necessary to move government into the future,” Benjamin Barnes, secretary of the office of policy and management, said in a statement.

The layoffs include several positions and 76 jobs will be cut by Nov. 1, while 416 will be laid off after Jan. 1, 2017.

The SEIU 1199 union released a statement about the layoffs and budget cuts.

"The Governor’s proposal would decimate our state's ability to provide services for the disabled,” SEIU spokesperson Jennifer Schneider said in a statement. “Services for the intellectually and developmentally should be a core function of our state. If the state can find $22 million to give to the world's largest hedge fund than (surely) they can find the money to keep the disabled in the only home many of them have ever known. We urge the Governor to find a better way than balancing the budget on the backs of the disabled.”

Statement of Gian-Carl Casa, CEO of CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, on budget proposals released today by the Department of Developmental Services.

Gian-Carl Casa, CEO of CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, also released a statement.

"The Alliance appreciates that the Department of Developmental Services recognizes community providers are the most cost-effective way to deliver high quality, life-sustaining services. We ask, however, for providers to be part of the discussion on how best to do that, to ensure adequate resources are available, while still delivering significant savings for taxpayers," Casa said.

One hundred and 13 people were previously laid off from the department.

North Carolina asked the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to put a hold on last month's federal appeals court ruling that struck down one of the nation's toughest voter ID laws, NBC News Reported.

The state is asking to continue to enforce its voter ID law, which was in effect during this year's primary, and also to limit early voting to 10 days instead of 17 as the state originally did, and to bar pre-registration by 16 year olds. It said these measures will "avoid voter confusion."

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in July that the state legislature explicitly set out to discover what kind of accommodations minority voters use most often and then to roll back or eliminate them, targeting African Americans "with almost surgical precision."

Props to American distance runner Abbey D’Agostino who delivered one of the most inspiring moments of the Rio Games during the women’s 5000-meter race Tuesday. 

The athlete helped a rival runner and managed to finish the race with a leg injury after suffering a nasty fall. 

According to NBC Sports, D’Agosotino, 24, appeared to suffer an injury that sent her tumbling over New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin who then tripped on the track. 

Instead of getting up to continue the race, D’Agostino turned to help Hamblin. D’Agostino, having problems with her leg, then fell to the track herself. Hamblin stayed with the American runner before getting back into the race. 

D’Agostino powered through her injury, limping the last few laps of the race. 

Their acts of sportsmanship sparked praise on social media. 

D’Agostino ended up finishing the race and was led off the track in a wheelchair. But not before sharing a victory hug with Hamblin at the finish line. 

Both runners were originally knocked out of the final. After appealing, the judges advanced D'Agostino and Hamblin. The two athletes will take to the track on Friday for the final race. 

They'll be up against Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana, the world champion in the 5,000-meter, who surged to victory Tuesday morning.

Responding to requests from House Republicans, the FBI sent members of Congress the notes from its July interview with Hillary Clinton about her private email server on Tuesday, NBC News reported.

The notes will not be released to the public.

Clinton was interviewed on July 2nd at FBI headquarters in Washington. FBI Director James Comey announced the following Tuesday that the FBI would not recommend prosecuting her.

He said the notes were classified Top Secret. An FBI official said Monday that FBI lawyers have been reviewing whether the notes can be turned over and whether any redactions were necessary.

The notes are not verbatim transcripts of the interview. Under the FBI's long-standing policy, agents do not make audio or video recordings of their interviews. Instead, summaries of the interviews are written on FBI Form 302.

A little girl is using chalk to uplift patients at Connecticut Children's Medical Center. 

Stroke by stroke, Aliana Fichera spent Tuesday morning chalking the walkway outside the medical center. With help from some “mini artists,” the nearly 12-year-old is spreading joy. 

"I don't want people to feel alone and let them know there's other people out there like them,” Aliana, the organizer for Chalk the Walks, said. 

The sidewalk gala is part of an international event called Chalk the Walks, created by the nonprofit Joy Team, in which children pick a color chalk and get to work drawing and writing inspirational messages. 

"It's for kids who can't come out of the hospital and they can look out the window, look down, and read it and feel happy,” Aliana said. 

Aliana is a patient too and has common variable immunodeficiency or CVID. She has been going to the medical center for the past three years, visiting at least once a month. 

“I can't fight off a cold, which could turn into pneumonia, and get very sick,” Aliana said. 

When Chalk the Walks first began five years ago, just over 300 people participated. Today, 37,000 people nationwide are sharing joy and hope through their chalk messages. 

This is the second year Aliana and friends have scribbled bright messages for children to see because each stroke on this concrete canvas is a worth a smile. 

"There might be a dark point in your life, but it will get better,” Aliana said. 

This year, she raised nearly $2,500, which will go to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and the Joy Team organization. 

Meriden police are investigating a homicide after a man was found dead Thursday.

Meriden police said family members found the victim, Felix Rodriguez, in a North Tower apartment at 55 Willow Street around 11:41 a.m. on Aug. 11. Rodriguez is described as a “middle aged male.”

Police are actively investigating the death as a homicide. No other information has been released at this time.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Det. John Wagner at (203) 630-6334.

Six people were injured by electric shock after riding the Scrambler ride at an amusement park in New London, police said.

On Tuesday, police responded to a call about at least two people being hurt at Ocean Beach Park at 1:51 p.m.

The operator of the Scrambler told police that he felt a 'tingling' sensation when he was pressing the button to bring the ride to the stop, police said. 

State police said the injuries were apparently caused by an electrical shock from the amusement park ride. 

All six people, who also said they felt 'tingling' on the ride, were transported to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital to treat minor injuries, police said. 

Police told NBC Connecticut one of the people transported, a young boy, touched a metal fence as he was getting off the Scrambler and suffered red marks and minor burns. 

All rides at Ocean Beach Park will remain shut down until New London's electrical inspector and the state fire marshal can determined what caused the shock, according to state police. 

More information was not immediately available.

Donald Trump will receive a classified intelligence briefing on Wednesday in New York, a federal official confirms.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will conduct the briefing, making use of a secure FBI facility, NBC News reported.

Such briefings have been conducted since the 1950s for presidential candidates in the general election. But Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said last month at the Aspen Security Conference that the briefings during the campaign are "fairly general."

He hinted that they do not delve into more sensitive matters until a candidate becomes president-elect.

Trump's briefing session comes just days after he unveiled a series of foreign policy proposals that included "extreme vetting" of immigrants and only allowing those who "share our values and respect our people" into the United States.

A man exposed himself to a woman shopping at the Goodwill Store in Wallingford on Monday, according to police. 

The woman said while she was shopping at the store on 1145 North Colony Road, a man made contact with her and then looked down at himself, Wallingford Police said. 

When the woman looked down, she saw that the made had exposed himself through an opening in his pants, police said. 

The man continued to make eye contact with the victim when she went to notify store employees, before leaving the store without making a purchase, according to police. 

Surveillance video helped lead to the arrest of Mohamed Baakrime, 30, of Meriden, officials said.

Baakrime eventually admitted to the Goodwill incident and told police this was not his first time exposing himself to someone, Wallingford Police said. 

Baakrime was charged with breach of peace and his bond was set at $5,000. 

An area in Waterbury has been classified as a food desert by the USDA, and now officials said residents living there will be getting some much needed relief.

According to city officials, the neighborhood near Grove Street falls under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's classification of a food desert.

"As we did community surveys the residents were always asking for another opportunity to put in some type of store that would fill the needs to the neighborhood,” said Economic Development Director Joseph McGrath.

The USDA said a food desert is a place where residents are of low-income and have low access to a supermarket. City officials said the neighborhood fits the description, with the nearest grocery store is more than half a mile away.

There used to be a C-Town Supermarket in the area but it burned down in 2007. Since then, neighbors only have bodegas and dollar stores to choose from.

"We haven't had a grocery store in this side of the town,” said Waterbury resident Sharon Miranda.

A new 12,000-square-foot Waterbury Farms is coming. The store is independently owned, and a cooperative with Key Foods which already has stores in Bridgeport and Norwalk. Not only will there be produce, but also more than 50 ripe jobs.

City officials said ground breaks in coming weeks and completion is expected done by July 2017.

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan non-profit organization that will hold candidates and key figures accountable during the 2016 presidential campaign. FactCheck.org will check facts of speeches, advertisements and more for NBC.

Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, wrongly claimed that “the NATO base in Turkey” was attacked last week by “terrorists.” Middle East experts told us there wasn’t any such attack. One expert called Manafort’s remark a “total fabrication.”

Manafort, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” accused the media of ignoring major news stories last week and instead covering stories that were critical of Trump. He cited, for example, the extensive media coverage of Trump’s comment that perhaps “Second Amendment people” could stop Hillary Clinton from making Supreme Court appointments.

Trump’s Second Amendment comment, which he made Aug. 9, was perceived by some as a threat against Clinton. Trump later said he only meant that gun-rights supporters could deny Clinton an election victory if they mobilize to elect him. Manafort told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “you covered this aside about the Second Amendment for three days.”

Manafort, Aug. 14: I mean, there’s plenty of news to cover this week that I haven’t seen covered. You had information coming out about pay-for-play out of emails of Hillary Clinton’s that weren’t turned over, by the way, to the Justice Department for her investigation. That’s a major news story.

You had — you had the NATO base in Turkey being under attack by terrorists. You had a number of things that were appropriate to this campaign, were part of what Mr. Trump has been talking about.

Let’s first dispense of Manafort’s comment that Clinton’s emails weren’t covered. They were widely covered, as Tapper said.

Manafort is referring to emails and other State Department documents that were released on Aug. 9 by Judicial Watch. As part of its ongoing freedom of information lawsuit against the State Department, the conservative group disclosed that it had obtained “296 pages of State Department records, of which 44 email exchanges were not previously turned over to the State Department.” That email release was widely covered by the media, including CNN, which reported that the emails “raise questions about the Clinton Foundation’s influence on the State Department and its relations during her tenure” as secretary of state.

The coverage may not have been as extensive as Manafort would have liked, but he was wrong to say that it wasn’t covered.

What about the failure of the media to cover a “NATO base in Turkey being under attack by terrorists”?

“There was no terrorist attack on a NATO base in Turkey that I am aware of,” Steven A. Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told us in an email.

Other experts said the same thing. “There was no attack on the American base by anyone in Turkey,” Henri J. Barkey, director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., said in an email. “Total fabrication.”

What was Manafort talking about? We don’t know because the Trump campaign did not respond to our requests for information.

There was, of course, a failed military coup in Turkey on July 15. The Turkish government claims Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania, plotted the coup attempt. Turkey describes Gulen as the leader of the “Fethullah Terrorist Organization,” and it has asked the U.S. to extradite Gulen, as the New York Times has reported.

Kemal Kirisci, director of the Turkey Project at the Brookings Institution, said Manafort may be referring to the coup attempt and the Fethullah Terrorist Organization, but he said the U.S. does not consider the group to be a terrorist organization.

“The term ‘terrorism’ is being used these days in a very loose fashion,” Kirisci told us. “The Turkish government defines this group as a terrorist organization. And in some ways it is a terrorist organization. The West does not define this group as a terrorist group.”

Also, the coup attempt happened a month ago (not a week ago) and it was widely reported (not ignored by the media).

The experts with whom we consulted also told us that there were anti-American demonstrations in late July at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. Turkey is a NATO member, and Incirlik is sometimes misidentified as a NATO base. But it is not, Cook told us. It is operated jointly by the U.S. and Turkey.

The anti-American demonstrations sprung from the belief widely held in Turkey that the U.S. was behind the coup attempt “either directly or simply because the man widely suspected to be the leader of the conspiracy, the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, lives in self-exile in the United States,” as the New York Times explains.

Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense authorized news outlet, reported that there were at least 1,000 demonstrators on July 28, but operations at the base were not disrupted. There were protests again on July 30, and this time Turkish police blocked access to the base amid inaccurate speculation of a second military coup, Stars and Stripes reported.

“Mr. Manafort may be referring to the fact that Turkish police surrounded Incirlik airbase, which is not a NATO facility,” Cook said. “That happened about 2.5 weeks ago.”

The anti-U.S. demonstrations at the base did not receive much U.S. attention that we could find. But Barkey told us they were “peaceful.”

There simply is no evidence that we could find of a “NATO base in Turkey being under attack by terrorists,” as Manafort claimed.

Hamden police arrested a man accused of beating two women and a child with a baseball bat.

James Morrison, 50, of Eastern Street in New Haven, was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, breach of peace, and risk of injury to a minor.

Police said Morrison and his ex-girlfriend got into an argument around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. According to police, when the woman’s 20-year-old daughter tried to intervene, Morrison got her in a headlock and struck her in the head with a baseball bat. Morrison also struck his ex-girlfriend in the leg with the bat.

The 20-year-old victim was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital for treatment. The second female victim refused treatment.

The assault occurred in the area of Shelton Avenue and Goodrich Street in front of a 12-year-old child, who was not harmed.

Morrison is being held on a $5,000 bond and appeared in court for arraignment Monday.

The honors keep coming for the three biggest stars of Team USA’s Olympic team.

Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles have made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The cover photo was unveiled Tuesday with all three champions wearing their plethora of medals of gold, silver and bronze.

The headline: “The Greatests.”

Sports Illustrated also shared some behind-the-scenes videos of how the shoot came together.

If you’re wondering why Biles is in full gymnastics uniform while Ledecky and Phelps are in street clothes, there’s a good answer. Sports Illustrated’s Lee Feiner said during a Facebook Live chat that Biles came straight to the photo shoot after competing in a discipline — after the event she went through the mandatory doping control, took questions from the media and then arrived at the SI shoot location, still in her competition leotard.

And if you’re wondering why Biles looks taller than she really is, that’s because the photographer had her stand on a camera gear container to balance out the photo. You can see that via this 360-video of the shoot:

Biles is listed at 4 feet, 8 inches tall, while Phelps is 6 feet, 4 inches tall and Ledecky is 6 feet tall.

Ben Eagle of Sports Illustrated said that while Biles was doing her individual portion of the SI photo shoot Ledecky was trading Olympic pins with the IT guys in the back of the room.

Oh, and not that many of us mere mortals would know, but apparently it’s hard to line up all of those Olympic medals around your neck at the same time. 

Ledecky was struggling a bit with hers, so Phelps stepped in and aligned them.

"Depends on how you put them on,” Phelps explained as only the most decorated swimmer in Olympic history could. "I put them on one-by-one and then tuck them behind."

“What?” Ledecky asked, as if she had never thought this hard before about the alignment of her medals.

"I’ve done it before,” Phelps said with a laugh. "You’ll learn, don’t worry about it."

Phelps also had a fun interaction with Ledecky’s mother, who praised Phelps for yet another incredible Olympic Games.

"I tried to compete with your daughter, but she just wiped me out,” Phelps told her during the shoot. “She jut kept breaking every world record known to mankind.”

Hamden police arrested a man accused of stealing heating equipment from a Dixwell Avenue building.

On June 28, police responded to a commercial building on Dixwell Avenue that was under renovations for a report of smoke.

Police said a suspect, later identified as Christopher Olson, 47, of Hamden, cut live electrical wires in the basement of a building that was under renovation. Olson then allegedly stole several copper pipes and a baseboard heating system.

The owner of the building estimated the damage and loss to cost around $50,000.

Police said on Monday, Olson turned himself in. He is charged with burglary, criminal mischief, and larceny. He is being held on a $35,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Meriden court on Aug. 29.

They've been training for this moment for years. All eyes are on them. They walk to the end of the diving board, ready to show off their special talent.

And then they flop. Literally. 

Illya Zakharov, the reigning three-meter Olympic champion, belly flopped in the semi-finals Tuesday, reminding everyone that even the best in the world can feel the pain of a flop.

Zakharov was the fourth flop or near-flop in Rio. Here are all of them:

Zakharov failed to defend his gold medal after this belly flop resulted in a score of zero. According to diving rules, a belly or back flop is usually considered a failed dive and gets a score of zero.

Russian diver Nadezhda Bazhina became a social media sensation for all the wrong reasons. She suffered the first flop of the Games - and as a result, the video spread like wildfire. Her backflop in the preliminary rounds of the women's three-meter springboard netted her a zero, and knocked her out of the competition.

Malaysia's Ahmad Amsyar Azman landed belly-down in the green diving pool on his final dive of the preliminary event. 

Brazil's Luiz Felipe Outerelo attempted a reverse dive in the synchronized diving competition, but didn't pull cleanly out of pike. He needed to wobble his arms out like a child playing airplane to regain his balance. He managed to straighten out and avoid the flop - but he was not synchronized with his teammate, and his score reflected it.

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling makes no secret of his conservative political views or his desire to run for office. In an interview with WRKO Radio, Schilling said he's now considering challenging Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2018, when she will be up for re-election.

"I think one of the things I would like to do is be one of the people responsible for getting Elizabeth Warren out of politics," Schilling said. "I think she's a nightmare and I think that the left is holding her up as the second coming of Hillary Clinton, which Lord knows we don't even need the first one."

Democratic political consultant Kevin Franck said the race would "get a lot of publicity."

But, Franck says that while it would be an interesting and nationally watched race, Schilling would have little chance of winning.

"He's out of step with the Massachusetts electorate on key issues like gun safety, LGBT rights, he headed a business that went down in flames and cost the taxpayers of Rhode Island a lot of money," said Franck. "That's an issue that's right in Elizabeth Warren's wheelhouse."

Franck is referring to Schilling's 38 Studios video game company that went bankrupt in 2012 after receiving $75 million in Rhode Island state financing.

Voter Sheila Hopkins recalls Schilling's bankruptcy.

"Curt Schilling, the one that nearly bankrupted in Rhode Island? Is that the same Curt Schilling?" Hopkins said.

Schilling would also be up against Warren's die-hard Massachusetts fan base, which includes Angela DePace of Jamaica Plain.

"I love Elizabeth Warren, I would support her until the ends of the earth," DePace said.

Which is not to say that Schilling doesn't have a healthy sized fan club of his own. It's just more geared toward baseball.

"Great pitcher, helped us get that World Series, the bloody sock," said Ken Coleman of Brookline. "But I would vote for Elizabeth Warren."

State Environmental Conservation police are investigating after a 17-year-old was injured in a fall at Stillwater Pond in Torrington Tuesday.

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials said the male victim fell 20 feet from a rope swing. The severity of his injuries are unknown at this time.

The teen was taken to Waterbury Hospital for treatment.

More information as not immediately available. Check back for updates.