NBC Connecticut Meteorologists have issued a 'First Alert' for heavy rain expected on Tuesday and Thursday. 

A flood watch has been issued for Litchfield county.

Rain will move into the state early Tuesday morning. Expect heavy rain for the morning commute, heavier downpours could lead to ponding on the roadways. 

Here's a look at Future Radar for 7 a.m Tuesday. 

The rain will continue throughout much of the day with scattered thunderstorms possible. Temperatures on Tuesday are only expected to reach the middle 40s. 

We're forecasting 1 to 2 inches of rain by Tuesday evening. 

Wednesday will dry out with a mix of sun and clouds but another storm will move in by Thursday morning. 

This storm could bring even higher rainfall totals which could lead to some minor flooding issues. We're expecting another 1 to 2 inches of rain with this system.

We could also see more scattered thunderstorms throughout the day on Thursday. 

Stay with the NBC Connecticut First Alert Weather Team for the very latest and download the NBC Connecticut App to track the rain and thunderstorms.

The president of the Putnam Little League immediately resigned after he was accused of sexually assault.

Kyle A. Aldrich, 33, has been charged with first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

The Putnam Little League announced that Kyle Aldrich was removed as president immediately and will be replaced by Reggie Fowler. 

"As a board we assure you that the safety of the children in this organization and the integrity of our mission is our utmost priority and supersedes all else," the league's board of directors said in a statement to parents and sponsors.

Aldrich's bond was set at $150,000. 

A cyclist was killed when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver in New Haven Sunday, and that driver has been arrested on manslaughter and DUI charges, according to New Haven police.

Veronica Pierce, 43, of Southbury, faces charges of second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle while intoxicated, evading responsibility, driving under the influence of alcohol, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and driving the wrong way on a one-way street.

Police said that the victim was hit around 12:45 p.m. on the 500-block of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard. Witnesses told police that he was struck as he was riding along the side of the street and the impact sent him flying over the guardrail.

First responders immediately began treatment, but the man died of his injuries. He has been identified as Ranko Borak of New Haven. 

The driver that hit Borak fled the scene but witnesses were able to provide a description of the car to officers – a silver Ford Taurus.

A short time later another driver called police to report that a Ford Taurus had nearly struck the caller’s car on Interstate 91. The caller reported that the Ford had a damaged windshield.

Police responded to that call and located the vehicle and its driver, identified as Pierce, at Orange Street and Bradley Street. Pierce failed field sobriety tests. She also registered a BAC of .2062 during a breath test. In Connecticut, the legal limit for someone over 21 years old is .08.

Police said Monday that they are still trying to reach the victim’s next of kin, who they suspect live outside the United States.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince represented Donald Trump at a secret overseas meeting in early January with an unnamed Russian emissary close to Vladimir Putin, two intelligence sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The meeting on the Seychelles islands, which was first reported by the Washington Post and confirmed by NBC News sources, was arranged by the United Arab Emirates. The Post said the meeting was an effort to convince Russia to stop backing Iran.

According to intelligence reports filed at the time, no Trump transition people were directly involved and it is unclear if the meeting was undertaken on behalf of Trump's people or was a UAE initiative, the official said.

Prince donated to Trump's campaign and is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. His firm Blackwater became a private security provider for the U.S. government in Iraq.

The state tells the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters some employees at the Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown have been taken off the job following allegations of patient abuse.

The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services confirmed that employees have been removed from their duties pending an investigation. The department said the 11 employees involved were taken off the job, with pay, as the investigation proceeds. 

Whiting handles patients who were found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges including murder, rape and other crimes.

The state would not say who reported the abuse, or when or where at Whiting it happened.

The state did say if the allegations are substantiated the employees may be subject to discipline up to and including dismissal.

Read the full statement from DMHAS here:

“The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is currently investigating allegations of patient abuse by staff at Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital. The staff who are the subjects of the investigation have been removed from their duties pending the results of the investigation. The Department takes allegations of abuse very seriously and is committed to conducting a complete and thorough investigation. If the allegations are substantiated, the employees will go through the appropriate disciplinary process, and may be subject to discipline up to and including dismissal from State Service.”

Hartford Police are looking to talk to two men who apparently were spotted in the same stairwell Taylor Lavoie climbed in March.

Lavoie later fell from the roof of the building that housed The Angry Bull Saloon.

Now we’re learning at some point in the night a security guard noticed two men in the stairwell to the roof.

“We asked, obviously asked the security guard what was their temperament? What were they like? Were they hurried? Were they nervous? Or were they anxious? He said, No, they were completely normal and they were escorted out,” Deputy Chief Brian Foley, Hartford Police, said.

Lavoie’s death was ruled an accident and investigators suspect the 18-year-old had been drinking.

Police say the Central Connecticut State University student had traveled to the bar with friends and somehow ended up on the roof.

Detectives would still like to talk to the men the security guard spotted.

“The problem, the description he gave was very vague, very general and doesn’t have a timeline unfortunately,” Foley said.

An attorney for the Angry Bull provided pictures which she says shows that the roof was not easily accessible.

Attorney Aimee Wickless says the staff cooperated with the investigation and went on to write in part, “Numerous security staff were assigned to ensure patron safety within the permitted establishment, to include the stairwell in question.”

Wickless says the Angry Bull, which leased the first and second floors, passed yearly safety inspections including of the stairwell.

“The fact is no one at the Angry Bull could tell us how many people went up those stairs or down those stairs during that night,” Foley said.

After the death, The Department of Consumer Protection says the bar closed down for good after it voluntarily cancelled its liquor permit.

Many people in America are marking Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, calling attention to the wage discrepancies between men and women in the workplace, NBC News reported. 

Equal Pay Day, which dates back to 1996, is held in April to symbolize how far into the year women need to work to make what men did in the previous year, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity. It is on Tuesday to "represent how far into the next work week women must work to earn what men earned the previous week."

Even though decisions have been made in Washington to help close the gap, progress toward pay equal has been slow. Data from a 2016 study illustrates that white, non-Hispanic women make 83 cents for every dollar men make and Hispanic women make 60 cents on the dollar.

The fight for gender equality in the workplace if far from over. In fact, it will reportedly take 169 years for the world to completely close the economic gender gap.

One location of a Connecticut Flight School connected to two recent fatal crashes has shut down.

American Flight Academy (AFA) is no longer operating out of Robinson Aviation in East Haven at Tweed New Haven airport.

In addition to two crashes resulting in the deaths of two student pilots, there was another scare just last week at Tweed airport and a fourth incident last December at American Flight Academy out of Hartford’s Brainard Airport.

American Flight Academy no longer has an office at Robinson Aviation in East Haven, which is the fixed base operator at Tweed New Haven Airport. It’s unclear when the flight school closed down at this location.

The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters have learned, the Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating an incident that happened last week at Tweed, involving American Flight Academy, which used to be called Connecticut Flight Academy.

According to an FAA spokesperson, two certified pilots on board this Piper PA-28 were having engine issues. One declared an emergency after leaving runway 20 at Tweed.

The plane returned to Tweed, where it landed safely, without injuries.

In February, a student pilot died when an American Flight Academy plane crashed just after taking off from Tweed. The instructor survived.

And another student pilot at the flight school died in a crash October 11, 2016 while flying in and out of Brainerd airport.

Dispatch: “911, what's the address of the emergency?”

Caller: “400 Main Street, east Hartford ct. an airplane just crashed.”

AFA Owner Arian Prevalla survived that crash that federal investigators deemed intentional early on.

According to East Hartford police reports, Prevalla described a fight in the cockpit, adding the victim, Feras Freitekh, "may have done this on purpose." Police said Prevalla told a doctor this at St. Francis Hospital where Prevalla was treated for burns the day of that crash.

NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters have learned of a fourth incident. On Dec. 23, 2016 a student pilot crashed on the runway at Brainard Airport in Hartford. He was flying to plane solo from Poughkeepsie, New York, back to the American Flight Academy. The student reporting to the NTSB, "on touch down, the aircraft bounced and the nose gear hit with a side load causing the nose gear to collapse."

By email the Attorney for the flight school's owner told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters

“The student pilot encountered an unexpected crosswind upon landing. This is not an uncommon occurrence at flight schools. There was minor damage to the aircraft, and thankfully minor injuries to the student. As the report indicates, weather reports were provided to the student pilot." Attorney Kevin Dehghani emailed the  NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters in March.

NBC Connecticut is waiting to hear back from the owner of Robinson Aviation and Arian Prevalla's attorney.

In the past, Attorney Dehghani has reiterated to NBC Connecticut his clients have conducted thousands of hours of flight hours with hundreds of students. That they have passed every inspection by the FAA and their maintenance logs are always up to date. Adding, Dehghani stated that they've never been cited by any agency for any violations.

Weather conditions are causing issues for drivers Tuesday morning and the rain is expected to last throughout the day.

A tree came crashing down onto a car driving on the Merritt Parkway in Greenwich Tuesday morning during heavy rains, according to Greenwich police.

The accident happened on the Merritt Parkway northbound between exits 31 and 33. No one was hurt. 

Greenwich firefighters tweeted a photo showing the heavily damaged vehicle and warned travelers to drive carefully as heavy rain and strong winds hit the area.

Two drivers had to be rescued from floodwaters in Stratford this morning, and flooding closed the exit 30 off ramp on Interstate 95 south. Stratford police said they were seeing some flooding in typical spots Tuesday morning amid heavy rains and high tide.

A man waiting for the train in Manhattan jumped onto the subway tracks to rescue a young person who fell, just a minute before the train came roaring into the station Saturday night, dramatic cellphone video shows.

Jonathan Kulig, 29, was headed to his overnight shift as engineering supervisor at Con Edison when he spotted the young man falling onto the tracks at the Third Avenue L train station in Manhattan, a Con Edison spokesman says. 

"There wasn't really any thought," Kulig told News 4. "I made sure that I was safe before I jumped down there, but the thought of should I do this should I not do this, that didn't cross my mind."

Kulig leaped onto the tracks, lifted up the young man and heaved his body onto the platform, where another woman grabbed him. The man appeared to be in and out of consciousness. 

"Talk to me, what's happening?" Kulig says to the man, whose clothing was covered in mud from the tracks. 

Kulig and the woman escort the man onto the subway bench. Seconds later, a Brooklyn bound L train train pulls into the station. 

EMTs responded and took the man to a local hospital. It's still not clear how or why he fell. Bystanders in the video say the man had been staggering and bumping into things before he fell. 

"If I didn't pick him up that train would've got him, because there weren't really anyone else that was jumping down, he probably wouldn't be around," Kulig said.

Kulig, of Glendale, Queens, told the Daily News he had taken a track safety session as part of a project about a month ago. He said he made sure he knew where he could go if the train was approaching and that he had his escape plan.

A car was on fire near gas pumps in Fairfield Sunday morning and fire officials said the situation could have been much worse if the car had been closer to the pumps. 

Firefighters responded to the Cumberland Farms at 975 Kings Highway East in Fairfield just after 5:15 a.m. Sunday after receiving a 911 call and found a vehicle engulfed around 50 feet from the pumps. 

The driver told firefighters that he saw smoke and flames in his car while driving and pulled off the highway. 

Staff at the gas station had put on the extinguishing system before firefighters arrived, but that did not put the fire out, according to the fire. 

Firefighters were able to keep the fire from extending to the gas pumps and no injuries were reported. 

“The outcome of this incident would have been much worse if the car was closer to the pumps and was not extinguished as rapidly as it was,” Assistant Fire Chief Schuyler Sherwood said in a statement. 

The tax man goes on a diet under President Donald Trump's proposed "skinny budget," and that could affect how much money the IRS collects — and a sharp cutback in enforcement and customer service, NBC News reports.

The budget calls for a 14 percent reduction in the IRS' operating budget, andthat follows a 17 percent drop in funding since 2010. That's despite the agency paying for itself — it contributes $4 for every dollar of funding it receives.

"It's penny-wise and pound-foolish," said Robert Weinberger, a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute's Initiative on Financial Security. "They'll lose billions in revenue in order to save a few hundred million dollars."

The impact of further cuts will be fewer audits, which may increase the temptation to cheat, and fewer customer service agents who can answer taxpayers' questions.

Stratford firefighters had to rescued two drivers when a combination of heavy rain and high tide caused roads to flood, according to fire officials.

Stratford Fire Assistant Chief Doug Reitmeyer said crews responded to two separate locations Tuesday morning. Just before 6 a.m. firefighters responded to rescue a man with a disability whose car was stuck under a railroad underpass on Bruce Avenue. At the same time firefighters were called to Surf Avenue underpass under Interstate 95 to rescue a woman.

“As we were arriving to these underpasses to check them, cars were driving right into the water and some of them were getting stuck,” Reitmeyer said.

Firefighters donned wetsuits and rescued both drivers from their cars. The vehicles were towed.

Jairo Rojas, whose wife was the driver rescued on Surf Avenue, said she underestimated the water’s depth.

“The place is a little dark…it has not enough light, so she didn’t saw how deep it was,” he said.

“She was afraid to get out because it was deep - about two feet of water,” Rojas added.

Rojas said the family’s car, which they’ve only had for six months, now won’t start.

Stratford police remind the public to never drive into standing water, even if it doesn’t seem deep.

“Some of our underpasses have flashing lights and signs to avoid the flooded roadway and people still go through them. People really should be looking for an alternate route,” Reitmeyer said.

Rojas said his family has learned their lesson and echoed that sentiment.

“Don’t drive on. Just stay away. Go somewhere else. Take a different way, but don’t do this,” he said.

Stratford police said flooding is not uncommon during heavy rain and they saw it in what they consider typical spots Tuesday morning amid heavy rains and high tide.

There were some road closures, including the exit 30 off ramp on I-95 South. It has since reopened.

Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s is one of those annual signs of spring and it’s happening today.

Free Cone Day goes from noon to 8 p.m. and you can partake at the following locations in Connecticut:

• Ben & Jerry’s of Canton, at The Shoppes at Farmington Valley, 110 Albany Turnpike in Canton
• Ben & Jerry’s of Glastonbury, at 41 Hebron Ave. in Glastonbury
• Ben & Jerry’s of New Haven, at 159 Temple St. in New Haven
• Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Truck: Ben & Jerry’s will open at 19 Main Street in Old Saybrook in May, but the Scoop Truck will be serving during Free Cone Day.
• Ben & Jerry’s of South Windsor, at The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk at 301 Evergreen Way in South Windsor
• Ben & Jerry’s of West Hartford, at 5 ½ South Main St. in West Hartford

"We love getting involved with and giving back to our communities. It’s amazing what we can do together over shared values and several scoops of ice cream," Amanda Gardella, catering coordinator for Ben & Jerry’s of Canton, Glastonbury, South Windsor and Old Saybrook, said in a statement.

Ben & Jerry’s is partnering with the following organizations:

• Ben & Jerry’s of Canton – Canton Volunteer Fire and EMS
• Ben & Jerry’s of Glastonbury – Glastonbury Youth Sports
• Ben & Jerry’s of New Haven – The United Way of Greater New Haven
• Ben & Jerry’s of Old Saybrook – Connecticut Sports Foundation: Helping cancer patients
• Ben & Jerry’s of South Windsor – South Windsor Public Education Fund
• Ben & Jerry’s of West Hartford – Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Foundation

A school bus and another vehicle have been involved in a crash at Allen Hill Road and South Street in Brooklyn and ambulances are transporting two people from the scene, according to Quinebaug Valley Emergency Communications.

Officials from QVEC said the crash was reported at 11:52 a.m., but no information was available on what school district the bus is from. 

No information was immediately available on the extent of injuries and it's not clear if anyone being transported is a student.

The road is shut down in the area.  

An NBC Connecticut crew is on the way to the scene. 

Check back for updates.

Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Groton will close at the end of this school year in order to cut costs after the Town Council voted to slash $5.2 million from the Board of Education's requested budget, according to the district’s superintendent.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Graner told NBC Connecticut of the decision Tuesday. Closing the school will leave about 300 students displaced and impact 18 teachers and about half a dozen staff members who will be laid off or reassigned, Graner said Friday.

Graner said he spoke to faculty Tuesday morning and an email was being sent to parents. He planned to meet with the entire district staff Tuesday afternoon.

Closing Pleasant Valley will save the district about $1.5 million, according to Graner. Groton has six other elementary schools.

The superintendent also said that the district will also be laying off 30 to 40 teachers, three or four administrators, five secretaries, five or six custodians, and at least 15 paraprofessionals. These numbers include the staff at Pleasant Valley.

Officials are still looking into how they will reconfigure the district.

The Town of Groton is estimating $5 million worth of cuts in education funding, according to Town Councilor Diane Barber.

That reduces the district's budget to about $72.5 million from the $77.7 million the school district requested for the next fiscal year, Barber said.

NBC Connecticut spoke to Pleasant Valley parent Danielle Lee before the closure was officially announced. She had concerns about the cuts and feared that the children would suffer.

"Because there’s not enough one-on-one attention. There’s already a ratio of about 20 kids to one teacher. So it’s kind of hard to give every kid what they need," Lee said.

In November, voters approved a $184.5 million dollar school construction project to build a new middle school and renovate the two existing middle schools into elementary schools. That would close three of Groton’s oldest elementary schools: Claude Chester, Pleasant Valley and S.B. Butler. This plan also could mean one of the schools closes earlier than expected, Graner said.

Graner said the district was trying to minimize the impact on students and their families and staff, and the closure seemed the most appropriate way to do that.

East Windsor police are searching for the suspect in a daytime residential burglary.

Police said that sometime around noon Tuesday there was a burglary at the Greenwoods condominium complex off Route 5.

A witness took a photo of the suspect vehicle, which looks to be a Ford Crown Victoria or an older Mercury Marquis.

The suspect is described as male in his 40s with a medium build and was wearing a baseball cap. Witnesses reported he walked out of the condo with a TV after breaking in.

Anyone with information should contact East Windsor police.

About 1 out of 10 women in the United States who tested positive for the Zika infection had a fetus or baby with Zika-related birth defects, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The CDS's Vital Signs report is the first to provide an analysis of a subgroup of 250 pregnant women in the U.S. with confirmed test results of Zika virus infection. Zika testing remains complex because there is a narrow timeframe for obtaining a positive laboratory result, and many infected people do not have symptoms, the CDC said. 

The lack of motivation for testing led the CDC to monitor all pregnant women with any evidence of recent Zika infection. In 2016, nearly 1,000 pregnant women from the 44 states who completed their pregnancies had some evidence of a recent Zika infection and were at risk of having a fetus or baby with Zika-related birth defects.

Most of the women acquired Zika during travel to an area where the virus was known to be present.

“Zika virus can be scary and potentially devastating to families. Zika continues to be a threat to pregnant women across the U.S.,” CDC acting director Anne Schuchat said in a statement. “With warm weather and a new mosquito season approaching, prevention is crucial to protect the health of mothers and babies. Healthcare providers can play a key role in prevention efforts.”

Zika infection during pregnancy can cause serious damage to the brain and microcephaly in developing fetuses. It also can lead to congenital Zika syndrome in babies, a pattern of birth defects that includes brain abnormalities, vision problems, hearing loss, and problems moving limbs. Babies may also appear healthy at birth but have underlying brain defects or other Zika-related health problems, the CDC said.

The report found Zika still poses a serious risk during pregnancy and it's important for pregnant women to continue taking steps to prevent exposure to the virus through mosquito bites and sexual transmission.

Nearly 1,300 pregnant women with evidence of possible Zika infection were reported to the U.S. Zika Pregnancy Registry from Jan. 15 to Dec. 27, 2016. Of the 1,000 pregancies completed by the end of the year, more than 50 had Zika-related birth defects. 

Confirmed infections in the first trimester posed the higest risk with 15 percent of those fetuses or babies having Zika-related birth defects, the report found. 

Peggy Honein with the CDC's Zika Response team said that many babies born to mothers with possible Zika infection "are not receiving brain imaging after birth to help diagnose serious brain defects.” She called for healthcare proviers to ask about possible Zika exposure when caring for pregnant women and their babies. 

The CDC recommended healthcare providers also educate families on Zika prevention, provide all needed tests and follow-up care and support babies and families.

The CDC's registry data included all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and territories except Puerto Rico. The Zika Active Pregnancy Surveillance System is a separate system to monitor pregnancies in Puerto Rico.

The deputy fire chief for the Dayville Fire Company has resigned after being arrested in Killingly Monday, accused of pushing a woman down, restraining her and threatening her. 

State police arrested Todd A. Wakefield, 46, of Danielson, Monday after someone reported hearing a woman yelling for help, according to a report from state police. 

The website for the Dayville Fire Company listed Wakefield as the assistant chief, but the fire chief identified Wakefield as the deputy chief. 

Wakefield is also an employee of the state Department of Transportation, according to officials from DOT. 

When state troopers responded to North Main Street just before 6 p.m. on Monday, the victim said she had been pushed down, restrained and threatened, according to state police. 

The victim went on to say that she tried to call 911, but Wakefield took the phone out of her hand and later smashed it to the ground, according to state police. 

Wakefield left the house on foot and turned himself in to police. 

He has been charged with threatening, second-degree unlawful restraint, third-degree assault, interfering with an emergency call and disorderly conduct. 

Bond is set at $10,000. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.

States are offering creative solutions to expand protections for women and close federal loopholes in the fight to end the gender wage gap, NBC News reported.

It's not just progressive states like California taking the wage gap seriously, either — North Dakota passed a bill in 2015 strengthening employer salary reporting requirements. In fact, state lawmakers have introduced at least 180 bills across the country aimed at shrinking the pay gap, with seven enacted and dozens more pending.

"I'm glad that states are really focusing on equal pay and exploring new policy solutions to ensure women are paid equally to men, in part because federal policy-making is at best stalled on this issue, and at worst, we might be seeing rollbacks in coming years," said Emily Martin, a legal expert on equal pay with the National Women's Law Center.

NBC News took a look at how much women in each state earn compared to men, and how much the state protects equal pay.