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Woman Found Dead in Hartford Home Basement: PD


Downed Tree Knocked Out Power in Hamden

Fire Department Collects Water for Harvey Relief Effort

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The Waterford Fire Engine Company No. 1 started collecting bottled drinking water earlier this week to deliver to Texas residents who have been affected by Harvey and they have already received hundreds of cases.

“This is unbelievable to me. I’m surprised that this many people were able to actually come together and do this. I’m just supplying the place. It’s really the community that’s doing this and I have no words to thank them. Really, it’s unbelievable,” Joe Smith, a firefighter, said.

The firehouse on Rope Ferry Road collected water between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. 

The Steady Habit Brewing Company in Haddam is also helping with the effort and will be collecting water from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. today, Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Gun Found Under Child’s Feet in Car in Milford: Police

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A Bridgeport man was arrested in Milford Thursday night after police stopped his car and found a 6-year-old child unrestrained in the backseat and a stolen gun under the child’s feet, police said. 

Police said the Milford Police Tactical Narcotics Unit stopped the car for motor vehicle violations around 11:15 p.m. Thursday after noticing suspicious activity in a vehicle leaving the parking lot near the Howard Johnson Hotel at 1052 Boston Post Road. 

Police identified the driver as 41-year-old Ismael Mangual, of Bridgeport, and said a 6-year-old child was sitting in the back seat with a car seat or seatbelt. 

Police said detectives found two stolen handguns in the vehicle, including one in the back seat under the child’s feet. 

Police contacted the state Department of Children and Families and the department took responsibility for the care of the child. 

Mangual was charged with weapons in a motor vehicle, two counts of theft of firearm, two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, risk of injury, two counts of violation of protective order, failure to insure a motor vehicle, improper use of registration plate, failure to renew registration, operating a motor vehicle without a license and transporting a child without restraint system. 

He was held on $250,000 bond and will appear in Milford Court today. 



Photo Credit: MIlford Police

Scene Clear After School Bus in Berlin

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A school bus was involved in a crash in Berlin and the scene has cleared. 

The crash was on Middletown Road, which was closed between Walden Court and Renee Drive, and several students, a bus driver and the driver of the car were evaluated at the scene. 




Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Littlest Penguin Is Baptized in Stanley Cup

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The Stanley Cup is a blessing for one Pittsburgh Penguins family.

Penguins’ right-winger Josh Archibald used the coveted Stanley Cup as a baptismal font for his son Brecken's baptism on Thursday.

Philip Pritchard posted photos of the 3-week-old's christening on Twitter. Standing over the cup, a clergy member blessed the child's head in one photo. Wearing white, Brecken sat propped in the cup grimacing with toes extended as Archibald and his wife Bailey each kissed his head in another photo. 

Jennifer McBride tweeted in response, "Now that is a great idea! Big points for the creativity!"

Archibald's baptism in the cup is reportedly a first for the five-time Stanley Cup championship organization. 

Several other family members of NHL players have held baptisms in the Stanley Cup in past years.



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Darien Man Accused of Supplying Teens With Cocaine

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A Darien man is accused of giving cocaine to children as young as 14 and doing drugs with them at his home.

Police said they took 51-year-old Mark Yarish into custody Friday morning and charged him with five counts of risk of injury to a minor and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment.

Police started investigating Darien in July and said he was accused of introducing juveniles to narcotics. Detectives were able to determine that Yarish provided and used cocaine with juveniles, as young as 14, while in his home, according to police.

Yarish was held on a $100,000 court-set bond and remains in the custody of the Darien Police Department, police said.

In July, police said they had received information that a local man was providing illicit substances to minors in and around Darien and they had evidence that Yarish was taking orders for alcohol by text, buying it at local establishments, delivering it to teens and selling it at “a substantial markup over cost.”

Yarish is due in court on Sept. 29 to answer to the original charges, which include illegal sale to minors and risk of injury to a child.

The warrant Yarish was arrested on Friday resulted from the investigation into Yarish following the arrest in July, police said.

The Department of Children and Families has been working with police.




Photo Credit: Darien Police

3 Lakes and Ponds Closed Over Labor Day Weekend

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All shoreline parks and beaches are open for Labor Day Weekend, but swimming areas at three lakes and ponds are closed. 

The swimming area at Wadsworth Falls in Middlefield is closed due to the presence of high levels of bacteria and the swimming areas at Kettletown in Southbury and Indian Well in Shelton remain closed because of the presence of blue green algae.




Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Crash Closes Foxon Road in North Branford

Watch: Abbott to Give Update on Harvey Aftermath

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to give an update on the Hurricane Harvey recovery sometime after 1 p.m. Video from the news conference will appear in the player above -- along with other video from South Texas.

Nearly a week after Harvey crashed into the Texas coastline, the storm chased more people out of their homes Friday after dumping heavy rain on Louisiana and knocking out the entire drinking water system in a Texas city of almost 120,000 people.

Meanwhile, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner pleaded for more high-water vehicles and more search-and-rescue equipment as the nation's fourth-largest city continued looking for any survivors or corpses that might have somehow escaped notice in flood-ravaged neighborhoods.

In a news conference late Friday morning, Turner urged those who have remained in homes filled with water to leave before he is forced to issue a mandatory evacuation and force them from their homes.

He previously asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide more workers to process applications from thousands of people seeking government help. Harvey victims expect FEMA to work "with the greatest degree of urgency," he told CBS "This Morning" for a segment broadcast Friday.

Turner said he will request a preliminary financial aid package of $75 million for debris removal alone.

The remnants of the storm were dying as they pushed deeper inland but remained still powerful enough to raise the risk of flooding as far north as Kentucky.

More than 1,500 people were staying at shelters in Louisiana, and that number was climbing as more people evacuate from flood-ravaged communities in Texas. The state opened a seventh shelter Friday in Shreveport for up to 2,400 people, said Shauna Sanford, a spokeswoman for Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.

The city of Beaumont, near the Texas-Louisiana line, was evacuating and trying to bring in enough bottled water for people who stayed behind after a water pumping station was overwhelmed by the swollen Neches River.

In Houston, officials turned their attention to immediate needs such as finding temporary housing for those in shelters, but also to the city's long-term recovery, which will take years and billions of dollars.

Authorities raised the death toll from the storm to 38 late Thursday, while rescue workers conducted a block-by-block search of tens of thousands of Houston homes that rescuers began Thursday.

The latest statewide damage surveys revealed the staggering extent of the destruction.

An estimated 136,000 structures in Harris County, or 10 percent of all structures in the county database, were flooded, according to the flood control district for the county, which includes Houston.

Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist for the agency, called that a conservative estimate. It is 36,000 more homes than were flooded by Tropical Storm Allison in 1989, the area's previous epic flood.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said more than 37,000 homes were heavily damaged and nearly 7,000 were destroyed, figures that did not include the tens of thousands of homes with minor damage. About 325,000 people have already sought federal emergency aid in the wake of Harvey. More than $57 million in individual assistance has already been paid out, FEMA officials said.

Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena said his department had responded to nearly 16,000 calls since the storm hit Saturday, over 7,600 of them for water rescues.

The search for more survivors and bodies began Thursday when more than 200 firefighters, police officers and members of an urban search-and-rescue team fanned out across the Meyerland neighborhood. They yelled "Fire department!" as they pounded with closed fists on doors, peered through windows and checked with neighbors.

"We don't think we're going to find any humans, but we're prepared if we do," said District Chief James Pennington of the Houston Fire Department.

Unlike during Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in New Orleans, crews used GPS devices to log the homes they checked rather than painting neon X's on the outside. That avoided alerting potential thieves to vacant homes.

Gov. Greg Abbott warned Friday in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" that it could take years for Texas to "dig out from this catastrophe." President Donald Trump tweeted that there's still "so much to do" in Texas' recovery.

Harris County FEMA Director Tom Fargione said the agency was looking for ways to house people who lost their homes to Harvey, with 32,000 people reported in shelters across Texas. Some evacuees had begun returning to their homes, but the George R. Brown Convention Center, where 10,000 people took shelter, still housed 8,000 evacuees late Thursday.

The priority is to get those who are not able to return to their homes into some form of temporary housing, Fargione said.

"Right now, nothing is off the table. This is a tremendous disaster in terms of size and scope."

Authorities were also monitoring a flood-crippled chemical plant near Houston, where the loss of power set off explosions and a fire Thursday.

The blasts at the Arkema Inc. plant northeast of Houston sent up a plume of acrid black smoke that stung the eyes and lungs. The plant's owners warned more explosions could follow because a loss of refrigeration was causing chemicals stored there to degrade and burn.

Officials in Beaumont reported difficulty bringing in enough bottled water to set up distribution stations because of flooded roads.

On Friday morning, people stood in a mile-long line for water at a location set up by the city, which said it would remain active until sundown or until it ran out of water. Others lined up at a separate giveaway hosted by a Kroer grocery story.

About 1,000 people who had sought shelter at the Beaumont Civic Center were flown to Dallas late Thursday, said Brad Peterson, a spokesman for emergency operations in Beaumont. Most were taken to the Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas but others were taken to smaller shelters in the area.

With widespread reports of gas shortages, the head of the Texas agency that regulates the oil and gas industry urged drivers to wait three or four days to fill up their tanks. Panic buying is causing a run on gas and empty fuel pumps, Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton said.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he would release 500,000 barrels of crude oil from an emergency stockpile in a bid to prevent gasoline prices from spiking.

Harvey initially came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in Texas Aug. 25, then went back out to sea and lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for days, inundating flood-prone Houston. The storm brought five straight days of rain totaling close to 52 inches (1.3 meters), the heaviest tropical downpour ever recorded in the continental U.S.



Photo Credit: Office of the Governor

Photos: Scenes From Texas, Before and After Harvey

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Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, was still largely paralyzed on Monday, and there was no relief in sight from the storm named Harvey that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast.

As these before-and-after photos show, it will be some time before the area fully recovers.

Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas

Simonton, Texas

Downtown Houston, Texas

Brookshire, Texas

Wharton, Texas

Humble, Texas

Crosby, Texas

Aransas Pass, Texas

Rockport, Texas

Angleton, Texas

Holiday Lakes, Texas

Rosenberg, Texas

Katy, Texas


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Enfield Man Badly Injured in Crash on I-91 Ramp in Enfield

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A 43-year-old Enfield man suffered serious injuries when his Ford Escape hit a tree while pulling off an exit of Interstate 91 North Thursday afternoon, according to state police.

David Rose went off the road and hit a tree while exiting I-91 North at exit 47 west just before 4 p.m., police said.

Rose, the only person in the vehicle, was transported to Baystate Medical Center to be treated for serious injuries.

Anyone with information is asked to call Trooper Pelletier at Troop H, 860-534-1000.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Arrest Made in Crash That Killed New Haven Firefighter

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A Stratford man has been charged in the February crash that killed a New Haven firefighter the day after he turned 37 years old.

Police have arrested 38-year-old Yabey Oppenheimer, of Stratford, in connection with the crash on Feb. 2 that killed Jeffrey K. O'Neil, who was a member of the New Haven Fire Department’s engine company 17.

Police obtained a warrant on Thursday for Oppenheimer and arrested him at home. He has been charged with operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs, manslaughter with a motor vehicle and failure to drive right.

Police said Oppenheimer was driving and hit a utility pole at Black Rock Avenue, just east of Warren Street, at 1:16 a.m.

O'Neil, the only passenger in the car, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Frank Ricci, a battalion chief and union president for the New Haven firefighters, said O'Neil worked for the New Haven Fire Department for two years and he was assigned to engine company 17, previously of truck 2 and engine company 11.

O'Neil was a federal law enforcement agent for 10 years and left to fulfill his dream of becoming a firefighter, Ricci said.



Photo Credit: New Britain Police

FDA Recalls Pacemakers Over Fear of Hackers

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The Food and Drug Administration is recalling 465,000 pacemakers over fears that they could be hacked.

The pacemakers are to be uploaded with new secure software after the FDA discovered cybersecurity vulnerabilities that would allow a hacker to take over the medical device that controls the heart.

Pacemaker brands from Abbott -- the Accent, Anthem, Accent MRI, Accent ST, Assurity, and Allure -- are included in the recall.

Patients do not need another surgery. The FDA said the recall requires an in-person patient visit with a health-care provider. An update of the firmware, the device's permanent software, will take approximately 3 minutes to complete.

According to the FDA, while the pacemaker is being updated, it will operate in backup mode, pacing at 67 beats per minute, and essential, life-sustaining features will remain available. At the completion, the device will return to its pre-update settings.

"To further protect our patients, Abbott has developed new firmware with additional security measures that can be installed on our pacemakers," said Robert Ford, an Abbot executive vice president for medical devices, in a statement about the update. 

The FDA approved the firmware update last week.

Cybersecurity concerning patients' medical devices and their associated computers, networks, programs, and data focuses on protecting them from unintended or unauthorized access, change, or destruction.

The FDA said there have been no reports of unauthorized access to any patient's implanted device, and according to an advisory issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, compromising the security of the devices would require a highly complex set of circumstances.



Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Trinity Bar in New Haven on Fire: Witnesses

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Firefighters are battling a two-alarm fire on Orange Street in New Haven and witnesses said the fire is at The Trinity Bar, a popular downtown restaurant and bar.

Crews have the street blocked off as firefighters battle the blaze.

Officials said the fire started around 2 p.m. Smoke was visible earlier from the traffic camera on Interstate 91 at Trumbull Street.

No additional information was immediately available.

Check back for updates.




Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Powder Ridge Year-Round Snow Park Opening Delayed

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The year-round snow park at Powder Ridge in Middlefield will open Saturday after the opening was delayed. It was originally supposed to open Aug. 5.

The delay was caused by a slowdown in production. But Powder Ridge does not anticipate any further delays and is confident that they are now on schedule for the new opening date.

Staff members said materials have all arrived.

During the grand opening ceremony, Powder Ridge will unveil a 500-foot run for skiing and snowboarding as well as two lanes for tubing. By the summer of 2018 they plan to expand the run to 2,800 feet, all the way to the top of the ridge. 

For more information, visit the Powder Ridge website.




Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Man Hospitalized After Freak Accident at Milford Drive-Thru

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A man is hospitalized after a freak accident at the drive-thru of a Milford restaurant Friday afternoon. 

Fire officials said a man stepped out of his pickup at 12:10 p.m. to get his change after placing an order and dropped the money. 

When he went to pick the change up, his truck rolled forward and the driver’s side door hit a steel and concrete baluster, trapping the man between the door and his pickup. 

Firefighters arrived and it took 20 minutes to extricate him. 

After the man was extricated, paramedics took him to the Yale-New Haven trauma center and his condition is not known.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Police Investigating Robbery at Bethel Gulf Station

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Police are investigating a robbery at the Gulf Station at 280 Greenwood Avenue in Bethel. 

Police said they responded to the gas station at 10 p.m. Thursday after the robber stole money from the attendant. 

While officers were at the scene, Bethel Police received another call reporting a man trying to break into a vehicle a short distance away and they believe the two incidents are related. 

Anyone who recognizes the person from the photos police released is asked to call the Bethel Police Department Detective Bureau at 203 744-7900.






Photo Credit: Bethel Police

24-Year-Old Man Shot and Killed in Waterbury: Police

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A 24-year-old man was shot and killed on Thursday in Waterbury, police said. 

Waterbury police responded to a home on Hillside Avenue at 10:30 p.m. for a gunshot wound victim.

David Rivera-Mateo, of Waterbury, was located by police and transported to the hospital for serious injuries, police said. 

Rivera-Mateo was later pronounced dead at St. Mary's Hospital. 

An investigation into the homicide is underway. 

Anyone having information regarding this incident is encouraged to call Waterbury Police at (203) 574-6941 or Waterbury Crime stoppers (203) 755-1234




Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Main Street in Southington Shut Down After Accident

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