A 22-year-old Darien woman suffered serious injuries in a crash in Hamden early Friday morning. 

Police said the woman crossed the center line at Whitney Avenue and Lovig Lane around 1 a.m. Friday and collided with a tractor-trailer. 

The Hamden Fire Department responded and pulled the woman from her vehicle and she was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Officer Gregg Curran of the Hamden Police Department Traffic Division at (203) 230-4036.

Police have arrested a man who is accused of breaking into a Hamden bar and stealing bottles of liquor, then going back and stealing more. 

Police said they responded to Highwood Bar and Grill at 903 Dixwell Ave. on Sept. 6 to investigate reports of a burglary. 

They said 53-year-old Mark McEntyre, of Hamden, used a large rock to break into the front window of the bar at 5 a.m. that day and stole two bottles of liquor. Around 40 minutes later, McEntyre returned and stole an additional three bottles of liquor, police said. 

McEntyre was arrested Wednesday and was charged with two counts of burglary in the third degree, two counts of larceny in the sixth degree and criminal mischief in the second degree. 

New Haven police say detectives have an arrest warrant ready for a suspect in a shooting hours after the city’s annual Freddie Fixer Parade on May 21. 

Jamal Dunlap, 27, of New Haven, is suspected of shooting 33-year-old Jerome Williams, of New Haven, in the back of Dixwell Plaza. The shooting happened hours after the city’s annual parade and police said the parade and shooting were not connected. 

Williams left the scene after he was shot, but he was soon found in the back seat of a vehicle traveling through the Dixwell Plaza parking lot, police said. Officers stopped the driver and called for paramedics. 

Williams was taken to the hospital and the wound to his arm is not life-threatening. 

Dunlap is currently incarcerated for an unrelated crime, according to police, and the warrant will be served when he makes his next court appearance. 

Stink bugs are making their presence known in and outside Connecticut homes this fall.

In almost 60 years of living in their Hamden home, Bill and Ginnie King said they’ve only had an issue with bugs three times, but this year is by far the worst.

"I don’t like these bugs. They’re ugly looking and there’s just something really icky about them," Ginnie King said.

As their name suggests, they also give off an unpleasant odor when you kill them.

“They were all over the place. On the gutters, the liters, and all the windows and screens,” Bill King said.

He added that their home was bombarded by the bugs earlier in the week when it was unseasonably warm.

Dr. Gale Ridge of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven said the warm weather earlier in the week sparked the insect invasion.

"That’s a signal to them that they need to seek cover before the weather cools down," said Ridge.

The cooler weather and breeze helped keep the bugs at bay on Friday but there were still some lurking in and out of their home. Just down the road from the Kings’ home is an orchard. Experts said stink bugs love fruit, but it’s the weather that’s attracting them inside peoples’ homes.

"If they were outside the winter would kill them, that’s why they seek shelter inside," Ridge explained.

Nancy Carney in Wallingford has them in her home too.

"I have them on my bed. I have them on the ceiling, I have them in the windows. I have them unexpectedly in the halls," Carney said. "I’ll be taking a shower and all of a sudden I shut off the shower and get out and there they are inside the shower."

She said once in the middle of the night she almost drank one stuck in a water bottle she had next to her bed.

"I took a sip out of it and the next morning when I came downstairs and it had been caught right in the spout and there I had been drinking out of it," she explained.

They don’t make noise, so unlike a bee or a fly someone may not know they’re there until they see one. The good news is they don’t bite or sting.

"They’re perfectly harmless. They will not eat anything they will not drink anything. They’re just using the building to protect themselves from the winter weather," said Ridge.

Carney and the Kings would like to open their windows and enjoy the cool crisp autumn air, but that’s hard to do when these bugs are waiting to get inside.

"It’s pretty annoying because we never know when they’re going to appear or when they’re going to disappear," Ginnie King said.

Ridge said the bugs usually disappear once the cold weather settles in.

"Caulk around windows, cracks and crevices. Make sure the screening is tight. Physically exclude the insects," she suggested.

Also, don’t squish or vacuum them up. Ridge said stink bugs have a strong sweet musky smell that will permeate the home.

A van hit and wounded three people crossing a street near Penn Station in what police officials say appears to be a freak accident where the driver's gas pedal got stuck on a floor mat.

Police said that the red conversion van was stopped at a light on Seventh Avenue at West 32nd Street when it began to roll through the crosswalk at about 5:30 p.m. Two women and a man were hit by the van, which continued going until it came to a stop near West 31st Street. 

"The video shows he was a complete stop for two seconds, and then the van kind of just rolls through the intersection," said NYPD Inspector Matt Hyland. 

Witnesses told News 4 that the good Samaritans rushed to help the pedestrians, who were talking and conscious. The three pedestrians were taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries.

Police said the driver, who was later seen in handcuffs as police talked with him, was shaken up after the crash and said that his gas pedal had gotten stuck on the floor mat. Officials said the gas pedal was still stuck to the floor mat. 

"(The driver's) first statement to police on the scene was that the floormat got stuck on the accelerator," Hyland said. 

He added, "he was shaken up."

The driver, 68, hasn't been charged with any crimes in what officials say appears to be an accident. There was no indication he had been drinking before the accident.

Commuters and pedestrians around the scene described hearing screams after the the impact steps from the nation's busiest railroad station. 

Roadways around the busy transit hub were blocked off by fire and police vehicles for nearly an hour.

The NYPD's highway unit is investigating, but no criminality is suspected in the case. 

A Norwich pub is protesting the NFL as many players continue to kneel during the national anthem.

At Harp & Dragon on Main Street, managing partner Scott Capano said they’re refusing to show anything NFL-related because of the protest.

Signs in the bar read:

WE WILL NO LONGER SHOW ANYTHING NFL RELATED. We will also no longer be carrying any associated products. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. This is not political or race driven in any way. Strictly a respect for our great country and flag that allows us to express ourselves as we wish. God bless America and the ones who love and serve it.

Capano said he hasn’t aired NFL games for two weeks.

"We believe anyone here in the U.S. has a right to protest, but we don't believe it should be directed at our flag or national anthem which represents all those that have served to provide us with the freedoms we enjoy today,” he wrote in a statement to NBC Connecticut.

More than 200 players either took a knee or used other expressions of unity last weekend during the national anthem in response to racial and social injustices.

The movement fueled outrage from President Donald Trump who said the players should be fired for their defiance.

At Harp & Dragon, people seem to understand management’s decision, but on its Facebook page, it’s been met with some backlash.

"Not political? Ummmm....that would be sticking to running a business and not interjecting yourself into a national situation. What you've done is let us all know that you don't want business from decent people. When your business falls apart just remember that you did this to yourself," one user wrote.

Some patrons expressed support for the bar. 

"I support them. I think that’s a good thing. They’re standing up for our veterans and our country," said Kathleen Calash of Oakdale.

Capano said they’ll continue not to air NFL games indefinitely.

About a dozen Connecticut Air National Guardsmen loaded eight tons of water and several generators into a C-130 cargo plane and will head to Puerto Rico in continuing efforts to bring relief to the island and its residents. 

Lt. Brian Hinckley, a pilot, is returning to the devastated island and bringing the crew straight to Ground Zero. 

“When a disaster like this happens, we have the opportunity to all come in and pitch in together,” Hinckley said. “You see Connecticut tails right next to Missouri and Kentucky and Georgia.” 

The crew on the ground will help control air traffic coming and going from the island, bringing supplies and volunteers. 

The mission trip is the first for Master Sgt. Joshua Mead in his career. 

“You can spend your entire National Guard career and never have to be called up, so to be called up to support and help other people is truly, it makes you feel good inside,” he said. 

Master Sgt. Chris Fanelli, also a first-timer, is looking forward to the impact he and his team are about to make. 

“This is a brand new mission for the 103rd in Connecticut, and we couldn’t be more proud or more excited to show what we can do,” he said. 

After the seven-hour flight ends, the crew will join the 13 other guardsmen who arrived in Puerto Rico last week. The cargo plane will pick up additional relief supplies in Savannah, Georgia, and return to the island. 

Gov. Dannell Malloy toured the aircraft before take-off and wished the Guardsmen well. With a large Puerto Rican population throughout the state, Malloy said, “I have no doubt, I have no doubt, that we’re going to see an influx of folks from Puerto Rico.”

Malloy acknowledged that victims might relocate across Connecticut to stay with family – a reality he wants everyone to prepare for in the coming days, weeks, and months. 

“We’ll see some number of additional people attending our schools, attending our churches, looking for jobs and the like,” Malloy said. 

In the meantime, the deployed Guardsmen on the ground will be reporting for duty on the island for as long as they’re needed.  

A 51-year-old New Haven man who is accused of shooting his wife and two police officers in New Haven last Saturday has been charged in connection with the shooting of his wife, according to state police.

Douglas Monroe, 51, of New Haven, was arrested Friday after he was released from Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Police said the shooting happened on Elm Street in New Haven, between Orchard Street and Sherman Avenue, around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29.

Monroe is accused of shooting his 51-year-old wife several times in a home on Elm Street, Police said the woman, a retired Department of Correction officer, was shot in the hand, arm, back and chest and ran to a neighbor’s home for help.

When officers entered the home at 638 Elm St., shots were fired, police said, and Officer Eric Pessino and Officer Scott Shumway, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Pessino suffered a graze wound on the arm and Shumway was shot in the arm.

The SWAT team and hostage negotiators were also called in and Monroe was taken into custody after police confronted him by the basement of his home.

Police said Monroe pointed a gun at law enforcement officers, who fired at him.

He was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital with serious injuries and police were notified today that he was released. Detectives took him into custody and Monroe has been charged with first-degree assault.

Bond was set at $900,000.

In Newtown one crossing guard has entertained, but more importantly protected students coming and going to school for years.

Friday was Kat Holick's last day dancing because the beloved traffic agent is retiring.

While Holick is known for her steps in the street, she is also remembered for the smiles she put on many faces the months after Sandy Hook.

For four years, Holick has mastered her traffic moves. She said the key is a little pep in her step, a smile and safety of course.

"If I see a car coming at an excessive speed I figure they are not going to stop, I will get right in their way. That way I look at it is if they hit me they are going to stop and those children are going to be safe behind me," said Holick.

Holick was even hit by a car while doing her job in 2015, however, it's a job she's loved. The community has certainly loved her back.

"She's the best by the way," said one man Jeff who drove by to say hello.

Friday's news of her retirement wasn't easy and many people were left wondering who will dance now? It's a question Newtown High School Interim Principal David Roach wants to figure out.

"That's always at the forefront is safety, but more importantly she adds a little extra step in there when she does the dancing. And people don't forget about that," said Roach. 

Students, teachers and parents won't forget her cheerful waves and booming dance moves. In fact, her facebook page called Smiling Kat has more than 2,000 followers wanting to share in her smiles.

However, despite the love for the job, Holick is saying goodbye to the gig she loves to take care of her health and for financial reasons. During Friday's final crossings gifts, cards & tears came pouring in.

Holick spent the afternoon surrounded by honking busses and waves of goodbye as she trained the new crossing guard. She said she hopes it's the simple lessons everyone holds onto. That from smiling to dancing, it's not about the moves, but the message.

"Just keep smiling, love life and love people," said Holick.

On Friday night two teams met for a decades-old rivalry.

The Hamden High School at Hillhouse High School game attracted football fans of all ages, but even more important is what took place off the field that night.

All the proceeds from the gate benefitted hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico, and money raised at the concession stand as well as from a raffle was donated too.

Hillhouse Director of Athletics Erik Patchkofsky said the effort came together in a matter of days and that it made sense to give back during that particular game.

"This game would draw a lot of people one, and two, a lot of our athletes in New Haven are of Puerto Rican descent, and we thought it would be good for them to see us giving back and for the kids to be able to do something. By playing football, they're also giving back," Patchkofsky said.

"We don't know when a crisis is going to fall on us, and we always try to help our sisters and brothers out. Doesn't matter the nationality, wherever you at, we're all sisters and brothers, and we need to help out wherever we can," Kelley Reid said.

Reid was one of many who gave to help Puerto Rico Friday night. Near the entrance, a booth was set up to accept donations.

"Even if you're not related to someone or of Puerto Rican descent, we want to teach our kids to give back. We're one community and that's a local community and a global community," said Cheshire resident Elicia Pegues. Pegues is a graduate of Hamden and her father is a graduate of Hillhouse.

Fans, parents, and students say they're glad to see that such a big rivalry can lead to so much good.

"It does not surprise me. That's what we do in the Elm. We help out," said Reid.

"Local support and what you do for someone else really matters," said Spearman.

For those who couldn't make it to the Friday night game, city leaders, activists, and others will rally on Saturday to raise money at the city's Quinnipiac River Park. The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The city says the entertainment and speaking program will be held at the intersection of Front Street and Pierpont Street.

Anyone who can't make it to either event can also donate here or here.

School systems across Connecticut have been worrying about October 1 since Gov. Dannel Malloy unveiled his Executive Order over the summer.

The order was meant to be a last-ditch effort for the scenario of the state operating without a budget for a protracted period of time.

With his veto of the Republican budget, that executive order will be enacted next week.

"None of it is anything less than devastating,” said Fran Rabinowitz, the Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

Malloy’s order zeroed out education funding for 85 districts, while significantly reducing aid to 54 districts will see significantly reduced funding.

Major cities like Hartford, Bridgeport, and Waterbury, were essentially left with flat funding, compared to wealthier districts like Glastonbury, West Hartford, and Simsbury, which all saw steep cuts.

Rabinowitz said the cuts that are going to be required will have a direct impact on students.

"You're going to see teachers laid off. You're going to see the after-school, before-school programs cut. You're going to see varsity sports cut. You're going to see world languages cut.”

Malloy reiterated during the week that his executive order was never meant to be a permanent policy solution.

“The executive order is not a budget,” Malloy said following his veto of the GOP budget.

“It’s not a final product. It is something that is designed to get us through the immediacy of not having a budget immediately. I’ve said it in the room and I’ll say it here. I don’t like it.”

Lawmakers are expected to vote on a possible veto override in October.

Connecticut senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are demanding an increased federal response to deal with the crisis in Puerto Rico.

They said not enough is happening to help the island reeling from Hurricane Maria and the damage it left behind. They are calling this a crisis they have failed to address.

“Texas and Florida got 3 times the number of troops, got an immediate visit from the President. Got a congressional appropriation within 7 to 10 days. Why isn’t that happening for Puerto Rico?” Murphy said.

The U.S. senators said it’s time to raise their voice until Puerto Rico receives the resources it desperately needs.

“The administration’s response to this story so far has been really inadequate and even anemic,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal and Murphy are making their voices heard in an Albany Avenue neighborhood in Hartford, an area popular with Puerto Rican residents.

Blumenthal said about 50 military helicopters have been sent to the island, along with 5,000 US troops.

Both are disappointed that the Department of Defense told them just yesterday that they were coming up with a plan to deploy more assets to the island.

“There should be hundreds of helicopters on the island engaging in air drops and relief supply movement, not a few dozen,” Murphy said.

Those with family on the island say they haven’t been impressed with the federal response.

“Too slow. Way too slow. I mean, we’re what – day 11 or 12 and a lot of the aid has still not gotten there. Just yesterday the Jones act was temporarily waived which to me was a disgrace,” Sandy Cruz-Cerrano of Windsor said.

The Jones Act is a law that requires goods shipped between points in the US to be carried by vessels built and operated by Americans.

Both senators said they’re supportive of the temporary suspension, but say the problem is more about moving what’s on the island now throughout the US territory.

“The supplies that are now at the ports and airports cannot reach the interior and the cities where people need that food, water, medicine and other emergency supplies,” Blumenthal said.

The Trump administration is standing by its response with the acting secretary of Homeland Security, Elaine Duke, arriving to Puerto Rico Today.

"I'm extremely proud of our people in the Federal Government and that is what I'm with. There's much, much more work to do. We'll never be satisfied that's why we are here, that's what we're saying. Until people are back in their homes, the schools are open and everybody's safe," Duke said.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to head to the island on Tuesday.

The group that represents Connecticut’s small towns is urging lawmakers to override the governor’s veto, saying the Republican budget did more to make sure they were protected from budget cuts in the middle of a fiscal crisis.

Leo Paul, the Republican First Selectman from Litchfield, said the proposed reductions in Gov. Dannel Malloy’s Executive Order are untenable, especially because of the impact on smaller governments.

In addition, he said any plan to divert funds in order to pay for teacher pensions, Paul argued, amounts to an unfunded mandate.

“The governor’s budget intends to zero out Litchfield, 1.4 million dollars, zeroing out our ECS, over nine hundred thousand dollars that we’re forced to pay into the teacher’s pension. That’s 2.3 million dollars in aid that we, or additional funding, that we would have to pay out.”

In larger cities, however, they are not nearly as enthusiastic about the Republican plan that passed.

Republican Mayor Erin Stewart from New Britain found herself in a position where each budget proposal cut her city, but in different ways. She’s resigned to the fact that New Britain, with a $245 million overall budget, is going to take some kind of a cut.

Stewart said, “At the end of the day is that no scenario is going to be great, no scenario will be perfect. No scenario is going to make any city or town happy.”

The vote on a possible override of Malloy’s veto is expected in October.

A Milford woman was out thousands of dollars after hiring a contractor who, she thought, wouldn’t finish the job.

The homeowner, Karen McGarry, expected to enjoy her summer outside on her new patio. Instead, she said, she spent it tracking down her contractor.

“It (had) a big hole where the patio is,” said McGarry. “It was all dug out and there was dirt and debris everywhere. The workers left the wheelbarrow (and] they left their shovels.”

In early June, she and her husband searched online for a contractor and, after finding someone local with decent reviews, they were sold.

“I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to wait,” said McGarry. “I want it now.”

Trumbull based Mainstream Builders drew an outline of the patio. The McGarrys signed a contract indicating the project would cost about $7,000. They also verbally agreed on a two-week timeline.

The McGarrys paid their first deposit, but the company ran into several delays leading up to their second payment.

“He kept saying we had too much dirt, he had to get rid of the dirt, he couldn’t find a truck to get rid of the dirt, (and) he couldn’t continue until it was done,” said McGarry. “It was just one excuse after the other.”

Their contractor said he needed an extra 700 dollars to get rid of the excess dirt.

That didn’t sit well with the McGarrys. They argued with Mainstream Builders for weeks. At one point, it got so heated they told the company never to come back, before realizing that wouldn’t help their situation.

The McGarrys and their contractor regrouped and agreed on writing a new contract and setting a new timeline. Then, they said, more delays.

“I couldn’t sit on my patio, so I spent it sitting down at the beach and hoping that it would be resolved at some point,” said McGarry.

They knew exactly who to turn to.

“Multiple times, you’ve had people on there that you’ve helped resolve problems,” said McGarry. “And I thought, 'Well if they can’t resolve it, nobody can'.”

Mainstream Builders’ owner told NBC Connecticut the whole thing was a big misunderstanding. He said he underestimated how long the patio would take but that he always intended to finish the job.

That he did, and the McGarrys are happy with the result. The day after NBC Connecticut contacted Mainstream Builders, the McGarrys got a call that put their two-week, turned two-month long process to rest.

“At 8 o' clock, he shows up at my door ready to go,” said McGarry. “He had the carpenter there, the carpenter did all of the carpentry work in one day and the patio was done by two weeks from then.”

NBC Connecticut’s consumer team has helped recover more than $200,000 for viewers since 2016.

Antonia Ortega of East Hartford never imagined that a vacation to Puerto Rico would turn into days of trying to survive.

She left for the island on Sept. 14, just a few days before Hurricane Maria made landfall on the island.

“You go on vacation and you want to take nice pictures of fun places, but take pictures of devastation,” she said.

Instead, the photos Ortega took while on the island include trees completely folded over, traffic backed up for miles from people wanting to get out of harm’s way and a washing machine toppled over on the side of the road. She said the washing machine made its way from a family member’s home.

“The aluminum from people’s roofs was just flying in the air. They looked like paper towels,” she described to NBC Connecticut in an exclusive interview. “It was so strong they would hit the trees and they were flapping.”

Ortega rode out the hurricane in Coamo, a town on the southeast part of the island. She and her husband barely had any food or water.

She showed us video of the brook behind the home. The flooding turned it into a small river. There was a mudslide nearby.

She said the situation there was so dire she used rainwater to shower.

“At one point I tell my husband because I (had) seen people on the road and there was water coming from some rocks and I said to him, ‘Can we stop? I want to get some water from there?’” she said. “But my husband is like, ‘No because they’re already getting it it’s from the soil, so its dirty,’ so we just kept going.”

Ortega was supposed to return to her East Hartford home on Sept. 23, but was stuck there until Thursday morning. She and her husband along with their three puppies had to sleep overnight in the airport.

While she’s relieved to be home, she leaves with sadness and concern for her family and island.

“It broke my heart when the plane took off and we were able to see the whole island and how devastating it looked. It just looked like it was a forest fire. Because there’s no – when I tell you there’s no trees left, literally nothing. No grass, no trees, no nothing.”

One of her concerns: How will Puerto Rico recover from the devastation?

She said during her time on the island, she noticed a lack of federal aid on the island.

The groups behind one of the successful challenges to President Trump's travel ban signaled Friday that they intend to go back to court to take on the most recent visa restrictions, NBC News reported.

Led by the International Refugee Assistance Project and represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the groups told a federal judge in Maryland Friday that they plan to seek a court order to stop enforcement of the new visa rules announced by the White House on Sept. 24. ACLU lawyers asked for a meeting with the judge and lawyers for the government to discuss next steps.

"President Trump's newest travel ban is still a Muslim ban at its core, and it certainly engages in discrimination based on national origin, which is unlawful. Adding a few North Koreans and a tiny group of Venezuelan officials doesn't paper over the original sin of the Muslim ban," said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero.

The ACLU letter says Justice Department lawyers indicated they would oppose any order blocking enforcement.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the composer and playwright who wrote the Broadway hit "Hamilton," slammed President Donald Trump on Twitter Saturday morning after Trump criticized the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the wake of Hurricane Maria. 

"You're going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump. No long lines for you. Someone will say, "Right this way, sir." They'll clear a path," Miranda wrote. 

Trump, who is at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, wrote on Twitter Saturday morning about San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz: "Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help."

"They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort," Trump continued. "10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job."

Miranda responded in another tweet: "She has been working 24/7. You have been GOLFING. You're going straight to hell. Fastest golf cart you ever took."

Trump's tweets come after Cruz criticized the response to the crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, pleading at a news conference Friday, "we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency. I am begging, begging anyone that can hear us, to save us from dying."

Two Vernon police officers were injured in a struggle with multiple suspects after a fight in Vernon Thursday, according to police.

Vernon police said that officers responded to reports of a large fight at 74 Union Street around 11 p.m. Thursday. Arriving officers found blood on the ground.

Police spoke with two people at the residence, who police described as “uncooperative.” Police said one of the people, identified as 22-year-old Anthony Nieves, had obvious injuries. When police tried to detain Nieves he resisted, at one point spitting on an officer and biting another. He was arrested and charged with assault on a police officer, riot, and breach of peace. He was issued a $150,000 bond.

The second person, identified as Nieves’ mother Cynthia Ortiz, was also arrested for trying to get officers away from Nieves during the struggle. She was charged with interfering with a police officer and breach of peace and was issued a $10,000 bond.

According to police, while officers were struggling with Nieves and Ortiz, two other people, a 17-year-old and 21-year-old Shane Gonzales, came out of the home and began fighting with the officers. Police said Gonzales grabbed an officer and tried to wrestle him to the ground. He was arrested and charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, riot and breach of peace. He was issued a $150,000 bond.

The juvenile, who was not identified due to age, was charged with interfering with a police officer and breach of peace.

Nieves and Gonzales were taken to Rockville Hospital for treatment. Two Vernon police officer also required treatment. Everyone has since been released from the hospital.

One person was killed in a crash on Grove Street in Putnam early Saturday morning.

Putnam police said the driver struck a pole on the side of the road on Grove Street near Tatem Street around 1:05 a.m. The driver was alone in the car and suffered fatal injuries. They have not been publicly identified.

The crash is under investigation. Any witnesses are asked to contact the Putnam Police Department at 860-928-6565.

Connecticut leaders and residents are continuing their efforts to provide relief to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico.

On Saturday, Sept. 30, volunteers will be out collecting monetary donations for Puerto Rico. Organizers include Rep. Angel Arce (D – Hartford) and Rep. Minnie Gonzalez (D- Hartford). The group will be at La Plaza del Mercado at 704 Park St. from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Also Saturday, in New Haven, Mayor Harp and other city officials are holding a fundraising rally. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Quinnipiac River Park in the Fairhaven section of the city. There will be entertainment and a speaking program. For more information, click here.

In Bridgeport, monetary donations are being accepted for the American Red Cross, organized by the Greater Bridgeport United & Puerto Rican Parade of Fairfield County, Inc. Puerto Rico Relief efforts. Donations are being accepted Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the East Side Senior Center located at 1053 E. Main Street. For more information, call 203-371-0813.

This is just a sampling of events in towns and cities across the state. Organizations and volunteers all across Connecticut continue to champion relief efforts with everything from school supply drives to football games as the island struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria. On the national level, Connecticut senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are demanding an increased federal response to deal with the crisis in Puerto Rico.