Matt Lauer, a morning news mainstay for more than two decades, has been terminated from NBC News after a colleague reported sexual misconduct in the workplace, co-anchor Savannah Guthrie announced Wednesday as the "Today" show opened. 

Guthrie said she learned about the news shortly before the show went on air, and added that she was heartbroken for her "dear, dear friend" Lauer, as well as the woman whose allegations NBC News found credible.

"We are grappling with a dilemma that so many people have faced these last few weeks: How do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly?" Guthrie said. "I don't know the answer to that. But I do know that this reckoning that so many organizations have been going through is important, it's long overdue and it must result in workplaces where all women, all people, feel safe and respected."

NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said in a memo that Lauer's alleged conduct was "a clear violation of our company's standards." He did not reveal specifics on what Lauer was accused of, but NBC News reported that the complaint refers to an incident at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, and that inappropriate behavior continued afterward.

Lack said the organization also has reason to believe that the detailed complaint received about Lauer Monday night "may not have been an isolated incident." 

NBC Owned Television Stations has reached out to a representative of Lauer's for comment on the termination and Lack's statement.

An attorney for Lauer's accuser, whose identity hasn't been revealed, said in a statement that "NBC acted quickly and responsibly" after their hourslong meeting with the human resources and legal departments Monday evening, in which the accuser "detailed egregious acts of sexual harassment and misconduct by Mr. Lauer."

"While I am impressed by NBC’s response to date, I am awed by the courage my client showed to be the first to raise a complaint and to do so without making any demands other than asking the company do the right thing. This is how the system should work," attorney Ari Wilkenfeld said.

More allegations against Lauer may be coming, according to NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk.

"We know that there are articles that are pending in major publications that raise other accusations. We do not know the details about them," she said Wednesday on MSNBC. "We know that this took place in 2014 during the Sochi Olympics and that the inappropriate sexual behavior continued beyond the Games."

An NBC News representative did not have a comment on those details or Wilkenfeld's statement.

Lauer's termination came suddenly — he had been slated to host the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting with "Today" show co-anchors Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker Wednesday night.

Kotb, who co-hosted Wednesday's show, said, "We woke up with the news pre-dawn and we are trying to process it, make sense of it and it will take some time for that."

It wasn't immediately clear if anyone would replace Lauer at the lighting ceremony or on the show.

Lauer was co-anchor of the "Today" show for nearly 21 years, since his debut in the role Jan. 6, 1997, interviewing presidents, royalty, movie stars and more. NBC had noted on its broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last week that Lauer has hosted the event for the past 20 years.

He is the second leading morning news host in two weeks to lose his job after facing sexual misconduct allegations, following Charlie Rose, who was fired by CBS News last week, as well as by PBS. Several women who spoke to The Washington Post detailed a pattern of work-related sexual misconduct by Rose, who issued an apology.

But they are far from the only media figures to have lost their jobs after being accused of sexual misconduct. Last month, NBC News fired contributor Mark Halperin, a major political journalist and pundit, after he was accused of sexual misconduct by women he had previously worked with at ABC News.

Bill O'Reilly and Roger Ailes were ousted from Fox News in the last two years when faced with accusations of their own. Megyn Kelly, who complained about O'Reilly while they were colleagues together at Fox, said Wednesday on her new NBC show that, in her experience dealing with the fallout of sexual harassment allegations, news organiations are "bigger than any one person."

She said Lauer has been a friend and supported her in her transition to NBC News. She noted her colleagues' anguish as well as that of the women who came forward, whom she hoped are OK. Coming forward is a "terrifying thing to do," she said.   

"As painful as this moment is for so many here at NBC today, at CBS earlier this month, at Fox News over the last year, in Hollywood this fall, it is a sign of progress," Kelly said, "of women finding their voices, their courage and of the erosion of a shameful power imbalance that has been in place for far too long."

New accusations of sexual misconduct by powerful men have been in the news nearly every day since two exposes were published in early October about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein allegedly engaging serial sexual harassment and assault throughout his career. Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K. and Jeffrey Tambor are among the actors who have lost jobs in the wake of that scandal, as men and women came forward with their own allegations.

Scandal has reached the world of politics as well. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. apologized after several women came forward to say he groped them in the past. He and Michigan Democrat Rep. John Conyers, accused of workplace misconduct, face ethics investigations.

And Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Alabama's open U.S. Senate seat, has defiantly denied any wrongdoing after multiple women have said he tried to date them decades ago when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One woman accused him of toucing her sexually when she was 14. Another alleged he sexaully assaulted her when she was 16. He denies the allegations.  

The news about Lauer came as a shock to many who posted their reactions online, including President Donald Trump, who tweeted "Wow" and attacked NBC for "putting out so much Fake News."

Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, which he's denied, but he did apologize last year for a 2005 video in which he told then-NBC personality Billy Bush he could do anything to women when you're famous, including grabbing them by the genitals. Despite the apology, Trump has privately raised doubts about the tape's authenticity in conversations with allies or confidents, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Here is Andy Lack's full statement as read on "Today": 

Dear colleagues, on Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards. As a result, we've decided to terminate his employment.

While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he's been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.

Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender. We are deeply saddened by this turn of events.

But we will face it together as a news organization - and do it in as transparent a manner as we can.

An oil spill forced the early dismissal of Killingly High School Wednesday morning.

Teachers inside the Killingly Agricultural Education building noticed a red liquid coming from the floor drains in the mechanic shop around 10:40 a.m., according to the school superintendent.

They immediately realized it was home heating oil and the entire wing of the building was evacuated, the superintendent said.

No students were in the shop at the time.

School staff members quickly determined that a heating oil vendor accidentally pumped 1,400 gallons of heating oil into the school's oil/water waste separating tank.

Firefighters were called in to contain the spill and staff moved animals that are housed in the Agricultural building to a different building.

The decision to dismiss early was made just before 11:15 a.m., the superintendent said.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection assessed the situation and outside contractors were brought in to clean up the spill.

The superintendent said a decision on holding classes on Thursday will be made after the DEEP assesses the situation.

The state Bond Commission has approved a controversial $9 million construction project at Silver Sands State Park in Milford.

Hundreds of Milford residents have spoken out against this proposed project in which the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is looking to build new bathrooms, a lifeguard and staff office, a concession stand and a storage facility.

Silver Sands is now free to the public, but DEEP also wants to charge the same seasonal parking fees as other state parks.

State Representative Kim Rose, who represents Milford, said in a letter to the commission that locals were plagued with parking issues and garbage in their neighborhoods near the state park, and argued that adding amenities will only exacerbate those issues.

“This park is one of the most popular in the state and as such has seen capacity visitors every weekend. It is at capacity without any amenities!” the Democrat wrote. She also said she will continue to fight the project legislatively.

Milford’s mayor has said The mayor says DEEP is working off an environmental impact study that is two decades old and he wants a new one done. 

State Senator Gayle Slossberg (D-Milford) said she can’t support the renovations while the state has a budget deficit. She responded to the bond commission’s decision with a statement that read, in part:

"Today’s decision was deeply disappointing, but not at all surprising. This project has been widely opposed from the beginning, and that opposition has consistently been ignored. The simple fact is that no one wants this project and the State of Connecticut cannot afford it."

New London police have charged a man with murder after a fatal stabbing in October.

Police said 46-year-old Metese Hinds is accusing of stabbing 33-year old Raheeim General on Blackhall Street on October 24.

On that date, officers responded to the second floor of 49 Blackhall St. at 7:20 p.m. after receiving a 911 call reporting a disturbance and possible stabbing. General suffered fatal injuries. A second man, who was not identified, was also injured.

Hinds was arrested on Tuesday and charged with murder. He is currently being held on a $1 million cash bond.

Southington police are trying to locate a 56-year-old man who has been missing since Monday.

Police said that Charles "Chuck" Davenport went to work on Monday and was last seen near his home around 3 p.m. Police said that Davenport"“has been depressed as of late." He reported missing around 7 p.m. and a Silver Alert has been issued.

Davenport is about 5-foot-11, 230 pounds, with salt and pepper hair, a mustache and hazel eyes. He walks with a cane and was last seen wearing a black or blue polo shirt with an "HC Wilcox Carpentry" logo on it. He may be driving a grey 2016 Ford F150 with Connecticut plate 96CV66.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact Southington police at 860-621-0101.

Some of Connecticut’s most senior residents are giving to the youngest ones.

The ladies of the Atria Greenridge Place assisted living home in Rocky Hill have been knitting and crocheting for months to give a special gift to a newborn baby.

"They’re all different whatever comes to mind. I just pick a color,” said Karen Poerschke, Rocky Hill. “It’s just nice to see a mother using it for the baby."

The women made 18 blankets for newborns at Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford.

"It really means a lot to them, said Erin Guiliano, Atria Greenridge Place. “They know that some of these parents don’t have anything and especially with the holidays coming up and with the colder months coming up they wanted to make sure these babies are going home warm."

One of the babies to receive a blanket was Janai Taylor, who is just two days old.

"She’ll be wrapped up in this when we go home tomorrow," said new mother, Ashley Simpson. "I will tell her that a nice lady made this blanket for her. This will be the first blanket she wore at home."

President Donald Trump touted the GOP tax plan Wednesday at a speech in St. Charles, Missouri. Trump said the plan has the support of small businesses from around the country.

Newtown police will host showings of stolen property seized following the arrest of two juveniles accused of stealing items out of vehicles.

On Nov. 13, Newtown police arrested the two juvenile suspects and seized multiple items. Police said the items were taken from vehicles on the following streets, between Nov. 10 and Nov 13:

• Baldwin Road
• Juniper Road
• Oak Ridge Road
• Edmond Road
• Sugar Street
• Sleepy Hollow Road,
• Lincoln Road,
• Oakview Road,
• Turkey Hill Road,
• Elm Drive,
• Adams Hill Road,
• Black Walnut Drive,
• Mile Hill Road
• Nearbrook Drive

There may be additional locations that were not reported, police said.

Victims looking to retrieve their property can view the seized items at the Newtown Police Department on the following dates and times

Saturday, December 2, 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Monday, December 4, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 6, 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Victims who cannot attend a viewing should contact Det. Frank at 203-426-5841.

It wasn’t mom’s plan and it wasn’t what paramedics were expecting, but a crew at American Ambulance delivered a healthy baby boy two weeks ago in one of their ambulances.

It’s the first delivery in an American Ambulance — a Norwich-based ambulance service — since Oct. 4, 2014.

"I thought that happened often, but no," said 14-year-old sister Neyshka Cernas. "It’s crazy!"

She was in the ambulance with her mom, Marie Rodriguez, at 4:36 a.m. on Nov. 15 when her baby brother Jacob Rodriguez was born.

"I was shocked. I started crying. I can’t believe she gave birth in an ambulance that fast," said Cernas, who lives in Norwich with her family.

Paramedic Brittany Leggett brought baby Jacob into the world. Wednesday, they reunited.

"We were trying like heck to make it to the hospital," Leggett laughed. "But the baby didn’t want to wait!"

She said her team had to carry Rodriguez down three floors into the ambulance. As she and her crew were pulling into Backus Hospital, Jacob arrived.

He’s Leggett’s first delivery. She’s only been a paramedic for a couple of months.

"If someone’s calling us, it typically means something’s wrong. It’s not often that we actually get to bring life into this world," Leggett said.

With the help of Jacob’s family, American Ambulance posted a stork carrying a blue bundle on both sides of the ambulance he was born in.

The ambulance team showered Jacob with gifts and congratulated mom, dad Geraldo Rodriguez, and his two sisters, two brothers and cousin, all in attendance.

Jacob’s brothers even got to see what the inside of an ambulance was like.

Leggett, fellow paramedic P.J. Masterson and East Great Plains Firefighter Christian Tynan all got stork pins to commemorate their work on Nov. 15.

It may be the end of November, but temperatures across Connecticut today felt more like spring than fall.

Jackie Velez of West Hartford took advantage of temperatures in the mid-fifties to put up her holiday decorations. She said it was perfect weather for her annual tradition of hanging lights and garlands.

"I feel like I’m in Puerto Rico," she said.

Velez added she hopes the warm weather will stay, and said she would be more than happy if snow stayed away this Christmas.

A few blocks away, Jose Chacon was busy raking and leaf-blowing on his West Hartford lawn. He doesn’t like it when temperatures hot or cold, so today’s weather was ideal for his autumn yard work.

Others decided to skip chores today for some fun. Tiago Prazeres is back in town after spending the last year playing soccer in Europe. Today, he was catching up with his dad over a friendly match at Wolcott Park. Father and son could not resist the opportunity to kick a ball around together.

"The sun gives you energy I feel, and I love coming out here to burn some calories," said Prezares.

Maryellen Garval just moved back to Connecticut after 11 years in Hawaii. The weather at the playground was not as hot as the beach, but chasing after her 2-year-old grandson Ryan kept her warm enough to unzip her jacket.

Garval said, "it’s just wonderful to get him out and to spend some time with him outdoors."

Get the full forecast from the NBC Connecticut meteorologists anytime by clicking here.

The family of a Waterbury murder victim says a nearly two-year backlog in processing Connecticut State Police Reports and Records is causing unacceptable delays in getting answers in the case.

Two families were destroyed when an off-duty police officer and war veteran shot and killed a Waterbury man, then himself in July 2016.

Loved ones of the victim blame a state police backlog for failing to provide a report that could give both families some answers.

Family members described the late James Thomas Stuart III as a doting dad, friend to all, and loving brother.

"He called his son 'Bubba,' bringing him to his first Mets game and meeting Mr. Met," Tommy Stuart’s brother Scott Stuart told NBC Connecticut.

"His little princess, he loved her more than anything," Stuart’s sister Monique Stuart told NBC Connecticut.

The siblings told NBC Connecticut they have fond memories of their brother.

"He was a big part of my life. Fatherly figure, my best friend. Part of who I am today is because of him," Scott said.

The family is still waiting for answers about exactly what happened to Tommy.

"But we feel as a family we’ve been victimized twice. Because my brother was taken from us and, no one will give us any answers," Monique Stuart stated.

Their nightmare started July 20, 2016.

"It was my birthday,” Monique explained.

Police were called to Marion Avenue in Waterbury. Authorities say an off-duty Waterbury police officer, Hallock Yocher, fatally shot Tommy Stuart in the head and chest before shooting and killing himself.

"I started calling his phone, and I realized he hadn’t texted me, and Tommy is really big on birthdays," Monique said.

Sixteen months later, the family says their hearts are still shattered. They still have unanswered questions and the holidays without Tommy aren’t getting any easier.

"He’d be like 'it’s Turkey Day everybody! It’s Santa Claus’ birthday," Scott told NBC Connecticut.

"We’re never going to get our brother back, but we’d like to be able to explain to his children what happened," Monique added.

The Stuarts sat down with the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters after meeting with state police last week.

"There are always families they want to help, and unfortunately they can’t because of the budget cuts. There are only four people working in that office that processes the reports," Stuart said.

The Stuarts tell NBC Connecticut they want the state police report they already paid $16 for by check.

"We’re just being told we can’t get the report, we can’t get the report," Monique said.

"It’s a civil matter so you as a family don’t have rights to this information until it’s processed which is a 22-month backlog because of budgetary cuts," Scott stated.

"That if we really want to even try and speed up the process we need to get a lawyer and or start doing FOIA requests, Freedom of Information requests," Monique added.

A state police spokesman confirmed to the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters that there is 22 month backlog.

"The Agency’s report was completed in July. It is going to be processed through Reports and Records consistent with our ability to process requests. This report is also subject to redactions which will need to be made prior to it being released or viewed. We receive numerous requests throughout the year and all appropriate efforts utilizing technology and staffing to alleviate delays in the processing of requests are being undertaken," said Connecticut State Police Sgt. Eric Haglund.

"But the reality is there are victims’ families across the state right now being delayed answers and justice due to budgetary cuts," Monique said. "I offered to write a check right there. I feel poor choices by the leadership in this state that these are where you’re making cuts and you’re letting our suffering go up exponentially."

The Stuarts say they were initially told the backlog was around nine months. Then it got longer.

Emails from Cynthia Powell with Reports and Records confirm that the family was told the backlog was just under a year.

On November 1 Powell wrote to Monique Stuart, "to date this report has not been processed in reports and records as there is a backlog of incoming report processing of approximately 11 months…"

"We don’t want money. We just want to know what took place, who was involved," Scott reiterated.

NBC Connecticut requested the State Police report as well. The only one we’ve been given so far, through a Freedom of Information request, is from Naugatuck Police the morning of the incident on July 20, 2016.

They arrived at a neighbor’s home near the Yocher home a few minutes before 5 am.

Yocher, it states, had terminal cancer - was intoxicated – and in possession of guns.

The report says that when a Naugatuck officer approached Yocher’s wife, “she stated she did not want to talk to me or tell me what had happened… that her husband, Hallock Yocher, was a police officer and his department was coming to take care of the situation.” She also said, according to the report, that the couple had a fight over the friends she hangs out with including an ex-boyfriend.

Monique Stuart says that’s her brother Tommy.

"We found out today he used the Sig Sauer to kill Tommy and he used his service weapon to kill himself," Monique said. "We also got it confirmed, there was somebody, a third party in their home on July 19," she added. It’s unclear who that person was.

Monique Stuart has a clear message for state officials.

"I understand that Connecticut has a lot of financial difficulties, but perhaps Governor Malloy can review where he’s making his budget cuts," Monique said.

A spokesman for Governor Malloy’s office referred comment back to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Reports and Records.

NBC Connecticut reached out to Yocher’s wife, but never heard back.

The Stuart family said that on November 9, a state police lieutenant told Monique Stuart that because of Yocher’s suicide there will be no criminal prosecution. But one day earlier, Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Len Boyle notified Monique Stuart that they’ll be reviewing the investigative file into her brother’s death to determine if further criminal investigation is warranted.

A gold trader with ties to Turkey's president took the stand in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday and testified that he paid over $60 million in bribes to a government minister to grease the wheels of a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, NBC News reported.

Prosecutors showed jurors a tidy spreadsheet that Reza Zarrab said was a partial list of bribes he paid to Turkey's economic minister Mehmet Zafer Caglayan, who is under indictment but not on trial because he is still in Turkey. Not all payments were listed, Zarrab said, but the numbers were massive: 31 million Euros, $4 million in U.S. dollars and 2.4 million Turkish lira.

Zarrab, whose name has come up in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, was the lead defendant in the case until he began cooperating with U.S. authorities and transformed into the star witness against a Turkish banking executive, Mehmet Hakan Atilla.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan pushed both the Obama and Trump administrations to drop the case, and sources have told NBC News that Mueller's team is investigating whether Turkish officials offered a bribe to Mike Flynn, then on the cusp of becoming national security adviser, to make it go away. Flynn's lawyers have denied it.

The city of New London swore in its new police chief Wednesday evening.

Chief Peter Reichard is officially the top cop.

It was an emotional moment for Reichard, the city's former deputy chief. He's been with the New London Police Department for about five and a half years and has been acting chief since last November. Before that, Reichard spent 22 years with New Haven Police.

Reichard told NBC Connecticut that it was his privilege to represent a city he cares about as much as New London.

"It's hard to really express it. Excited, humbled, very proud that I was selected to run the New London Police Department," Reichard said. "I look forward to moving the agency forward."

Reichard's wife Colleen and 10-year-old son Joshua pinned his new badge on his uniform.

The new chief addressed the crowd at New London High School saying he was "a little bit nervous standing in front of a group of great people."

"Being a cop was all I ever wanted," Reichard said. "I never wanted to be anything else."

Reichard addressed the hard work of his officers and their heroic deeds that protect the community. "We're just regular people doing extraordinary things," he said.

Mayor Michael Passero said Reichard's leadership has been invaluable to the city and he earned the position.

"This is a diverse community and we're proud to have you lead it," Passero said.

Police chiefs and officers from Norwich Police, Mohegan Tribal Police, Amtrak Police, Town of Groton Police, Ledyard Police, Waterford Police and East Lyme police were all in attendance.

With this latest in a string of high-profile case of alleged inappropriate behavior, NBC Connecticut spoke with Mark Soycher of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association who provides sexual harassment training for dozens of Connecticut businesses.

"I'm a big advocate of pushing the training down to the non-supervisor staff because it really does require that community effort in the workplace," Mark Soycher said.

Soycher says a state mandate requires all employers with 50 or more employees to provide sexual harassment training for supervisors but he says bystander training is just as important.

"If they're thinking about saying or doing something think about if you have a 10-year-old son daughter and grandchild sitting next to you would you act the same way if you had to explain your behavior to the child," Soycher said.

"We’ve seen an uptick in calls questions and people inquiring about their rights," Bruce Newman with Brown Paindiris & Scott, LLP said.

Newman says sexual misconduct complaints fall into two categories, hostile work environment and quid pro-quo where superiors threaten employees for not accepting their advances. Employees can file complaints at three levels including with their HR supervisor, the Commission on Human Rights and could eventually end up in Superior Court.

"There should be stiff internal penalties by corporations and they need to take a stand and say we're not going tolerate this behavior," Newman said.

"There's definitely an effort to be more PC nowadays at our firm we have to do mandatory training every two years," Sarah Hill said.

For downtown Hartford employees Sarah Hill and Christopher Anderson the conversation is now at the forefront and one that’s circulating in workplaces across the state.

"Unfortunate how many of the stories of come to light but everyone needs to be heard," Christopher Anderson said.

The Children's Community School in Waterbury was closed Wednesday due to concerns about asbestos, according to the state Department of Public Health.

A DPH spokesperson confirmed that they were aware of the issue, which was being handled by the Waterbury Health Department.

The school’s owner, All Saints Parish, has hired a firm to perform an assessment to determine if there is an asbestos risk in the building located at 31 Wolcott Street. The assessment was scheduled to take place Wednesday.

DPH recommended the school remain closed until the assessment results come back.

NBC Connecticut has reached out to the school for further details but has yet to hear back.

The man who may have started the process that led Twitter to shut down President Donald Trump's account early this month was quoted Wednesday as agreeing with the company that the 11-minute blackout was an accident, NBC News reported.

The man, identified by the technology site TechCrunch as Bahtiyar Duysak, is quoted as saying he was working on his last day as a contractor on Twitter's help desk on Nov. 2 when he received one of the many user reports Twitter gets every day complaining about the president's rhetoric.

In a video of the interview posted with the TechCrunch article, the man identified as Duysak says he simply fielded the complaint and started Twitter's process to review and take action on it.

NBC News hasn't verified TechCrunch's identification of Duysak as having been involved in the incident. A spokesperson for Twitter confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday night that a man named Bahtiyar Duysak had worked for the company but said Twitter couldn't comment on former employees "to protect our internal security measures."

Torrington’s Board of Education has voted to temporarily close one of its elementary schools.

The board has been trying to decide between plans to permanently close, renovate or rebuild East School. The Torrington Public School Restructure Ad Hoc Committee told the school board that East School is in need of constant repairs and to bring the building up to code would cost about $4 million. To fully renovate, it would cost $17 million. To build a new school would cost $21 million after the city received it’s assumed reimbursement from the state. 

At a meeting Wednesday, the board approved a "motion to temporarily shutter East School beginning 2018-19 fiscal year while maintaining control of the property for the purpose of evaluating the building and grounds for future use during which time there will be a redistricting of students to other schools."

But parents and staff are concerned about the impact of that decision.

"This is really personal to a lot of people," said Kathleen Pelke, a teacher at East School.

All the options on the table would mean a closure – whether temporary or permanent.

"If you close east without fully communicating the reasons we're doing it, the costs, the benefits if there are any, and where our children will end up, the people who can afford to move will figure it out and they'll move," one parent said.

But members of the board say the decision has been put off too long And with enrollment projected to decline over the next ten years, the board does not believe closing East would dramatically impact class sizes.

Pelke doesn’t see it that way.

"If we could have small class sizes, I would be really behind this but I just see it getting bigger. And they are all on top of each other," Pelke said.

The board members say while East is temporarily closed, they’ll figure out the next steps. The entire process – from evaluating to making a decision to build a new school or renovate the current one – could take up to ten years.

Wednesday night planners in Shelton got a look at a proposal for a new development that could bring shops, office space and even a hotel to Bridgeport Avenue.

The city’s Planning and Zoning Committee heard from Fountain Square LLC, the developers of the proposed project that would put as many as 11 new buildings on the old United Illuminating site. But a group called "Save our Shelton" is opposing the plan, arguing it could lead to traffic and overdevelopment and would bring only low-end jobs to the community.

"I think it’s a real problem not to get quality jobs in Shelton and build it back up again. We’re starting to knock too much down," said Save Our Shelton member Gregory Tetro.

"Individuals who believe that manufacturing is coming back are just living in really a fantasy land," said Dominick Thomas, the attorney representing Fountain Square LLC.

There is expected to be another public meeting on the project that will include public comment.

Police have issued a Silver Alert for a 31-year-old Hartford man who has been missing for nearly two weeks.

Otis Byrd has been missing since Nov. 17.

He is 5-feet-11, weighs 130 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.

Police said he was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a blue and white knit hat tan, Army cargo pants and black sneakers.

Anyone with information on where he is should call Hartford Police at 860-757-4000.

Former "Today" show anchor Matt Lauer said he was "truly sorry" in a statement read on NBC's morning show Thursday, one day after the network announced his termination citing an allegation of inappropriate sexual behavior with a colleague.

His statement was read aloud on "Today" by his former co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who had the day before announced his termination on air. Read it in full below.

NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said in a memo Wednesday that Lauer's alleged conduct was "a clear violation of our company's standards." He did not reveal specifics on what Lauer was accused of, but NBC News reported that the complaint refers to an incident at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, and that inappropriate behavior continued afterward.

Lack said the organization also has reason to believe that the detailed complaint received about Lauer Monday night "may not have been an isolated incident."

Hours after Lauer's termination, Variety and The New York Times released reports that detailed other alleged incidents of sexual misconduct. NBC officials confirmed that two more accusers had come forward on Wednesday.

Lauer's statement contested some of the accusations that have been brought against him, but added, "there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed."

Lack's memo had said that the Sochi complaint was the first about Lauer's behavior in Lauer's more than 20 years at NBC News. 

After the Variety report was published, an NBC News spokesperson released the following statement: "We can say unequivocally, that, prior to Monday night, current NBC News management was never made aware of any complaints about Matt Lauer’s conduct."

Lauer's statement in full, as read on "Today":

There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry.

As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC. Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.

I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherished dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I'm committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full-time job.

The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It's been humbling. I am blessed to be surrounded by the people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace.