A Brooklyn, Connecticut, man has been charged with sexually assaulting a second teen who worked for him at riding stables in Killingly several years ago, police said. 

Police arrested Michael F. Sobieniak, 41, in June 2016 after investigating allegations that he sexually assaulted a teen who worked for him at Valley View Riding Stables on Lake Road in Killingly.

On Monday, police sent a release indicating that Sobieniak is accused of having sexual intercourse with a second teenager about 5 years ago. 

The victim, who is now 19, said she was between 14 and 15 years old when she boarded her horse at the stables in Killingly and began working for Sobieniak to pay for the associated costs, police said. 

State police said Sobieniak sexual intercourse with her at the riding stables and in his vehicle at various locations in Connecticut while he making deliveries, according to the victim.  

After an investigation, Sobieniak was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of risk of injury and two counts of illegal sexual contact. He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday and his bond was set at $75,000 for the second arrest. 

In June 2016, a 22-year-old woman told police she started taking riding lessons at the stable when she was 13 years old. She then started working for Sobieniak to pay for riding time and their relationship became sexual, she told police.

She went on to say they had intercourse from when she was living and working at the stables from the time she was 13 to the time she was 15, according to police.

Detectives investigated and have charged Sobieniak with three counts of second-degree sexual assault, three counts of illegal sexual contact with a minor and risk of injury.

He was brought to Danielson Superior Court on June 9, 2016 and he pleaded not guilty. 

It's not clear if he has an attorney.

The billions spent on legal sports betting in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. But the U.S. Supreme Court seemed prepared Monday to bust Nevada's monopoly.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey challenged a federal law that requites states to ban wagering on sporting events, though Nevada was grandfathered in when the law was passed in 1992, NBC News reported.

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is unusual because it does not ban sports gambling nationwide as a matter of federal law. Instead the act says the states cannot permit it.

Ted Olson, a Washington lawyer representing New Jersey, told the court Monday that the law violates the Constitution's protection of state's rights. "Congress can regulate interstate commerce, but it can't make the states do the work of Congress," he said.

More staffers at the state’s maximum-security mental hospital linked with an abuse investigation have been terminated.

Three staffers at the Whiting Forensic Division in Middletown were let go on Dec. 4, the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters learned. The three were terminated for reasons including physical abuse, sleeping on duty and failing to report work rule violations.

In all, 37 staffers at Whiting were put on administrative leave since the case was first reported by NBC Connecticut in April. Of those 37 workers put on leave, five were terminated and another five either resigned or retired.

The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), the agency in charge of Whiting, told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters the three men who lost their jobs on Monday include a forensic nurse and a pair of mental health workers.

A state police investigation, which remains open, revealed the 59-year-old male patient allegedly suffered abuse over a one month period. The findings were based in part on video surveillance from the patient’s room.

The alleged abuse included taunting, kicking, and even putting a soiled diaper on the patient’s head.

A 34-year-old Meriden woman has serious injuries after she drove the wrong way on Interstate 691 East in Meriden Monday morning and collided with a tractor-trailer, according to state police.

Police said Meghan Claire Perrin was driving a Honda CRV west on I-691 East and collided head-on with the truck just before 3 a.m.

Perrin was transported to MidState Hospital, then LifeStar flew her to Hartford Hospital because of the severity of her injuries.

No one in the truck was injured, according to state police. The investigation is ongoing.

An elderly man is dead after police said his great-nephew stabbed him in Hartford.

Police responded to the stabbing the man's home on Block Avenue around 1:30 p.m. for a stabbing. The 71-year-old man was found bloody with stab wounds to his torso.

The victim was pronounced dead less than an hour after being taken to the hospital.

The man and his 17-year-old great-nephew both live at the home on Block Avenue and police said other family members were at the residence during the altercation. 

"Obviously the family and the neighborhood is a little shaken up that this would happen. As to what it’s stemming from or what caused the argument, we’re unsure," Hartford police deputy Brian Foley said about the incident.

The teen was brought into custody and is likely to be charged overnight, police said. 

The police major crimes and domestic violence units are investigating.

A Gales Ferry man will be out of the cold this winter thanks to the help of a U.S. Navy chief petty officer and local business owner. 

For the last year and a half, Brad Kelsey has been living out of his car, that is now leaking air, after a hernia put him out of work. In the winter, he and his two dogs curl up tightly in the back seat hoping not freeze.

"It’s pretty bad when you gotta be in this car. I wake up and I feel like I have daggers sticking in my kneecap," Kelsey said.

Business after business wouldn’t let Kelsey park on site. That's when, Miki Leighton, a supervisor with the Ledyard Food Pantry, facilitated a post on the Ledyard Community Forum Facebook page asking if someone knew of a place where Kelsey could safely park his car.

Chief Petty Officer Mike Stewart saw that post and wanted to take the request one step further by offering up his camper to Kelsey and his dogs for the winter.

"As far as I’m concerned, if you have it, why not share it?" Stewart said.

Stewart said he was never without a home, but knows what it’s like to grow up without means.

"Moved in with my grandparents when I was a sophomore in high school just because my family was taking care of all of us," Stewart said.

Stewart, a Naval Undersea Medical Institute (NUMI) instructor, credited the Navy for its generosity.

He said his multiple deployments overseas to underprivileged countries also made him realize not to take anything for granted.

Another neighbor, Rich Hines, owner of H&H Landscaping in Ledyard, also stepped in with a generator to give Kelsey electricity for heat. Hines said he now speaks to Kelsey multiple times a week. 

"We hung out, played some cards, spent the night and then basically established a relationship," Hines said.

Kelsey said because of the original Facebook post, there has been an outpouring of support of people giving him sleeping bags and other supplies.

"When I didn’t get help from where I figured I would get help, they were standing up and giving me help," Kelsey said.

For the men who helped Kelsey, it’s just them doing the right thing.

"Because if I was in issues, I’d hope somebody would help me," Hines said.

A Long Island college student died after being found slumped over at a house party off of a State University of New York campus with a fatally toxic mix of drugs and alcohol in his blood stream over the weekend, according to a published report.

SUNY Oneonta freshman Daniel William Michaels, of Dix Hills, died from cardiac arrest after someone noticed him unconscious on a couch at a house where members of a fraternity lived early on Saturday, according to The Daily Star of Ostego County. School officials say the fraternity, Alpha Pi, isn't recognized by SUNY Oneonta.

A coroner said preliminary toxicology report indicates that Michaels, who was studying business and economics, had a mix of amphetamines, benzodiazepines and alcohol in his system. A full toxicology report is set to be released in four to six weeks. 

According to the newspaper, students called 911 after someone picking up another student saw Michaels on the couch. But before police arrived on scene, someone else drove the unconscious 18-year-old to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

Police said they were investigating how he might have obtained the drugs and where else he was earlier in the night. But foul play is not suspected in the case. 

SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski announced Michaels' death in an email to campus over the weekend. 

Family members said that this wasn't the first tragedy for the family: Michaels' twin brother Justin was killed after a cherry tree fell on him at a day camp when he was 4 years old, in 2004. 

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the fraternity to which the residents of the house where Michaels was found belonged . The home's residents were members of Alpha Pi, an unrecognized, underground Greek group. 

With the season’s first snow possibly on tap for this weekend, many residents are probably getting ready to take out shovels and salt.

What residents may not know is that there is another option; they can have someone else clear the snow for them with just the click of an app. 

Thanks to a new app called SnoHub, John Kozyra can have someone else clear away the snow with just a quick tap.

While the app exists in other states, here in Connecticut, where the app’s founder James Albis lives, the service has only been available in Fairfield County since its launch in January. But as of last Friday, service expanded to the rest of the state.

"You have to get to work so you need your driveway cleaned up or something like that," Kozyra said.

SnoHub works similarly to the ridesharing app, Uber.

Once you’ve downloaded it and created a user profile, you check off areas of your property you want cleared of snow and what areas you wanted salted.

Then the app shows you how much it’ll cost you, which will all depend on how many inches of snow is being cleared off and the size of your driveway or sidewalk.

“It provides transparency to the homeowners so all the photos – not just the driveway, the walkway, everything that’s done – everything that you request is actually cross checked on the app and you have photos to give you that peace of mind,” said James Albis, the Founder and CEO of SnoHub.

Before and after photos are required to be taken by the contractor for the homeowner, which can be seen right on the app.

The contractors, all verified by SnoHub prior to starting the work, are estimated to arrive between one to two hours after requesting them.

“I do like that the people are verified that saves a lot of the guess work ‘you don’t know what you’re getting’ and I think it’s actually pretty cool,” said Jen Ritchie of Rocky Hill.

The app is available to download for free on Apple and Android devices.

Earlier this year, John Claydon went into cardiac arrest at a University of Connecticut (UConn) football game in Rentschler Field and nearly lost his life.

On Monday, he was able to meet the East Hartford EMT and paramedics that brought him back to life at Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, the same hospital where he spent five days recovering after first responders spent about an hour trying to resuscitate him.

"If it wasn’t for the actions of these professionals who are here with us tonight I wouldn’t be standing here," Claydon said.

On August 31, the 68-year-old man and a friend were at Rentschler Field watching UConn play its season opener football game against the Holy Cross Crusaders.

Not long after arriving, Claydon told his friend he wasn’t feeling well and what he didn’t know is he was going into cardiac arrest.

While the 68-year-old doesn’t remember anything after that, witnesses said he collapsed and several UConn students stepped in to perform CPR as first responders arrived and took over.

"We continued compressions and a resuscitation effort," paramedic, Scott Woods, who was one of the first first responders to arrive, said. "The rest of the team members established IV access, gave him medications, continued breathing for him and continued CPR and defibrillations as needed for an extended period of time. It was not an immediate response that he came back right away, but you have to stick with it."

Finally, they were able to bring him back.

Claydon was taken to Saint Francis Hospital, where he recovered for five days. He was implanted with a defibrillator which stabilized his heart rhythm.

"Without them, people like me wouldn’t be getting to the hospital. And I only want to say I am so grateful. It’s had to think of words to say thank you to people who have saved your life," Claydon said.

It’s unclear who those UConn students were who gave CPR, but paramedics said they, too, played a vital role in saving this man’s life.

Patagonia, an American outdoor clothing and gear retailer set its homepage to black in response to President Trump's plans to shrink two national monuments. 

The company's website displayed a dark screen with the message, "The President Stole Your Land," to rally the public into joining its cause which, according to some media reports, includes a possible lawsuit against Trump.

"In an illegal move, the president just reduced the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. This is the largest elimination of protected land in American history," Patagonia said on its website.

Nearly 200,000 people are without power after a deadly 31,000-acre fire scorched through Santa Paula, California, on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, according to Southern California Edison. 

At least 57 power outages were reported in cities in the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange Counties.

The fire — named the Thomas fire — was burning just south of Thomas Aquinas College. The college issued a fire alert Monday around 8 p.m. and evacuated all students to nearby homes as a precaution.

It was initially reported as 500 acres. By 3:40 a.m., the blaze reached 31,000 acres, prompting officials to order mandatory evacuations for over 100,000 residents. 

Two buildings were damaged in the flames and at least one person died in a car crash as they tried to escape the fire.

Winds exceeding 40 mph and gusts over 60 mph have been reported in the area and are expected to continue, the National Weather Service said.

Police are investigating a homicide after a 16-year-old Waterbury girl was found dead in a car that crashed on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury Monday night.

The crash was reported around 10 p.m. Monday and responding officers found the girl dead in the car. Investigators said she had been shot. They have not released her name.

Investigators do not believe the victim was the driver and said at least one other person was in the car with her at the time of the crash.

A suspect is in police custody and police said an arrest will most likely come later this morning.

“As the investigation continued it was very clear right from the onset that this was a homicide. It became a homicide investigation with the motor vehicle accident being a secondary to that. At this point we do have a suspect in custody. We’re working the case very diligently. We anticipate announcing an arrest in the early morning hours,” Deputy Chief Fernando Spagnolo, Waterbury Police said.

The investigation is ongoing and police are waiting on autopsy results.

It’s not clear when the road will reopen.

Police have responded to a crash involving a school bus at Route 5 and I-291 in South Windsor. Police said students were onboard and there are minor injuries.

Officials from Connecticut Children's Medical Center said they are expecting eight patients from the scene.

The NBC Connecticut crew at the scene said several people were placed in ambulances.

South Windsor Police are asking people to avoid the area if possible and they expect delays expected for the next 45 minutes.

The rapid melting of Arctic sea ice has already been linked to warmer ocean temperatures and higher sea levels, and new research shows it could reduce rainfall in California, worsening future droughts in the state, NBC News reported.

By the middle of the century, California's 20-year median for rainfall is projected to drop by 10 to 15 percent due to the loss of ice in the Arctic and warming temperatures there, according to a study released Tuesday by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

It ties together an early proposed link between Arctic climate and California drought with the conventional wisdom from the time, which instead connected the state's prolonged dry spells to atmospheric changes in the subtropics.

The computer simulation behind the study didn't judge whether the Arctic had a role in the recent drought, which was California's worst on record.

Former President Barack Obama is expected to address a gathering of U.S.  mayors and leaders from around the world Tuesday as they prepare to sign what's being called a "first-of-its-kind international agreement on climate change" in Chicago. 

Dozens of mayors and global climate leaders converged on the city for the two-day North American Climate Summit, where the framework for the Chicago Climate Charter to reduce greenhouse emissions will be spelled out.

The commitment to address climate change on a local level comes months after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would pull out of the 2015 Paris Climate accord. The U.S., which can't give notice of its official departure from the landmark agreement with 196 until November 2019, is now the only country not part of the Paris climate deal.

Chicago's Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Wheat says the idea is to "fill the void" the Trump administration has left. He says mayors will sign a charter and discuss solutions including expanding access to public transportation.

The accord includes a commitment to reducing carbon emissions, reporting and tracking city emissions, and developing city-specific climate programs and policies, among other pledges. 

"From closing coal plants, to investing in electric vehicles and public transportation, to reducing electricity usage in our buildings, to updating streetlights across the city, Chicago is showcasing to the world the impact that cities can have on climate change for their residents and for people around the world,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “I am proud to stand together with the leading global city climate networks including the Global Covenant of Mayors, Climate Mayors and C40 to take decisive action to improve our environment while bettering our communities, and that begins right here.”

In June, Trump announced his decision to abandon the world's climate change pact, claiming the non-binding agreement imposed unfair standards on American businesses and workers. His decision marked a major setback to worldwide efforts to combat climate change and placed the U.S. in opposition to the stance of some of the country's closest foreign allies. 

The U.S. Conference of Mayors strongly opposed the decision and vowed that the nation's mayors would continue efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

Among those attending the Chicago summit are Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante; Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson; Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton; and dozens of others. 

Obama, who enacted the Paris deal, is scheduled to speak Tuesday afternoon.

Police are searching for two missing 16-year-old Naugatuck girls and they are asking for help from the public to find them. 

Alyssa Braddock was last seen around 1:30 p.m. Monday at Naugatuck High and police said she has medical issues. Jordan Edmonds was last seen around 2:30 p.m. Monday at Naugatuck High School. 

Police said the two cases could be connected. 

When Braddock was last seen, she was wearing a pink hoodie, black yoga pants and tan moccasins. 

Braddock is 5-feet-7, weighs 150 pounds and has blue eyes and pink and blonde hair.

Edmonds is 5-feet-6 and weighs 155 pounds. She has brown eyes and long, straight dirty blonde hair.

She might be carrying a black and burgundy backpack. No information was available on what she was last seen wearing.

Anyone with information on the missing teens is asked to call the Naugatuck Police Department at (203)-729-5221. 

Firefighters on the ground and in the air are battling a fast-moving brush fire raging across 45,000 acres in Ventura County, destroying 150 structures and forcing 27,000 people to flee their homes, fire officials said Tuesday morning.

Officials had earlier said a person's death was associated with the fire, but Ventura County spokesman Bill Nash said early Tuesday that death was a family pet, not a person. One firefighter was injured, but details on his condition weren't immediately available.

The fire, dubbed the Thomas fire, was first burning just south of Thomas Aquinas College. The college issued a fire alert Monday around 8 p.m. and evacuated all students to nearby homes as a precaution. 

"The fire growth is just absolutely exponential," Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said. "All that firefighters can do when we have winds like this is get out ahead, evacuate people, and protect structures."

More than 8,000 homes were evacuated and 20,000 people remained without power Tuesday. That figure was down from 200,000 customers who were in the dark Monday night because of transmission line problems associated with the fire.

The fire spread extremely quickly. The Ventura County Fire Department tweeted that the fire was moving fast and was burning in steep terrain with 25 to 30 mph winds. 

At least 150 structures were damaged, according to the fire department. One of those was the Vista del Mar Hospital, an 83-bed mental health facility at 801 Seneca St. All patients were evacuated safely, but the majority of buildings were left to be nothing but smoking husks. The apartments on the skirts of the facility had not yet been threatened by 6 a.m. 

"Oh my god, just devastation for these people," said Leticia Broida, an employee. "The whole hospital is gone."

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for west Ventura shortly before 1 a.m., Tuesday. Multiple homes and buildings were reportedly burned in the area and palm trees were on flames behind Ventura City Hall.

Due to the intensity of the blaze, fire crews were reportedly having difficulties accessing the burned areas. Multiple agencies are responding to the fire.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office advised residents to go to vcemergency.com for the most up-to-date information. 

The Los Angeles County Fire Department was also assisting in the firefight. 

The cause of the fire was unknown.

Mandatory Evacuations
Nearly 8,000 homes were ordered to evacuate Tuesday from Santa Paula to Ventura.

• Residents in Santa Paula, east of Dickenson Road, north of Monte Vista Drive along Highway 150 and South of Thomas Aquinas College to the area of Say Road.
• Residents in Santa Paula, west of Dickenson Road to Atmore Road, north of Foothill Road and west to Wheeler Canyon Road
• Residents in Upper Ojai, north of Highway 150 from Koenigstein Road west to the Dennison Grade, north to Reeves Road, east to McAndrew Road and north to Grand Avenue.
• Residents in Santa Paula and Ventura, north of Foothill Road west to Wheeler Canyon Road, north to Canada Larga Road and east to Barlow Canyon Road
• Residents in Ventura, south of Highway 33, east of Main St, north of Foothill Road and Hall Canyon Road and west of Canada Larga Road
• Residents in Ventura, east of North Ashwood Avenue along Loma Vista Road to North Victoria Avenue south of Foothill
• Residents in Ventura County, east of hwy 33 west of Creek Road south of Ojai Valley Inn south of Hwy 150
• Residents in Ventura County, north of Canada Larga along Hwy 33 to south of Casitas Vista and north along Casitas Vista Road to Lake Casitas
• Ojai, Thacher School 5025 Thacher Road, Ojai has been evacuated
• Ventura, Vista Del Mar Hospital has been evacuated and patients will be transported to LA area facilities by ambulance.

Voluntary Evacuations

• Residents in the City of Ventura south of Loma Vista, east of Day Road, West of Victoria Avenue and north of Telegraph Road
• Residents in the City of Ventura, east of Victoria north of Loma Vista South of Foothill west of Wells Road.

Evacuation Shelters
There are two evacuation shelters available to residents who were displaced. The first shelter was at the Ventura County Fairgrounds at Miners Building located at 10 West Harbor Blvd. in Ventura. All types of animals are also welcome at this shelter.

The second shelter was at Nordhoff High School at 1401 Maricopa Highway in Ojai. 

A third shelter was set up at the Oxnard College Gymnasium, located at 4000 S Rose Ave. in Oxnard.

Road Closures
The California Highway Patrol closed Highway 150 in both directions -- at Sisar Road, at Stonegate Road, and at Santa Barbara Street -- as firefighters battled the blaze. 

Soft road closures were issued for Wheeler Canyon Road at Foothill Road, Highway 150 at Reeves Road and Highway 150 at Santa Barbara Street. 

School Closures

Santa Paula School District, Oxnard School District, Port Hueneme School District, Ventura Unified School District, Mesa Union School District, and Ojai Unified School districts were all closed Tuesday due to the fire.

Power Outages
About 20,000 customers remain without power Tuesday morning.

Snake hunters caught a 17-foot-1-inch python in the Florida Everglades, the largest captured so far under the South Florida Water Management District's python elimination program.

The 132-pound Burmese python was caught early Friday at the Big Cypress National Preserve. The hunters said it was much larger when they initially wrangled it.

"That snake could pretty much kill any full-grown man. If that snake was alive right now it would probably take like three of us to be able to control that snake," python hunter Jason Leon said of the record-breaking serpent.

Leon noted the Burmese python is devastating wildlife in the Everglades with its uncontrollable appetite.

"We have these guys out there eating our alligators, raccoons, possums, otters, pretty much everything out there," he said. "There's no natural predators too."

The SFWMD launched the python elimination program in April 2017. The program pays hunters $8.10 an hour and gives an extra $50 for a 4-foot-long snake and $25 for each additional foot above that. The hunters will receive a $375 for this find.

Leon warned against trying to catch a snake of this size alone. "If you see a snake this big, I don't think you should jump on it, at least if you don't have somebody else with you," he said.

A Texas cheerleader's stunt has now become the latest viral social media sensation.

Ariel Olivar recorded the stunt on the sidelines of a playoff game between the Manvel Mavericks and Cedar Park Timberwolves Friday night. She appears to defy gravity by putting one foot on an "invisible box" and then stepping over the box.

The move has a name -- The Invisible Box Challenge. Olivar's video follows another from August from a football player in Indiana.

"The video was my third time trying it. It's hard to explain, I just keep the leg in the same exact spot," Olivar told The Houston Chronicle.

Olivar was propelled to viral fame in the days after her tweet, which was retweeted more than 130,000 times by Tuesday morning, when she appeared on the "Today" show.

"People around my school just started retweeting it and I thought it would only go as far as throughout my school, but through the night it just get going, my phone kept blowing up," Olivar said, after explaining the trick to the trick.

It's a challenge people seem determined to nail down, as the Internet shows.

Middle school students in Hamden showed their appreciation to Red Cross first responders, by giving a special gift of handmade red crosses as a thank youTuesday. 

The message of thanks echoed through Hamden Middle School on Tuesday morning as the Team Pioneer students proudly looked on at their hard work, after crafting 280 red crosses. 

The students built the gifts after seeing the Red Cross volunteers rescue efforts in the wake of the devastating of hurricanes and wildfires across the country. 

"Thank you, because it was a very big thing for them to go and help," said 11year-old James Kirby. 

"I hope they feel congratulated and also that hard work pays off," said 13 year-old Lindsay Smith. 

"It means a lot to me when I help others in the community," said 13 year-old Raymond Gray. 

The students said this was a sign of appreciation for the lifesaving work the Red Cross volunteers from Connecticut have done. 

The children are part of Team Pioneer and they are working on service and learning projects throughout the year. The wooden crosses are the student's latest venture and their teacher said the project means so much more. 

"The real connection comes with your heart, your mind and your hands. Putting those things to work, maybe in a classroom or a shop, to make the world a better place," said Team Pioneer and Hamden Middle School science teacher, Chris Sagnella. 

Over the next week, the Red Cross of Connecticut and Rhode Island will give the handmade red crosses to local volunteers. 

Richard Branigan, the chief administrative officer at the Red Cross of Connecticut and Rhode Island, is among the people who went across the country to help after disasters struck. 

"I'm hoping that I will get one," he said, as he held back tears. "And I think that knowing how it was made and everyone who receives one will know how it was made, it will mean a lot more." 

It's a way for these kids to let these heroes know that their community cares. 

"Help out the community and like, don't just think about yourself. Think about everybody else," said 7th grade Hamden Middle School student, Azoria Paige.

-