State troopers who stopped to help a driver with a flat tire realized the car was stolen during a carjacking and took the suspect into custody after a chase. 

State troopers from Troop I in Bethany were patrolling Route 15 southbound around 11 p.m. Monday when they stopped for a 2017 Audi Q5 that was stopped on the right shoulder between exits 59 and 60 in Hamden because the left back tire was flat, according to state police. 

Troopers soon realized the license plate did not match the registration for the Audi, so they checked the vehicle’s VIN, which revealed that the Audi was reported stolen out of Hartford on Sunday and the owner had been carjacked at gunpoint, according to police. 

State police tried to detain the driver, but he opened the driver’s side door, quickly closed it and sped away, leading troopers in pursuit, police said. 

When troopers and Hamden police officers caught up with the Audi, they boxed it between two cruisers to try and stop it, but the driver, 35-year-old Rolando Morales-Rios, of Hartford, intentionally struck a state police cruiser in an attempt to get away, then tried to get off the highway at exit 59 in New Haven and lost control of the Audi and hit the guardrail, police said. 

Morales-Rios then ran through the grass area near exit 59, then back up onto Route 15, where police took him into custody, according to police. 

He had a facsimile gun, a knife and brass knuckles on him, according to state police. 

Morales-Rios was charged with first-degree larceny, reckless endangerment, criminal attempt at assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, possession of a facsimile firearm, two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon, two counts of illegal possession of narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia, improper use of a registration plate, operating with a suspended license, engaging police in pursuit and reckless driving. 

Saving lives has been part of Kevin Theriault’s job for the last 22 years at the Willimantic Fire Department.

“I meet them on the worst day of their life,” Theriault said. “Whether it’s on an ambulance call, a car accident, or a house fire.”

So perhaps it’s no wonder that on Theriault’s own worst day, it was a fellow firefighter who saved his life. It wasn't just any firefighter, but his close friend and partner on the job for nearly 20 years, Peter Bruscato.

In February 2016, Theriault got sick with what he thought was a sinus infection. After several doctor appointments, he assumed it was a stubborn case of the flu that lasted for months.

On September 10, 2016, Theriault was rushed to the emergency room in kidney failure.

Tests revealed he had Wegner’s Granulomatosis, a rare autoimmune disease. Suddenly, his job and his life were both on the line.

“They didn’t tell me but they told my wife 'if he can make the next two days we’ll be okay,'” Theriault said.”But at that point, they weren’t sure I was going to make it to Monday morning.”

When it became clear Kevin needed a kidney transplant, he didn’t even have to ask. Without hesitating, his fellow Willimantic firefighters volunteered to get tested as living organ donors. The hospital warned Theriault the chances of finding a match were slim.

Days later, Theriault got a phone call that defied the odds.

“I started crying in the living room because he called me and says tag, I’m it.”

Bruscato was a perfect match.

The transplant surgery in September 2017 was a success. And as the two firefighters recovered, Theriault’s fellow Willimantic firefighters stepped up to help once again, donating their own sick days to help Theriault get through the last few months.

Theriault returned to work Tuesday after being out for more than a year. Bruscato was out for about three months and came back to work a few weeks ago.

The bond between the two didn't stop with the kidney transplant.

As Theriault learned, Wegner’s Granulomatosis is rare, affecting only 1 in 300,000 people. But Bruscato already knew those odds – his own wife survived the same disease and has been in remission for 15 years.

“Some call it luck, some call it fate, some call it somebody watching over us,” Bruscato said. “Maybe it’s because what we do, I don’t know.”

One thing Theriault knows for sure is how very grateful he is.

“I mean he was my best friend before, but now what you do? How do you say thank you to a guy?”

Kevin Theriault and Peter Bruscato want to get the word out about the importance of organ donation, particularly living organ donation.

Theriault said if he had to wait for a deceased donor, doctors told him it could have been waiting at least five to seven years. A living donor was his best chance at survival.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates there are 116,000 men, women and children currently waiting on the organ donation list, and 20 people die each day awaiting a transplant.

To learn more about how to become a living organ donor, click here or talk to your health care provider.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said Tuesday that "of course" she has her own "me too" story, referring to the hashtag women have used to voice their experiences with sexual harassment or assault.

“I think that is a dirty little secret that a lot of women have had for a long time. Many of us — especially I think in the years past — have experienced it,” she said during a Politico Women Rule Summit. “But the environment was very different.”

Chao declined to identify the individual or offer specifics, NBC News reported, noting that "the person is still here, still around."

She advised women to move past incidents of harassment, but help others.

A woman in Bloomfield was airlifted to Hartford Hospital after complications during a tonsillectomy surgery, police said. 

An ambulance responded to the Bloomfield Ambulatory Surgery Center on Cottage Grove Road at 8:58 p.m. for a medical call on Tuesday. 

Police said a staff member called 911 when a 27-year-old patient started bleeding heavily during a tonsillectomy surgery. 

The woman was transported to Life Star and airlifted to Hartford Hospital.

Her condition was not released at the time of post.

No other details were immediately available. 

Children who were spanked are more likely to be violent toward their future dating partners, according to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB).

"While parents may think this form of physical punishment is a good lesson, substantial research indicates that it does way more harm than good," Dr. Jeff Temple, a professor at UTMB and the senior author of the study said.

The study, that was published in The Journal of Pediatrics, found that physical punishment for a child may not directly cause violence later in life, however, there is a strong connection. 

Temple said while it's not a cause, "it follows that if a kid learns that physical punishment is a way to solve a conflict" and may be more likely to use violence to solve conflicts with the people they date in the future. 

Researchers questioned more than 700 participants in their late teens and early 20s. They asked them about their childhood experiences, physical abuse and their current experiences with dating violence. 

About 69 percent of the participants said they had experienced corporal punished as children and nearly 19 percent said they had perpetrated some dating violence when they were older. 

"Analysis of the study results showed a significant positive association between corporal punishment and physical dating violence perpetration, even after controlling for several demographic variables and childhood physical abuse," the study's authors reported.

Temple said many factors can contribute to dating violence, like mental health, attitudes toward women, beliefs about violence, problem-solving skills, availability to weapons and substance use. However, the researcher believes that corporal punished should be considered a potential risk factor within romantic relationships. 

"Common sense and scientific research both tell us that children learn from their parents," Temple said. "Parents are a child’s first look at relationships and how conflicts are handled. Corporal punishment is communicating to children that violence is an acceptable means of changing behavior."

According to UTMB researchers, about 80 percent of children are physically punished worldwide. 

There are some new security measures are coming to Bradley International Airport.

The drivers who take passengers to parking lots or to area hotel will soon be subject to screenings that are more strict. The board of directors from the Connecticut Airport Authority, which operates Bradley Airport, said the policy change is about passenger safety.

Beginning in January 2018, more of the drivers who give rides from the terminal will be needing more of a security clearance. The tougher security measures will be specifically for any driver using the already-restricted roadway just outside the Arrivals area on the lower level of the terminal.

"It's going to impact anyone that has access to that roadway," Kevin Dillon, the executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), said. 

Dillon said the new security policy will require background checks, and even a check of the federal 'No Fly' list, for every driver who is cleared to use that curbside passenger pick-up area. Until the CAA board approved the policy on November 27, that was not the case.

"We noted that there was a deficiency on the background checks that we do on those folks that have access to what we call the inner restricted roadway here at the airport," Dillon said.

The particular stretch of roadway is not open to the public. It is typically used by taxis, shuttles and rental car buses. Many, but not all, of the hired drivers who use the road are already subject to background checks.

But with the policy change, even shuttle drivers for hotels or off-site private parking lots will get that same scrutiny. Those who have been convicted of any of dozens of criminal offenses within the last decade may be disqualified from operating for any ground transportation business at Bradley.

"I think it's probably a good idea,"  Anja Duffy, a Bradley Airport passenger who lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts, said. "There have been a lot of vehicular attacks so I think that extra layer makes sense."

The new CAA policy does not hold Uber and Lyft drivers to the same requirements because ride-sharing service drivers are not using that specific restricted roadway.

Michael Lindsey, president and CEO of Lindsey Limousine based in Windsor, believes all drivers who transport passengers to and from Bradley should have to meet the same requirements.

"Just 30 feet away, lies what is referred to as the 'outer roadway curb' which is open to the public and most recently Uber and Lyft," wrote Lindsey. "These companies are doing essentially the same thing as the contracted companies - like us, yet will be exempt from this new policy."

Paying for and performing the added background checks will be the responsibility of the companies, not the CAA.

Dillon said there could be consequences for those employees and companies that do not comply.

"Their right to operate here at the airport would be restricted until we can make the determination that they're actually compliant," Dillon said.

For thirty days, public comment on the new policy is being accepted. If no changes are made, it will go into effect on January 5, 2018.

"We know that it will be a burden or them to put all those employees through the background checks, so we want to be reasonable how we implement it," said Dillon.

Read the Ground Transportation Driver Requirements and Background Checks Policy here:

Donald Trump Jr. asked a Russian lawyer at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting whether she had evidence of illegal donations to the Clinton Foundation, the lawyer told the Senate Judiciary Committee in answers to written questions obtained exclusively by NBC News.

The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, told the committee that she didn't have any such evidence, and that she believes Trump misunderstood the nature of the meeting after receiving emails from a music promoter promising incriminating information on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump's Democratic opponent.

Once it became apparent that she did not have meaningful information about Clinton, Trump seemed to lose interest, Veselnitskaya said, and the meeting petered out.

A lawyer for Trump Jr. declined to comment, but referred NBC News to the statement his client released in September, which said Trump Jr. wanted to "hear (the Russians) out" if they had information concerning Clinton's "fitness, character or qualifications."

NBC Connecticut Meteorologists are keeping a close eye on the weekend forecast. 

A storm system will track to the east of Connecticut Friday evening and Saturday morning.

The system appears that it could come close enough to the state to bring light snow to the state Saturday morning.

The exact track of the system is still unknown however there is a chance that there could be a minor accumulation. 

If the system tracks further to the east it would lead to cloudy skies however if the system shifted a bit and tracked further east we could be dealing with snowfall accumulations statewide. 

We're keeping a close eye on the situation and will continuously update you as new information is available. 

A pedestrian was struck by a car and killed after a multi-vehicle crash in Shelton. 

Police said they responded to the accident on Bridgeport Avenue at 7:21 p.m.

The 27-year-old Waterbury man who was walking was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bridgeport Avenue is closed from Platt Road to Cots Street as police investigate. 

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call Shelton police at (203) 924-1544.

New Haven has a vision to make its stretch of shoreline a better destination for business and leisure.

The city has hired an award-winning design firm that has worked on waterfronts in places like New York and Baltimore, as well as overseas.

"This is probably one of the greatest harbors anywhere and it’s not fully realized and taken advantage of," Stan Eckstut from the architecture and design firm Perkins-Eastman said. 

Jodi Millett from Woodbridge told NBC Connecticut she doesn’t visit New Haven’s Long Wharf nearly enough.

"I can’t stress enough that, you know, they probably need to put more in to draw more people," she said. "It’s a good idea."

Using half of the funding from a $950,000 state grant, the city hired the team from Perkins-Eastman.

"We want to build upon the opening of the new maritime center and start to make even more of a harbor destination," Eckstut said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The renovated visitor center with a snack shack has already reopened and the new Canal Dock Boat House is set to open sometime in 2018.

"We’ve actually started the first round of coastal resiliency by putting in new rip-rap along Long Wharf park," Michael Piscitelli, New Haven’s deputy administrator for economic development, said.

Mayor Toni Harp said she would like the waterfront to become more accessible with more attractions.

"I’d like to see an expanded pier that is not just for fishing and boats but other kinds of leisure activities," she said.

And she shared her vision for the other side of Interstate 95.

"I’d love to see this part of Long Wharf attract businesses that will hire of hundreds of people," Harp said.

City officials and the design firm are seeking input from people who already live in the Hill neighborhood and work in the area.

"We’ve been on this side of the highway since 1964," said Marna Wilber, director of corporate communications for Assa Abloy.

Six hundred employees work in manufacturing and the offices at Assa Abloy’s facility near Long Wharf.

"They’re always interested in what’s going to happen with traffic," Wilber said.

As the design firm receives recommendations over the next nine months, Millett said she’d like to see "more restaurants, more coffee shops would be great."

During the campaign season, West Haven’s new mayor Nancy Rossi ran on getting the city’s finances in order.

On her first day in office at city hall on Monday, she wasted no time issuing a memo on a hiring, spending and overtime freeze that is effective immediately.

"She seemed to have really good fiscal responsible ideas," Susan Gustafson, who supported Rossi in the three-way race for Mayor of West Haven, said. "Let’s face it we all overspend, we all have credit card debt, so should she handle it like I do at home, probably not. I think she could probably do better because she is a CPA and she does have a better handle of finances."

The day after swearing in as the city’s first female mayor, Rossi notified commissioners, department heads and supervisors about the cost-saving measures.

"It’s very important that West Haven learns to do business differently and we can’t continue to spend money that we don’t have," Rossi told NBC Connecticut.

The hiring freeze does not apply to essential positions such as police, firefighters and plow drivers, Rossi said. As for spending, her memo said all expenditures greater than $500 must be approved by the mayor’s office until further notice.

"It was in her campaign that she was going to do something like that," Gustafson said. "I’m not really all that surprised."

Rossi said she also wants there to be no overtime for city employees unless approved by the department head or mayor’s office.

"We’re going to have a checks-and-balances," she said. "We’re going do our best to keep down the overtime hours."

Beyond the freeze, Rossi said she plans to go through each item of the city’s budget.

"Restructuring possible departments to have cost savings," Rossi explained. "But not to harm the services to the City of West Haven."

The mayor’s memo asks the West Haven Board of Education to curb spending and overtime. The superintendent did not return NBC Connecticut’s call asking for comment.

Faced with close to $1.6 million in state funding cuts, the town of Ledyard is scrambling to slice an already lean budget.

Most of the state reductions are targeted at education.

Since most of the state reductions target education, Ledyard teachers overwhelmingly voted to take a two-day furlough on Monday.

Ledyard Board of Education Chair Anthony Favry said that will save $171,612.

"It was a way to help the town, help the schools, help the kids," Ted Allen, vice president of the Ledyard Education Association, said.

Allen, an 8th-grade science teacher, said voting for furlough beats the alternative of potentially having co-workers laid off.

Superintendent Jason Hartling doesn’t want that either.

"Every layoff means an impact on students in the classrooms," Harting said. 

In fact, each full-time district employee agreed to take a two-day furlough, saving the Board of Education about $210,000, according to Hartling.

Overall, the board has approved $734,872. That includes a hard spending freeze halting the purchase of technology and supplies, not filling vacant positions, deferring maintenance projects when possible and only providing professional development programs funded through grants, Hartling said.

Both the Board of Education’s and the Town of Ledyard’s finance committees are working to come up with a solution to the cuts, said Mayor Fred Allyn III.

"We’re trying to come up with an equitable way to do it and it’s probably going to involve a supplemental tax bill as well," Allyn said.

Numbers floated around have been anywhere from one mil to one and a half mils, Allyn added.

The Town of Ledyard has made slashes, too. According to Allyn, it’s an even tougher job in the middle of the fiscal year.

Members of town government have taken furloughs, there’s been major cuts to town libraries’ staff and hours, a pause on replacing town vehicles and even the elimination of cable TV from the firehouse, he said.

But residents are not happy about potential tax increases.

“I think there’s going to be a ‘for sale’ sign in my yard, honestly. Because I pay so much in taxes now, I can’t imagine paying anything more,” said Lauren Startz.

Legislative leaders met with Gov. Dannel Malloy today to talk about what comes next with the state budget.

This comes after the state comptroller projected a deficit of more than $207 million for Connecticut for the fiscal year 2018, which would require the governor to submit a deficit mitigation plan.

Comptroller Kevin Lembo said he is projecting a deficit of $207.8 million for Fiscal Year 2018 and that amount triggers a state requirement that the governor submit a deficit mitigation plan to the legislature because it exceeds 1 percent of the state’s total net General Fund appropriations.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) released a statement after Lembo’s most recent budget estimate and said legislative leaders will meet with the governor Wednesday “to discuss potential next steps.”

House Republican Leader Themis Klarides called the projected deficit “serious.”

“The deficit was expected because the state’s budget policies over the years have been built on false assumptions, that increasing taxes will be sufficient to meet spending levels. The deficits are organic and an organic fix is required. Connecticut’s finances will likely continue to suffer because of the state employee union contracts that tie up nearly 40 percent of the state’s budget,’’ Klarides said in a statement.

She added that she and other Republicans have called for a special legislative session “to first address the cuts that have been made to health care programs for the elderly and disabled.”

“We have to set priorities and deal with the most pressing issue which is the cuts to the Medicare programs before they kick in Jan. 1,’’ Klarides said in a statement.

Nearly two weeks ago, Malloy's budget director said the current fiscal year was projected to be $202.8 million in deficit. At the time, Ben Barnes said that was slightly more than 1 percent of net appropriations in the state's main spending account, which was a threshold requiring Malloy to issue a deficit-mitigation plan.

In a letter to Malloy, Lembo reported a deficit that is slightly higher than a deficit reported last month by the Office of Policy and Management because he said he expects a larger $20-million deficiency in the state’s adjudicated claims account that is used to pay claims and attorney fees in the SEBAC v. Rowland settlement.

Lembo also cited uncertainty about the future of federal tax reform.

“Congress is considering significant modifications to federal tax law that could have profound implications for Connecticut, depending on what specific provisions, if any, are enacted,” Lembo said in a statement. “Future revenue forecasts will need to evaluate the consequences of any tax changes on the federal level.”

With seven months remaining in the fiscal year, $12.5 million has been spent from the adjudicated claims account in the SEBAC v. Rowland settlement and other issues, and the account has averaged $2.5 million per month in costs, according to Lembo, and he said he is projecting a $20-million deficiency in adjudicated claims that could go higher due to the unpredictable nature of the settlements involved.

“Another area of concern that will require close scrutiny is the aggressive level of savings included in the adopted budget,” Lembo said. “Achieving these lapse – or savings – targets will be a significant budgetary challenge, especially in light of the high levels of fixed costs for FY 2018, such as debt service payments, pension contributions and other costs.”

Lembo said Connecticut must also catch up to the national economy in economic growth.

“In recent years, Connecticut has not fully participated in the nation’s economic recovery,” Lembo said. “The national economy continues to exhibit growing signs of strength and resilience. However, Connecticut’s economy has experienced much more mixed results across a variety of key economic indicators.”

Dozens of people lined Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury Tuesday night to honor a 16-year-old girl who police said was shot and killed by the 27-year-old man she was dating.

Loved ones who attended the vigil left candles and balloons 16 year-old Evalyce Santiago, of Waterbury.

“I wish I could bring her back. I wish somehow she could come back because this is pain and we’re all suffering and we don’t need this,” Santiago’s aunt, Christy Rivera, said.

Santiago was found with gunshot wounds inside a car that crashed at Thomaston Avenue and Driggs Street Monday night.

Police said they believe 27-year-old Dominique Pittman, of Waterbury, shot Santiago three times before crashing the car the two were riding in.

Authorities said 27-year-old Pittman was in a dating relationship with Evalyce, who was a student at Wilby High School. 

Family members said Pittman also fathered several children with one of Evalyce’s aunts.

The grandfather who raised Santiago as his own daughter said no one knew anything about the relationship.

“This is something they kept under us for as long as it was going on. We never realized it,” Francisco Rivera said. “Nobody knows nothing until something happens. That’s when we all realize the tragedy. It was under our noses and we didn’t see it, we didn’t smell it.”

Pittman has been charged with murder and several weapons violations connected to the teen’s death. 

As Pittman awaits a court appearance, the family Evalyce left behind is trying to make sense of this senseless tragedy.

“We go on with life. He looks at four walls and figures out what he did wrong,” said Francisco Rivera.

“I just want her back and nothing’s going to bring her back now” said Christy Rivera.

Pittman is being held on $1 million bond and is due to be arraigned in court Wednesday morning.

A committee meeting in Pennsylvania's Capitol was briefly derailed by a Republican representative who asked a male colleague to stop touching him and who suggested the Democrat might be gay.

A video of Tuesday's meeting in Harrisburg showed Rep. Matt Bradford, of Montgomery County, place his hand on Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s forearm while addressing the room.

Metcalfe responded: "Representative Bradford just, look, I'm a heterosexual. I have a wife, and I love my wife. I don't like men, as you might, but stop touching me all the time."

Metcalfe, who is serving his 10th term in office, went on to say if Bradford wanted to touch someone, "you have people on your side of the aisle that might like it. I don't."

A visibly stunned Bradford, along with others in the room, laughed and said the meeting was "officially off the rails."

"My intent was just to beg for your permission for about 30 seconds," Bradford said.

"Then beg, don’t touch," responded Metcalfe.

Bradford continued to laugh before deciding to end the meeting.

"I don't know where we go from here, really," Bradford said.

During an interview after the incident, Metcalfe claimed Bradford had continually reached out and touched him for months and that he had asked him to stop before, according to the Pittsburgh Gazette. Bradford, who is married to a woman and has four children, according to his online biography, told the paper he only reached out to touch him to "restrain him" so that he could finish his thought and that he was not "making a pass" at Metcalfe.

"Yesterday's rant by Mr. Metcalfe was stunning and then degenerated into something far more appalling," Bradford said in an email to NBC10. "Mr. Metcalfe has a long history of extreme behavior and anti-gay rhetoric. Sadly, this is not the first time Mr. Metcalfe has demonstrated such animus. Yesterday was merely a new low in the State Government Committee triggered by a rather innocuous attempt to extend debate on an otherwise non-controversial piece of legislation."

While Metcalfe’s comments sparked laughter during the meeting, many Pennsylvania Democrats were not amused. The party accused Metcalfe of being homophobic, as well as racist, and have called for his resignation.

"State Representative Daryl Metcalfe has always been a problem in Harrisburg," the Pennsylvania Democratic Party said in a statement. "He has invited white supremacists to the capitol to testify on behalf of his positions, defended white nationalists, and refused to condemn racist violence. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party has previously called upon Metcalfe to resign over his repeated racism."

Metcalfe said he has no plans to step down.

NBC affiliate WPXI reached Metcalfe by phone Wednesday. The 55-year-old, who has represented Pennsylvania’s 12th district in the western part of the state since 1999, said he is surprised the video is getting so much attention.

He claimed Bradford has been touching him "inappropriately" for months and that he recently asked Bradford to stop. After Bradford touched him again on Tuesday, Metcalfe said he wanted to say something different to draw attention to Bradford's behavior. 

In 2015, Metcalfe sparked controversy when he claimed that "a white nationalist … is a lot different than a white supremacist," according to the Post-Gazette. His detractors have also criticized him for his opposition to same-sex marriage.

"In addition to being racist, Metcalfe is homophobic," Pennsylvania Democrats wrote in their statement Tuesday. "He has silenced gay lawmakers, held up non-discrimination laws and, just today, went on a random homophobic tirade directed at one of his colleagues."

Brandon Cwalina, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, also called on Metcalfe to resign.

"Enough is enough. Daryl Metcalfe is a walking, talking embarrassment to Pennsylvanians and doesn’t deserve the honor of serving in public office," Cwalina said. "For years Metcalfe has taken policy positions based on bigoted misconceptions and fear of minority groups and the LGBT community, but today he has gone beyond the pale. We are again calling on Daryl Metcalfe to resign and to apologize to all Pennsylvanians for his ridiculously bigoted behavior."

As firefighters tenaciously battled flames from several major fires that all flared in just 24 hours in Southern California, animal lovers worried about their pet’s safety with as many as 150,000 people under mandatory evacuation orders. 

Many homeowners who are pet parents to cats, dogs and other small animals were able to flee the flames in time to head to safety, but not everyone was as lucky.

Virginia Padilla, whose family owns a ranch in Sylmar, had the devastating loss of at least 30 horses to the 11,000-acre blaze dubbed the Creek Fire.

Padilla said she was woken up at approximately 4 a.m. by the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s orders to evacuate immediately. She and her family were given just enough time to gather some necessities but not their horses, Padilla said.

Padilla expected that she would lose all the equines to the fire, but later saw her horse Ruben at Pierce College. According to Padilla, someone was able to save a few of her horses from the burning ranch.

Large animals were ordered to evacuate at Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, Pierce College and the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Once those shelters reached capacity, pet owners were directed to take their large animals to the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. They were advised to take any medications their pets may need.

Padilla’s family owns more than 60 horses and said they will count how many of their equines survived the fire as soon as they are given the opportunity to do so.

The Creek Fire was reported as a 1,000-acre brush fire at 3:42 a.m. on Tuesday near Gold Creek and Little Tujunga by the Angeles National Forest. The blaze reached 11,000 acres by early afternoon, according to the LACFD.

The devastating blaze destroyed at least 30 homes and prompted mandatory evacuations that affected an estimated 150,000 residents, according to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Firefighters are battling a raging 150-acre brush fire that shut down the 405 Freeway near the world-famous Getty Center, prompting mandatory evacuations for residents and shutting down one of the busiest freeways in Los Angeles.

The blaze, dubbed the Skirball Fire, was reported at 4:52 a.m. Wednesday. It was accompanied by Santa Ana winds of 25 mph, which have helped spur several devastating wildfires across Southern California this week.

Four structures were destroyed, though officials warned that that number could grow. The Getty museum is threatened and closed to the public Wednesday. The cause of the fire is unknown.

The Getty Center is a 20-year-old complex of dramatic buildings made largely out of beige travertine stone surrounding an intricate garden. It has a sweeping view of Los Angeles from the hills in the east to the sea in the west and contains American, European and Asian art. 

"Air filtration systems are protecting the galleries from smoke. We continue to monitor the situation and will issue updates as we have them," the museum tweeted.

Road Closures:
All northbound lanes of the 405 near the Getty Center have been closed until further notice. Traffic has been diverted to exit on Santa Monica Boulevard.

All on and off ramps were blocked from the 101 Freeway to the 10 Freeway on both sides. The eastbound and westbound entrances to the 405 Freeway from the 10 Freeway were closed as well. See a live traffic map here.

Mandatory Evacuations:
Residents from Moraga Drive, Linda Flora Drive and Casiano Road down to Bellagio Road have been ordered to evacuate, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Residents south of Mulholland Drive, east of 405 Freeway, north of Sunset Boulevard and west of Roscomare Road are under mandatory evacuation orders as well.

Residents near Mandeville Canyon and Sullivan Canyon should be ready to go. Residents from Sunset to the south and Rosomare to the east should also have a bag packed and be prepared for evacuations. 

School Closures:
All Santa Monica-Malibu Los Angeles Unified School District and Conejo Unified School District schools will be closed Wednesday due to the fire. Oakwood School and Marymount High School also announced closures for Wednesday classes.

The campus of UCLA is open to those who can make it safely to the university. 

Santa Monica College, as well as American Jewish University and Marymount High School were closed.

Six women filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday, claiming that the movie mogul's actions to cover up assaults amounted to civil racketeering.

The lawsuit was filed at a federal court in New York seeking to represent a class of "dozens, if not hundreds" of women who say they were assaulted by Weinstein.

The lawsuit claims that a coalition of companies and people became part of the growing "Weinstein Sexual Enterprise" and that they worked with Weinstein to conceal his widespread sexual harassment and assaults.

"The Weinstein Sexual Enterprise had many participants, grew over time as the obfuscation of Weinstein's conduct became more difficult to conceal," the suit said.

A lawyer for Weinstein declined comment.

According to the lawsuit, actresses and other women in the film industry were lured to industry events, hotel rooms, Weinstein's home, office meetings or auditions under the pretense that they were to discuss a project.

At least 75 women have come forward in the media to detail accounts of assault, harassment and inappropriate conduct by Weinstein. Weinstein's representatives have denied all accusations of non-consensual sex, but no charges have been filed.

Weinstein, 65, is being investigated by police in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, New York and London

Weinstein was ousted from the movie company he founded following a barrage of sexual harassment allegations that began with a bombshell New York Times article in early October. Since then, numerous prominent men in entertainment, business and politics and the media have been hit with allegations of improper behavior with women.

Eastern Connecticut State University’s Center for Early Childhood Education announced the 2017 TIMPANI (Toys that Inspire Mindful Play and Nurture Imagination). It's a collection of plastic animal toys.

The people who spoke up about sexual misconduct have been named Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2017, the "Today" show revealed Wednesday.

Their stories of sexual harassment and sexual abuse, which cost major figures like movie mogul Harvey Weinstein their jobs, sparked the #MeToo movement that's changed workplaces in industries across the world.

"This is the fastest moving social change we've seen in decades," Time editor in chief Edward Felsenthal said on the show.

Featured on the cover are actor Ashley Judd, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, lobbyist Adama Iwu, singer Taylor Swift and strawberry picker Isabel Pascual, all of whom have alleged or spoken out against sexual harassment in their workplaces.

"Women are starting to believe we don't have to just live like this," said NBC's Megyn Kelly in a video for Time. Kelly has said she was sexually harassed by her former Fox News boss Roger Ailes.

Tara Burke, a black activist who founded the #MeToo movement on Twitter in 2006 to raise awareness around sexual violence, said she initially feared the conversation around harassment would be framed as just another hashtag that people move on from, which happens to most social movements.

She said earlier this month at a rally in California that she hopes the conversation around harassment in Hollywood will broaden to include other industries.

"#MeToo can be a conversation starter or it can be the whole conversation," Burke told Time.

Actor Alyssa Milano, who helped make the #MeToo movement go viral on Twitter this year, said, "We have to teach our boys from a very young age that it's important that not only they take care of women, but that they are respectful and that they understand that here are things that are not OK."

Each year, the magazine picks the person, group or concept that has most influenced the news and the world "for good or ill."

President Donald Trump held the title in 2016 and was this year's runner up. He said last month that he was turning the honor down, tweeting that Time "called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named" person of the year, if he agreed to an interview and photo shoot. "I said probably is no good and took a pass."

They beat out the rest of the shortlist:
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
Undocumented immigrant advocates the Dreamers
"Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick
Special counsel Robert Mueller
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
President Trump
Chinese President Xi Jinping