A 70-year-old woman who was hit by an impaired driver in Hartford on Nov. 12 has died, according to police. 

Police said the woman was seen on surveillance video performing a U-turn at Park Street and Zion Street around 2:30 a.m. and the second vehicle ran a red light and hit the woman's car.

The 70-year-old woman was taken to Hartford Hospital and died from injuries sustained in the crash.

The driver of the second vehicle, 35-year-old Carlos Roman, of Hartford, was charged with operating under the influence. Police also believe speed was a factor.

The Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools is unveiling big plans that will affect hundreds of students and teachers in the district.

At tonight’s 5:30 PM Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez will give her recommendations which will include restructuring, reconfiguring and consolidating schools.

Under her recommendations, 78 percent of students have the option to stay in their current programs, 9 percent would move to a different location and 13 percent would move to a different program and location.

The public is welcome to attend tonight’s meeting, which will be held at the Bulkeley High School auditorium.

The changes being proposed by the superintendent would all happen within the next 3 years.

The district operates on $400 million dollars each year. HPS spokesperson, Pedro Zayas, said the proposed changes would save the district about $15 million a year.

NBC Connecticut has attached the superintendent’s proposals, which list recommendations for each school in the district.

Route 15 north in Wethersfield is closed after a tractor-trailer turned over.

The road is shut down going northbound between exits 85 and 86.

Police reported life-threatening injuries but details are not clear.

Drivers are asked to avoid the area. 

No other information was immediately available. 

A trailer full of donations for people in Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey, which was organized by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, never made it to its destination and months later is still sitting in a parking lot in Tennessee. 

The owners of the trailer donated it to be used with Schilling's charity, Operation Bullpen, which was connecting with Operation Blessing International in Rockport, Texas.

The 16-foot enclosed trailer, which was one of many, was filled with pet supply items for hurricane victims in Texas. Owners Keith Tobin and Tom Latham thought it would be gone two to three weeks. Instead, it's been four months. 

Two days after volunteers left with the trailer, it broke down. It was left in a Home Depot parking lot in Tennessee, where it remained for months. Following threats, the trailer was towed, repaired and stored. 

A request for comment from Schilling's representative has not been returned to NBC Boston. However, later Tuesday Latham told NBC Boston he has heard from Schilling's wife, who said they will work with the owners to get the trailer back.

NBC Boston talked with the man who said he repaired the trailer and is storing it Tuesday morning, who said no one has paid the bill of over $500. Later Tuesday, the Schillings indicated they had paid the bill and plan to fund the gas and tolls for Latham and Tobin's trip south to retrieve the trailer.  

Latham and Tobin plan to embark for Tennessee from Massachusetts around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Latham says he will drop off the donated items inside the trailer to an animal shelter along the way.

Tuesday evening, Operation Blessing International confirmed that one of Schilling's trailers of disaster relief supplies were distribued to local residents in Texas.

Despite the headache, Tobin said he doesn't regret joining in the effort to help.

"I thought it was a really good cause. I still think it's a really good cause," he said. "If they ask me again tomorrow, I would obviously donate again because if someone's in need, I'm always willing to help."

Plainfield residents were asked to stay inside on Tuesday while police investigated reports of a man with a long gun in the area of Black Hill Road.

The shelter in place has since been lifted.

Route 14 was closed due to police activity but has since reopened, CT DOT said. 

State police said they are assisting Plainfield police search for a man who threatened to harm himself. They said the man is deceased but the cause of his death is not clear. 

Plainfield Police Chief Michael Surprenant said gunfire was exchanged with police and they searched for the man in the woods.

Residents are no longer asked to stay inside their homes since there is no more threat in the area.

No other details were provided.

LifeStar said they are responding to Mansfield for one gunshot victim.

State police said a disturbance involving one suspect with a gun happened on Storrs Road around 7:30 p.m. 

Troopers shot the suspect and he is being airlifted to the hospital, police said. 

An officer sustained minor injuries and those injuries are not from gunshots. 

No other details were immediately available. 

Track Palin, the oldest son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, called police officers "peasants" and "moved around in a strange manner" before he was arrested for allegedly breaking into his parents' house and assaulting his father, according to a police affidavit.

Police were called to the Palin family home on Saturday night after Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, told officers her son was "freaking out" and on "some type of medication," according to the affidavit, contained in a court filing.

Todd Palin, Track's father, "appeared to have injuries to his face and head based on the visible blood running down his face," Wasilla Police Officer Adam LaPointe said in the affidavit, according to an NBC News report.

Todd Palin told police the dispute began after Track Palin, 28, called to say he would come get his truck. The father told police he told his son not to come over, but "Track told him he was [going to] come anyway to beat his ass," LaPointe said. That's when "Todd retrieved his pistol to protect his family," he added.

Thousands of Connecticut kids may soon lose their health coverage.

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which is known as Husky B, is at risk of shutting down if Congress doesn't act.

Before Husky B, the Stratton family, of Manchester, found themselves struggling to keep up with all the medical bills and for them, health insurance is critical.

"We were making mortgage payments on a house and pretty much mortgage payments to the medical industry," said William Stratton.

Last year, their 8-year-old son Nicholas spent a week in the hospital due to intense seizures.

"His epilepsy was very bad where he was 50 to 60 seizures a day," Stratton said.

Nicholas has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and is developmentally delayed. His family said the 8-year-old must take a lot of medication, so he doesn't eat solid food and also isn't potty trained. William's wife, Kristy, is a full-time caregiver for Nicholas.

Recently, the family hit a big milestone when they realized it had been more than a year since Nicholas' last seizure thanks to finally finding the right medications that work for him.

But in the last 24 hours, William and Kristy said they've been dealing with a nightmare. They just found out that the insurance they depend on for Nicholas and his older brother, Nathan, may be coming to an end.

"Financially, it's devastating. We've got to try to figure, try to pick up the pieces somewhere and make ends meet," Stratton said.

Husky B gives low-cost health coverage to children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to purchase private insurance.

So far, Congress has not acted to extend the program.

On Tuesday, Senator Chris Murphy took to the Senate floor and implored fellow lawmakers to reauthorize federal funding, saying that without it more than 17,000 low and middle-income children could be affected in Connecticut alone.

"The holidays are about our commitment to one another and we can re-up on our commitment this week by doing the right thing," Murphy said.

"You can pass taxes fast but when it comes to people's health we're sitting here trying to figure out what's going on," Stratton said.

Stratton said he can't understand what could be controversial about giving kids much-needed health insurance.

"You're forcing people to make options and take chances and it's not right. You're playing with people's health," Stratton said.

The CT Department of Social Services (DSS) said Congress allowed funding to expire in September and that the state has been using leftover federal funds to keep the program running. If nothing changes, DSS said Husky B will shut down at the end of January.

For more information, click here. 

Rail safety is top of mind for passengers at New Haven’s Union Station a day after the deadly train derailment in Washington state.

“It’s very uneasy knowing that a train crashed yesterday and I’m going on the train today,” said Armani Boutros, a University of New Haven student taking the train back home to Boston for the holiday break.

This latest tragedy on the tracks is similar to what happened in May 2015 near Philadelphia. Eight people died when a train traveling more than 100 miles per hour derailed on a curve with a posted speed limit of more than 50 miles per hour.

Since then, Amtrak said it has fully installed Positive Train Control along the 603 miles of the Northeast Corridor from Washington D.C. through Connecticut to Boston.

Positive Train Control, or PTC, was not installed where the train flew off the tracks in Washington, NTSB investigators said. PTC is meant to automatically stop trains when they are going to fast or entering dangerous conditions.

Congress passed a law requiring railroads to install PTC after the 2008 head on train collision killing 25 people near Los Angeles. The original deadline lawmakers set was the end of 2015, but Congress later gave railroads three more years until Dec. 31, 2018.

“We are moving heaven and earth to meet the Positive Train Control deadline by the end of 2018,” Chairman of the MTA Joseph Lhota said Tuesday. “We are well on our way there with both Metro North and the Long Island Railroad.”

A few years back, MTA spokesperson Aaron Donavan said the company installed something known as automatic civil speed enforcement, which makes sure trains slow down before critical curves like in Bridgeport on the New Haven Line.

“What happened yesterday in Washington state would not happen on either Metro North or the Long Island Railroad because we’ve put civilian speed control in place,” Lhota said. “It would have prevented what happened there happening in any one of our facilities.”

Terry Griesing rides Metro-North daily in New York, but Tuesday her trip was on an Amtrak Acela train from New Haven to Boston.

“It’s still a bit alarming to me,” she said. “I feel like our congressmen and government needs to take this more seriously to protect the safety of the millions of people who travel on trains every year.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal called it a “moral obligation” for Congress to make sure PTC implementation is fulfilled by the end of 2018.

“If we do nothing else in this Congress, let us insist that that deadline be met without additional delay,” Sen. Blumenthal said on the Senate floor.

PTC could have prevented the fatalities from the Washington state derailment and other recent tragedies on the tracks, Blumenthal said.

“Eighty miles an hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, that fact is absolutely stunning and scandalous,” he said.

Before boarding her train, Griesing was pleased to learn that Amtrak already activated PTC between New Haven and Boston back in 2000.

“That makes me feel a lot safer traveling today,” she said. “I have four children so I’m sure they’ll be happy to know as well.”

State police are on scene at a serious motorcycle crash on Interstate 84 in Union and several travel lanes are closed.

Police said the crash happened on I-84 westbound at exit 74 near the Massachusetts line. Life-threatening injuries have been reported.

Crews have closed I-84 eastbound completely and two lanes on I-84 westbound for the investigation.

No other information was immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Troopers from State Police Troop H delivered toys to dozens of patients at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Tuesday.

Melissa Mack is back at Connecticut Children’s with her daughter Elizabeth, but this time, she’s not a patient.

"Ten years ago our daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of pediatric brain cancer that only 30 children in the united states get every year," Mack said.

She remembers 10 years ago, troopers from State Police Troop H brought Elizabeth a gift.

"It meant so much to us because it’s one thing to be in the hospital, but it’s very isolating to be in the hospital during the holidays," she said. "So it was very comforting to know that people care."

Troopers went room to room bringing toys to children undergoing treatment right now, like Madison St. Helaire from Putnam.

"I’ve had scoliosis since I was two and I wear a brace," St. Helaire said. “And I got this giant huskie."

It’s a tradition that goes back 21 years. Police bring cheer and allow children to forget about sick and just be kids for the holidays.

"A lot of sick kids having tough days, so to see the look on their face when they walk in, it’s just indescribable," Trooper Sean Mahar said.

With a tap of the finger, Sandy Cellini sent United Illuminating a payment of $1,111.74.

"The bill was actually $111.74. So I overpaid my bill by one thousand dollars," Cellini said.

Cellini realized the error right away. In a panic, she made a second mistake by hitting the back arrow on her browser. She thought that would cancel the transaction, but it didn’t.

"I said, 'Oh my god, where am I going to come up with this extra thousand dollars?' It’s a few weeks before Christmas so it was very stressful," Cellini said.

Cellini called the power company to ask about reversing the charge. She even had a representative from her bank join the call.

But Cellini said a customer service agent told her United Illuminating could only apply a credit to her account.

"I paid eleven hundred. The bill was $111. It’s pretty obvious I made a mistake," Cellini said.

She called United Illuminating several more times over the next few weeks trying to plead her case. Cellini said she spoke to nine different customer service agents and had to explain the situation to each one.

In a moment of desperation, Cellini even considered canceling her account.

NBC Connecticut's consumer team reached out to United Illuminating on Cellini’s behalf and asked the company to investigate.

Within a day, Cellini received a call that her refund was approved and the check arrived to her on Dec. 15.

"That was my spending money for gifts. It made all the difference receiving it back," she said.

A spokesman for United Illuminating told NBC Connecticut Responds he is unable to comment on the specifics of customer accounts.

"I can confirm that we have stayed in communication with the customer and followed our standard processes and procedures. We now believe the matter is resolved to the customer’s satisfaction," the spokesman said. 

To avoid an accidental overpayment, double check the payment amount before you authorize the transaction.

If you do make a mistake, see if you can edit or cancel the transaction through your bank’s website or directly through the company’s website.

A third option is to set up automatic payments so that the correct amount is withdrawn from your account each billing cycle.

Bristol police are trying to locate a missing 13-year-old girl.

Evelyn Rodriguez was last seen around 8:50 p.m. Tuesday.

She is described as around 5-foot-2, 180 pounds, with brown eyes and brownish-red hair. She was last seen wearing a gray sweater, burgundy pants and cream-colored shoes.

A Silver Alert has been issued. Anyone with information should contact Bristol police at 860-584-3011.

Multiple departments are responding to a fire in Griswold Wednesday morning.

Fire was reported at 70 Kenwood Estates and fire crews from Griswold, Jewett City, Lisbon, Voluntown, Preston, Taftville, Plainfield and Canterbury all responded.

Most of the fire was out as of 6:20 a.m. and crews were extinguishing hotspots, according to Quinebaug Valley Emergency Communications.

No other details were immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

A 52-year-old woman who was injured in a fire at a home in Bristol late Tuesday night is in stable condition, according to the fire marshal.

Fire officials said crews responded to the home at 38 Colony St. around 11:20 p.m.

Police officers found the resident inside and brought her to safety. She suffered burns and smoke inhalation and was taken to the Bridgeport Burn Unit via LifeStar. By Wednesday morning she was upgraded from critical to stable condition.

"She was badly burned, smoke inhalation. She was conscious on scene though," explained Bristol Fire Marshal Robert Grimaldi.

Two Bristol police officers suffered smoke inhalation. One was treated on scene and the other was treated and released from Bristol Hospital.

Firefighters contained the flames to one room. It was not immediately clear how much damage was done to the home.

Bristol police said it was initially reported that a Christmas tree caught fire, but the fire marshal said there is no sign there was a tree in the house.

The fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.

The death of non-verbal Hartford teenager with autism was the topic of conversation on Tuesday between the legislature’s Children's Committee, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA).

Matthew Tirado's mother is facing manslaughter charges after the 17-year-old died in February from starvation and physical abuse. Following a lengthy report from OCA, lawmakers want to know how this happened.

"I would suspect everyone who read this report had the same reaction I had," Sen. Len Suzio said.

In addition to other red flags, one argument coming from the OCA is that DCF should have dug deeper into why Tirado was not attending school.

"When we don’t see them, when kids are not coming to school, we need to know about why and we need to have a more competent response to address concerns involving kids with disabilities," OCA's Sarah Eagan said. 

DCF counters that Tirado's mother eventually cut off all contact with them and because they did not have substantial physical evidence of physical abuse, the department was legally limited to only acting on the educational neglect.

"In no way did the department ever have information that Matthew was being treated the way he was," Ombudsman Ken Mysogland said.

Court documents reveal Katiria Tirado screwed kitchen cabinets shut and chain-locked her refrigerator to keep her 17-year-old son from "overeating."

At her court appearance on Tuesday, a judge said possible resolution for a "short of trial" would be discussed on her next court date scheduled for Feb. 1, 2018.

Meanwhile, Eagan knows the work here has only just begun.

"Is this predictable? No," Eagan said. "Are there things that could have been looked at differently? Yes."

DCP Commissioner Joette Katz agrees.

"[There is] always more that can be done and always more to do," Katz said but also reminded officials how difficult the department's work is.

Katz said the teen's death hits them hard, but it does not diminish all the good they do daily.

"Do I think an entire system should be judged by one case? Absolutely not, and certainly not by this one," the DCF commissioner said.

Saint Paul Catholic High School Bristol is closed for the day and students are being sent home. 

The principal said the school is closing because of a water main break.

The water main break is outside, but on the campus.  

Students were dismissed at 8 a.m.

Out of town buses left at 8:15 a.m. and Bristol buses left at 9 a.m. 

Parents who were picking up their children were advised to pick them up in the back of the building.

It's a family affair for 98-year-old Ellen Law since the Ontario, California, resident met her biological family for the first time after finding out she was adopted.

Law didn’t know she was adopted until she was 85 years old. The news came as a shock for the woman and her children, but that fueled ambition to find her biological family members.

"I was all alone in the world," Law said.

Years without luck lead to the purchase of an ancestry DNA kit so she could learn more about her heritage. After accessing the DNA account online, Law's granddaughter Tonya Tyler began to email those who were listed as cousins for her grandmother.

After not finding much luck with the emails, DNA genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter got involved to help the family. Within just 10 days, she figured who Law's birth parents were.

"The names were slightly changed on the birth certificate, so without DNA, we wouldn't have been able to find them," Tyler said.

To Law's surprise, she learned that her parents met the year she was born but parted ways to attend school. They changed their names on her birth certificate to ensure privacy after placing Law in adoption.

Her birth parents later married in 1922 and they had two more children. Those children, who were Law's biological brother and sister, have since died but they both had their own children who were excited to learn they have an aunt they did not know about.

"There were lots of tears, lots of laughing, lots of hugging," Liz Wagstorm, Law’s biological niece, said. "It's been a really good experience."

Law, who is a mother of four, had her family extended by four newly-discovered nieces.

"I saw the pictures and she looks so much like my mom, who died in March," Law’s biological niece Connie Vielmetti said. "I was just overjoyed that she found us."

The Ontario resident said the discovery and meeting came just in time for a memorable holiday experience.

"It's a very early Christmas present – a whole new family," Law said.

A "slew of reforms" dealing with congressional sexual harassment will be unveiled at the end of this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan promised Wednesday morning.

The Wisconsin Republican has been working closely with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and met another Democrat congresswoman who has championed the issue, Ryan said in an interview on the "Today" show, and it must not be treated as partisan in-fighting.

"We need to make sure that this moment is the cultural-changing moment it needs to be," Ryan said. "Let's not make this some partisan food fight, let's give this issue the respect it deserves."

Ryan noted that the House has already passed a rule requiring sexual harassment prevention training for representatives and staff, and said the new reforms being unveiled this week will guarantee victims rights and a clear path for reporting problems and "show how Congress is going to get ahead of problem."

Sexual misconduct accusations have led several members of Congress to announce they are retiring, including Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. (who has not yet left the body); Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. Scrutiny of their actions has led to a focus on congressional payouts, which the Office of Compliance revealed Tuesday included nearly $175,000 in settlement payments related to congressional sexual harassment and sex discrimination accusations between 2008 and 2012.

Last month, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., introduced the ME TOO Congress Act in the House to require, among other things members of Congress to pay costs of settlements, instead of taxpayers. Speier, whom Ryan said he recently met with, has said she experienced sexual harassment when she was an aide on Capitol Hill.

Ryan was also asked in the interview about the sexual misconduct allegations against President Donald Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, though he apologized for saying to then-"Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush in 2005 that he could do whatever he wanted to women because he is famous.

Ryan said he is not familiar with all of the accusations against Trump and referred to remarks recently made by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-SC, arguing that Congress doesn't prosecute crimes — though it does look into ethics matters and can impeach a president for, as the Constitution puts it, "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Ryan said his focus is on fixing Congress.

"I want my daughter to be able to grow up in an economy, to go into to a work, public or private sector, where she's not being harassed, she's being empowered," Ryan said.

A stretch of Great Neck Road in Waterford might be closed for hours because several power lines are down and police are asking residents to stay in their homes if possible. 

Great Neck Road, or Route 213, is closed between Deerfield Road and Goshen Road after a car took down several power lines. 

All traffic is being diverted and residents are asked to stay in their homes if possible. 

Residents who need to get in or out should speak with the officers posted in the area, police said. 

Power was shut off in the area after the crash, but has since been restored.

Treat all lines as if they are active until utility crews repair them. 

Police said the road might be closed for several hours.