A broken water pipe is impacting two schools in Old Lyme.

The Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School and Center School will not have any water on Jan. 11 due to the broken water pipe. 

All middle school students and staff should report to the high school on Lyme Street for classes on Thursday. Once students arrive, the location of the middle school classes will be provided.

"Parents should utilize their normal pick up and drop off points to eliminate unnecessary congestion at the high school. Middle school staff members will be available to accompany students from their normal drop off and pick up points to the high school. Middle School parents and staff should park at the middle school as there will not be any parking available at the high school," the school's website said.

Center School will be closed and there will be no Prek classes for Thursday. 

Middle school parent conferences will take place at the high school and specific locations will be provided when parents arrive. 

Anyone with questions can call (860) 434-7238.

It was an emotional reunion for a Stonington family after the cat they thought was dead showed up on their doorstep on Tuesday.

The happiest moment of 9-year-old Nicholas Johnson’s life was caught on camera in tears, holding onto his best friend and pet cat Gunther. His parents surprised him and his 5-year-old sister, Aubrey, when they came home from school.

Gunther went missing while the Johnson family was on vacation over the holidays. The children's mother, Samantha, posted all over Facebook, asking if anyone in town saw him.

On Sunday, Stonington Animal Control called the family and said they might have found their cat. The Johnsons were devasted when they were told the cat with similar markings to Gunther died after being hit by a car. 

The next day, a man gave the Johnsons a kitten that the family named Lucky, who looks like Gunther, to help ease some of the pain.

On Tuesday, when Samantha was sitting down for breakfast, she heard a screeching meow.

"I went to the door and he was just standing there looking at me and I was like, 'Gunther! Hello'," Samantha said.

Samantha posted a video of the heartwarming reunion that was shared hundreds of times. The children can be seen crying and hugging their missing furry friend. 

Now the family has two cats to love. 

"Sometimes when (I'm having a) hard time, (I) go over to him (and) he talks to me. I feel like he answers me when I talk to him. It’s like he’s a person, but he’s not," Johnson said, petting Gunther, his best friend.

Homeowners with crumbling foundations can deduct repairs for the 2017 tax year and several years prior. 

Congressmen Joe Courtney and John Larson have received confirmation from the IRS on Wednesday. The congressmen fought 19 months for the deduction and hoped it would be permanent.

“As the IRS confirmed in its letter, qualified taxpayers who paid to repair damage to their homes in 2017 or in prior open tax years will still able to deduct the cost of those repairs as a casualty loss on their 2017 returns. This is welcome confirmation for those homeowners who have already completed repair work on their homes and will soon begin to prepare their taxes,” Courtney and Larson said in a press release on Wednesday.

However, the recently passed tax reforms signed into law do not allow the deduction going forward in 2018. Only taxpayers who suffer damage related to a presidentially declared Stafford Act disaster may deduct their property-casualty losses.

The congressmen are still working with the IRS on tax relief for people with crumbling basements in 2018 and beyond.

Courtney and Larson suggest homeowners eligible for the current tax deduction consult a tax preparer.

Here is the link to the letter sent to Courtney and Larson by the IRS.

A $9.6 million incentive package offered to Aetna to move its headquarters from Hartford to New York City has been revoked, according to Crain's New York.

"We are unable to move forward with the proposed assistance package at this time," Anthony Hogrebe, the vice president of public affairs for the New York City Economic Development Corporation told NBC Connecticut.

The commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development said it's not unusual for a company to reconsider this kind of move.

"While we don't have all the information regarding the reasons for, and implications of, the cancellation of New York's financial incentives, it is not unusual for a company to reconsider such a move during a merger of this magnitude. Aetna's current home in Hartford is a great location with incredible access to a talented and skilled workforce. The administration has been in contact with CVS leadership to reiterate this point as well as the many other competitive advantages our capital city and state have to offer," Smith said in a statement to NBC Connecticut.

In June, the company announced it will be moving its headquarters to New York City in 2018 after being in Hartford for more than 150 years. Aetna said in a statement last year that the move the move will have minimal impact on Aetna’s Connecticut-based associates and the company's long-term commitment to Connecticut will be based on the state’s economic health.

A statement from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Aetna would be moving into a 145,000 square-foot facility in Chelsea and bringing 250 well-paying jobs to New York. 

However, in December, the insurance company was acquired by CVS.

"All Aetna locations will be evaluated as part of the integration planning process," a spokesman for Aetna said on Wednesday. 

More than 1,600 Puerto Rican families displaced after Hurricane Maria are living in Connecticut.

There is now a new push for state lawmakers to help them.

Archie Santiago Rivera has been living in a hotel in Connecticut. He left Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, but now it’s not clear how long he can stay.

"FEMA said, 'Come to the U.S.- in this case, come to Connecticut. We’ll pay for your hotel in Connecticut, and we’ll work on your case'," Hartford City Council member, Wildaliz Bermudez, said. "Some of those cases are closed. So if their case is closed, as of January 14, these people will be displaced. They’re going to be homeless."

State Rep. Angel Arce is calling on the federal government for help.

"Puerto Rico is an American territory and we deserve the same treatment as Texas, Florida, and any other state," Arce said.

House Majority Leader Matt Ritter said it’s time to start streamlining services.

"Getting representatives from the department of social services, the DMV, the department of housing," Ritter said. "They get a lot of questions on a daily basis. It’s good to put everybody in a room on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to make sure everybody is following the same procedures."

North Haven police are asking residents to lock their cars after a video shows a group of thieves riffling through vehicles. 

The home surveillance video purportedly shows six suspects on Jan. 4 open two out of three cars in the driveway outside the North Haven home on Pool Road. The third car was locked and the suspects did not get inside.

North Haven police said there have been more than 250 reports of theft from unlocked cars in 2017. 

The video has been viewed more than 10,000 times on the North Haven Police Facebook page. 

"We are not saying locking your car solves all problems, but it will stop these guys from stealing from you," officers said in the post. "There have been a few comments regarding suspects breaking windows if the doors are locked, or keying your car. That is not the case, and has not been so for a very long time. Criminals have been checking the doors to see if they are locked."

A Sinaloa Cartel cell leader believed to be the highest-ranking Mexican cartel leader ever to self-surrender in the United States pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in federal court Wednesday.

Dámaso “Mini Lic” López Serrano, godson of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and one of the possible successors of the Sinaloa cartel, pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from two 2016 indictments, one returned by a federal grand jury in San Diego in August and another returned in Virginia in December.

In the August 2016 indictment, Lopez Serrano was charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin and Cocaine Intended for Importation and Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine, Heroine and Cocaine.

Lopez Serrano was charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine Intended for Importation in the December 2016 indictment.

Lopez Serrano, 29, signed his guilty plea in the Southern District Court of California, based in San Diego, the Justice Department said in a statement.

In his appearance at the California court, Lopez Serrano admitted to being one of the leaders of one of the factions of the Sinaloa cartel and admitted organizing thousands of kilograms of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico to the United States.

He also pleaded guilty to another charge related to the possession of firearms to promote the drug trafficking activities of the Sinaloa cartel. Judge Dana M. Sabraw of the Southern District Court of California set the sentencing hearing for July 12.

"Mini Lic" is the son of Dámaso "El Licenciado" López Núñez, and considered the successor of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who was extradited from Mexico to the United States on January 19, 2017, and will be tried in September for 17 crimes, including drug trafficking and money laundering.

"El Licenciado" was considered the right hand of Guzmán, especially after he was captured for the last time in January 2016 in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, but entered into a dispute with Jesús Alfredo and Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, sons of "El Chapo", for the control of the cartel.

The Department of Justice said Lopez Serrano turned himself in to American authorities at the Calexico West Port of Entry on July 27, 2017.

 A 6-inch water main installed in 1891 broke on Brown Street in Hartford early Thursday morning and 29 multi-family homes between Franklin and Wethersfield avenues were affected by the shutdown.

The water was turned back on at 7 a.m. and the road is expected to reopen around 9:30 a.m.

Crews also responded to a service leak at 670 Hillside Ave. in Hartford.

The Justice Department says a New Jersey resident has been stripped of his citizenship after authorities learned he used a false name when he entered the United States more than 25 years ago.

Carteret resident Baljinder Singh's citizenship was revoked Friday after he was accused of using an alias to avoid deportation. Prosecutors say Singh, who was born in India, arrived in the U.S. in 1991 with no proof of identity, giving the name Davinder Singh.

After failing to appear for his immigration court hearing, Singh was ordered to be deported on Jan. 7, 1992. Four weeks later, he filed an asylum petition under the name Baljinder Singh, claiming to have entered the United States without inspection.

Singh eventually abandoned his asylum petition and married a U.S. citizen in 1996. He became a naturalized citizen in 2006 when his wife filed a visa petition on his behalf.

Singh is the first person de-naturalized under Operation Janus. Launched in 2010, the Homeland Security Department initiative revokes citizenship of those who circumvented background checks during the naturalization process.

As a lawful permanent resident, Singh could face deportation

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which dedicated a team to review Operation Janus cases, plans to refer about 1,600 additional cases for prosecution, the Justice Department said in a statement.

After a Louisiana school teacher's arrest at a public school board meeting went viral, Deyshia Hargrave is back teaching and hopes her experience sends a message to her fellow educators.

"I'm hoping for teachers, people outside of education, to have a voice," the middle school English teacher said Thursday on the "Today" show. "Show up. You don't have to say anything. Just show up. Just do something."

Hargrave's arrest came Monday at a public school board meeting, where the board approved by a 5–3 vote a $30,000 salary increase for Superintendent Jerome Puyau. Teachers, meanwhile, haven't received a salary increase in about decade.

Hargrave was asked by a board member to comment on the vote, according to video taken of the meeting by a local reporter, and she asked Puyau, "How are you going to take that money, because it's basically taken out of the pockets of teachers?"

The school board president then banged his gavel and said her question was irrelevant. The crowd became agitated and Hargrave was asked to leave the meeting by a school resource officer hired by the board, The Associated Press reported.

Video showed Hargrave on the hallway floor being handcuffed, though it did not capture the moments just before her arrest. The officer arrested her for "remaining after being forbidden" and resisting an officer, according to the AP. She bonded out of jail, and the city said she won't be prosecuted.

Now, Puyua agrees with Hargrave that teachers deserve more money, but he wonders why she questioned his salary increase.

We "can always use more money in the classroom," he told "Today." "But, when is a good time for a superintendent to get a raise?"

"I don't support our people getting arrested," Puyau added. "However, a person has to follow the rules."

In an interview with CBS, Puyau took responsibility for the incident, saying, "I'm the superintendent, I'm to blame."

When asked what he did wrong, Puyau told CBS, "I should have stood up, OK? That's what you want to hear, and it's the truth. I should have stood up [and said,] 'Let her speak.'"

Since the video was posted online, where it has drawn more than a million views, Puyau told "Today" he and his family have received death threats. School system offices even went on temporary lockdown.

"More people were hurt. It is not fair to our family," he said emotionally.

Hargrave said she has only seen the video of her arrest twice because it's "too disturbing" to watch.

"It's sad that a woman has to be forcibly, violently removed from a board meeting for people to start caring," she said on "Today" of the response to the video.

She added that she felt uneasy "with the realization that my students were gonna see the video and I had to go to work the next day."

"I wasn't sure how they were gonna feel about it," she said.

However, Hargrave added, "They're fine, so I'm fine."

Hargrave said she would like an apology from Puyau and the officer who arrested her. And the Louisiana Association of Educators and Vermilion Association of Educators are hosting a local rally Thursday afternoon in support of Hargrave, who was expected to speak at the event. 

"As educators, students are at the center of everything we do and the voices of educators are essential to ensuring a great education for every child regardless of ZIP code," the groups said in a statement announcing the rally. "The arrest of middle school educator and LAE and NEA member Deyshia Hargrave is a chilling infringement on her rights but educators will not be silenced. We encourage all educators to wear black on Thursday, January 11th to stand in solidarity with Ms. Hargrave and the students of Vermilion Parish."

A man was injured at a construction site in Danbury this morning when a concrete pump truck boom malfunctioned and struck him in the head and OSHA is investigating, according to the Danbury Fire Department.

Danbury Fire Dispatch received a 911 call just after 9 a.m. reporting the injury on Forty Acre Mountain Road and emergency crews responded to the scene.

Because of difficult terrain, additional crews, including Squad Company 1 and Engine Company 23, were called in and used a rope system and a stokes basket to bring the patient up the snow-covered bank to an ambulance, which brought the man to a hospital.

Advanced Tree Removal Company also provided assistance.

OSHA responded and is investigating because the incident was on a construction site.

The journalist who created a spreadsheet where women could anonymously share stories of sexual harassment or abuse they had encountered from men in the media industry came forward Wednesday night in a first-person article published in The Cut.

Moira Donegan, who has written for outlets including The New Yorker, said she started the "Sh--- Media Men" list as a "first attempt at solving what has seemed like an intractable problem: how women can protect ourselves from sexual harassment and assault."

The list, which included accusations that range from unwanted flirting to rape, has drawn praise and criticism since going viral.

Donegan wrote that the document was intended to be private. She said she came forward after being approached by Katie Roiphe, who was writing a piece for Harper's magazine. Donegan also received an email from a fact checker asking her how she wanted to respond to being "widely believed" to be a creator of the list, she said.

Giulia Melucci, Harper's vice president of public relations, told NBC News that Harper's never intended to publish Donegan's name.

Dalia Larios has dreamed of being a doctor since she was a child.

"I wanted to help people every day and I wanted to find answers for the disease we didn't know about," Larios said.

But since President Donald Trump announced he was ending DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the fourth-year Harvard Medical School student and cancer researcher at Dana Farber, has been worried that dream will be stripped away.

The 28-year-old grew up in Arizona. Her parents brought her to the state from Mexico when she was just months old. She went to public school and then to Arizona State University for undergrad before she was accepted to Harvard.

"I feel this is my home, this is where I belong, and I would love it if others could understand that and the dilemma that lots of us face," Larios said.

Her DACA status allows her work on a 10-person research team headed by Cloud Paweletz, Ph.D. Dr. Paweletz notes that their work is not done, and if DACA ends and the team loses Larios, it would be a huge setback.

"It would affect the entire team, emotionally, on a human level. On a research level, you would lose resources, and having a team lose resources is always tough," said Paweletz.

Larios says her dream is to find a cure for cancer, and she hopes lawmakers will come up with a legislation fix that extends legal status for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, many of whom were brought to the country illegally as children, so that she can help do that.

"I want nothing more than to be able to contribute meaningfully to a society [that] has already given me so much," she said.

As discussions continue about whether President Donald Trump will sit down for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, FBI investigators have yet to request an interview with Vice President Mike Pence, a person familiar with the situation told NBC News.

Though no invitation has been extended, Pence — a key figure during moments in the Trump campaign, transition and White House — would cooperate if an interview was requested, the person added.

A second person familiar with the situation said Mueller has also not indicated an interest in interviewing Pence, beyond initial document requests early on.

A spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment on the possibility of an interview with Pence, who notably was at the center of the controversy over Trump's firing of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Police have identified the 53-year-old man who was found dead after a fire at an East Haddam home Monday as Thomas Rasimas. 

Firefighters responded to the home at 51 Ackley Cemetery Road around 3 p.m. Monday and found heavy fire at the 2-and-a-half story wooden home.

The family told firefighters that one person was unaccounted for and firefighters found Rasimas dead inside the home hours later.

He was a resident of the home, according to state police.

The fire remains under investigation.

A West Haven woman is accused of striking a male basketball coach in the groin at Foran High School in Milford Wednesday evening.

Milford police said officers responded to the high school just before 7 p.m. to investigate the report and arrested 52-year-old Tara Severino, of West Haven.

She was charged with third-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace.

She was released on a promise to appear and is due in court on Feb. 6

Shuttered electronics retailer Circuit City is set to make a comeback next month, at least online, CNBC reported.

Its website will relaunch Feb. 15, the company's CEO, Ronny Shmoel, said Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show. It will include several novel features, including search by photo and tech support via video chat, he said.

Down the line, Circuit City plans to gear up towards its own showrooms, according to consumer electronics website Twice.

Circuit City filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and closed its last store in 2009. Shmoel acquired its brand, website and associated trademarks in 2015, and now says that "major retailers" are interested in working with it on stores within stores.

Sam’s Club is closing its locations in Manchester and Orange, according to letters sent to the state Department of Labor and local officials.

The stores are slated to close to the public as of Jan. 26, according to the letter. The only Connecticut location that remains on the company’s website is in Newington, at 3465 Berlin Turnpike.

One-hundred-fifty-five employees are affected by the closure in Orange and 151 employees are affected by the closure in Manchester.

Gary Anderson, director of planning and economic development for Manchester, said the town was notified about the plans for the closure Thursday morning.

“This is certainly unfortunate news given the number of employees at Sam’s here in Manchester and those who are now facing losing their jobs,” Anderson said in a statement.

He said town officials are hopeful that the property will be “repurposed quickly in a way that replaces the jobs lost.”

All hourly employees at the two locations will be terminated effective March 16 and all management employees at the two facilities will be terminated on April 13.

All the employees will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at Sam’s Clubs or Walmart facilities, according to the company.

There have been reports of several Sam's Club stores around the country closing.

Dramatic NASA imagery shows the California coastal town of Montecito and the surrounding area before and after the onslaught of deadly back-to-back disasters.

Use the slider feature to reveal full images.

The image on the left shows the region in November 2017, about one month before the deadly Thomas fire broke out in Ventura County and spread north into Santa Barbara County. The fire became the largest on record in California at nearly 282,000 acres.

The image on the right shows Montecito on Jan. 10, two days after a strong winter storm slammed Southern California, triggering floods and mudflows. The mountains above the coastal enclave appear darker, stripped of vegetation that would normally absorb help soil absorb rain.

Fire-charred areas appear brown, unburned areas of vegetation are green. 

The map reveals some of the area's rugged topography, such as steep hillsides and streams that overflowed into nearby communities, trapping residents and burying homes and cars in mud. The January image shows mud and debris along the streams and south of the burn area. 

As of Thursday, 17 people had died and eight more were missing, according to fire officials. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed.