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DEEP Hazmat Crews on Scene at Oil Spill in Waterbury

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The Department of Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Environmental Protection Agency are responding to an oil leak at a manufacturing company in Waterbury.

Crews responded to the Somers Thin Strip Company on Piedmont Street Saturday night after a valve failed and released 6,000 gallons of hydraulic oil onto the property, pavement, soild and a catch basin.

According to the Director of Communications for DEEP Chris Collibee, crews had to return to the scene after reports of an oil sheen on the Naugatuck River.

Waterbury Fire Department were also called to the scene to place booms in the water near the pipe to absorb the  oil. 

No other information was made immediately available. 

This story is developing. Check back for updates. 



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Pa. Congressman Denies Misconduct Claim; Ethics Probe May Follow

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Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Patrick Meehan is denying allegations of misconduct after a new report from the New York Times cited unnamed people accusing him of using taxpayer money to settle a complaint from a former aide. 

According to the report, published Saturday, Meehan is accused of expressing romantic interest toward a younger female staff member and then becoming "hostile when she did not reciprocate." Meehan, a 62-year-old married father of three, allegedly professed his feelings for her in person and then wrote her a letter. The woman eventually started working from home and then left the job, according to the New York Times.

Meehan’s office and the woman eventually reached a confidential agreement and Meehan used thousands of taxpayer dollars to settle the claim, sources told the New York Times.

Meehan, who resides in Drexel Hill, has represented Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district since 2011 and previously served as the Delaware County District Attorney from 1996 to 2001. Meehan was also a member of the House Ethics Committee which has recently conducted investigations into sexual misconduct claims against other congressmen.

House Speaker Paul Ryan's office says the allegations against Meehan must be investigated by the House Ethics Committee and that Meehan should repay any taxpayer funds used to settle the case. Ryan is also removing Meehan from the committee.

A spokesman for Meehan told NBC10 Saturday that the congressman "denies the allegations."

“Throughout his career he has always treated his colleagues male and female with the utmost respect and professionalism,” the spokesman wrote. “In this case, the employee, represented by counsel, made certain assertions of inappropriate behavior which were investigated.  With respect to resolving any allegation made against the office, Congressman Meehan would only act with advice of House Counsel and consistent with House Ethics Committee guidance. 

Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately. At Congressman Meehan’s request, the congressional attorneys handling the case have asked the complainant’s counsel to release all parties from the confidentiality requirements of the agreement to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts. The Congressman is hopeful that they will agree to this request for full transparency.

Rep. Meehan believes there must be real reform to the process for resolving complaints so that those who are truly wronged are given a fair forum to be heard and vindicated, and those accused are provided with an ability to respond to baseless accusations. The public to whom elected officials are answerable must be provided with a true sense of the facts and circumstances involved.”



Photo Credit: Sarah Glover

Without CHIP, 1.7M Kids Could Lose Healthcare in Weeks

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More than 1.75 million children in 20 states and Washington D.C. are at risk of losing their health insurance by the end of February if Congress does not reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which ceased being funded when lawmakers failed to pass a spending bill late Friday night.

As the weekend continues, Congress is attempting to negotiate a deal that would provide CHIP a six-year extension, but that's not soon enough for some.

“I’m tired of my daughter's health being used as a political weapon," said Lisa Nunez, a resident of Port Jefferson, Long Island, whose 11-year-old daughter is a CHIP recipient.

The healthcare program covers around 8.9 million American kids overall. The situation is most dire for the nearly 3.7 million who get their insurance through their state's separate CHIP programs, rather than CHIP-funded Medicaid. A provision in the Affordable Care Act stipulates that children who receive health insurance through CHIP-funded Medicaid cannot lose their insurance even if that CHIP funding were to disappear.



Photo Credit: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Texas City Funds Program That Pays Homeless to Pick Up Trash

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The city of Fort Worth is paying homeless people to pick up trash as part of a unique program to clean up the city and turn lives around.

Frank Crist, 53, earns $10 an hour to pick up litter in the area southeast of downtown where many homeless people live. He also gets paid vacation and benefits. 

"It just makes you feel better keeping it cleaned up," he said. "It means a lot. I mean, with my record and stuff, I really had no other place that would hire me."

Crist served prison time for drugs, and ended up on the street. He now lives at the Presbyterian Night Shelter, which hired him as part of a program called Clean Slate.

The city pays for it. The shelter runs it.

"It is a win-win," said Presbyterian Night Shelter CEO Toby Owen. "We want a clean neighborhood that speaks hope, that speaks dignity to our homeless guests. And it also provides income for these individuals so they can move out and be successful without living in a homeless shelter."

Last year, Clean Slate put 40 homeless people to work, Owen said. Approximately 3,856 tons of trash was collected by Clean Slate workers. And they don't just clean up trash on the street -- they also work as janitors for businesses.

Crist is about to move into an apartment — after 23 months in the shelter.

"It took me about a year, a year-and-a-half, but everything is coming together," he said. "It feels great. Didn't think it was ever going to happen again, but now it has."

Crist says he will continue to work for Clean Slate even after he moves into his new apartment. 

The city now spends about $48,000 a year on the program.

Owen said the shelter is working with the city to expand it next year.



Photo Credit: NBC 5 News

3 People Dead After Rollover Crash on I-91 in Enfield

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Three people died after a rollover crash on Interstate 91 in Enfield on Sunday morning. 

State police said I-91 south near exit 47 is closed after one car rolled over and crashed around 7:18 a.m.

Three people have died as a result of the crash and one person sustained non-life threatening injuries.

State Police are diverting traffic off the highway in the area.

The highway will be shut for an undisclosed amount of time while the accident reconstruction team investigates.







Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Cotton: Support for Immigration Deal Won't Hinge on Trump

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Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday he would not agree to an immigration deal simply because it has President Donald Trump's support, as the government shutdown enters its second day with no end in sight, NBC News reported.

"I can't make that commitment at all," Cotton said on Sunday's "Meet The Press," adding he would "evaluate any deal on its merits and what's best for the people" of his home state of Arkansas.

By Sunday, top lawmakers appeared no closer to reaching a compromise that would re-open the government, and members of both parties continued to hurl blame at the opposite side.

Many Democrats and some Republicans have remained adamant that they don't want to continue to support short-term government spending bills if an immigration compromise offering protections for recipients of DACA can't be reached. Protections under that program are set to expire on March 5.



Photo Credit: Zach Gibson - Pool/Getty Images

Ice Jams in Kent Get Larger Despite Thawing Temperatures

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The ice jams causing problems in Kent for the past week have grown larger, officials learned. 

Officials said they are preparing again for more flooding. 

The weekend’s warmup caused parts of the ice jam to collapse in on itself and since the ice is breaking up, officials hope it starts to move downstream.

"We’re hoping that is a benefit to the ice jam," State Rep. Brian Ohler said. 

Travelers should not stop or park on Route 7 along the Housatonic River to view the ice jam because it is becoming increasingly unstable as it begins to thaw and melt. Connecticut State Police are ticketing offenders.

A flyover by the Civil Air Patrol on Saturday showed the stretch ice had doubled in size, making it two miles long.

"You can’t see how thick these chunks of ice are until you’re here in person," Warren resident Jenny Brady, who came to take pictures along the riverbank, said.

Daniel Cloutier, who lives in Kent, has noticed the number of visitors coming to his town. 

"It looks like there’s ice jam tourism now in Kent. It’s kind of weird," Cloutier said. 

The road Cloutier walks his dog along flooded last Saturday.

"We weren’t expecting the water to rise this fast. Five minutes after we came back the road was barely passable," he recalled.

On Sunday, officials said there’s concern over how low the river level has dropped. The National Weather Service’s Hydrologic Prediction Center told the local emergency response team that the water sits at just 3.8 feet.

"We need the water level to rise a little bit more so we can break up the ice and send it downstream," Ohler explained.

Forecasted rain and above-freezing temperatures could do the trick, but if the ice doesn't get the nudge it needs, the upcoming wet weather could cause more flooding along the Housatonic.

Kent’s mutual aid partners were notified and emergency routes were established on Sunday

"We have a plan in place for the next three days, as far as if additional evacuations need to happen. We’ve broken the town up into different zones," Ohler said.

Officials have marked Thursday on their calendars. They are cautiously optimistic the ice jam will break apart by then. Otherwise, it may push the river out of its banks again.

Cops Hunt Gunman After 3 Shot Near Empire State Building

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Three men were shot just blocks away from the Empire State Building in Midtown, sending bystanders ducking for cover on a spring-like Sunday evening, police and witnesses said. 

A gunman was on the loose after the shooting near the busy intersection of 31st Street and Broadway shortly after 4:30 p.m., according to police.

"I was passing by and I heard four shots," one man said. "I was hiding like everybody; everybody was running around." 

The shooting was sparked by an argument outside of a liquor store, witnesses said. The gunman opened fire, hitting the man he was arguing with and two other men who police believe were bystanders, one of them possibly a tourist. 

Video shot by a witness shows a man on the ground holding his stomach. It's unclear if he was a victim.

Emergency responders and ambulances filled the street after the shooting. Crime scene tape was strung up around the liquor store as dozens of officers and detectives combed the area. 

Police said they were searching for the gunman and another man he was with at the time of the shooting. 

Two of the men were shot in their torsos and a third man was shot in his arm. They were all taken to Bellevue Hospital and were in stable condition, police said. 



Photo Credit: NBC 4 New York
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Freezing Drizzle and Soaking Rains Coming Up

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NBC Connecticut meteorologists are taking a look ahead at some rain for the next few days.

Sunday night going into Monday could have some light rain or even freezing drizzle as clouds increase. 

Monday will have two waves of showers: In the early morning, between 3 and 7 a.m., and in the evening starting at 5 and ending around 8 p.m.

The next day will bring heavier rain. Tuesday will start with light showers in the early morning but soaking rains will move in after 11 a.m.

The rain will bring in gusty winds that will probably stick with us through the middle of the week. 

While most of the state does not face any real flood threat, officials in Kent continue to worry about the enlarged ice jams since the water in the Housatonic River is already above flood levels.



Sen. Duckworth Slams Trump as '5-Deferment Draft Dodger'

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Sen. Tammy Duckworth slammed President Donald Trump over the federal government shutdown on Saturday, calling him a "five-deferment draft dodger" in a fiery speech on the U.S. Senate floor.

Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs when the helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a grenade in 2004, was specifically responding to a tweet in which Trump said "Democrats are holding our military hostage" in the shutdown.

The Illinois Democrat said Trump's accusation was "just the latest in a string of recent comments where he accuses Democrats like me of not caring about our military."

"I spent my entire adult life looking out for the well-being, the training, the equipping of the troops for whom I was responsible," she said, adding, "Sadly, this is something the current occupant of the Oval Office does not seem to care to do. And I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger."

Duckworth was referring to the deferments from the military draft Trump received – four as a college student and one medical deferment that Trump told the New York Times was for bone spurs in his heels.

"And I have a message for Cadet Bone Spurs: if you cared about our military, you’d stop baiting Kim Jong Un into a war that could put 85,000 American troops – and millions of innocent civilians – in danger," she continued.

Duckworth's speech came hours after the federal government shut down, halting all "non-essential" operations at midnight Friday after last-minute negotiations on a spending plan failed.

Trump and Congressional Republicans blamed Senate Democrats, who filibustered the short-term funding bill that cleared the House the night before in hopes of putting pressure on negotiations surrounding an immigration deal.

At issue is the legal status of so-called "Dreamers," the nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors and were protected from deportation under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy that the Trump administration ended in September.

"Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border," Trump tweeted Saturday morning. "They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead."

Democrats, joined by a handful of GOP senators in voting against the stopgap measure, blamed Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House, for not accepting a bipartisan compromise. Democratic lawmakers said Trump hurt negotiations by initially expressing support for the deal before abruptly walking away.

"Our troops know how to work together," Duckworth ended her speech Saturday. "They stand shoulder to shoulder to protect and defend this country. We surely in these chambers can do the same. So let’s stop blaming each and other and let’s get to work."

No One Injured, Man Sought as Two IEDs Detonate at Florida Mall

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Florida police were seeking a man who was seen running from a mall where two improvised explosive devices detonated and a third suspicious package was found nearby Sunday, authorities said.

Lakes Wales Deputy Police Chief Troy Schulze told reporters that two pipe bombs appeared to have detonated in a service corridor near a JCPenney store at Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales, east of Tampa, at about 5:30 p.m., a half-hour before the mall was scheduled to close.

The third item, a backpack, was discovered near a movie theater, he said, adding that its contents hadn't yet been determined.

No shoppers were near the scene, and there are no reports of injuries, police said, but there was damage to a drop ceiling. The mall was evacuated.

Con Men Using Pics of Fallen Military for Dating Sites: Army

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Developers of a new dating app are warning customers about the prevalence of criminals fraudulently using pictures of dead and active duty service members on various sites to con victims and steal their money.

“They want to present themselves as heroes,” Darren Shuster, a developer of the dating app Phresh, told NBC 7.

California is among the states with the highest numbers of victims which also includes Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command says it receives hundreds of reports from victims from around the world regarding various people impersonating U.S. Soldiers online.

In, 2016, almost 15,000 complaints of romance scams or confidence fraud were reported, according to the FBI.

Not every fraud involves military identities, but the loses totaled more than $230 million dollars.

Shuster says his platform helps to fix this problem. “The Phresh dating app would add several steps for the would-be cybercriminal from making an effort to con anybody on our app because the photos that they upload and any other information only lasts for 24 hours.”

Shuster hopes the app can stop criminals from using dating apps to steal unsuspecting people’s money and hopes it will prevent those looking for love from becoming the next victim.


Firefighters Respond to Fire in Plainville

Stores Race to Get Patriots AFC Championship Gear Ready for Fans

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The Dick’s Sporting Goods in Enfield and Manchester opened early this morning so Patriots fans could get AFC Championship gear and fans showed up, including students who wanted new shirts to school. 

The Patriots beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24 to 20, last night and will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles at the Super Bowl in Minnesota.

Gima Sport in Hartford was creating the gear this morning and started embroidering the hats at 6 a.m. 

"We took the hats of Minnesota off the line and Jacksonville and we got lined up ready for the Patriots and the Eagles," Robert Giamsiracusa, of Gima Sport, said. 

Those hats will be sold to local vendors. 

It was a game that fans will be talking about, including whether they had faith that the Patriots would be victorious or whether they were doubtful.

Dylan Wingard, of Glastonbury, had doubts.

"To be honest, I wrote them off about the end of the third quarter. End of the half they were still down by 10," Wingard said.

Alexa Schwartz, of Portland, had faith.

“After the Super Bowl last year, you can't count them out. The entire game I figured they were going to win. Everyone was doubting me, saying the Patriots were going to lose," she said.

The two Dick’s Sporting Goods stores opened at 6 a.m.




Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Meeting Tonight on Plans to Close Batchelder School in Hartford

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The superintendent of schools in Hartford is recommending a plan to consolidate the school district, which includes closing some schools, and tonight is the last chance parents have to provide their feedback before a decision is made about closing the Batchelder School.

The plan includes closing the school at the end of the school year.

The three-year plan to save the district $15 million each year includes consolidating and relocating several schools, including closing Simpson-Waverly School and possible phasing the high school grades out of Capital Prep. The three schools might relocate to the new Weaver campus, which is being building on Granby Street.

Supt. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said she recommended the plan because the Hartford public school district is facing declining enrollment and persistent low-student performance.

The meeting on plans for the Batchelder School will take place at the school at 757 New Britain Ave. at 5:30 p.m.

The board is scheduled to make a final decision tomorrow.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Vehicle Involved in Hit-and-Run of Postal Worker in Norwich Found: Police

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A hit-and-run driver struck a mail carrier at Washington Street and Chelsea Court in Norwich around 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 5, police said, and officers have located the vehicle. 

Police said the postal worker suffered a severe injury to his left leg and the driver who hit him went south, toward Washington Square, and left the scene after the collision.

Police released a photo of a red pickup while they were looking for the driver and asked for the public's help to find the vehicle because they said the driver might have witnessed or been involved in the crash.

No additional information was available. 



Photo Credit: Norwich Police

Naugatuck Man Has Been Missing for Nearly 2 Weeks

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Naugatuck police are asking for help to find a local man who has been missing for almost two weeks. 

Ryan Havican’s family members last saw him on Jan. 10, when the 42-year-old was going to Waterbury to be dropped off around the Walnut Street and Catherine Avenue area. 

Police said Havican has a history of substance abuse. 

He is 5-feet-8 and weighs 180 pounds. He is bald and has blue eyes. He was wearing brown leather boots, a dark colored sweater and slacks when he disappeared. 

Anyone with information on Havican’s whereabouts should call the Naugatuck Police at (203) 729-5221.



Photo Credit: Naugatuck Police

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Shares Her #MeToo Moment

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the 84-year-old Supreme Court justice known for her boldness, spoke Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah about a moment in college when she was put in a difficult position as a young student, NBC News reported.

Ginsburg described a confrontation she had with a instructor at Cornell University on a panel about the premiere of "RBG," a documentary about her life, when she was asked about the #MeToo movement.

"It's about time. For so long women were silent, thinking there was nothing you could do about it, but now the law is on the side of women, or men, who encounter harassment, and that's a good thing," she told the panel.

Ginsburg would go on to become a nationally recognized women's rights lawyer and then the second woman ever appointed to the nation's highest court.



Photo Credit: Getty Images/Robin Marchant

Louise Turpin's Sister Alleges 'Dark Family Secret' of Abuse

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The sister of a Southern California mother accused of holding her 13 children captive in what authorities called a "torture chamber" alleges a family member sexually abused her, her siblings and their mother over several years when they were children.

Teresa Robinette revealed what she called a "dark family secret" in an interview Monday on “Megan Kelly Today.”

“It’s always been a big secret in our family,” Robinette said. “The adults in our family always protected him because he was family and there was so much that went on with that … but it was always this dark family secret that he did this.”

She alleges the male family member also abused their cousins, but claims he was never held accountable.

The allegation comes days after prosecutors announced the children’s father, 56-year-old David Turpin, was charged with one count of a lewd act on a child. Turpin and his wife, 49-year-old Louise Turpin, are jailed on charges of torture, abuse of a dependent adult, child abuse or neglect and false imprisonment.

Prosecutors said the siblings, ranging in age from 2 to 29, suffered years of "severe" abuse. They were initially bound with ropes, but when the children figured out how to escape from such bondage, the couple switched to chains and padlocks, just one of many forms of punishment, the district attorney said.

Authorities discovered the malnourished children, some shackled to furniture, after a 17-year-old girl escaped the home through a window and called 911 to report the abuse. The couples' children — ages 2 to 29 — were so emaciated the older ones still looked like children and some had cognitive impairment. Authorities thought the 17-year-old daughter who called 911 was only 10 when they found her.

Robbinette told Kelly she hasn’t spoken to her nieces and nephews in several years and last saw them "seven or eight years ago" via video chat.

Asked whether she saw signs of developmental delays with the children, Robinette said “no.”

“I always even said I thought those children were very book smart,” Robinette said. “But I was worried that because they were home schooled and because they didn’t hold a conversation well, I was always concerned that they weren’t going to be socially developed.”

She also claimed that Louise Turpin had a sexual encounter with a stranger she met online and that David Turpin consented to the affair. According to Robinette, as Louise was approaching her 40th birthday, the couple stopped attending church and were “experimenting with different religions.”

They also began going out to bars and “sowing those wild oats” that they felt they missed out on because the couple married young and began having children right away, she said.

“The very weird thing to me, that I would never do, is she told me her and David met a man online from Huntsville, Alabama, and that they were on their way to meet him,” Robinette said. “She was going to sleep with him, and David was OK with it. I told her I thought it was a mistake. But I know that she met this man at a motel and slept with him in Alabama.”

A year later, Robinette said the couple returned to the hotel, spending the night in the same room on the same bed.

Robinette told Kelly she hopes her 13 nieces and nephews can one day lead a "happy and normal" existence.

"I hope to put my arm around them and tell them they have a family that is not deranged," she said.

As for her sister and brother-in-law, Robinette said "Louise and David are dead to me."



Photo Credit: 'Megyn Kelly Today'

5 Department of Correction Employees on Leave After Enfield Prisoner Escape

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Five Connecticut Department of Correction employees have been placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into the escape of a prisoner on Jan. 7 who managed to make it all the way to Georgia, where he was found 10 days later.

Officials from the state Department of Correction said the five employees at Carl Robinson Correctional Institution, who have worked for the department anywhere from two years to 27 years, were placed on leave due to “preliminary findings” of an ongoing administrative investigation into the escape.

They are receiving pay, pending results of the investigation.

Police said the prisoner, 25-year-old Jerry Mercado, might have escaped from the prison by stowing away under a vehicle. Commissioner Scott Semple said two vehicles were on the property that day - a state police van and a garbage truck.

Mercado was detained at a gas station in the Atlanta suburb of Canton, Georgia on Jan. 17 after the U.S. Marshals Service acted on a tip, officials said.

Mercado, who is from Hartford, was serving a three-year sentence for third-degree burglary charges when he escaped. Officials from the Department of Correction said he is classified as a "low risk" offender.

Carl Robinson is primarily a dormitory-style facility that houses around 1,500 inmates on Shaker Road in Enfield.





Photo Credit: Canton, Georgia Police
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