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KFC Reports Gravy Shortage in UK, Following Chicken Crisis

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U.K. KFC restaurants ran short on chicken during a mix-up with a new delivery firm this month and now there is a gravy shortage, CNBC reported.

KFC, which has 900 restaurants in the U.K. and Ireland, switched its delivery contract to DHL on Feb. 14. KFC said they are serving a limited menu because of the gravy shortage. 

A spokesman from Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, said Wednesday that 97 percent of the region's KFC restaurants are open, CNBC reported.

"Due to the ongoing distribution challenges DHL is experiencing, some restaurants are continuing to serve a reduced menu," a spokesman told CNBC. "We're working as hard as we can to get this sorted out. We know that our gravy is a big favorite!"



Photo Credit: Getty Images/Matt Cardy, File

Board to Vote Later on Allowing Medical Marijuana for Opiate Withdrawal

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The board that votes on which medical conditions medical marijuana can be used to treat in Connecticut decided that the drug could be used in the case of brittle bone disease, but decided to vote later on whether to allow people with opioid use disorder or those going through opiate withdrawal to use medical marijuana.

The Board of Physicians met Monday to vote on whether to include the conditions of albinism, opioid use disorder and opiate withdrawal, osteogenesis imperfecta and progressive degenerative disc disease of the spine.

The board recommended allowing patients with osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder more commonly known as brittle bone disease, to use medical marijuana.

People who suffer from the condition can break bones easily in the event of mild trauma and even when there is no apparent cause. https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/osteogenesis-imperfecta

The board did not recommend medical marijuana for albinism (Nystagmus) and it tabled voting on opioid use disorder and opiate withdrawal and progressive degenerative disc disease of the spine.

“We want to thank the members of the public including patients and medical professionals who came to share their stories and expertise on Monday,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle Seagull said in a statement. “We value the thoughtful input from the Board of Physicians as we grow this program to support more severely ill patients in the state.”

The Office of the Attorney General must review the recommendations and the regulations review committee of the General Assembly must approve them.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

California's Housing Crunch Pits Liberals Against Each Other

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The housing crunch in California, where rent can be extremely expensive from San Francisco down to San Diego, is driving an intense ideological struggle among liberals, NBC News reports.

Some don't want development bringing high-rises to their neighborhoods, while others see that as the best way to bring in housing, adding it will help the environment as well.

Advocates on either side call each other "dumb and venal" and "masters of hypocritical progressivisim" — both sides claim the other is entitled and doesn't really understand the needs of the poor — but there's no clear consensus about what should be done.

The high cost of housing in San Francisco has brought the median rent for a one bedroom to $3,300 per month. Recently, some state political leaders frustrated by the inaction of local officials have moved to fix it.



Photo Credit: Jim Seida / NBC News

Music Streaming Service Spotify Files to Go Public

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Streaming service Spotify announced Wednesday its plan to go public, CNBC reported.

The company will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker name SPOT. According to the company, shares have traded as high as $132.50 on private markets, which would give the company a valuation over $23 billion based on ordinary shares outstanding as of Feb. 22.

Spotify is the leader in streaming music services globally, with the company reporting 71 million paying subscribers and more than 159 million monthly active listeners (MAUs) as of December 2017. It is available in 61 countries and territories. Its closest competitor, Apple Music, is far behind at 36 million subscribers.

The company reported revenue of $2.37 billion in 2015, $3.6 billion in 2016 and $4.99 billion in 2017, according to its F1. (This is based on current euro to dollar conversion value.) It said paid subscribers are growing at a rate of 46 percent year-over-year, while MAUs are increasing at 29 percent year-over-year. The company posted a loss of $1.5 billion in 2017.



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1st Openly Transgender Recruit Signs Up for US Military

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A transgender recruit has signed a contract to join the U.S. military for the first time since a federal court ruled late last year that the military would have to accept openly transgender people, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Military officials do not know how many transgender people have begun to enlist since Jan. 1, when the Defense Department began accepting openly transgender recruits, but this is the first time one has officially signed a contract to join the military, NBC News reported.

"(The Pentagon) confirms that as of February 23, 2018, there is one transgender individual under contract for service in the US Military," Major David Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, said. The person has signed a contract but not yet started basic training.

President Donald Trump announced in July that he would prohibit transgender people from serving in the military, reversing former President Barack Obama’s policy of accepting them. Trump had said the military “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” However, numerous federal judges blocked the ban, saying it would likely violate the Constitutional right to equal protection under the law.



Photo Credit: Bill Clark/ GettyImages, File

Mueller Asking What Trump Knew About Hacked Emails: Sources

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Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Donald Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved in their strategic release, multiple people familiar with the probe told NBC News.

Mueller's investigators have asked witnesses whether Trump was aware of plans for WikiLeaks to publish the emails. They have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia.

The line of questioning suggests the special counsel, who is tasked with examining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, is looking into possible coordination between WikiLeaks and Trump associates in disseminating the emails, which U.S. intelligence officials say were stolen by Russia. 

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion and has described the special counsel's investigation as "illegal" and a "witch hunt." John Dowd, the president’s outside attorney, told NBC News, "We do not discuss our knowledge of or communications with the Special Counsel."



Photo Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images, File

Immigration Enforcement Has Students Fearful: Survey

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Teachers and educators across the country say President Donald Trump’s strict stance on immigration has created palpable fear in the classroom, with students missing classes, letting grades slip and exhibiting emotional and behavioral problems amid fear of losing family to deportation.

The findings were contained in a report released Wednesday by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, which surveyed more than 730 schools in 24 districts in 12 states about the impact of the administration's immigration enforcement measures on teaching and learning.

Researchers found that 64 percent of the 5,400 teachers, administrators and other school personnel who responded said they had observed students who were concerned about immigration issues that may affect them, their families or people they know.

“We have one student who had attempted to slit her wrists because her family has been separated and she wants to be with her mother,” one Maryland teacher told researchers, who promised anonymity to respondents. “She literally didn’t want to live without her mother.”



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Extra Security Measures at Bloomfield High School After Threat

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Extra security measures are being taken at Bloomfield High School after an alleged threat. 

The school said the threat was reported on February 23 and investigated by Bloomfield police. 

The police could not corroborate the threat or the nature of the threat. 

"As a precaution, appropriate measures have been taken with the student who allegedly made the threat," the school district wrote in a message to parents.




Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Billy Graham’s Body to Lie in Capitol Rotunda for Two Days

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Known as “The Pastor to Presidents,” Rev. Billy Graham’s body will lie in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday and Thursday before being buried Friday on the grounds of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Graham is only the fourth private citizen to lie in the rotunda.

Student Made Threat Against RHAM Middle School: Police

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There is extra security on hand at the RHAM campus and elementary schools in Hebron Wednesday after police say a student was overheard making a threat against the school.

Connecticut State Police said the investigation began around 10 p.m. Tuesday after three witnesses reported hearing a male student at RHAM Middle School make the threat during lunch on Monday. Police did not specify what was said.

The student was issued a misdemeanor summons for second-degree threatening and breach of peace and released to the custody of his guardian.

State police will be on hand at schools around town as a precaution.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Man Charged After Walking Into High School, Joining Class

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A Meriden man faces multiple charges after police say he walked into Maloney High School and pretended to be a student.

Meriden police said that last Friday 22-year-old Vincenzo Pulcinella walked into school, dressed as a student and carrying a backpack, alongside his 17-year-old brother. Pulcinella walked into his brother’s first class, and when the teacher asked for his name he gave a fake one. According to police, the teacher became suspicious and asked him to step outside to find someone from the office to get his class schedule. Pulcinella then ran away.

The school resource officer was immediately called and searched for Pulcinella, but did not find him on school grounds. After reviewing school surveillance tapes the officer saw Puncinella had entered with his brother. When questioned, the 17-year-old said it was a prank.

Pulcinella was arrested at his nearby home and charged with criminal impersonation, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, loitering on school grounds, conspiracy to commit loitering, and disorderly conduct.

His brother was also charged with disorderly conduct and conspiracy commit criminal impersonation.



Photo Credit: Meriden Police Department

Relief From Manchester Landfill Odor On the Way

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Residents said the gasses at a nearby landfill in Manchester are overwhelming.

"It will make you want to stay in your house," Barry Dubofsky, of Manchester, said.

But for Dubofsky’s nose, relief could come soon.

The environmental services manager Brooks Parker said the landfill is replacing gas collection system, which was installed in the early 2000s. 

"We didn't really add to it so in lieu of that were just replacing the whole system now it's reached the end of its useful life," Parker said.

The landfill will get 42 new wells along with piping and the system will capture the odors through a vacuum that send them to a flare to be combusted at 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.

For Dubofsky the upgrade is just more than an improvement in technology, it's an upgrade on his quality of life.

Parker said when the upgrade is complete, 90 to 95 percent of the landfill gas will be captured and destroyed.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Trump Holds Bipartisan Meeting on Gun Legislation

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President Trump held an hour-long bipartisan discussion to address gun control and other measures that lawmakers can take to prevent mass shootings.

Hope Hicks Announces Resignation

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White House communications director Hope Hicks said she will resign from her position in the coming weeks. The announcement came a day after Hicks spoke before the House Intelligence Committee on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Hicks admitted to the committee that she would occasionally tell “white lies” for the president.

Nor'easter to Bring Snow, Rain, High Winds

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NBC Connecticut meteorologists continue to track a storm for late in the week and flood watches and high wind watches have been issued.

The nor'easter is expected to bring heavy rain, high winds, and several inches of snow to parts of the state.

Rain will begin Thursday and get heavier as the storm moves closer to Connecticut.  Winds gusting anywhere from 40-60 miles per hour are possible.

The rain will transition to snow in the Litchfield Hills on Friday morning and will gradually change over to snow in the rest of the state throughout Friday.

Northwest Connecticut could see anywhere from 6-12 inches of snow.  Central parts of the state should expect 3-6 inches and shoreline areas and southeastern Connecticut could see 1-3 inches before the storm moves out.

The timing of the nor'easter combined with the high winds could cause coastal flooding during high tide on Friday.

Power outages are also a possibility because of the strong winds and wet, heavy snow.



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Companies That Changed Gun Policy and Cut Ties with the NRA

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In the wake of the mass shooting that killed 17 at a Florida high school, these companies have responded by announcing changes to their gun sales policies and cutting their NRA discount programs.

Photo Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

80-Year-Old Norwalk Man With Dementia Reported Missing

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A silver alert has been issued for an 80-year-old man from Norwalk.

Robert Jenkins, who suffers from dementia and other medical conditions, was reported missing on Wednesday.

Jenkins is 5 feet 6 inches, 145 pounds with brown eyes, a white beard and bald. 

The Norwalk man was last seen wearing army jacket with black hood, a black and blue striped polo shirt, glasses, black jeans and diabetic shoes.

Anyone with information regarding Jenkin's whereabouts is asked to call (203)854-3113 immediately.



Photo Credit: Norwalk Police

Democrats Pursue Sports Gambling Regulations

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It is possible that later this summer that sports betting could be legalized in Connecticut.

The United States Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in a New Jersey case, Christie v. NCAA, where the state is arguing that the federal government can’t control state lawmaking, and the particular issue is sports gambling.

Only four states allow for sports betting: Delaware, Oregon, Montana, and Nevada, and the case could open the floodgates, paving the way for states to regulate sports gambling.

In Connecticut, lawmakers say they want the state to have a structure in place to immediately reap the benefits, if and when the high court rules.

“We want to be ahead of something for a change,” said House Majority Leader Rep. Matt Ritter.

State lawmakers left open all possibilities for how the gambling would be regulated, saying they would predict the state’s Native American tribes would be involved as well, because of their compact with the state for slot machine revenue.

Republicans would not rule out supporting regulations for gambling, saying the state should be prepared, so long as the effort is not solely to capture revenue.

"We should not be balancing the budget on that, similar to marijuana. it shouldn't be a component to budget,” said Rep. Vin Candelora. He added, “I think this issue should certainly be looked at.”

Bobby V’s in Windsor Locks is an authorized location for Off Track Betting in Connecticut. The CEO of Sportech Ventures, the company that runs Bobby V’s locations in Stamford and Windsor Locks, says he would expect strict regulation for in-person and digital gambling, like allowing for placing bets on an app.

Sportech’s Ted Taylor said, "We go through a complicated process involving a public hearing in every single location in which we are so we'd expect that to be absolutely a pre-requisite if it was allowed in bricks and mortar locations and then you extrapolate from that, if it's going to be allowed in bricks and mortar locations if there is going to be an online operation and that's the area where the most protection is required."

He added he favors the expansion into sports gambling and thinks the state can benefit.

"For me it's all about making sure that if the state does it, it's done legally and in a way that the state can get its share and people can be employed, and tax can be generated in Connecticut."



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Couple Hits Turbulence While Trying to Redeem Vouchers

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A South Windsor family said they almost lost hundreds of dollars worth of airline vouchers they got from American Airlines.

A maintenance issue with American Airlines caused the Gagain’s family trip to Hawaii to be delayed six hours later than scheduled

“We lost a day in Hawaii and not everybody gets to go to Hawaii,” Kelly Gagain said.

To make up for the inconvenience, American Airlines issued Russ and Kelly Gagain four electronic vouchers worth $100 each.

Before the vouchers expired in January, Kelly Gagain decided to use them to join her husband on an upcoming business trip to Florida. Russ Gagain booked the flight online at the end of December entering each voucher individually before checking out.

Kelly Gagain received e-mail confirmation of the trip, but she didn’t look at the total. It wasn’t until their credit card bill arrived that the Gagains noticed they were charged the full $490 for the tickets and the vouchers hadn’t been applied.

Kelly Gagain said her husband contacted American Airlines three times to get the issue straightened out and each time he received the same answer.

"They said that the e-vouchers have expired and that there was nothing that they could do," Kelly Gagain said.

American Airlines let Gagain cancel the trip, waived the change fee and applied 2,000 airline miles to Kelly Gagain’s account.

But she didn't want to lose those $400 in vouchers.

NBC Connecticut Responds explained the situation to American Airlines and asked if there was anything they do could for the Gagains.

Kelly Gagain said the next day American Airlines called and offered her $400 worth of vouchers.

“We apologize to the Gagain family for what transpired during their recent booking with American Airlines. We have reached out to the family, provided new vouchers, along with a gesture of goodwill, for future use on American,” an American Airlines spokesperson told NBC Connecticut Responds

Immigration Chief Blames Oakland Mayor for 800 Missed Arrests

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The backlash against Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for alerting undocumented immigrants against potential ICE raids in her city over the weekend isn’t going away. Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan issued a stern statement on Tuesday, decrying Schaaf’s actions, going as far as to say that she might have put the lives of federal agents in danger. On Wednesday morning, Homan went on Fox and Friends to say that what Schaaf did was “no better than a gang lookout.”

Calling the mayor’s warning “reckless,” Homan told the show’s hosts that ICE was unable to locate 800 undocumented criminals because of it.

"What she did is no better than a gang lookout yelling 'police' when a police cruiser comes in the neighborhood, except she did it to an entire community. This is beyond the pale," he said.

Schaaf, who has received death threats and is being accused of protecting people with criminal records, once again defended her actions at a news conference Wednesday, stressing that she’s confident what she did was the right thing.

“When I made my decision, the type of person I was thinking about was Melin Sanchez,” the 21-year-old daughter of Oakland nurse Maria Mendoza-Sanchez, and her husband Eusebio, whose battle to legally remain with their children in the United States ended with the couple's deportation.

Sanchez, who served as a nurse at Highland Hospital providing care to cancer and heart patients, spent 15 years trying to get U.S. legal status, but was unsuccessful.

“They committed not a single crime and they were deported by this administration,” Schaaf told reporters. “Melin asked me weeping, ‘Why did the government need to take her parents away from her.’"

ICE said that about half of the 150 individuals arrested had criminal convictions in addition to immigration violations, including convictions for assault/battery, crimes against children, weapons charges and DUI.

The arrests have sparked fear in immigrant neighborhoods and kept people at home for fear of being arrested, according to local business leaders. The ICE arrests come amid a nationwide debate over whether local jurisdictions that call themselves “sanctuary cities” must cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions like San Francisco and Oakland shield dangerous criminal aliens from federal law enforcement at the expense of public safety,” Homan said in a statement. "Because these jurisdictions prevent ICE from arresting criminal aliens in the secure confines of a jail, they also force ICE officers to make more arrests out in the community, which poses increased risks for law enforcement and the public."

He added that "ICE does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately, and the agency prioritizes public and national security threats, immigration fugitives and illegal reentrants.”

Schaaf said she took fighting crime extremely seriously, saying that even in a sanctuary state like California, procedures were in place for deporting dangerous criminals. ICE is trying to distract people from their racist messages by spreading fear, she said.

Schaaf characterized ICE’s actions as political retaliation.

“I hope we take this moment to recognize that we have to fight against the racist myth that the Trump administration is trying to perpetuate – that immigrants are dangerous criminals. There is nothing further from the truth,” Schaff said. “The Trump administration and ICE has already stated that they are targeting California and targeting sanctuary cities like Oakland because of our political stand – political retaliation should not be tolerated in a Democratic America.”

As for whether she had broken any laws, Schaaf, herself a lawyer, said she had sought “informal legal advice” to ensure what she was doing was legal and justified.

The Justice Department said they are looking into whether Mayor Libby Schaaf obstructed justice.

“I’m doing my job as the mayor of Oakland, a community which is one-third immigrant,” she said. “Just as I am being criticized, I’m also being thanked – thanked for standing up for the residents of my city. Thanked for standing up for our most vulnerable residents that don’t have a voice – this is their city that believes in keeping families safe and keeping families together.”

When asked to comment about the controversy by reporters, Schaaf described it as “really sad.”

“Our country has become so decisive, so polarized and so hateful and vitriol, and I’m trying in this moment to be calm and thoughtful.”

Homan said assault on ICE agents were up over 50 percent this year. “This is a whole new norm, to intentionally warn criminals that law enforcement is coming. I just can’t believe it’s happening … she put law enforcement officials at risk … Our officers are putting their lives on the line every day to defend this country and to defend their community. And when politicians choose to take care of their political ambitions and make political statements on the backs of law enforcement it makes our jobs more difficult.”

He added: “We are not going away. We are going to keep enforcing the law.”



Photo Credit: Getty Images, File
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