Barbara Bush, the snowy-haired first lady whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretense made her more popular at times than her husband, President George H.W. Bush, died Tuesday, a family spokesman said. She was 92.

Mrs. Bush brought a grandmotherly style to buttoned-down Washington, often appearing in her trademark fake pearl chokers and displaying no vanity about her white hair and wrinkles.

"What you see with me is what you get. I'm not running for president — George Bush is," she said at the 1988 Republican National Convention, where her husband, then vice president, was nominated to succeed Ronald Reagan.

The Bushes, who were married Jan. 6, 1945, had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history. And Mrs. Bush was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams.

"I had the best job in America," she wrote in a 1994 memoir describing her time in the White House. "Every single day was interesting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun."

On Sunday, family spokesman Jim McGrath said the former first lady had decided to decline further medical treatment for health problems and focus instead on "comfort care" at home in Houston. She had been in the hospital recently for congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2009, she had heart valve replacement surgery and had a long history of treatment for Graves' disease, a thyroid condition.

"My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was," George W. Bush said in a statement Tuesday. "Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. I'm a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes."

According to funeral arrangements released late Tuesday, members of the general public will be able to pay their respects on Friday between noon and midnight at St. Martin's Church, 7171 Sage Road, Houston. The funeral service the following day will be by invitation only at Second Baptist Church.

The publisher's daughter and oilman's wife could be caustic in private, but her public image was that of a self-sacrificing, supportive spouse who referred to her husband as her "hero."

In the White House, "you need a friend, someone who loves you, who's going to say, 'You are great,'" Mrs. Bush said in a 1992 television interview.

Her uncoiffed, matronly appearance often provoked jokes that she looked more like the boyish president's mother than his wife. Late-night comedians quipped that her bright white hair and pale features also imparted a resemblance to George Washington.

Eight years after leaving the nation's capital, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as president. They returned four years later when he won a second term. Unlike Mrs. Bush, Abigail Adams did not live to see her son's inauguration. She died in 1818, six years before John Quincy Adams was elected.

Mrs. Bush insisted she did not try to influence her husband's politics.

"I don't fool around with his office," she said, "and he doesn't fool around with my household."

In 1984, her quick wit got her into trouble when she was quoted as referring to Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, as "that $4 million — I can't say it, but it rhymes with rich."

"It was dumb of me. I shouldn't have said it," Mrs. Bush acknowledged in 1988. "It was not attractive, and I've been very shamed. I apologized to Mrs. Ferraro, and I would apologize again."

Daughter-in-law Laura Bush, wife of the 43rd president, said Mrs. Bush was "ferociously tart-tongued."

"She's never shied away from saying what she thinks. ... She's managed to insult nearly all of my friends with one or another perfectly timed acerbic comment," Laura Bush wrote in her 2010 book, "Spoken from the Heart."

In her 1994 autobiography, "Barbara Bush: A Memoir," Mrs. Bush said she did her best to keep her opinions from the public while her husband was in office. But she revealed that she disagreed with him on two issues: She supported legal abortion and opposed the sale of assault weapons.

"I honestly felt, and still feel, the elected person's opinion is the one the public has the right to know," Mrs. Bush wrote.

She also disclosed a bout with depression in the mid-1970s, saying she sometimes feared she would deliberately crash her car. She blamed hormonal changes and stress.

"Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings," she wrote. "I almost wonder why he didn't leave me."

She said she snapped out of it in a few months.

Mrs. Bush raised five children: George W., Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. A sixth child, 3-year-old daughter Robin, died of leukemia in 1953.

In a speech in 1985, she recalled the stress of raising a family while married to a man whose ambitions carried him from the Texas oil fields to Congress and into influential political positions that included ambassador to the United Nations, GOP chairman and CIA director.

"This was a period, for me, of long days and short years," she said, "of diapers, runny noses, earaches, more Little League games than you could believe possible, tonsils and those unscheduled races to the hospital emergency room, Sunday school and church, of hours of urging homework or short chubby arms around your neck and sticky kisses."

Along the way, she said, there were also "bumpy moments — not many, but a few — of feeling that I'd never, ever be able to have fun again and coping with the feeling that George Bush, in his excitement of starting a small company and traveling around the world, was having a lot of fun."

In 2003, she wrote a follow-up memoir, "Reflections: Life After the White House."

"I made no apologies for the fact that I still live a life of ease," she wrote. "There is a difference between ease and leisure. I live the former and not the latter."

Along with her memoirs, she wrote "C. Fred's Story" and "Millie's Book," based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. Laura Bush, a former teacher with a master's degree in library science, continued her mother-in-law's literacy campaign in the White House.

The 43rd president was not the only Bush son to seek office in the 1990s. In 1994, when George W. was elected governor of Texas, son Jeb narrowly lost to incumbent Lawton Chiles in Florida. Four years later, Jeb was victorious in his second try in Florida.

"This is a testament to what wonderful parents they are," George W. Bush said as Jeb Bush was sworn into office. He won a second term in 2002, and then made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Sons Marvin and Neil both became businessmen. Neil achieved some notoriety in the 1980s as a director of a savings and loan that crashed. Daughter Dorothy, or Doro, has preferred to stay out of the spotlight. She married lobbyist Robert Koch, a Democrat, in 1992.

In a collection of letters published in 1999, George H.W. Bush included a note he gave to his wife in early 1994.

"You have given me joy that few men know," he wrote. "You have made our boys into men by bawling them out and then, right away, by loving them. You have helped Doro to be the sweetest, greatest daughter in the whole wide world. I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara's husband."

Mrs. Bush was born Barbara Pierce in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall's and Redbook magazines. After attending Smith College for two years, she married young naval aviator George Herbert Walker Bush. She was 19.

After World War II, the Bushes moved to the Texas oil patch to seek their fortune and raise a family. It was there that Bush began his political career, representing Houston for two terms in Congress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In all, the Bushes made more than two dozen moves that circled half the globe before landing at the White House in 1989. Opinion polls taken over the next four years often showed her approval ratings higher than her husband's.

The couple's final move, after Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, was to Houston, where they built what she termed their "dream house" in an affluent neighborhood. The Bush family also had an oceanfront summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

After retiring to Houston, the Bushes helped raise funds for charities and appeared frequently at events such as Houston Astros baseball games. Public schools in the Houston area are named for both of them.

In 1990, Barbara Bush gave the commencement address at all-women Wellesley College. Some had protested her selection because she was prominent only through the achievements of her husband. Her speech that day was rated by a survey of scholars in 1999 as one of the top 100 speeches of the century.

"Cherish your human connections," Mrs. Bush told graduates. "At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent." 

Former First Lady Barbara Bush has died at the age of 92. She served as first lady from 1989 to 1993.

A San Diego family caught in the deluge in the Hawaiian island of Kauai this weekend found safety with the help of legendary big wave surfer Laird Hamilton.

Record rain, 27 inches in just 24 hours, stranded the Gwilliam family on their last day of vacation in Kauai. 

In the middle of the flooding and mudslides, Hamilton swooped in to save the stranded vacationers staying just across the river from his home.

The Gwilliams, traveling from Encinitas, California, were huge fans before this, now they're seeing their super surfer in a whole new light.

"We tried not to let the kids see but I was terrified," Erin Gwilliam said.

“It was kind of like scary and I just wanted to go home,” Erin’s daughter Elin said.

The Gwilliams rented a house along the river. The rain flooded the river past its banks and washed out a nearby bridge and surrounding roads. That left the Gwilliams with only one way out of the North Shore.

“It is the only way out. It's the only way for anyone on the North Shore," Elin’s father Jamas said.

"I just kept praying all night that angels would surround the house," Erin said.

Then Hamilton, the pioneering leader in tow-in surfing, where a person uses a personal watercraft to catch giant waves, came to the rescue.

"He just kind of boated right up and was like, 'OK, come through the mud and the slime and come throw your bags in and let's go,'" Erin said.

"He's got a lot of energy, right? I don't even know if he owns a T-shirt," Jamas said.

Hamilton's big wave reputation is well documented, but the Gwilliams got to know his good nature first hand.

Hamilton comforted the Gwilliam kids during the ferry ride and they took many pictures and videos along the way.

"Now it just confirms him as being a total legend in my book," Jamas said.

And it turns out it wasn't just the Gwilliams that Hamilton managed to ferry off the North Shore. He spent the entire day Saturday helping stranded visitors.

Hanalei, where the Gwilliams were staying, gets 78 inches of rain per year. During this storm, they received a third of that in just 24 hours.

Since Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney accused former Dr. Larry Nassar of sexual abuse six months ago, the gold medalist is making her first public comments about the "hundreds" of times she says he abused her and the “big secret” she was forced to keep.

In an interview to be aired in full Sunday on “Dateline,” Maroney told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie that she was just 13 when she first visited the ex-USA Gymnastics doctor for an exam.

“He told me that he was gonna do a checkup on me. That was the first day that I was abused,” said Maroney, now 22.

Nassar worked for USA Gymnastics treating young athletes for nearly three decades. Though the organization said it fired him in 2015 and alerted law enforcement "after learning of athlete concerns," Nassar continued to work as a physician at Michigan State University through September 2016 and then shortly after was indicted on sexual assault charges and arrested for having thousands of images of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, as well as seven counts of sexual abuse, and is now serving his first sentence in an Arizona prison.

Maroney was a member of the “Fierce Five” of American gymnasts who won the team gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. She also won the silver medal in the vault event, and a photo showing her on the podium looking disappointed sparked a “not impressed” meme.

The athlete is one of more than 200 people who has accused Nassar of abuse. She told Guthrie that he molested her “every time I saw him,” which she said was “hundreds” of times.

“He said that nobody would understand this and the sacrifice that it takes to get to the Olympics, so you can’t tell people this,” Maroney recalled. “He didn’t say it in a way that was mean or anything like that. I was actually like, that makes sense. I don’t want to tell anyone about this.”

Maroney and her fellow gymnasts have also taken USA Gymnastics, MSU and the U.S. Olympic Committee to task, claiming that they turned a blind eye to Nassar’s misconduct and share some of the blame for the abuse. Earlier this week, Maroney said that the organizations only care about “money and medals,” adding that it “didn’t seem they cared about anything else.”

All three groups have made changes to their top leadership positions in the wake of Nassar’s abuse scandal. And the Michigan attorney general launched an investigation into Nassar’s time at MSU.

Maroney said at the time her abuse felt like a “big secret,” but she is ready to speak out about it now.

“Doing what’s right is not always what’s easy, but I need to speak up for the girls and for the future,” she said.

Maroney’s full interview, “Silent No More,” airs on “Dateline” Sunday at 7 p.m.

A 59-year-old Greenwich woman has serious injuries after a vehicle hit her and knocked her over on Tuesday night.

Police said the woman was crossing Arcadia Road at Sound Beach Avenue at 7:04 p.m. when the vehicle hit her. She was transported to a local hospital.

The Greenwich Police Department’s traffic section is investigating. 

A 59-year-old Greenwich woman has serious injuries after a vehicle hit her and knocked her over Tuesday night.

Police said the woman was crossing Arcadia Road at Sound Beach Avenue at 7:04 p.m. when the vehicle hit her. She was transported to a local hospital.

The Greenwich Police Department’s traffic section is investigating.

The first lawsuit has been filed by a victim of the Parkland shooting, just over two months after a former student opened fire inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 students and staff.

Freshman Anthony Borges became a hero in the eyes of many when he was shot five times while protecting other students during the Feb. 14 mass shooting. His family attorney has filed a civil suit against Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old suspected shooter.

Also named in the case filed by Alex Arreaza are the estate of Cruz’s late mother, a family that allowed Cruz to stay with them after her death until the day of the shooting and three mental health facilities where Cruz was treated.

Cruz is charged with assault and battery in the suit, while the other parties are charged with negligence in the case.

Cruz appeared in court last week, where his public defense team argued he did not have the funds to hire a private lawyer and should continue to be defended by the county team.

Attorneys for Borges had made comments in the past detailing an intent to sue Broward County Schools and the Broward Sheriff’s Office. State law requires a six month notice be made before a lawsuit can official be filed against an agency, while individuals and organizations can be served at any time.

A groundbreaking new insurance policy is being taken out on coral reefs near the beaches in the Cancún area — not to protect boats or divers but the reefs themselves. 

Through parametric insurance, a new kind of risk management tool, money collected from a tax paid by local hotels will pay for reef repairs along a 60 km (about 37 miles) stretch of the Mexican coastline right after a major hurricane blows through, preserving a vibrant ecosystem that happens to be an effective bulwark for a valuable tourist spot that's susceptible to beach erosion. The arrangement is believed to be the first of its kind, and its creators think it could serve as a model for preserving all kinds of habitats around the world when they're at their most vulnerable.

"Reefs are literally the first line of defense when a storm hits the coastline," said Mark Way, director of global coastal risk and resilience at the American nonprofit The Nature Conservancy. He said that the program would help make the case that "financial systems and services" can be an important tool in conserving and preserving the planet's natural defenses.

The Mesoamerican Reef stretches hundreds of miles from this part of Mexico, the southeast tip that juts into the Caribbean Sea, down to Honduras, forming the second largest barrier reef in the world. It supports a rich variety of wildlife, but it also absorbs much of the strength of ocean waves that can erode the area's popular beaches.

But when hurricanes hit, they can rip away parts of the reefs, killing or damaging lots of coral and leaving the beaches exposed to the elements.

So The Nature Conservancy, the local tourism industry and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo created the state's Coastal Zone Management Trust, unveiled last month at a major international summit hosted in the area. The trust will collect tax money from hotels to pay both for regular maintenance of the coral reef and the innovative parametric insurance policy.

When a major hurricane hits the area and windspeed reaches a certain threshold (how fast is still being worked out), the insurance policy will kick in, paying for the trust to clean up debris in the critical first few days and nurture and replant broken coral for months and years after that.

The financial arrangement has buy-in from the local tourism industry after members came to realize the risks they were facing and that they could do something about it, said Fernando Secaira, Nature Conservancy coastal risk and resilience strategy lead for the region.

"Almost everyone knows that the reef exists but many didn't know about the reef being degraded," Secaira said.

How much tax revenue the trust will collect and how much the insurance will pay out are still being worked out, he said. The plan is to have the the trust up and running by the upcoming hurricane season.

Insuring the reefs with parametric insurance likely wouldn't have been an option more than a dozen years ago.

It's an increasingly popular tool mainly used, so far, by governments anticipating natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, according to Eduardo Cavallo, who researches the economics of natural disasters at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington. The bank is funded by dozens of governments and gives out development loans across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Parametric insurance for natural catastrophes was first used by Mexico's government in 2006, according to Cavallo. He said the Coastal Zone Management Trust's use of parametric insurance for coral reefs is a far more specific application than he's seen before.

Under a traditional indemnity insurance plan, assessors arrive after a disaster to evaluate how much damage was done and how much money to pay, Cavallo said. The process can take months and there can be disputes over how much money the policy should pay out. 

With a parametric insurance plan, a pre-set payment is triggered automatically, so it can come within days. It's usually more expensive than traditional insurance and requires extensive modeling from the insurer to get right, but for governments that want to respond to a disaster immediately, it's become a good option to supplement traditional insurance and foreign aid, Cavallo said. 

In Latin America and the Caribbean, "there's more and more countries considering this type of insurance and more and more availability," he said.

There's been little controversy so far, Cavallo said, but he noted that "it's a market that's in its infancy."

The quick payout is also critical for coral reefs after a storm, according to The Nature Conservancy.

Coral is "a living organism and as it's rolling around on the seabed, it's getting damaged," Way said.

When big storms do hit, they can damage massive parts of reefs. Three hurricanes that hit nearby Belize between 2000 and 2002 destroyed 75 percent of its coral reefs, according to a study cited in a United Nations report from 2004.

Of course, coral reefs today are always under threat of bleaching, a potentially deadly phenomenon brought on by warming oceans. They're also being hurt by other human activities, like polluting and overfishing.

The Coastal Zone Management Trust isn't meant to stop coral bleaching directly, and The Nature Conservancy has other initiatives aimed at reef restoration, but Way and Secaira noted that the effects of global warming do make coral more fragile and therefore more vulnerable to the damaging waves churned up in intense hurricanes. Through the trust, they believe they'll make the reefs more resilient.

"When it comes to the actual structure of the reef, the biggest risk is hurricane damage," Way said.

The initiative, announced March 8 at The Economist World Ocean Summit in Cancún-Playa del Carmen, came with some fanfare, according to Michelle Bender, ocean rights manager for the Earth Law Center who was at the conference.

The insurance plan seemed innovative to Bender at first — she hasn't seen anything like it, either — but she started identifying some problems with it. She called it a "Band-Aid" for coral reefs that won't treat the bleaching that's chronically ailing them. She also took issue with the way the approach values nature for its human applications, rather its own inherent value.

"We need to move past our traditional economic models that have the economy as our highest tier [in which] nature serves people and people serve the economy," she said.

The Earth Law Center is set to launch its own initiative on Earth Day, a new legal framework that would establish rights for the ocean. It's part of a growing movement for giving rights to nature, she said, noting that a Colombian court ruled this month that the Amazon rainforest has rights.

But others see the economic incentives-based approach as an effective way of getting governments to take conservation seriously.

Michele Lemay, a coastal management specialist also at the Inter-American Development Bank, said she was "pretty excited" about the trust fund. It's the kind of approach she said gets the attention of top government officials who can change policy on a wide scale.

"This is just one specific example where you can go to a minister of finance and you can show we can link a financial product with the conservation of some coastal ecosystems that have value to the private sector," Lemay said. "For a group of decision makers, that's what gets their attention."

Twenty years ago, she said, those ministers, around the Caribbean at least, wouldn't have given an extra thought to such efforts. But she's seen a shift in the last several years that recognizes reefs and other coastal habitats as "the first line of defense against climate change," making governments and institutions much more interested in green infrastructure.

She joked that this project has "the perfect storm" of backers in a major charity like The Nature Conservancy, a focused local government and willing private sector, so it's not guaranteed to work in other cases. But if it does work in Mexico, it will have "a huge demonstration effect," she added.

The Nature Conservancy is already thinking about how to scale the effort around the world, and there's plenty of opportunities, starting with coral reefs. They protect or provide economic benefits to as many as 200 million people on Earth, according to a 2014 Stanford study that also found that restoring reef structures in the tropics is cheaper than building artificial breakwaters.

Mangrove forests, salt marshes and seagrass beds, among other parts of the ecosystem, could also get their own parametric insurance policies. Pollution is another parameter that might trigger payouts.

"We need to reduce vulnerabilities as much as we can" as risks increase with the onset of climate change, Way said.

His colleague, Seceira, suggested parametric insurance could help countries begin to factor their natural wealth into their national accounting, the same way they do highways and hospitals.

"We can approach nature as an asset that you can insure because it's so valuable," Seceira said. "It's changing the mindset of many people."

Wednesday marks the 112th anniversary of the devastating 1906 earthquake and subsequent inferno that ravaged San Francisco and surrounding areas.

More than 3,000 people are believed to have died and an estimated 28,000 buildings were wiped out as a result of the catastrophic events, according to research. The quake itself, which featured shaking lasting for some 45 to 60 seconds, was said to have been felt from as far away as Los Angeles, southern Oregon and central Nevada, according to the United States Geological Survey.

"The California earthquake of April 18, 1906, ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time," according to the USGS.

San Francisco city leaders and community members on Thursday gathered at 5:12 a.m. at Lotta's Fountain — one of the oldest monuments in the city by the bay and one-time gathering place for earthquake survivors — to remember the lives lost after the temblor struck. The ceremony at Lotta's Fountain took place at 5:12 a.m. to mark the exact time when the earth violently shook more than one century ago.

The group in attendance then ventured to the corner of 20th and Church streets to continue the annual tradition of spray painting the famous "Little Giant" fire hydrant, which is known for helping save the Mission District.

Wednesday's commemoration featured a special touch as organizers dedicated it to late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who died in December.

"I would like to take a special moment to remember our late Mayor Ed Lee who was a friend to so many of us here this morning but also was a stalwart at this event," Acting Mayor Mark Farrell said. 

The anniversary of the 1906 quake comes on the heels of USGS revealing research that estimates that hundreds of people could die and thousands would be hurt if a magnitude 7.0 earthquake or stronger were to strike along the Hayward Fault. That fault is more dangerous than the San Andreas Fault because it runs through some of the most heavily populated parts of the Bay Area, from Richmond down to San Jose, the USGS study said.

The United States is targeting a NAFTA deal in three weeks, according to congressional aides and industry executives who have been briefed by the Trump administration, CNBC reported. 

Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told members of Congress high-level talks would take two more weeks, with another two weeks spent on hammering out the fine print. A senior administration official confirmed that as the expected timing.

For the second time this month, top officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico are descending on Washington to hold negotiations. Those meetings will take place tomorrow and Friday.

At this time, there is not expected to be an announcement, as it could be a few weeks before a deal is finalized.

Time to get in formation: a San Francisco church is set to hold a Beyoncé Mass.

Yes, really.

The Vine SF at Grace Cathedral invites parishioners "to sing your Beyoncé favorites and discover how her art opens a window into the lives of marginalized and forgotten — particularly black females."

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Rev. Jude Harmon, founding pastor of the Vine, said "the beauty of Beyoncé’s music is she explores those themes in an idiom that is accessible to everyone. We can use it as a conversation starter. That’s what it’s designed to be.”

Harmon also serves as the director of innovative ministry for Grace Cathedral.

Rev. Yolanda Norton, an assistant professor of Old Testament at San Francisco Tehological Seminary, will also be a featured speaker at the mass. Norton also teaches a course called "Beyoncé and the Bible,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Grace Cathedral is the third largest Episcopal cathedral in the country, according to its website.

Mass is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 25. For more information, visit GraceCathedral.org.

Westport Public Schools are investigating after a student found a bolt inside a chocolate chip muffin purchased at a school cafeteria Wednesday.

According to a letter sent to families, a seventh-grade student found the bolt in a muffin purchased at the Coleytown Middle School cafeteria. The student discovered the 1-inch bolt before biting into the muffin and did not eat any of it.

The student reported it to staff, who pulled all of the muffins from the schools as a precaution. School officials have contacted the vendor, who is working to break down all their equipment to see if they can determine where the bolt came from.

There have been no other reports of foreign items in cafeteria baked goods.

For now, the schools will get their muffins from a different bakery.

School officials said the incident remains under investigation.

Watertown police are trying to identify a suspect in a residential burglary on Dinunzio Road Monday.

Police said around 8:30 a.m. a male suspect broke into a home on Dinunzio Road by smashing the window on a backdoor with a hammer then reaching in and unlocking the deadbolt. The suspect stole a television from the home, police said. The break-in was captured on a home surveillance system.

The suspect is described as being in his late 20s or early 30s, approximately 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, with dark hair and a “chin-strap” beard. He was wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt with the words “fish tale” on the back, a dark t-shirt, black sweatpants and black sneakers.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect in the video above should contact the Watertown Police Department at 860-945-5200 or Crime Stoppers at 860-945-9940. There is a cash reward available in this case, police said.

A dozen homeowners and businesses in Bristol are now helping police solve crimes and catch criminals by sharing what they see from their homes or offices, through their surveillance cameras.

“We could reach out to those people with those businesses and look at their cameras to see if they picked up anything, the crime or something that may help us in the investigation,” Lt. Richard Guerrera said.

Guerrera said the surveillance cameras registered with police will help them capture criminal activity and could potentially be used to make convictions.

Wethersfield police started a similar surveillance camera database in March and say 30 homes and businesses have now registered their cameras with police.

“I'll sign up right away right away,” Jose Ramos said.

Ramos still remembers the sickening feeling after being the victim of a crime.

“Bad, horrible you know I didn't catch them,” Ramos said.

Last November the contractor’s tools were stolen right outside of his front door. He estimates they were worth approximately $1000.

“Without that you can't provide for the family. Those tools cost money,” Ramos said.

While his Bristol home is equipped with surveillance cameras, they weren’t working the day he says criminals came onto his property.

“I keep an eye on them and it's recording, the DVR is recording 24/7,” Ramos said.

Soon Ramos’ cameras will be registered with the Bristol Police Department as part of the new Community Watch Team.

For Ramos, it’s a no-brainer, giving police a look through his lens to help catch criminals.

The program is voluntary. Those interested in registering their surveillance systems can do so through the city website.

The Groton Town Police Department is searching for a missing sailor.

Police said 24-year-old Tyler E. Jacob, a U.S. Navy sailor, was last seen Tuesday morning when he left his Groton home. He has not been seen since.

Jacob was riding his blue 2014 Honda CBR motorcycle with Connecticut plate 00KSVK. He is 5-foot-11, weighs approximately 220 pounds, is blond and has blue eyes. It is unknown what he was wearing when he went missing.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact the Groton Town Police Department at 860-441-6712.

A 3-year-old girl shot her pregnant mother Tuesday in an Indiana parking lot after finding her father's loaded gun in the car, police said.

Shaneque Thomas, 21, was sitting in the front seat of the car outside Plato's Closet at a Merrillville strip mall parking lot when the toddler fired the gun, striking the mother between the chest and shoulder.

The girl's 1-year-old brother was also in the car.

"She had no idea what she had done and she was very scared," Detective Sgt. James Bogner said.

Thomas' boyfriend, identified by police as Menzo Brazien, was inside the thrift store trying on clothes at the time of the shooting. He is being held on a preliminary charge of child endangerment, the Lake County Sheriff's Department said. 

A Plato's Closet employee told NBC 5 a witness ran inside the store and told her there was a woman bleeding outside. 

"There was blood flowing all from her stomach; just coming out like water, like a faucet, and I screamed 'Someone call 911,'" Hadassah Zirkle said.

Another employee, Paloma Prieto, told NBC 5 Brazien rushed outside and was "balling his eyes out" as he wrapped his jacket around Thomas' waist to try and stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived. 

Thomas was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Loyola University Medical Center where she was listed in critical but stable condition.

Employees took the children inside the store to shield them from the chaos. Zirkle said the little girl had blood on her jacket. 

"[She was] just looking at me, caressing my neck. Just holding on to me. I was telling her it was OK," Zirkle added.

Merrillville police say the couple from Michigan City were in Merrillville to visita local Planned Parenthood. The mother is about six weeks pregnant, police said.

The children have been placed in the custody of the Indiana Department of Child Services. 

Merrillville Police Chief Joe Petruch called the shooting a "real careless act."

A Stamford man was on the Southwest flight that made an emergency landing in Philadelphia Tuesday after something went horribly wrong and he said the flight crew members were “outstanding” during a tragic situation.

Around 30 minutes into the flight, the twin-engine Boeing 737 that left New York with 149 people board apparently blew an engine and was hit by shrapnel that smashed a window and damaged the fuselage, killing a passenger and injuring seven others, authorities said.

“All of a sudden, had a large explosion happen, with regards to what we assume was the engine and then, basically all panic broke out,” said Jim Demetros, a Stamford resident who was on his way to a technology software conference in San Antonio.

The pilot took the plane into a rapid descent as passengers using oxygen masks that dropped from the ceiling braced for impact.

Demetros, who flies frequently and said this flight happened to be on his birthday, commended the crew for how they responded.

“(T)he crew at Southwest was outstanding, both from the cabin crew as well as the crew in the cockpit,” he said. “They handled themselves amazingly and as part of the whole sequence of events, because everything happens in an instant and it doesn’t come down in a very slow fashion. It comes down in a very quick fashion and puts panic in those who are sitting inside the cabin.” 

The woman sitting next to the window that shattered, Jennifer Riordan, of New Mexico, died.

Demetros said it was a pretty harrowing experience and the flight crew and people nearby scrambled to try to save her, while keeping everyone else safe.

The said the crews and the two other people who tried to help the woman are “the true heroes.”

“It was great to see how humanity came together in a very, very tragic situation, to say the least,” he said.

National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt said this was the first passenger fatality in an accident involving a U.S. airline since 2009.

The tragedy is the skies will not keeping Demetros from traveling again soon.

“You can’t worry about things that are out of control,” he said.

He will be traveling next week again.

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The State of Connecticut is holding onto more than $750 million in unclaimed property. More than 1.4 million people and businesses are owed money from sources such as forgotten bank accounts, utility deposits, and insurance policies.

The CT Big List puts all this information in one place. Anyone can search the online database to see if the state owes you.

Getting your money requires some work.

The State Treasurer’s Office says it typically takes about 90 days to process a claim once the proper documentation is received and some may take even longer due to their complexity.

That was Linda Fischl’s experience.

She filed a claim in September after discovering a $956 insurance policy in her late father’s name. Fischl called the state to pursue it as the executor of her father’s estate.

Fischl had to submit a number of documents along with her claim, including a copy of her driver license, her father’s social security card, a notarized Power of Attorney agreement and her father’s death certificate.

The next step was obtaining a certificate from the Probate Court.

Fischl mailed everything to the State Treasurer’s Office and waited and waited.

“I just thought, well, this is incredible. Who else is going to do this? Are they really going to go through all of the steps and have to backtrack or know how to approach it," she said.

Fischl contacted NBC Connecticut Responds.

In response to our inquiry, a spokesperson for the Treasurer’s Office confirmed Fischl’s claim has been approved and a check is being processed.

To search for unclaimed property, go to www.ctbiglist.com.

1. Enter at least a last name in the box provided and click the "Search Properties" button to get a list of matching names.
2. Click the check box next to the property number displayed alongside the name you wish to inquire about and click the "Claim Properties" button. (You may select more than one property listed with a name.)
3. To create a claim form, fill in claimant's information and click the "Submit Claim" button to get a pre-filled claim form containing the information you entered.
4.  Print out and complete the Claim Form and review the "Required Documentation" section of the form.
5. Mail: * Completed Claim Form with claimant's signature and notarization; and * Required Documents listed on the instruction sheet to: State of Connecticut, Office of the State Treasurer, P.O. Box 5065, Hartford, CT 06102

Three Hartford women face kidnapping and assault charges after cell phone video surfaced of what police call a brutal attack on Rowe Avenue last year.

According to court documents, the cell phone was found during a search and seizure warrant for an unrelated ATF investigation. The video was passed to Hartford police in March 2018. Paperwork says that the video showed three women attacking another woman. The victim was "being dragged by her hair several times, punched and kicked repeatedly in the face, her cloths [sic] ripped off her body, and she is left lying naked in the middle of the road." Police say onlookers cheered and encouraged the suspects while recording the attack.

Hartford Police reportedly identified one of the suspects as 30-year-old Ada Marrero of Hartford, who was known "from a separate unrelated investigation, in which Marrero was arrested for a firearm."

Authorities say they also recognized the victim and that they were able to locate the victim through her probation officer.

Paperwork reveals that when investigators reached out to the victim, she confirmed that "she was assaulted, robbed, and abducted on August 13, 2017" and named two suspects in the attack which included Marrero and 33-year-old Waleska Bones.

The victim says that the three suspects approached her while she was on James Street and "assaulted, robbed, and forced her to 103 Rowe Avenue. She reported all three females would not let her go unless she got money to pay [Marrero]. She had her eyes swollen shut, bruising all over her body, and clumps of hair missing from her head."

The victim told police she did not tell anyone about the incident because she feared for her safety.

Court documents say the victim correctly pointed out the two suspects she named in a lineup of photographs.

Investigators say they interviewed Bones and that the suspect admitted to taking the victim's clothes off and participating in the assault.

Police say they tracked down the third suspect, 38-year-old Jacqueline Davila.

Marrero, Bones, and Davila were arrested and charged with second-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault and cruelty to persons.

Investigators believe the crime was drug-related.

The three women were each issued a $250,000 bond.

The demolition work that started in February for a casino in East Windsor appears to be almost complete. All that remains of the Showcase Cinemas is a large concrete slab, some sets of stairs, and piles of rubble.

But future development of the site remains further in doubt following a recent opinion from Attorney General George Jepsen. He was asked by Connecticut’s House Speaker to provide an opinion on the federal process for authorizing tribal casinos and whether Connecticut can pass laws to circumvent it.

Jepsen responded with a thirteen page response and a grim outlook.

Specifically, lawmakers considered attempting to authorize the casino and have it be under the guidelines of the compacts with the state’s two casino operating tribes. Jepsen said, “eliminating the federal approval condition would raise risks for the current gaming arrangements with the Tribes about which we have previously opined and continue to have serious concerns.”

Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz welcomed the clarity from Jepsen.

“The reality of an additional casino being built in Connecticut without the BIA approval in the next five years is zero,” he said.

The issue, from the tribes’ and their supporters’ standpoint, is that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has not signed off on submitted amendments to their compacts with the State of Connecticut, leaving the project in a state of limbo. The East Windsor facility would be the state’s first casino located off of tribal land.

The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes entered into the joint venture for the casino as a way to combat the emerging pressure from MGM Springfield, a casino slated to open later in 2018.

Andrew Doba, a spokesman for the tribes said of the opinion submitted by Jepsen, “We agree with the Attorney General that DOI is violating the law every day that it fails to publish notice of approval of the compact amendments in the Federal Register, and we share his confidence in our legal position.”

“However, we strongly believe that there is a way to proceed with the project until the legal issues are resolved that protects the State’s revenue under the compacts, and we will continue to discuss the options with state leaders,” Doba added.

MGM has continued its effort in the State Capitol to lobby for a competitive bid process for a third casino. The casino corporation viewed the opinion as a victory for their interests, how their commercial casino proposal for Bridgeport would not require approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Uri Clinton, an executive with MGM said, “We reassert our view that the fastest, most effective way to achieve those goals, and modernize the state’s decades-old gaming structure, is to move forward with a competitive process.”

Aresimowicz did not have as rosy an outlook when it came to MGM.

“It’s my understanding that MGM has its hands in multiple pots around gambling throughout the United States, so if they want to build something in Bridgeport, they need to stop talking about it and promising and actually participate in some kind of study of what it will look like in the state,” he said.

A man who says he was sexually abused by a priest while growing up in Bristol is taking his case to court.

A civil lawsuit filed in New Haven Superior Court names the priest, Reverend Gregory Altermatt, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. It claims sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s and 1980s when the plaintiff, now in his 40s, was 7 to 15 years old.

Altermatt has not been charged with any crimes.

The lawsuit states the church should have known that Altermatt posed a danger to minors with whom he had contact.

“It’s not unusual that at this time of life an abuse victim finally says I can’t take this anymore,” Attorney Thomas McNamara said of his client, Matthew Cornell.

McNamara said Altermatt became a close friend of the Cornell family that belonged to his parish, St. Matthew’s Church in Bristol.

“His mother was very religious,” McNamara said, “so much so that she actually sowed some vestments for Reverend Altermatt’s ordination.”

The abuse intensified, McNamara said, after Altermatt transferred to St. Anne Church in Waterbury. The attorney said it got even worse when the priest became a caretaker and babysitter for Cornell following his mother’s death in 1979.

“After that Altermatt was spending an increasing amount of time with Mr. Cornell and had more opportunity to abuse him,” McNamara said.

The lawsuit states Altermatt abused Cornell in the St. Anne’s rectory, his family home in Bristol, the priest’s car and Altermatt’s mother’s condo during a trip to Florida.

The prosecution of former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and other adult survivors of child sex abuse motivated Cornell to take legal action now.

The lawsuit does not specify an amount, but Cornell is seeking compensation for psychological damages.

“He’s still feeling the emotional fallout from this and betrayal of trust from this man who was like a family member and took him under his wing,” McNamara said.

NBC Connecticut reached out for comment on the allegations multiple times by email and phone to Altermatt’s attorney, but never heard back.

“It is the policy of the Archdiocese of Hartford not to comment on pending litigation,” said Maria Zone, Director of Communications for the Archidocese of Hartford. “It is important for the public to know that the Archdiocese is committed to keeping children and vulnerable adults safe through its “Safe Environment Program,” which includes background checks of all of its personnel who have regular contact with children and vulnerable adults, and VIRTUS training for adults and minors that concerns sexual abuse awareness and how to deal appropriately with such issues. The safety of children and vulnerable adults is a top priority of the Archdiocese of Hartford.”