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New Haven Breaks Ground on School Named For Obama

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New Haven Public Schools, elected officials and Southern Connecticut State University held a groundbreaking for the new Barack H. Obama Magnet University School Thursday morning.

This will be the first school in New England to be named in honor of President Obama. It is being built on the Southern Connecticut State University campus.

"He’s not serving as president currently now, but we know he had a commitment to urban education and we will continue on with his commitment,” New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carol Birks said.

When the building opens, nearly 500 students from pre-K through 4th grade will attend the elementary school replacing the Strong 21st Century Communications School on Orchard Street.

“This school will embody the audacity of hope," Mayor Toni Harp (D - New Haven) said during the ceremony, quoting the former president.

The total cost of the project is $45 million. The New Haven Board of Alders approved $10.7 million in bonding and the rest of the funding is coming from the state.

“It shows that there is a commitment to early education,” Strong's principal Susan DeNicola said.

“Many years we worked on this to get the approvals to move these kids to the state of the art facility and the dream to be on university campus,” NHPS Chief Operating Officer Will Clark said.

Opening up on Southern's campus will enable education students to gain invaluable in-class experience.

"The opportunity to have young teachers, they bring ideas to us older teachers, we can teach them,” said Gina Algilani, a reading specialist at the Strong school.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Southern's President Joe Bertolini made a big promise to the students in attendance.

“If you do well and you do come to Southern Connecticut State University, each one of you, we’ll get your names, will receive a $1,000 scholarship," he said, followed by cheers from the crowd.

"I hope he wasn’t kidding about the scholarships because we’re gonna hold him to that,” DeNicola said.

The goal is for construction of the 64,000-square foot, three-story school building to be finished in time to open in fall 2019.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Route 8 North in Bridgeport Closed Due to Serious Crash

IHOP Co-Founder Laments Name Change

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IHOP became IHOb this week, and many have expressed strong feelings on the name change. But few have stronger feelings about the temporary name change than South Glastonbury resident Jerry Lapin, one of the restaurant chain’s co-founders.

"IHOP. You don't fool around with that,” Lapin said.

In 1958, Lapin co-founded the future restaurant chain with his older brother Al and another childhood friend. Lapin was just thinking about starting his career when he returned home from the Korean War -- he had a Purple Heart and a Silver Star medal, but no job.

After trying their hand at the coffee business, the Lapin brothers opened their first International House of Pancakes. Lapin said the lawyers wanted a less generic name, and so IHOP was born.

"You couldn't spell out 'International House of Pancakes' on a sign, you had to put IHOP,” Lapin said.

The first IHOP was located outside of Burbank, Calif., across the street from a popular Bob’s Big Boy restaurant.

"The theory was we'll get their overflow. We didn't get their overflow. We were killing it,” Lapin recalled.

Within a few years, the company went on the stock exchange. Lapin still has the original ticker tape. That was a lifetime ago for Lapin, but hearing about the chain’s name change still steams him.

"People spend millions of dollars trying to get an iconic name and you have one. What are you doing?"

Other restaurant chains also jokingly questioned the name change on Twitter which brought a smile to Lapin's face.


IHOB is a four-letter word that he has a hard time digesting. But all of this free publicity could be an acquired taste for a man who knows all of the original ingredients for IHOP’s success.

"It was a national guessing contest. What's the B for? How much money would you have had to spend?" he said. "And whoever figured it out is either a genius or a nutjob, I'm not sure which."

Lapin sold his share of IHOP in 1966. He said he and his brother had a disagreement over where they were taking the company, and he didn’t want to divide the family.

Since then, the 88-year-old New York native started a number of other restaurants and businesses around the world.

He and his wife eventually settled in Connecticut to be near family. Their son is a doctor in Hartford.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Crews Search Water Off Greenwich for Missing Paddleboarder

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The US Coast Guard and local crews are searching for a possible person in the water off the coast of Greenwich.

USCG officials said a Good Samaritan found a paddleboard between Calf Island and Shell Island around 5:50 p.m. Thursday.

Crews responded and found an oar approximately a quarter mile southwest of Calf Island. Rescuers are searching the area.

Anyone with information on the owner of the paddleboard should contact the USCG at 203-468-4444.



Photo Credit: USCG

Woman Sues NASA for Moon Dust She Says Astronaut Gave Her

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A Tennessee woman is suing NASA to maintain possession of what she says is a vial of moon dust given to her by astronaut Neil Armstrong when she was 10 years old, NBC News reported

Laura Cicco in her lawsuit says the vial was given to her in the 1970s by Armstrong, who she claims was a friend of her father. A handwriting expert authenticated the signature on a note accompanying the vial and tests of the vial's contents found that "there is no evidence to rule out a lunar origin." Terrestrial materials from Earth's crust were also identified in the sample, however. 

NASA has a reputation for aggressiveness in its efforts to take possession of lunar samples held by private citizens. The agency declined to comment. 




Photo Credit: Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP

No Injuries After House Fire in Vernon

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Firefighters responded to a fire on Willow Stream Drive in Vernon around 3:30 a.m. Friday. 

Officials said a smoke detector woke the woman who was sleeping in the home and she saw fire in the living room. 

She was able to get out of the home on her own and no injuries are reported. 

It took firefighters around 20 minutes to extinguish the fire and the local fire marshal is investigating the cause.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Teen Flown to Hospital After Crash in Colchester

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An 18-year-old Colchester man has serious injuries and was flown to a hospital after a crash early Friday morning.

Police said 18-year-old Taylor Howes, of Colchester, hit a tree on Norwich Avenue just before 2:30 a.m. and suffered serious injuries. Lifestar flew him to Hartford Hospital.

The passenger was taken to the Marlborough Clinic, police said.

Police are investigating the crash and ask anyone with information to call 860-465-5400.




Photo Credit: Submitted

Former NFL Tight End Arrested in Connection With California Burglary

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Former NFL Player Kellen Winslow Jr. was arrested by deputies at his Encinitas, California home Thursday on a warrant and is facing kidnapping, rape, sodomy and residential burglary charges, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said.

The warrant was issued Thursday morning and Winslow was taken into custody hours later, the District Attorney's office said.

The former New England Patriot and New York Jet was charged with two counts of kidnapping with the intent to commit rape, two counts of forcible rape, one count of forcible sodomy, one count of forcible oral copulation, two counts of residential burglary and one count of indecent exposure.

SDSO Lt. Michael Blevins told NBC 7 there were multiple victims associated with the new charges but would not say how many. Blevins said the alleged incidents happened in the Encinitas, California area, but not in the Park Encinitas mobile home park where he was arrested last Thursday, June 7.

Winslow was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on a felony count of first-degree burglary following the first arrest. His new arraignment date is set for Friday.

Winslow, 34, was first arrested just after 2:30 p.m. after deputies responded to reports of a possible burglary in Park Encinitas, a senior community located on North El Camino Real, east of Interstate 5 and north of Encinitas Boulevard.

The person who reported the burglary tried confronting the man — later identified as Winslow — because the person did not recognize him. The man said he confronted Winslow and Winslow said he was looking for a red dog named Clifford.

The person, who did not want to be identified, took photos of Winslow's SUV  that helped San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) deputies track Winslow down and arrest him a few blocks away.

The SDSO told the San Diego Union-Tribune on Monday that Winslow has given inconsistent and varied statements relating to his presence in the mobile home.

Winslow's publicist Denise White says he was at the park to look for a home for his mother-in-law and that his wife attends church with the elderly couple that lives in the mobile home where he was seen. She says nothing was touched.

White released a statement from defense attorney Harvey A. Steinberg saying Winslow looks forward to being vindicated.

Winslow spent five hours in a north San Diego County jail before posting bail. When he walked out of the jail, he nodded to a photographer who was waiting at the top of the steps but did not say anything about the charges. 

Winslow grew up in San Diego and graduated from Scripps Ranch High School before playing his college football at the University of Miami.

His NFL career started with the Cleveland Browns in 2004 and included stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and New York Jets.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Public Drinking Water Supply Emergency Issued for Parts of Hebron

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A public drinking water supply emergency has been issued for part of Hebron and there is a mandatory ban on outdoor water use for customers of the Hebron Center and Mill at Stonecroft water systems.

Connecticut Water Company said that a sudden loss of available water supply in its Hebron Center water system led to the declaration of an emergency for the two water systems, which serve around 200 customers, including the consumers of the former Mill at Stonecroft system in Hebron.

The drinking water supply emergency is only for the customers of the Hebron Center and Mill at Stonecroft water systems. No other Connecticut Water water systems are affected, the company said. 

“The company observed a sudden and significant decline in the supply available from our largest well serving the Hebron Center system. While we often have multiple options available to supply our systems, this particular small system is served with a single well field, so we have had to supplement the supply with bulk water deliveries to meet public health and fire protection needs. We know that is not sustainable or the level of service that is appropriate for our customers, so we are taking immediate actions,” Craig Patla, vice president of service delivery, said in a statement. 

The Connecticut Water Company is investigating the condition of the water source and the reason for the drop in supply. 

It is also making a temporary interconnection to allow for the transfer of water from the Country Manor system and plans to permanently interconnect the two systems later. 

Connecticut Water is instituting a mandatory ban on outdoor water use for consumers of the affected systems and taking steps to reduce unaccounted-for water, including not adding any new consumers to the system without review and approval from Department of Public Health. 



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Bear Spotted in Wethersfield

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Wethersfield police said they received several reports of a bear in Wethersfield on Friday. 

The bear was spotted in different areas of town, including Ridge Road, Wright Road, Wolcott Hill Road and Nott Street. In a news release issued around 10:30 a.m., police said it was last seen in the 600 block of Wolcott Hill Road, heading south. 

Officers saw the bear and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was notified and responded. 

Police are urging residents to be aware of their surroundings and that bears are attracted to garbage, pet food, compost piles, fruit trees and birdfeeders, so make sure there is nothing around your homes and yard to attract bears. 

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection list of bear sightings across Connecticut has one report in the last year. 

Anyone who sees a bear in Wethersfield should call the Wethersfield Police Department at (860) 721-2900.

You can also report bear sightings online. 



Photo Credit: Gary Sharkevich

Hartford Healthcare Considers Changing Bradley Campus in Southington

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Hartford Healthcare executives are considering making changes to The Hospital of Central Connecticut Bradley Memorial Campus in Southington, but some people in Southington along with some town council members are not on board with the proposed changes. 

One possibility is closing the in-patient portion of the hospital, according to Gary Havican, the president of the Hartford Healthcare central region. Havican said healthcare is changing, it is becoming more specialized and services are moving from community hospitals to larger hospitals. 

“Closing the in-patient operations is on the table. We see less than four patients a day on the inpatient side. So we need to come to the realization that that’s not sustainable long term,” said Havican. 

In-patient services are when people stay overnight at the hospital for things like observation or an infection. 

Havican said he is also looking into maximizing the emergency department. Chris Palmieri, the Southington Town Council chairman, said the two discussed Havican’s desire to move the emergency department to Queen Street, but Palmieri said he wants the ER to stay at the Bradley Campus because it is centrally located and there is too much traffic on Queen Street. 

The town council chairman also said he wants Hartford Healthcare to keep inpatient services in Southington. 

With 42,000 people living in Southington, Palmieri said he feels the town should have a hospital. Palmieri said he suggested alternatives to Havican, like the hospital expanding the senior rehab facility, Southington Care Center, because there’s always a long wait list for that facility. 

Other community members, like Bonnie Sica, are also against the proposed changes. She is the spokesperson for the “Community Committee to Save Bradley,” a group made up of about 300 people. She has been fighting the changes proposed by Hartford Healthcare over the last four years. 

Sica said the Bradley Campus is a large part of Southington’s history as the money used to build it was donated. Sica also feels people in Southington need this hospital, especially the large senior population. 

“Southington is growing as it always has but the spirit of Southington is that of a small town and that’s what they don’t understand,” Sica said. “We will not lose our hospital, we will fight them, every legal and ethical way. We will picket, we will rally.” 

Hartford Healthcare has recently built new doctors’ offices in Southington, a new urgent care facility and a new behavioral health center. 

The chairman of the town council is waiting to hear back from the hospital president about their recent discussions. 

Even after the town reaches an agreement with Hartford Healthcare on changes to Bradley Campus, the changes would still need state approval, which could take up to two years. 




Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

FDA: More States Selling Melon Linked to Salmonella Outbreak

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Health officials on Thursday added 10 more states to the list of retail locations that may have received cut melons possibly contaminated with salmonella, bringing the total number of states to 23.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Caito Foods LLC recalled pre-cut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe and fruit medleys containing at least one of those melons that were produced at its facility in Indianapolis.

The full list of states now includes: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The CDC said the fruit was distributed and sold in clear plastic clamshell containers at Costco, Jay C, Kroger, Payless, Owen's, Sprouts, Trader Joe's, Walgreens, Walmart and Whole Foods/Amazon.

The FDA has posted a full list of retailers and locations where it believes the contaminated melon was sold.

Consumers who have purchased cut melon from these locations should throw it away. In addition, the agency has advised retailers not to serve or sell precut melon products distributed by Caito Foods Distribution, Gordon Food Service or SpartanNash Distribution.

According to the CDC, at least 60 people became ill between April 30 and May 28 in five Midwestern states, where the outbreak was initially reported. 

Although the FDA has expanded the list of states warned about consumption of melon, the CDC has not updated the number of illnesses reported.

The CDC says 31 of the people sickened have been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths reported.

Symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain that begins 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated food. Most people recover in four to seven days.

According to the CDC, salmonella is to blame for 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths every year in the United States.



Photo Credit: AP, File

Hartford Police Cruiser Involved in Crash

Babysitter Was Drunk While Kids Wandered Unsupervised: PD

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A babysitter faces criminal charges after the two children she was watching were found running around an apartment building parking lot unsupervised and in their underwear while she was upstairs drunk, according to Middletown police.

According to the arraignment report, officers were called to an apartment complex around 2:30 p.m. Thursday for a report of two small children running around the parking lot unsupervised. When officers responded, they found one of the children running barefoot through the parking lot wearing only underway. While police were talking to that boy, a second boy came down and said they were brothers and that “Miss Angela,” identified as 40-year-old Angela Ginty, was babysitting.

When officers went upstairs to the children’s apartment and found Ginty sitting in the living room talking on the phone. Officers observed that Ginty had severely slurred speech, glossy eyes and was unstable on her feet.

Ginty denied being drunk but did tell police she drank one glass of wine. Police found a box of Franzia Sunset Blush wine in the fridge, and a cup that smelled of alcohol on the kitchen table.

Officers believed Ginty was intoxicated and had her call the children’s mother to come home from work. According to police, the children were “uncontrollable” by Ginty.

“I observed Juvenile #2 walk out onto the balcony, move a semi-dislodged wrung, and stand with half his body outside the railing,” a responding officer wrote. “I quickly pulled Juvenile #2 back onto the balcony, guided him into the apartment and locked to door to the balcony.”

Ginty was arrested and charged with risk of injury to a child. She was held on a $5,000 bond.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Clergy Responds to Sessions' Use of Scripture

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Christian leaders are condemning Attorney General Jeff Sessions for quoting the Bible to justify separating families at the border, saying he misinterpreted scripture.

Sessions pointed to a passage from the New Testament during a speech Thursday to argue that all people who break the law are subject to prosecution.

"I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order," he told law enforcement officers in Louisiana.

But James J. Martin, a Jesuit priest and secretariat of communications for the Vatican, disagreed on Twitter with the interpretation.

"It is not biblical to enforce unjust laws," Martin wrote. "Do not use the Bible to justify sin."

Other clergy noted the passage he cited has been misconstrued throughout history to excuse the actions of oppressive governments.

"This isn’t the first time that scripture has been used by people in power, by the state, to justify hatred and to hide hatred," said Rev. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan, in an interview. "The KKK, the Nazi movement, the neo-nazis, the taking of land from First Nations and the enslavement of Africans were justified by scripture like that."

Lewis decried Sessions’ choice to quote a verse about submitting to government authority rather than other passages. "Love your neighbor as yourself," illustrates the need to support immigrants, not hurt them," the minister said. "That commandment is quoted in the New Testament a dozen times—even once in Romans 13."

Sessions aimed the comments at what he called his "church friends," two weeks after a coalition of evangelical leaders wrote a letter to Trump asking him to rethink his new "zero tolerance" immigration policy that results in children being removed from their parents' custody at the border.

"As evangelical Christians guided by the Bible, one of our core convictions is that God has established the family as the fundamental building block of society," wrote the Evangelical Immigration Table. "The state should separate families only in the rarest of instances."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doubled down on the comments in a briefing Thursday afternoon. "I can say that it is very biblical to enforce the law," she said.

The bishops have called for House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican lawmakers to reprimand Sessions.



Photo Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Sleeping Giant State Park Still Closed 1 Month After Storms

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Friday marked one month since a line of powerful storms tore through Hamden, causing damage that has closed Sleeping Giant State Park indefinitely.

Crews with Supreme Industries began the labor-intense process of cutting down the hundreds of downed trees on Wednesday.

“We don’t own any of this machinery as a municipality,” explained Hamden Mayor Curt Leng. “It’s specialized lumber material, heavy, powerful equipment and it was able to clean much more than I would have imagined.”

The microburst came through the park on May 15. Dwayne Ellis said he was there a couple days before.


”They’re getting stuff done, but I just feel sad because all those trees are gone. It’s something that’s very heartbreaking to see,” Ellis said.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said it will have a more definitive timeline on when the park will re-open in a couple of weeks. 

”The last thing that you want to have happen is for the park to open, having done a lot of work, and have someone to get injured or potentially get injured from something that wasn’t assessed properly,” said Leng.

Cleanup also began in Wharton Brook State Park in Wallingford on Wednesday. State officials said they are absorbing the substantial costs with the hope that FEMA will reimburse the state.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Sewer Main Break in Middletown

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Crews are responding to a sewer main break in Middletown Friday night.

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials confirmed they were responding to assist the city with the break. The 24-inch sewer line collects sewage from South Main Street south of Pameacha Avenue and discharges into Sumner Brook, which flows into the Connecticut River.

Residents should avoid contact with the water in Sumner Brook and the Connecticut River in the area.

The city is working with a contractor to repair the pipe and control the sewage flow, DEEP said.

For more information, contact the Middletown Department of Water and Sewer at 860-638-3500 or The Middletown Department of Public Health at 860-638-4690.

Schools Prepare for Temperatures in the 90s Monday

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After extending the school year to make-up snow days, some officials are hoping to avoid canceling class because of the heat on Monday.

In Glastonbury, the superintendent said a shortened day is out of the question.

“That’s time we’re giving up that we can’t be teaching so we’re going try to make the best use of the time that we have,” Dr. Alan Bookman, Glastonbury school superintendent, explained.

Given that school won’t be out for the summer until the middle of next week, Dr. Bookman said they’re lucky Monday is the only day they’ll have to deal with extreme temperatures.

“We were very concerned about this year more than any other year because we’re going so late into the year and you can get those hot days easily in May and June but once you get into mid-June time you’re concerned about having a long stretch of very hot days,” said Bookman.

So, for one day, Glastonbury students will have to tough it out. While he recognizes that a triple-digit heat index can be as uncomfortable as freezing temperatures, Bookman doesn’t expect the weather to be a distraction or a safety issue.

“For the most part, students are relatively resilient as far as the heat is concerned, not comfortable but resilient,” said Bookman.

Rather than canceling school or shortening the day, extra steps will be taken to keep classrooms cool.

“Sometimes they will provide some popsicles for students are particular times, we let students bring water bottles in at all grade levels,” he explained. “I would doubt that students will be going outside for any kind of recess or lunch break on Monday.”

Monday should be the last time most Glastonbury students have to learn in warm classrooms. With the exception of the sixth-grade building, Gideon Wells, all of the district’s nine schools will have air conditioning by the start of the next school year.

NBC Connecticut contacted more than two dozen school districts on Friday. Most school officials say they would wait until Monday to make a final decision on whether to call for an early dismissal. However, Bridgeport and Windsor public schools made the call Friday to have a shortened day. Southington’s superintendent also notified parents and teachers that an early dismissal for the elementary schools is a possibility.

In Waterbury, officials said it will be business as usual on Monday. The district has 32 schools and half of them don’t have central air.

“Others have air conditioning in a room or two rooms. Some air conditioning through window units,” explained Robert Brenker, Waterbury’s director of personnel for education.

However, he said century-old buildings like Washington, built in 1887, and Kingsbury can’t handle those units.

“In some areas we cannot plug in an air conditioner that would draw more amps than the building can handle.”

Without air conditioning, Brenker said every fan the district owns will be deployed on Monday, windows will be opened, and students will be funneled through the coolest parts of the buildings if necessary. He said each school has at least one air-conditioned area.

“Some have a cafeteria area that’s cooled so students can be cycled in an out of the day heats up too much,” said Brenker.

He pointed out that the older buildings take longer to heat up due to their solid stone and brick construction. So, he doesn’t expect Monday’s soaring temperatures to be too much of a distraction.

“Kids are going to go to school, regular day scheduled to go,” he said.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Students Disciplined After Watermelon Prank Clogs Toilets

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Things got a little fruity at Wethersfield High School Friday.

“I was going to the bathroom and before I could get in I saw teachers holding watermelons in their hands and I heard someone say there's four more watermelons in the girls' bathroom,” sophomore Natalia Travaglini told NBC Connecticut.

Some students placed fruit, including watermelons, inside toilets around the school. Superintendent Michael Emmett said it was a senior prank.

But while the prank may have been done in good fun, the high school principal said that it caused quite a bit of damage to the recently renovated school.

“I was in the hallway, and I saw kids going in with watermelons and the teachers came out and stopped them,” sophomore Haley Dellafera told NBC Connecticut.

Emmett said that those involved were held accountable, but declined to go into detail regarding what consequences the prank could bring for students getting ready to take the stage for graduation.

The fruit prank blocked up several toilets and resulted in an overflow, according to a letter from Principal Thomas Moore sent home to parents.

“I went to go to the bathroom as well and I just the door was locked,” explained sophomore Eliza Martinez.

Moore said students had to use the bathrooms near the main office because the rest had to be closed to assess the damage and that school officials are “currently investigating the vandalism to our toilets, ceiling tiles, carpet and floor tiles.”

The prank got the school talking, and left a lot of mixed reactions.

“I kind of thought it was funny,” Dellafera said.

“It's a waste of good food,” student Justus Feliciano told NBC Connecticut.

Multiple students and parents told NBC Connecticut they’re hearing at least one student if not more may not be able to walk across the stage at graduation because of this.

The superintendent said he is unable to comment on student discipline issues.



Photo Credit: Contributed Photo

First Alert: Things Are Heating Up for Father's Day Weekend

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