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Man Arrested After Stabbing in Vernon: Police

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Vernon Police and East Hartford Police have arrested a man after a stabbing in Vernon on Friday.

Officers say they responded to a report of a stabbing at 88 Prospect Street in Vernon around 9:45 p.m.

According to police, the victim suffered multiple stab wounds to their back and chest and transported themself to Rockville Hospital. Shortly after, they were transported to St. Francis Hospital by LifeStar.

Detectives from Vernon Police responded to the scene and investigated. Officers developed Alexander Garrison as a suspect. Detectives from Vernon and members of East Hartford's Police Department arrested him on Sunday in East Hartford. He is facing charges including assault and tampering with evidence.

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Mike Patrizz of the Vernon Police Department at (860) 872-9126 ext. 3764.



Photo Credit: Vernon Police

Police ID Suspect After Officer-Involved Shooting in Cheshire

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Officers have released the identity of the man who was arrested after a domestic disturbance led to a tense stand-off and an officer-involved shooting in Cheshire last Friday.

Police say they responded to 137 Fairway Drive around 7:00 p.m. for a reported domestic violence disturbance. The victim of the domestic violence was able to flee the house when Cheshire Police arrived.

Shortly after, officers say Cameron Pernin left the home armed with a semi-automatic gun and began firing at police. Three Cheshire police officers returned fire and Pernin was hit at least one time. He sustained non life-threatening injuries and then went back into his home where he remained barricaded. There were no reported injuries to the Cheshire police officers.

Members of Cheshire Police were able to make contact with Pernin and were able to talk him into surrendering a short time later.

He was transported to the hospital for treatment.

On Monday, once Pernin was released from the hospital, he was arrested and charged with risk of injury, assault and threatening. He is being held on a $500,000 bond.

While he was being processed at Cheshire Police Department, the Connecticut State Police served an arrest for Pernin stemming from the same incident. He is charged with two counts of attempted assault and one count of criminal possession of a pistol or revolver. His bond for these charges is $750,000.






Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut & Cheshire Police

First Alert Issued for Dangerous Heat

Meriden Day Care to Close After City Pulls Funding

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Meriden has just announced that it will no longer fund a local day care, and without that funding, the business will have to close, leaving parents scrambling.

After losing everything in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, single mom Joelyce Lugo is finding out now that she’s losing her job and day care for her 4-year-old son come August.

“It’s sad because now I need to start again with him,” she said.

Lugo is a teacher at the Women and Families Center on Colony Street. Meriden’s School Readiness Council has decided to stop funding the day care.

“I don’t have a car,” Lugo said. “I walk here every day with my boy. I live near here.”

Day care director Karen Yorker said the center is an affordable option for parents. They pay on a sliding scale. The decision to close will impact more than 60 families, and teachers will lose their jobs.

“It’s devastating I have teachers that I’ve been here for more than 20 years,” Yorker said. “I have parents who rely me, and children who love it here.”

“I never expected this,” said teacher Melissa McCray. “I expected to retire here. Twenty-seven years. You know I’m dedicated.”

Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati said the School Readiness Council voted to end the funding because of high turnover in the director position. He also said the money comes from a state grant and the quality of early education there is low.

“We will be working with families to ensure their children are enrolled in a high quality educational program at their ability to pay,” said Scarpati.

“It’s overwhelming,” said parent and teacher, Sullybeth Bonilla. “Honestly I haven’t been able to sleep during these past nights thinking about it. My brain just keep thinking about what am I going to do.”



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Dog Thrown From SUV in Windsor

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Windsor Animal Control is trying to identify the person who threw a dog from an SUV Monday.

According to a post on the Windsor Animal Shelter page, someone threw a dog from a purple Nissan Rogue on Archer Road by Hayden Station Road early Monday afternoon.

Animal Control is investigating. 

Anyone who recognizes the dog or who witnessed the incident is asked to contact Windsor Animal Control 860-688-5273.



Photo Credit: Windsor Animal Shelter
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Stefanowski-Backing Protester Disrupts Herbst Anti-Tax Event

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A pair of protesters tried their best to keep their handwritten posters that criticized former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst visible during a press conference Monday morning.

Herbst, one of five candidates running for the GOP nomination for governor, had hoped to spend the day talking about his pledge never to raise taxes.

Instead, Herbst supporters tried to block the protesters’ signs with a large “TIM” banner, and smaller placards.

On read, “Tim protects taxpayers unless they are paying for his campaign,” while the other read, “How much did the taxpayers pay for this press conference?”

Herbst defended his participation in the Citizens Election Program, which will provide him with $1.35 million for primary, and possibly another $6 million if he wins the party’s nomination.

“Quite frankly, I’m participating in the clean elections program because I want to take the special interests out of our politics,” Herbst said.

NBC Connecticut identified one of the protesters as Jeremy Wiss, the current President of the Quinnipiac College Republicans. Wiss, whose identity was confirmed to NBC Connecticut by a pair of members of the Connecticut College Republicans Executive Board, even described himself as a “Bob Stefanowski Staffer,” on his Facebook page, before removing that portion later in the day.

Immediately following the event, Wiss said he had no connections to any campaign and was not being paid to attend the event. When asked why he was in attendance, he said, “I just think that it’s extremely hypocritical that someone says that they’re fiscally conservative and meanwhile they’re taking millions of dollars from the taxpayers while our state is in fiscal ruin.”

Stefanowksi is a former General Electric and UBS executive also running for the GOP nomination. His campaign manager, Pat Trueman, denied any involvement with Monday’s display.

“I just think that it’s extremely hypocritical that someone says that they’re fiscally conservative and meanwhile they’re taking millions of dollars from the taxpayers while our state is in fiscal ruin,” Trueman said.

Stefanowski has been the loudest voice criticizing Herbst, along with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and Westport tech businessman Steve Obsitnik, who are all using public financing for their campaigns.

Reached later in the day, Herbst said of the stunt, “Stefanowski sends paid staff to disrupt opponents’ events for the same reason he skipped all six Republican debates: because he’s desperate to distract from his liberal record,” and added that Stefanowski has donated to Democrats in the past, and was a registered Democrat up until he decided to run for governor.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Food Rescue Gets Excess Food to Those in Need

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A Connecticut non-profit is reducing food waste one carload at a time.

Food Rescue U.S. developed an app that connects food donors, like grocery stores and restaurants, with receiving agencies, such as homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

Volunteers, known as food rescuers, deliver the donated food from the donor to the receiving agency. The process is designed to be quick, so that the food spends a limited time in transport.

"A food rescue takes generally less than an hour. And it's usually less than five or six miles away," said Nicole Straight, Site Director for Fairfield County.

NBC Connecticut rode along with Straight on a recent rescue. She picked up surplus produce from a grocery store in Westport, and delivered it to a homeless shelter less than a mile away.

"This is such an incredible option as opposed to throwing this food out, which is perfectly edible," Straight said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates as much as 40 percent of all food grown, produced and shipped in the U.S. will never be eaten. The majority of that wasted food ends up in landfills, where it generates harmful methane gas.

“Not donating your unused food is terrible for the environment,” said Straight.

Food Rescue U.S. says its donations consist of excess inventory, along with food that is no longer considered marketable due to nearing expiration dates or slight defects such as bruising or misshaping.

Straight said she gets a lot of questions about liability.

Federal and state laws protect food donors and receiving agencies in the event someone becomes ill from the donated food.

“People are so grateful to have fresh food,” Straight said.

Food Rescue U.S. is based in Norwalk. Its Connecticut operations include New Haven and Northwest Connecticut, and the organization is growing. It currently has rescue sites in 18 cities across the country. 

Click here for more information.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Researchers Report Peak Tick Season

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State researchers are reporting peak tick activity and a higher than average rate of the agent that causes Lyme disease this season.

The Tick Testing Program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), which tests ticks sent in from across the state, is seeing a higher than average rate of infection with Borrelia burgdoferi, which causes Lyme disease.

“We have received over 2,600 ticks so far this year for testing and greater than 40% have tested positive for Lyme disease spirochetes. This is roughly 10% higher than what we have typically seen over the last five years,” said Dr. Goudarz Molaei, who directs the CAES Tick Testing Program.

Researchers are also reporting high tick infection rates with Babesia microti, the causative agent of babesiosis, a malaria-like illness and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis.

Experts warn that if you get a tick bite the likelihood of contracting an illness like Lyme disease is quite high.

Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borne disease in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Last year the Connecticut Department of Public Health reported 2,022 cases of Lyme disease. Symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a skin rash. If left untreated, the disease can cause serious joint and nervous system damage.

For more information on ticks and the Tick Testing Program, click here. 


Old Saybrook ‘Red Hen’ Being Trolled by Sanders Supporters

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An Old Saybrook restaurant shares a name with a Virginia business in the center of a controversy surrounding White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and it's causing headaches for the Connecticut owner.

The Red Hen in Old Saybrook is closed on Mondays. But that didn’t stop the phone from ringing off the hook.

That’s been the case all weekend after Sanders tweeted that she was told to leave the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia because she works for President Donald Trump.

“Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so,” Sanders tweeted about her interaction with the restaurant’s owner. She also addressed the situation at the start of her White House press briefing Monday.


Trump even tweeted about the Virginia incident Monday writing, in part, “I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!”


But the Red Hen owner in Old Saybrook, Shelley Deproto, said her restaurant has absolutely no relationship with the Virginia restaurant that’s more than 500 miles away. There’s also no franchise with the name “Red Hen” that she’s aware of.

But that didn’t stop Deproto from getting a number of Google texts and angry messages. She walked into the restaurant by noon on Saturday and had least 50 voicemails on her machine. Some, she called threatening.

“There’s also rage and profanity on there, too. So, people are angry,” Deproto said.

She was getting fake take-out orders and reservations.

“We were hustling trying to erase fake reservations as quickly as we could, to answer the phone as quickly as we could,” Deproto said.

She thinks part of the reason she’s getting hundreds of calls is because she owns the website domain “www.redhenrestaurant.com.” So, Deproto added a pop-up message to those who click on the URL that reads “We are a small privately owned bistro located in Old Saybrook CT. We have absolutely no affiliation with any other Red Hen Restaurant anywhere else.”

But the restaurant is also victim to scathing online reviews.

She and Red Hen bartender Mary Bowler have been responding to Facebook posts to set the record straight.

“People are immediately apologizing but the damage is already done whether they’re changing our rating or giving us a bad review,” Bowler said.

Ratings on Facebook and Yelp had taken a hit over the weekend, but have since gone up.

“Seeing our ranking has plummeted from a 4.5 to a 2, that’s a direct effect on my livelihood, Shelley’s livelihood, the people who work here,” Bowler said.

Yelp posted that it’s working to clean up the reviews sparked by the news.

Allyson Tanner owns KUR Recovery Spa, also on Main Street, and said it’s unfortunate the business has to do damage control for something out of its control.

“You have foot traffic which is phenomenal on Main Street, but word-of-mouth is what gets you your business,” Tanner said.

Some dining locally also feel bad for the Old Saybrook dining spot.

“They’re directing that anger in the wrong direction – at a business that had no part in what happened,” said Clinton resident David Russo.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut
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Bike Theft Caught on Camera in Berlin

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A brazen theft was caught on video in Berlin as a man snatched two bicycles from Cutting Edge, a bike shop on Mill Street.

According to the store’s manager, the burglary happened Sunday night.

”It’s a small town, but still there are cars going by and we’ve got police who are everywhere so you kind of wonder what people are thinking, but they don’t care,” said manager Adam Valedaserra. “They’ll just take what they want.”

The surveillance video shows a man hurl three rocks at a window. Within seconds he grabbed two bikes. He rode off on one while dragging the other.

This is the second time Cutting Edge has been burglarized within two years.

”People aren’t really afraid of the law anymore or what the laws are, and they’re willing to risk a larceny charge and possible jail time over a bike,” said Valedaserra.

He said two BMX bikes, worth about $400 each, were pulled off the rack.

“The bike community is a pretty tight community, so if he’s out there riding and he’s riding those bikes our customers who are out there are aware of it, and they have our backs.”

While the store is offering a reward, Valedaserra is hoping someone will come forward.

“The best reward would be good karma by someone turning someone in. A dollar amount doesn’t need to be attached to go ahead and do what’s right.”

If you have any information, you are asked to call Berlin police.



Photo Credit: Cutting Edge

Hartford Police Investigate Homicide on North Canaan Street

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Hartford police are investigating a homicide in the city’s North End Monday.

Police said officers responded to a Shotspotter activation and 911 calls reporting shots fired on North Canaan Street around 8:40 p.m. When officers arrived, they found a car crashed into a tree with a male victim with an apparent gunshot wound inside.

The victim was pronounced dead on scene. 

The Hartford Police Department Major Crimes Division and Crime Scene Division are investigating.

This is the 12th homicide of the year in the city.

No other information was immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Child Separations 'Harmed the Children': Tent City Worker

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The separation of migrant families at the border "should never have happened," according to an emergency manager at the Texas tent encampment that houses hundreds of children because of President Donald Trump's policies.

The worker spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity out of concern for his safety on a media tour of the facility.


"The crisis was a result of the decision to separate the kids. The separations should have never happened," he said, adding, "the process is flawed and it harmed the children. I would like to never do this mission again."

The facility in Tornillo holds 326 kids, mostly boys from Guatemala and Honduras, aged 13 to 17. They sleep in tents that resemble barracks and are allowed two 10-minute phone calls a week.




Photo Credit: Health & Human Services
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Cohen's Lawyers Seek to Withhold 12K Files From Prosecutors

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Attorneys for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen want to withhold 12,000 files seized in an April FBI raid from federal prosecutors, NBC News reported.

Those files, among 4 million in total that were seized, are protected by attorney-client or work product privileges, the lawyers claimed in a court filing Monday.

The raid was conducted to search for information about a $130,000 payment Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

A court-appointed special master will review the privilege claims made by Cohen's attorneys.



Photo Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images, File

Man Arrested After Assault, Pursuit in East Windsor: Police

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A man from East Hartford was arrested after police say he led them on a pursuit after an assault in East Windsor on Friday.

Officers say they responded to the Rodeway Inn for a domestic disturbance that involved an assault shortly before 5:00 a.m. As police arrived, they learned the suspect, 33-year-old Tyler McCormick of East Hartford was fleeing the scene in a Honda. Police tried to stop a Honda that was seen leaving at a high rate of speed, but McCormick refused to stop and engaged the officer in a pursuit to I-91. Officers pursued McCormick's vehicle into Windsor, where they stopped chasing him due to safety concerns.

After an investigation at the Rodeway Inn, East Hartford Police arrested McCormick and returned him to East Windsor.

He is facing charges including assault, threatening, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, engaging in pursuit, reckless driving and turn violation.

According to police, McCormick had two warrants out for his arrest for failure to appear. He was held on bail.

Video Shows Postal Employee Toss Package Out Truck Onto Lawn

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A video posted to social media and watched by thousands is now prompting a US Postal Service investigation after an employee can be seen tossing a Terryville man’s package through the truck window and onto the lawn.

The homeowner found the package sitting on the wet lawn Saturday.

That homeowner, who did not want to be identified on camera, told NBC Connecticut, “It was just pouring rain laying in the front yard, so I rushed inside checked the cameras and sure enough that’s when I found out just throwing it out the window and he backed up over my yard.”

“I was ripping mad because God only knows if there was something fragile in there that wasn’t supposed to get wet!” the homeowner added.

There was no damage to the homeowner’s power washer, but other USPS customers can sympathize.

Another homeowner on Scott Road also found his package containing a $1,400 car computer apparently tossed the very same day. The USPS is also looking into that.

There has been plenty of reaction on Facebook and from others in the neighborhood.

“It would kind of make me a little mad, but to my knowledge I haven’t had any issues with it,” said Terryville resident Bill Woodbury.

“I would not expect something like that for whoever they’re hiring to deliver the mail. It’s part of the service and it’s inappropriate and there should be something done about it and possibly some type of compensation,” Linda Fortier of Bristol told NBC Connecticut.

USPS spokeswoman Christine Dugas told NBC, “ this is clearly unacceptable behavior that does not reflect the efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers in our workforce.”

The homeowner said this was not his regular letter carrier. The manager at the Terryville post office said the person is working out of the Waterbury hub.



Photo Credit: Contributed Photo

'You're Rapists': Woman Berates Latino Man in Racist Rant

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Esteban Guzman says he can take all the derogatory terms anyone throws at him.

But when the hatred is directed at his mother, that's another story. 

The Latino man said he was working a landscaping job with his mother on Saturday in Running Springs, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, when a white woman approached them and began berating her, telling Guzman's mom to "go back to Mexico." Guzman, a U.S. citizen, said he stepped in to confront the woman, who then extended her middle finger in his face and lashed out in a racist rant.

Guzman's mother, who had been using a leaf blower to clear the driveway, caught the exchange on video outside a residence in the San Bernardino County community.

He can be heard asking the woman, "Why do you hate us?"

"Because you're Mexicans," the woman replied. 

Guzman told the unidentified woman that he and his family are honest people.

The woman laughed and said, "Yeah, rapists. Drug dealers, rapists and animals."

The language is similar to that used by President Donald Trump when he announced his campaign in June 2015.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending the best. They're not sending you, they're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems," Trump said in a speech at Trump Tower in New York. "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they're telling us what we're getting."

Guzman, a 27-year-old systems administrator and graduate of Cal State Polytechnic University-Pomona, spoke with NBC4 on Monday. 

"I was born and raised here in California, and we're just trying to do good," said Guzman, of Pomona, who has a landscaping service with his brother. "I felt angry, and I felt scared. I thought she was going to call the police and, you know, we'd have to deal with that."

The woman's initial comments directed at Guzman's mother were not captured on video. Guzman said he does not know the woman and has no idea why she targeted his family. Video of the verbal exchange had more than 260,00 views on his Facebook page by Tuesday morning after it was posted Saturday.

"My mom taught me to be respectful to people, no matter what," Guzman said.

NBC4 is attempting to identify and contact the woman seen in the video for comment.



Photo Credit: Esteban Guzman/KNBC-TV

Police Investigating Death in New London

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New London police are investigating after a person who was found unconscious in an apartment died soon after being taken to the hospital.

Police said they responded to the apartment on Hobron Street at 7:17 p.m. after receiving reports that a person in the apartment was not breathing and the person was pronounced dead soon after arriving at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.

Police have not released the name of the person who died. They are investigating the cause of death.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 860-447-1481.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Motorcyclist Killed in Hartford Crash

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A 20-year-old man is dead after his motorcycle collided with a car in Hartford Monday night. 

Police said the crash happened at Vine and Mansfield streets at 8:16 p.m. when the motorcycle, which was going south on Vine Street, collided with a car that was turning left onto Mansfield Street from the northbound lane of Vine Street. 

The motorcyclist was unresponsive and EMS pronounced him dead at the scene, according to police. 

A 27-year-old woman was driving the car that collided with the motorcycle and an ambulance transported her to Saint Francis Hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Two juveniles who were also in the car were transported to Saint Francis Hospital for evaluation. 

The Hartford Police Crime Scene Division detectives are investigating. 



Photo Credit: Stringr.com

Man With Gun Robs Dollar General in Vernon: Police

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A man with a gun robbed the Dollar General store in Vernon Monday night, according to police. 

Police said the man had a rifle and robbed the store at 1188 Hartford Turnpike, or Route 30, just before 10 p.m. 

The police department released a surveillance image Monday and is asking anyone who recognizes the man to call the Vernon Police Detective Division at (860) 872-9126, extension 3887, or dial 0.



Photo Credit: Vernon Police

Norwich School Board Consulting Attorney for Budget

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Norwich School Board members plan to meet at Kelly Middle School at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the budget shortfall for the 2018-2019 school year. They plan to consult the school board’s attorney to discuss what to do next after city council members only agreed to 3 percent of the 9 percent increase they requested. 

Abby Dolliver, the Norwich Public Schools superintendent, said she put forth a responsible budget based on the needs of the district’s students. The total budget request was for $83,074,153.

City council members allocated $78,469,829. That is an increase of $2.2 million compared to the previous year, but it still falls $4.6 million short of the amount the school district requested. Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said a 3 percent increase is all the city can provide based on the current mill rate that was already set. 

But school district leaders said they cannot make enough cuts to make up more than $4 million. In the last 8 to 10 years, they already closed two schools, moved middle schools and cut teachers, according to Dolliver. The district needs to continue paying for tuition for students to attend high schools and magnet schools. Those costs are already negotiated and can only be renegotiated every few years. The district also needs to pay for transportation, salaries and benefits. 

The student population is also changing, according to Dolliver, and the district has an obligation to educate more bilingual students (approximately 600) and more students with special needs (approximately 100). 

There are approximately 3,500 students in the district, but the district is responsible for 6,500 students, including students in high schools, charter schools and schools of choice. 

School board members plan to consult their attorney at the meeting and discuss their options with such a large shortfall. Board members are required to pass a budget by July 1.





Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com
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