A dozen capital city businesses that are usually open late at night are seeing their hours slashed because the city says they create quality of life concerns for area residents.

Businesses wishing to operate in Hartford between the hours of 11:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. must have a specific permit.

Hartford Police make recommendations to the city licensing authority about who should be approved for the permits. This year, 12 businesses that are mostly gas stations and convenience stores were denied the right to stay open.

“We’ve found that many of these places have become magnets for quality of life issues. Sometimes they’ve led to violent episodes and other criminal activity as well,” said Lt. Ian Powell of Hartford Police, explaining the reasons for the permit denials.

One of the businesses that had its permit revoked is the Shell station at 335 Capitol Ave. HPD says they’ve gotten dozens of calls about the business. But it’s owners, Noble Energy, say that their store provides a service to the residents of the community and people who work in the area.

“It was mind-boggling. I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. Majority of our business is in the evening. We’re going to lose about 35 percent. We offer a great service to our residents here and that no longer is going to happen” said Domenic Vallera, a partner in Noble Energy, which owns the Capitol Avenue location and several other gas stations in Hartford and surrounding towns.

Customers of the store told NBC Connecticut that they depend on its late hours and haven’t noticed any issues they think warrant the reduced hours.

“It’ll be a really big loss. Coffee stops, cigarette stops, Subway stops. Working late nights, you get very hungry” said Yolanda Vargas who works nearby.

“Every time I come here I don’t see no problems. It’s nice and clear. I just come and buy my stuff and go back home” said area resident Maryann Suliveras.

Noble Energy says a petition they began to demand their hours be restored has garnered more than a thousand customer signatures. However, Domenic Vallera says a meeting with the city to revisit the decision didn’t yield any indication that authorities intend to reconsider.

The later hours permits are renewed on a fiscal year basis and permits for approved locations began on July 1.

Here is the list of approved and denied stores.

A person was struck by a train in Milford Thursday night.

MTA officials confirmed a trespasser on the tracks was hit by a train, but could not provide details.

There are delays on the Metro-North New Haven line between Milford and West Haven due to the incident.

More information was not immediately available.

Aquatic experts urge parents to not let their kids go out of sight if they’re swimming in a pool.

This week alone we’re learning of reports of four children who were pulled from the water in the state, and at least two of them died.

At the Downtown YMCA in Hartford, 5-year-old Elizabeth Singh enjoyed her afternoon swim lesson. For her mother Ambica, this is also about teaching a potentially life-saving lesson.

“I don’t know how to swim. And I think it’s a great opportunity to learn how to swim,” said Ambica Singh of Hartford.

Just this week, Hartford police said Jaevon Whyte died after apparently illegally swimming at a pool at Keney Park. Friends report the 16-year-old did not know how to swim.

Also this week two children were found unresponsive in pools in Enfield and another child, just 5 years old, drowned in a family’s backyard pool in Stratford.

“You never know. It takes two seconds for something to happen,” said Deirdre Brickhouse, the Downtown YMCA’s aquatic director.

Brickhouse points out right now the Y offers free lessons to Hartford kids ages 5 to 9.

Besides the basics, she says the classes also teach rules, like getting kids to ask for their parents’ permission before going in a pool.

And once they do go in, someone needs to keep a close eye on them at all times, even if there are lifeguards.

“As you have designated drivers, we suggest you have designated watchers. So when kids are at the pool or the lake or the beach, there is someone designated to watch the kids,” said Brickhouse.

It’s also suggested parents look around pools when they arrive for items that could help in a rescue, including a life jacket or pool noodle, that you can throw or use to reach someone in trouble.

The New Haven Police Department is facing a significant shortage of police officers.

NHPD has 495 budgeted positions. But by the end of the week, there will be 108 vacancies, according to Officer David Hartman, a spokesperson for the department.

The next recruiting class has been delayed because of an issue with the background check process, and police say at least 20 more members of the force could retire by the end of the year.

Police said it costs more than $60,0000 to train a recruit at the New Haven Police Academy. But Hartman said some new officers don’t keep it a secret that once the training is done, they plan to pursue higher paying police jobs.

“If you are trained as vested officer in New Haven go through all of that and you’re offered a job that pays 20- $30,000 more for the same job, doing less work, I think it’s often a no-brainer,” Hartman said.

Hartman said they’re leaving for anything from federal jobs with the DEA, to the NYPD, to other local departments like neighboring Hamden.

Halfway through 2018, Hartman said, the number of resignations and retirements is greater than all of last year.

“About 20 years ago we had two or three classes that ran about the same time so they’re all eligible to retire,” said Mayor Toni Harp (D- New Haven).

There is also the issue of the New Haven Police Union members voting overwhelmingly to go to arbitration, rather than accept the city’s contract offer after two years without one in place.

“Most of this issue is health care, insurance caps, those with families who are police officers are potentially greatly affected by this,” Hartman said.

Fewer officers in the force means more of them to pick up extra shifts.

“Many don’t want to deal with stalled negotiations and long hours. These hours are not from extra duty, but the shortage of officers and being ordered to stay extra hours is what’s putting a strain on the officers,” Union President Craig Miller told NBC Connecticut.

Two police officers are also assigned to protect the mayor. She said she’d consider losing that security detail if the number of vacancies continues to grow.

If you’re interested in becoming a New Haven police officer, click here for information.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released Thursday shows that apprehensions of unauthorized people crossing the Southwest border were down in June, NBC News reported. 

The fiscal year-to-date total for people allegedly caught crossing without authorization is 286,290, officials said. The data also seems to call into question the Trump administration's warnings about a surge in Central American families at the border.

The Trump administration argued that its relatively new zero tolerance policy on undocumented immigrants, which included the short-lived practice of separating children from their parents at the border, is dissuading them from coming north. Experts say, however, that the decline is not a direct result of the Trump administration's actions. They say numbers have been falling for years. 

"The long-term pattern is clear — fewer and fewer unauthorized migrants have been trying to enter the U.S. for more than 15 years — and it's mostly the product of larger macro-economic trends, not short-term changes in immigration policy or political rhetoric," Everard Meade, director of the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute, said. 

Part of Noroton Avenue in Darien remains closed on Friday after a crash on Thursday night.

First responders were on the scene of the crash on Noroton Avenue near Hecker Avenue around 8:45 p.m. on Thursday. A car hit and severed a utility pole, police said.

Minor injuries were reported.

Police expect Noroton Avenue near Baker Park and Hecker Avenue to remain closed through Friday night. They estimate the road will reopen around 5:00 p.m. Authorities are urging motorists to seek alternate routes.

All of the lanes on I-95 south at the Westbrook/Clinton line except for one have reopened after a tanker fire on Friday morning.

The right lane and right shoulder remain closed.

The area between exits 64 and 63 was shut down for about two hours while police investigated the accident.

State police say the tanker truck was carrying liquid nitrogen.

No injuries have been reported.

It is unclear when the highway will fully reopen. 

The eastbound service on Metro North's New Haven Line is operating on schedule after being delayed by more than an hour after a person was hit by a train in New York on Friday morning.

The New Haven Line service was experiencing delays of 75 to 80 minutes around 3:45 a.m. after a person was hit by a train near the Melrose station in the Bronx.

The service resumed operating on schedule around 5:00 a.m., according to Metro North.

Authorities have not released any information about the condition of the person who was hit.

A pride of lions killed and ate suspected rhino poachers at a South African game reserve this week, the reserve's owner said in a statement.

A group of poachers, likely three, were believed to have entered the Sibuya Game Reserve in Kenton, on the southern coast of South Africa, early Monday morning armed with the "hallmarks" of rhino poaching, including a powerful rifle with a silencer, reserve owner Nick Fox said in the statement posted to Facebook.

But they were apparently confronted by a pride of lions around 4:30 a.m. before they could reach the rhinos, something an anti-poaching dog may have detected — its handler heard a commotion coming from the pride of lions, which is not unusual, and dismissed the dog's alert, Fox said.

Officials on Tuesday found human remains, along with a high-powered rifle and silencer, an ax, gloves, wire cutters and the remains of a backpack holding food and water, Fox said. He called a local anti-poaching team and the police.

"Clearly, the poachers had walked into a pride of six lions and some, if not all had been killed," he wrote.

Fox told Newsweek that "the only body part we found was one skull and one bit of pelvis, everything else was completely gone," and that he hopes the sad incident sends a "message" to other poachers.

A police spokesman said that recovered remains were being scanned for forensic testing, according to The Herald of South Africa.

Rhino poaching in South Africa rapidly increased from 2007 to 2014 due to increased demand for their horns in Asia. The horns may be ground down or shaved, dissolved into boiling water and consumed in a traditional Chinese medicine treatment for many ailments, according to the non-profit Save the Rhino.

Last year, 1,028 rhinos were poached in South Africa, a slight decline from 2016, according to a report from the South African Department of Environmental Affairs.

Some residents near a home on West Avenue in Milford have been evacuated during a police investigation on Friday morning.

Officers say there is a heavy police presence near 660 West Avenue as they investigate a domestic violence incident. Police are working to speak with one of the people involved.

As a precaution, adjacent residents have been evacuated.

It is unclear how long the residents will be evacuated for.

The Groton Town Police Department are searching for a suspect of a domestic violence incident on Friday morning.

According to police, the domestic incident involved a threat at a residence in a neighborhood near Harry Day Drive.

Officers say they're searching for the suspect near Midway Oval.

The area schools and summer programs are in lock down as a precaution, police say.

Detectives from Vice & Narcotics, the Street Crimes Unit, along with Patrol, conducted an on-street narcotics operation within the south end District of Hartford on Thursday.

Hartford police said in total, 13 suspects were arrested and/or issued drug-related infractions.

According to the Hartford Police Department, those arrested were:

• Luis Pacheco
• Joseph Vega
• Leonardo Cardenales
• Radames Padua
• Eduardo Gonzales
• Kijuan Fortson
• Edward Torres
• Juan Pieve
• Janice Swell
• Angel Ortiz-Rosa
• Henry Lee

Bryan Ortiz-Cruz and Amaar Mahood were only issued an infraction.

Hartford police said this operation took place in response to the ongoing and numerous narcotics trafficking complaints from the Park Street area.

Detectives underwent a plain clothes surveillance operation which resulted in on scene arrests for narcotics related violations, warrants or motor vehicle related charges, according to Hartford police. Throughout the investigations, detectives seized heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and money.

Generations of red-state farmers have braced for the impact of President Donald Trump's trade war, knowing Chinese tariffs aimed at the U.S. heartland could destroy their livelihood, NBC News reported.

"For some family farms, one season could be the death of them," said Matt Thiede, chief operating officer of Michigan produce packing company Heeren brothers. "You will see a serious change in the landscape and topography of agriculture in the U.S."

Yet many Midwestern farmers interviewed by NBC News are holding out hope that the president's trade tactics will bring a fair trade deal.

Indiana pig producer Nick DeKryger said hogs have "lost 20 bucks a head" since the trade dispute between the U.S. and China began, but he believes Trump will make sure his business survives the storm in the short term.

Hartford police have located two outstanding suspects from an arrest apprehension operation that took place in June.

On June 19, detectives assigned to the Vice & Narcotics - FBI Gang Task Force conducted an arrest apprehension operation resulting in numerous federal arrests for narcotics and firearms, according to the Hartford Police Department. At the end of the day’s operation, several suspected remained at large.

On July 3, Hartford police said, information was developed which led detectives to one of the outstanding suspects. The suspect, Ramon L Sanchez-Rivera, was located in Enfield and taken into custody.

According to Hartford police, Sanchez-Rivera is a convicted felon on parole with a prior firearm conviction, and was found in possession of a firearm. The suspect was presented to Federal Court on the active narcotics warrant firearms related charges.

A few days later, on July 5, members from V&N, FBI, and SCU developed information which led detectives to one of the outstanding suspects, according to Hartford police. Detectives, agents, and SCU officers located Hector Santiago at 23 Marshall Street in Hartford.

The Hartford Police Department said Santiago was taken into custody.

Santiago is a convicted felon out on bond for prior firearm related charges, according to Hartford police, and was found in possession of a firearm and narcotics packaging material. The suspect was charged with Federal Firearm and Narcotics related charge. 

Hartford Police have arrested two men after they were found with illegal guns following a domestic threat on Tuesday.

When officers responded to an apartment at 26 Lenox Street around 11:43 p.m., they say they found a suspect exiting from the rear of 22 Lenox Street. Investigators later found additional suspects that were detained at the same address. Detectives then responded and applied for a search and seizure warrant for the apartment.

While executing the search warrant, officers say they found a safe containing two guns, including one that was stolen and another with an obliterated serial number, high capacity magazines, a ballistic vest, ammunition and narcotics.

Police arrested 35-year-old Rashon Braswell and 28-year-old Christopher Dennis, both of Hartford. Officers say both Braswell and Dennis are convicted felons.

Braswell is facing charges including threatening, possession of pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm/ammo, possession of a high capacity magazine, theft of a firearm and possession of narcotics.

Dennis is facing charges including criminal possession of a firearm/ammo, theft of a firearm, possession of a high capacity magazine and obliterated serial number.

The University of Connecticut's Board of Trustees has voted to approve the sale of the former West Hartford campus on Friday.

According to officials, the Seven Stars Cloud Group, an international high-tech company, plans to buy the 58-acre property for $5.2 million to establish its global headquarters. The property includes five buildings including a library, a technology center, a school for social work, an undergraduate building and a facilities operation building.

“We are thrilled to have found such a wonderful spot right here in central Connecticut,” Bruno Wu, executive chairman and CEO of SSC, said in a statement.

Seven Stars Cloud's $283 million project, called Chain Valley, is expected to create 330 jobs over the next five years.

“It is here that the first students to ever leave China, the Mission Boys, settled in the late 1800s to study Western science and engineering. It is in the spirit of these students that we will build a facility so modern and dynamic that it will attract the best talent and companies, making this site the blockchain capital of the U.S. and the world. This fantastic location provides access to a highly skilled workforce, as well as more than 40 institutions of higher learning, and several major metropolitan areas all in proximity of this site. It is an ideal location for our firm to write our next chapter, and we could not be more excited to soon join this wonderful community in West Hartford,” he said.

The school struggled to sell the former campus after all of the operations that were there moved to Hartford to a site anchored by the former Hartford Times Building.

In December of 2015, the school notified the Town of West Hartford of their plans to sell the property and gave the town the first opportunity to buy it, but they could not come to terms.

In March of 2016, UConn and Weiming Educational Group signed a letter of intent. The Board of Trustees authorized the administration to simultaneously pursue a sale to the group or to the town.

A few months later, West Hartford and UConn entered into a purchase and sale agreement effective in July to sell the property in October of 2017 for $5 million. During the agreement, the town was allowed to conduct environmental and other inspections. UConn consented to seven extensions, the final of which was granted on Sept. 14, 2017. A new deadline of Dec. 15, 2017 was established and UConn notified the town that there would be no further extensions.

In December, the town notified UConn that the Town Council had voted to terminate their agreement to purchase and the town forfeited its deposit of $250,000.

Since the termination between UConn and the Town of West Hartford, the school has been marketing the property directly. A letter of of intent was executed between UConn and Seven Stars on May 17, 2018. The sale was approved by UConn's Board of Trustees on July 6.

An incident involving a tanker truck that was carrying liquid nitrogen has closed part of Route 32 in Franklin and is prompting evacuations on Friday.

State Police said the tanker that was involved in Friday morning's fire on I-95 on the Westbrook Clinton line was being towed from I-95 to Bozrah when it tipped over or rolled off the tow truck around 11:20 a.m.

According to Connecticut DOT, Route 32 is closed between Newpark Avenue and Route 2.

As a precaution, businesses and residences in the immediate area have been evacuated.

Firefighters from Franklin, Yantic, East Great Plains and DEEP are on scene. 

I-95 south on the Westbrook/Clinton line was closed for hours Friday morning after the tanker caught on fire and began leaking liquid nitrogen. All of the lanes have since reopened.

State and federal officials held a news conference Friday morning addressing federal lawsuits filed related to the migrant children crisis.

For the first time, advocates confirmed that two children were sent to Connecticut by immigration officials.

Connecticut Legal Services and the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School represent the children in their emergency lawsuits to have the children released and united with their families.

The federal court in Bridgeport is expected to hold an emergency hearing on these lawsuits on July 11.

A YMCA Camp Chase bus carrying 13 campers and staff was hit by a car that lost control on Route 4 on Friday.

According to police, the car lost control on the Burlington-Farmington town line and hit five other cars, as well as the bus.

There were no injuries to campers or staff on the bus, according to state police.

The bus driver saw the car lose control and was able to move the bus straight enough to only cause minor damage, Samantha Savran, Director of Marketing for the YMCA of Greater Hartford said in a release.

An ambulance came to the scene to check out all campers and staff on the bus, Savran said. All of the children’s parents were contacted and spoke to their children after the incident.

DATTCO went to Camp Chase to investigate the situation and make sure the bus driver and all staff followed protocol, Savran said. They will be reviewing video footage taken on the bus.