A serious motorcycle crash closed Route 9 in New Britain on Friday afternoon.
The crash happened between Exits 28 and 29, according to police.
There was only one person on the motorcycle, police said.
Police were able to allow traffic to pass on the left shoulder, but the crash caused significant delays.
There is no word on the condition of the victim.
The number of homicides committed using guns has gone up by nearly a third nationwide in recent years, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NBC News reported.
The CDC found a 31 percent increase in homicides involving firearms from 2014 to 2016. In 2014, 11,008 homicides involved a gun. The number rose to 14,415 by 2016, the CDC team said.
Guns were by far the most common weapon used in homicides, the CDC team found.
A Somers High School science teacher has been placed on administrative leave.
A letter the superintendent of schools in Somers sent to Jim Folger, of Enfield, on June 15 said he was being placed on leave indefinitely pending an investigation into allegations including unprofessional conduct in the classroom and unprofessional conduct directed toward staff.
He was ordered to refrain from attending school functions, visiting school grounds unless the administration instructs him to and communicating with staff members other than administration. He was also instructed to refrain from contact with students.
NBC Connecticut attempt to reach Folger for comment have been unsuccessful.
A man was stabbed while inside the Meriden Westfield Mall on Friday.
Officers were called to the mall around 4 p.m. for a report of a fight on the second floor, according to police.
The incident involved two men who were involved in what police called an "ongoing personal dispute."
One of the men stabbed the other, causing non-life threatening injuries, police said.
The victim was taken to the hospital to be treated.
Police said they know who the suspect is and are continuing their investigation.
Hartford police announced Friday a $50,000 reward to help solve a cold case.
Nicholas Brown was shot 18 times and killed in September 2016.
“He will never see his children grow up,” said Natalie Brown, Nicholas Brown’s sister. “I will never see him get married. I’ll never know what it would be for him to be 50 years old and what his life would be like. We just want justice.”
Brown was shot on Magnolia Street in Hartford by at least two gunmen, according to police. He was taken to the hospital and later died.
The state is now offering a $50,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
“The investigation has been long, it has been difficult, it has been very challenging,” said Lt. Paul Cicero, Hartford Police. “Many people in this community know what happened to Nicholas Brown.”
“It is time to give this family the peace and closure that they need. You need to do the right thing,” Rev. Henry Brown said, an activist for Mothers United Against Violence. “You need to collect this $50,000 and put it in your pocket.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Hartford Police.
NBC Connecticut will host debates in the race for the 5th Congressional District ahead of the primary election.
The Republican debate between Manny Santos, Rich DuPont and Ruby Corby O'Neill will take place on Monday, July 30.
The Democratic debate between Mary Glassman and Jahana Hayes is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 8.
The debates will start at 8:30 p.m. and run an hour.
NBC CT Political Reporter Max Reiss will moderate both debates.
Both debates will stream live on nbcconnecticut.com, in the free NBC CT app and on the NBC Connecticut Facebook page.
A vacant apartment building in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood was brought down Saturday, two days after it started to collapse.
The century-old building in the 700 block of Park Street hasn’t been occupied since a fire in 2014. After part of the roof crumbled to the ground Thursday, officials said its collapse was imminent.
“I see all the building going down and bricks coming down,” said Benoit Simone, who grew up in the neighborhood and now lives in Newington.
The demolition attracted an audience who stood and watched from across the street, with cell phones in hand, as a large crane pulled the five-story building apart piece by piece. At times large chunks fell to the ground.
“I just wanted to see it,” said Cryseli Cotto of New Britain.
Park Street was shut down to protect passersby from falling debris. Luis Rodriguez got a front row seat when he pulled his lawn chair up to the caution tape.
“That’s the first time that I saw something like that you know around here that’s never happened before and I want to see the experience of how that thing is going down, the building’s going down,” said Rodriguez.
However, Rodriguez was more than intrigued with the process, he was also concerned because he lives on the same block. Unlike the dozens who have apartments adjacent to this building, he wasn’t evacuated.
“They said we safety there. I be down here to check because I have my family upstairs, I got my grand kids and everybody in the apartment because I want to make sure we’re gonna be safe.”
As for the dozens who were evacuated, it could be Tuesday before the demolition is finished and they’re allowed to return home.
Dozens of people will send a powerful message Saturday afternoon as they come together following a sexual assault on a popular trail in Canton.
Kalia Kellogg organized the “Take Back the Trail” event on Facebook. She said she was devastated to learn of the brutal attack on Tuesday morning.
“This is a place I love, and we are going to feel safe again,” Kellogg said. ”I thought I was putting a call out to 25 friends and neighbors, and it’s taken off, and it’s hit a nerve.”
According to Canton Police, the alleged rape happened Tuesday morning on the walking trail between Canton Springs and Atwater roads. A police source told NBC Connecticut the woman left the trail to follow a dog, possibly belonging to the suspect. Kellogg believes it is time for people to take a stand.
”To know that the survivor of this incident knows this is happening and this has helped make her feel stronger, if that’s all we accomplish, that is worth hundreds of people gathering for.”
Canton police have spoken to the victim. The suspect is described as a white man with short, brown hair in his 30s, roughly 5-feet 8-inches tall with a slender to medium build. He was wearing dark basketball-type shorts and a gray t-shirt and/or a black hoodie. He may also have been wearing sunglasses and had a small white dog with him.
”I want this perpetrator to be caught. I want the law to deal with this perpetrator, but the terrible truth is he is one of droves of people who feel they have the right to attack women.”
Canton's Police Chief reached out Friday assuring Kellogg that she has the department’s full support, she said.
“He offered to manage traffic. I was so moved. I nearly teared up when we were speaking.”
Organizers are asking people to bring flower petals to leave on the trail as they walk.
The event will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Main and Front Streets.
Hundreds of people gathered in Haddam on Friday night to show support for the American flag and to show their displeasure with town selectman Melissa Schlag, who chose to kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance at a town meeting earlier this month.
They placed 1,000 flags on the Higganum Green, many of which previously graced the grave sites of local veterans, according to the event organizer Ron Annino, a Navy veteran.
Schlag spoke exclusively to NBC Connecticut’s on Friday and insisted her decision to take a knee at a Board of Selectmen meeting last week was not disrespectful to veterans. She said generations of her family, including her father, served in the military.
“I chose to kneel not out of disrespect for the flag or our country, but out of utter respect, but also fear for what we have to lose, and all of the attacks on our democracy,” she said.
Schlag said her protest was meant to call attention to President Trump’s controversial statements following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s in Helsinki, which took place earlier that day.
She told NBC Connecticut her patriotism is evident in her decision to serve as a public official, and she believes taking a knee in a public meeting was her way of giving a reverential nod to the hard-won right to free speech.
“If we are not allowed to exercise our freedom of expression and of peaceful protest then they fought for nothing at all,” she said.
The video of her kneeling for the Pledge of Allegiance has been seen all over the country, and she has received numerous messages of support and heavy criticism.
Some at Friday's counter-protest disagree with Schlag's decision to kneel.
“I haven’t been ever to any protest because I don’t really feel it accomplishes much, but this particular thing because it was an official, I just don’t feel there’s a place in society for you to rebel at your town council meeting,” said Steven Pinto, an Air Force veteran who drove in from Manchester for the event.
“I’m not really sure what happened, but it’s highly disrespectful,” said Lisa Johnson, of Higganum.
Schlag said she plans to continue taking a knee in protest. She told NBC Connecticut she does not intend to run for re-election when her term as selectman ends in November of 2019. It's a decision she said she made before the controversy.
A new center for one-stop job shopping is now open in Montville.
The American Job Center is a full-service center that will host regional hiring events and workshops, and open the door to apprenticeship programs, special services for veterans, on-site employer recruitment and more.
“It really is nice because it’s one-stop shopping. There’s so many different agencies in this building that if somebody needs multiple types of services, they can do it within the confines of this one building,” said Chris Jewell, the chairman of the Eastern Workforce Investment Board.
"There’s nothing like this in southeastern Connecticut," he said.
It will be key to filling new manufacturing jobs in Southeastern Connecticut – something every lawmaker and local leader touted at the grand opening Friday.
People who want to get into the business can take their prerequisite testing—the vetting process all takes place at the job center. Once they go through the pipeline program, different business specialists can find them jobs, Jewell said.
“(Manufacturing jobs are) immensely critical because they have a huge multiplier effect. So on the economy, manufacturing jobs, you have materials you have to purchase, subcontractors you have to utilize, so there’s various streams of income that come in from manufacturing,” Jewell said.
The hope is the center will bring in younger talent, too, to get them started in the manufacturing field.
The supply of toys given to patients at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is running low.
Matt and Carrie Martel have been in an out of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center with their daughter Ava for the past year.
“Sometimes you’re here for weeks, days and you’ve got nothing,” Matt Martel said. “You’re not at home.”
At the hospital, they give kids new toys to help them with the recovery process after surgery or a medical procedure.
“It gives her something to look forward to,” Carrie Martel said. “She gets really scared going in, but when she wakes up she remembers 'hey I got something,' and it just makes it a lot easier for her.”
Lead Child Life Specialist, Christine Tatem, says the toy closet here is emptying fast.
“We receive a lot of our donations during Christmas time, so typically by the end of summer we’re running a little low,” Tatem said.
The hospital created an online wish list, and they are asking for new toy donations.
“We need for all ages,” Tatum said. “We see infants right through adolescents. Infants are often in high demand. So things like rattles or board books or anything like lights up or makes noise.”
If you’d like to donate, you can drop off toys at the front desk at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for parts of Litchfield County.
A strong thunderstorm is making its way from New York into Connecticut.
The storm has produced heavy rain, high winds, and hail.
It is set to move into Litchfield County Saturday afternoon.
The storm cell has shows signs of rotation, according to NBC Connecticut meteorologist Josh Cingranelli.
[[273570711, C]]
Police responded to a crash involving a car and a bicycle in Simsbury on Saturday.
The incident happened at the corner of Notch Road and Drive Bridge Road Saturday afternoon.
No details on the bike rider's condition were released.
Hundreds of people walked the Farmington River Trail in Canton on Saturday afternoon in response to sexual assault on the popular trail earlier this week.
Kalia Kellogg, of Canton, organized the “Take Back Our Trail” event on Facebook, and told NBC Connecticut that walking the trail together was a show of unity and support for the woman who was raped on the trail on Tuesday.
“This is a gathering of love, a gathering of saying ‘we are here, this is our neighborhood, this is our trail. We are here to reclaim this space,’” she said.
The gathering was also intended as a message that women will not bow to violence.
“We know this happens too many times to too many women,” she said.
Police are still searching for the suspect and updated his description on Saturday to a white male with short brown hair and an unshaven face, who stands between 5-feet 7-inches and 5-feet 9-inches tall, and is a slender to medium build. They believe he was wearing a gray t-shirt, and could have been wearing a black hoodie and black basketball-style shorts.
The suspect may have been wearing sunglasses at the time and carrying a small white dog.
Police said previously that a dog may have distracted the victim, who went off the trail and into the woods where she was assaulted.
Olivia Eckert, of Canton, said she is concerned for her safety on the trail as long as the attacker remains at large, but felt moved to join the walk. The 19-year-old wanted the survivor to know that what happened to her could happen to anybody.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, what you’re wearing. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing and if you’re being cautious or not,” she said.
Tracy Eckert, a Canton-based psychotherapist, read aloud to the group from a statement she said the survivor prepared for her.
Jane Doe, as she referred to herself, thanked the community for their support. Her ultimate message was simple. “People shouldn’t rape people, period. End of story,” it read.
Two children and their great-grandmother have been found dead after they went missing as they were ordered to evacuate Redding due to the devastating wildfire, the family confirmed with NBC Bay Area.
Five-year-old James Roberts, 4-year-old Emily Roberts and 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe were caught in the path of the Carr Fire when they were about to evacuate their home on Quartz Hill in Redding, Bledsoe's granddaughter Shelly Hoskison said.
Bledsoe told her husband, Ed Bledsoe, that he needed to come home from work because the Carr Fire was getting close to their house, Hoskison told NBC Bay Area. Hoskison said her grandfather tried to get home right way but the streets were already blocked off by police.
Bledsoe reportedly called the police, saying she was trapped inside of her home and had no car. That's when the phone call went dead, Hoskison said.
"When you have a 70 year old woman in poor health that can’t go sprinting down the road like an NFL linebacker you know and you have 2 small children," said family friend Donald Kewley. "Imagine being the man that wasn’t at home with his wife and grandchildren that he’s been raising since day 1 because he wasn’t told to be home."
Kewley, the boyfriend of Bledsoe's granddaughter, told NBC-affiliate KCRA that there were no evacuations ordered in their area.
"There was no statement. The sheriff's department all morning made sure we knew it wasn't in the city of Redding. We weren't evacuating the city of Redding," Kewley said.
The Shasta County Sheriff says the incident is under investigation. He also says, there was a firefighter on Quartz Hill Road around the same time, rescuing someone else, but had to flee after his vehicle almost went up in flames.
Officials said there have received reports of several missing residents and they have set up a missing person hotline at (530) 225-4277.
The Carr Fire grew by about 35 percent overnight to 127 square miles and pushed southwest of Redding, toward the communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point. It's now the largest of more than 20 fires burning in California. The winds that aided firefighters in keeping the flames from more populated areas were propelling it forward at a frightening rate.
Cal Fire has ordered additional evacuations in the surrounding area:
#CarrFire [update] additional evacuation orders issued and effective immediately. pic.twitter.com/Ug3ePTM4JX
— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) July 28, 2018
The flames moved so fast that firefighters working in oven-like temperatures and bone-dry conditions had to drop efforts to battle the blaze at one point to help people escape. Two firefighters were also killed: Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke and a bulldozer operator Don Ray Smith. He was the second bulldozer operator to die in a California blaze in less than two weeks.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. James Tyler Grotjan was laid to rest in Waterford on Saturday.
Grotjan died on July 12 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. He was taken off life support four days after he was injured in a non-combat related incident at Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
He was serving with the Air Force's 4th Civil Engineers Squadron supporting Operation Inherent Resolve at the time of the incident.
The Department of Defense has not released details about the incident, but Grotjan's mother told NBC Connecticut that her son was exposed to methane gas, suffered cardiac arrest and fell while doing work in a manhole.
Family and friends said goodbye to Grotjan at a graveside service at the Jordan Cemetery in Waterford.
People packed some of Connecticut's most popular swimming areas on Sunday.
Rocky Neck in Niantic, Wadsworth Falls in Middletown, and Squantz Pond in New Fairfield, Kent Falls in Kent and Mount Tom in Litchfield all reached capacity Sunday afternoon and were closed to new vehicles, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Many of Connecticut's state parks are known to reach capacity when the weather in the summer turns nice.
Sunday's forecast called for temperatures in the 80s and sunny skies.
A local veteran doesn't want a recent controversy surrounding Haddam Selectman Melissa Schlag's decision to kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance at a public meeting to be tied to veterans.
Air Force veteran Kate Hamilton Moser said she knows many fellow veterans are criticizing Schlag, and said she understands why they feel deeply for the flag.
“For so many of us, you are socialized to believe that the flag stands for home, that the flag stands for safety,” Hamilton Moser said.
She is pleading with people to reconsider tying Schlag’s protest to veterans. The controversy, Moser believes, distracts people from real problems veterans are facing daily, such as PTSD, sexual trauma, and long-term quality of life issues.
“Until you’re addressing all of these other issues, you’re using veterans as a prop. To me that’s the ultimate disrespect,” she said.
Schlag insisted that her decision to take a knee at a recent Haddam Board of Selectman meeting was to protest President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier that day.
“I watched the nightmare of a press conference in Helsinki. I was disgusted with what happened,” she said on Friday.
Schlag continues to draw criticism from across the country after the video of her protest went viral.
“I didn’t hurt anybody. I still love my country, and I will fight for my country as hard as anybody else will,” she said.
Dozens of people on Facebook are so far indicating plans to attend a silent vigil in support of Schlag at Haddam’s next Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday night. The meeting was moved from town hall to Haddam’s Volunteer Fire Company to accommodate what is expected to be a significant crowd.
Firefighters responded to a fire at a gas station in Manchester on Sunday.
The fire broke out at a station on Middle Turnpike and Adams Street.
A video from the scene showed flames shooting from the building.
There was no word if anyone has been injured.
A woman escaped a fire in her home in Colchester early Sunday morning.
Firefighters responded to the home on Lakeview Drive and found the home full of thick black smoke.
The woman had working smoke detectors in the house and that made the difference, according to fire officials.
“The homeowner was able to get out, she had working smoke detectors. In this face this morning, that working smoke detector saved her life because she would have just continued to sleep and be overcome by the CO,” Deputy Fire Chief Donald Lee said.
Fire officials determined a box fan in a basement crawlspace sparked the fire.
The woman will not be able to stay in the house because of the smoke damage, Lee said.
