A Bristol girl has been missing for a week and police have issued a Silver Alert for her.
Sixteen-year-old Asia Jones has been missing since Aug. 10, according to the Silver Alert.
She is 5-feet-2, weighs 104 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair.
Asia was last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a black tank top and white and blue Nike shoes.
Anyone with information on where she is should call Bristol police at 860-584-3011.
One of the former co-owners of Presidente Supermarkets who was wanted in the 2011 killing of his wife's lover in Miami-Dade has been taken into custody in Spain.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office confirmed supermarket mogul Manuel Marin was taken into custody Tuesday. The State Department has begun the process to extradite Marin to the U.S., officials said.
Marin is one of four suspects in the June 2011 murder of 43-year-old Camilo Salazar, the secret lover of Marin's wife Jenny Marin. Also accused in the plot are former mixed martial artists Alexis Vila Perdomo and Ariel Gandulla, and fight trainer and promoter Roberto Isaac.
Vila-Perdomo and Isaac remain in custody in Miami-Dade, but Gandulla is believed to have fled the country.
Salazar's body was found on a dirt road in the Florida Everglades in northwest Miami-Dade. He was bound, beaten and tortured and his body was partially burned, according to a police report.
Authorities say Marin fled the country shortly after the killing.
Presidente is one of the fastest-growing Hispanic grocery chains in the country. The company released a statement saying Marin hasn't been involved with them since 2011.
"The Presidente family stands with the community and is hopeful of a quick and just resolution to these claims," the statement read.
A water main on East Center Street in Manchester is broken and officials said it will take hours to repair.
The break is in the area of 608 East Center St. It was reported around midnight, part of the road is closed and water is out for around 40 customers.
Officials from the town of Manchester water department said it should take around eight hours to make the repairs.
A Greenwich man has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty after a dog he adopted was found roaming and there were signs it had been abused, according to police.
Police said the dog, a mastiff, was found roaming in Bruce Park on June 3 and Greenwich animal control determined that 23-year-old Christian Dilworth had adopted the dog in May.
When investigators called him about the dog, Dilworth said the animal had died and provided what police called “misleading and contradictory” information on the circumstances of the alleged death, according to a news release from police.
Police obtained a warrant on Wednesday and Dilworth has been charged with failure to comply with dog ownership requirements, illegal released of a domestic animal, cruelty to animals, making a false statement and interfering with an officer.
He turned himself in on Thursday and was unable to post a court-set bond of $25,000.
Family and friends of Shanann Watts are wondering what could have driven her husband to kill her and their two daughters, which authorities suspect he did early this week, leading to his arrest on Thursday.
NBC News reports that Shanann and Chris Watts had been under financial pressure, having filed for bankruptcy in June 2015. At the time, they had two savings accounts with less than $10 and a joint account with under $870.
But by their fifth anniversary this November, Shanann gushed on Instagram: "Chris these have been the best years of my life! Our love just grows strong everyday!" This year she shared an image of a Lexus she said was awarded for her work.
It's unclear how the family's financial fortunes improved, but her social media pages are covered with images of her wearing weight loss and health patches from Le-Vel, which encourages sellers to share customers' success stories.
One person is dead and another has life-threatening injuries after the vehicle they were in crashed near the intersection of Foxon Hill Road and Quinnipiac Avenue in New Haven.
State Police said the driver of the vehicle fled from Hamden Police shortly before the crash occurred just after 1 a.m. Friday.
Few details have been released but the intersection is closed while state troopers from the accident reconstruction squad investigate.
Social media feeds have been swamped by news that the advocacy organization Environmental Working Group found traces of the pesticide glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, in certain popular breakfast cereals like Cheerios. While the headlines have alarmed parents, there are several reasons not to panic, NBC News reported.
Research by the EWG, which actively campaigns against glyphosate, was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, the amounts found were far below the allowable limits, and most experts in the field say there’s very little evidence that glyphosate causes cancer or any other health problems.
Glyphosate also made headlines because a California jury ordered Roundup maker Monsanto to pay $290 million in damages to a groundskeeper with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Still, American juries do not necessarily rule based on scientific evidence, and they are not required to.
Click here for the full story on NBCNews.com.
The synthetic drug K2 suspected to have sent more than 100 people to the hospital in the New Haven area between Tuesday night and Thursday was contaminated with another synthetic drug called fubinaca, police said Friday.
One form of fubinaca is an "ultrapotent" synthetic cannabinoid known to be 50 to 85 times more powerful than K2 and "poses a public health concern," according to a 2017 article in the New England Journal of Medicine that found the drug was involved in a 2016 outbreak in Brooklyn, New York, that resulted in dozens of hospitalizations and left the area looking like a "zombieland."
“We want to get the word out to make sure people understand, please do not use this K2. It is clearly contaminated,” New Haven Police Chief Anthony Campbell said Friday morning. “The results have come back that it is K2. One of the chemicals is fubinaca, which really seems to be, for whatever reason, knocking people down, taking them out, so we’ve been trying to get that word out.”
Emergency responders in New Haven have been dealing with a massive number of overdoses since Tuesday night. Many of the people became ill while they were on the New Haven Green, which is located near Yale University. There have been no fatalities, but Campbell warned that the drug can be fatal and for people to stay away from it.
[[491055831, C]]
People who take the K2 have been having seizures, going into cardiac arrest, vomiting or passing out.
The health emergency began escalating at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to city fire officials. Between Tuesday night and Wednesday, 79 overdoses suspected to be linked to K2 were reported and 72 of those cases resulted in hospitalizations.
Chief Campbell said he witnessed up to eight people not being able to breathe and needing to be resuscitated.
New Haven Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana said there were 36 suspected overdose calls from 10:15 p.m. Wednesday through 8:30 p.m. Thursday alone.
There have been no additional cases on Friday, according to police.
[[491032521, C]]
Many of the people who needed to go to the hospital sought medical assistance up to four or five times.
Fubinaca was to blame for the Brooklyn outbreak in July 2016, according to the New England Journal of Medicine review of samples taken from some people hospitalized.
"When they smoke that stuff, they drop like flies," a resident told NBC New York at the time. Another resident said the passed-out patients he saw being treated made the area look like "zombieland," according to the Guardian.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumental met with New Haven officials Friday and said the new synthetic drugs are "killers" that are coming across borders from China and Mexico.
"They are used by amateur chemists, mixed with other contaminants fatally used in overdoses," Blumenthal said.
"I hope this administration will put aside tariff feuds and the trade wars and focus on cracking down on the synthetics coming across our borders," Blumenthal said.
During a news conference Thursday, Campbell said that the city is a "great provider of service for people who struggle with addiction."
[[491068501,C]]
"It is thereby the reason that so many people who struggle with these type of issues are then susceptible to those who would prey on them, who would give them drugs, who would come to areas where they go for services to try to sell them drugs," he said.
New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said that the city is finalizing plans for Jim Carroll, the president’s nominee for drug czar, to be in the city Monday.
Police said they have arrested three people believed to be responsible for the sale and distribution of the K2.
Campbell said Thursday that one person was handing out K2 and might have intended to try to get people addicted and start a “chain of clients for themselves.”
Gov. Dannel Malloy has called the massive number of overdoses in New Haven “deeply troubling” and provided the city with state resources.
Officials from the state Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services are providing assistance, including delivering 50 doses of naloxone to the City of New Haven to replenish the supply first responders used over 24 hours.
The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is also working with health professionals to assist the emergency responders. Malloy said psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, medical and homeless outreach staff also assisted in triage, administering naloxone, and sending people to the hospital.
The city of Hamden also shared signs of an overdose, citing the Quinnipiac Valley Health District, for the information.
Symptoms include:
President Donald Trump is showing renewed interest in a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to privatize the war, current and former senior administration officials told NBC News.
The idea envisions replacing troops with private military contractors who would work for a special U.S. envoy for the war who would report directly to the president.
It has raised ethical and security concerns among senior military officials, key lawmakers and members of Trump's national security team.
But a year after Trump approved boosting the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, his advisers are worried his impatience with the Afghanistan conflict will cause him to seriously consider proposals like Prince's or abruptly order a complete U.S. withdrawal, officials said.
Prince, a staunch Trump supporter whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, said he hasn't spoken directly to Trump about the plan, but told NBC News he plans to launch an aggressive media "air campaign" in coming days to try to get the president to embrace it.
The city of Worcester and the Pawtucket Red Sox announced Friday they have a letter of intent to build a new ballpark and a multi-million dollar redevelopment project in the city's Canal District and the team will commence playing there in 2021.
"Our city has baseball in its blood, so get ready, today, I am excited and pleased to announce that the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox will be coming to the city of Worcester," Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty told the cheering crowd.
PawSox Chairman Larry Lucchino said the new ballpark will be called Polar Park.
"We have felt an enormous sense of welcome and an enormous sense of civic pride and we have felt this is a place where the people of Worcester and the people of Massachusetts will open us with open arms," Lucchino said.
The new ballpark will be the centerpiece of approximately 18 acres of development that will include 250 apartments and a 150-room hotel, as well as new restaurants and shops.
Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito was in attendance and says the baseball team's move to Worcester signifies economic momentum for the city, including more jobs and redevelopment of the industrial district. She added that the state will invest in the project, as well.
"We will commit $35 million to the infrastructure over the next two to three years to redevelop this area of the city," she said.
Massachusets Governor Charlie Baker added his support for the move in a statement.
“The Baker-Polito Administration is committed to working with our partners at the local level to support economic development opportunities across the Commonwealth to create jobs and strengthen communities,” said Baker. “We are pleased to continue to invest in the City of Worcester and look forward to working together to welcome a premier professional ball team to the state.”
A statement from the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce read in part:
"This is a significant milestone, in that the proposal will not only involve the construction of a new ballpark but a major redevelopment of the long-vacant Wyman-Gordon site into a mixed-use district. Together the ballpark and redevelopment will create new jobs, tax base expansion and tens of thousands of new visitors to the City annually."
Multiple sources confirmed Thursday that the minor league baseball team would soon be referring to Worcester as its new home.
Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner all but confirmed the move while speaking with the media on Friday. He said he's disappointed that PawSox Chairman Larry Lucchino couldn't find a way to keep the team in Rhode Island but also excited about the future in Worcester.
"Obviously, for every child who is disappointed today, there's also going to be a child in Worcester who's going to have a nice night tonight," Werner said. "It's very important we keep our fan base in Rhode Island, but this is a great fan base in Massachusetts, a great thing for the city of Worcester, a great thing for the state.
"I think there's gonna be renewed energy in Worcester," he added. "I think they're going to have a great new ballpark there. We're happy that the team is staying in New England."
Residents said they're excited at the possibility of the team relocating to the city, and one even said Lucchino has been spotted in the town numerous times.
"It's a very good thing," Worcester resident Joe Bailey said. "It’s an awesome thing. It’s bringing everything back to Massachusetts where it belongs."
City officials are already on board with the PawSox going to Worcester.
Alex Guardiola, director of government affairs and public policy at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the team would bring in revenue and jobs and benefit local businesses.
In the midst of all of the excitement and brainstorming, the Pawtucket mayor's office made it clear that no announcements have been made just yet.
"At no time has there been any indication of a PawSox plan to move to Worcester or a suggestion of an announcement," a statement from the mayor's office said on Thursday.
The team is contracted to play in Pawtucket through 2020.
A Plainfield teacher who gave a boy who is diagnosed with ADHD a so-called “award” for getting distracted often has left the school, according to school officials.
The boy’s mom, Tera Cooper, spoke with NBC Connecticut in June and said she was confused why the teacher at Plainfield Central School would think it’s funny to give something like this to her 13-year-old son, Derek.
The certificate was titled “#ADDAward” and reads “Most likely to be distracted by … look something shiny!” It has a zombie being held up by a balloon and a little gold ribbon that says “good work.”
“He had tears in his eyes. He’s embarrassed because he had to accept it in front of his entire class,” Cooper said at the time.
While she never met the teacher, Cooper said the school and the teacher knew about Derek’s ADHD.
“He is on a 504 plan at the school, so she is aware of it. I don’t know if she thought it was funny but it’s not funny. She’s the teacher. It’s supposed to be a safe place,” Cooper said in June.
A 504 plan is an educational plan that could include changes in a child's educational program. The plans are for students who would not need special education but qualify under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.
Derek did receive two other awards from the same teacher, Cooper added. One for being the most improved in social studies and one titled “#BermudaTriangle” that reads, “Most likely to borrow stuff and it never coming back!” The certificates have a picture of a skeleton and a zombie respectively and the same “good work” ribbon.
Cooper said Derek told her that a couple of other students received the ADD “award” too.
Plainfield Public Schools Superintendent Kenneth Di Pietro said in an email Friday that the teacher “decided to pursue employment elsewhere and no longer works for Plainfield Public Schools.”
Thirty-seven officers graduated from the DARE program Friday and the men and women will be tasked with teaching children to lead drug-free lives.
This week’s overdose emergency on the New Haven Green, affecting more than 100 people who took a synthetic substance known as K2, was not lost on the group.
During the graduation ceremony, Connecticut State Police Commissioner Dora Schriro referenced the crisis.
“Once upon a time they were in school and they have children at home as well, so, this is a multigenerational conversation,” she said.
Graduating officers said they see the impact drugs have in local neighborhoods, towns and communities nearly every day.
“Sometimes you see these people and you wish you could roll back and get to them before they got to this point in their lives,” Trooper First Class Dimitrie Bogiatzopoulos said.
He and the rest of the new DARE officers will have a chance to turn the tide with a new generation, going into schools to teach students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. However, he hopes the conversation continues at home.
“Parents have the most opportunity to enforce all the values that children need to make the right choices. We give them some (of) the tools they can use but parents can help us a great deal by reinforcing it at home and throughout their lives day today,” Bogiatzopoulos said.
“Real life scenarios. That’s what kids want. They just want you to be honest. They want the truth and they want answers,” Allison Lockwood, a member of the Milford Police Department and new DARE grad, said.
Lockwood also advised that parents tell their children that when they are not at home to listen to the people they trust, their teachers, and other trusted adults.
Amazon is once again expanding in Connecticut.
The company is opening a new delivery station in Bristol, bringing with it at least 100 part-time jobs.
Hundreds of people lined up in hopes of getting one of those positions at a job fair held by Amazon Friday.
People like Alyx Weisinger of West Hartford see an opportunity to be in on the ground floor of a company that by many measures, has dramatically changed the way we shop,
“They’re a company that’s done nothing but grow. you know, you want to be in an industry that’s booming, you don’t want to be in an industry that’s dying out," Weisinger said.
It is all about growth for Amazon. It already has operations up and running in Windsor, Wallingford, and North Haven.
Bristol Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu did not sugar coat the fact these aren’t the coveted, high paying biotech or finance jobs so many towns and cities fight for.
At the same time the mayor said the part-time, often overnight jobs fit the bill for many many people.
“We were at the job fair today and we saw long lines, which means despite the 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. shift, that these are desirable jobs for people who are either looking to augment income, make it into the workforce, maybe have a second job," she said.
The mayor explained the Amazon facility in Bristol will get packages ready for the final leg of their journey to people’s homes.
She adds during peak times employment could swell to 500 jobs
Beyond the jobs, the mayor said Amazon helps its marketing efforts by bringing yet another “brand name“ employer to a city that already boasts companies including the Barnes Group and ESPN.
Amazon opens its new operation in Bristol Aug. 25.
Some residents living in the Paddock Village Condo complex in Meriden are a little on edge. They say for seven months, a portion of the property has been in the dark.
“I can’t seem to get it repaired,” said Jane, who represents the Paddock Village Condo Association. Jane has been leading the charge to get it fixed.
She said residents expressed their safety concerns over the light pole outage back in February. That’s when she reached out to Eversource about the problem.
“You could fall. You can’t see. You certainly can’t use the dumpster,” said Jane. “It’s dangerous.“
Jane said she documented the number of times she called Eversource for services from February to July of this year. Jane made note of each ticket number, and her conversations with Eversource’s customer service representatives.
“A couple of times they said it was fixed. It was not. It’s just very frustrating,” said Jane.
After going back and forth with Eversource’s street light outage department, Jane said the customer service rep told her crews had been out to the area a few times and repairs would be resolved soon.
Fed up, Jane reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds.
It wasn’t until Responds started asking questions that Jane and Eversource realized they were talking about two different poles.
Spokesperson Mitch Gross told us:
“The issue was that two utility poles at Paddock Village were being referred to as “Pole #1.” Our Pole #1 is near the entrance to the complex – it is ours and we are responsible for its maintenance. The condo association also has a utility pole they had been referring to as Pole #1. It is located in another area of the property, near dumpsters and is their responsibility. There was also a billing issue regarding the condo association’s pole #1. We contacted the property manager, clarified who owns and is responsible for which pole, and worked with her to straighten out the billing issue. Both poles and the lights attached to each were checked and both are working properly.”
As a result of our involvement, Eversource worked with the property manager to get the light pole up and running.
“Greatly appreciate it. Absolutely,” said Jane. “All we want is the light to work and that’s the bottom line.“
As jurors deliberate over fraud charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, back in his hometown of New Britain it’s a street sign inscribed with the Manafort name that’s the talk of the town.
“I think there’s always gonna be that Paul Manafort Junior stink over it,” said Justin Vega of New Britain.
But Paul Manafort Drive, near the Central Connecticut State University campus, was never named after him, it was named after his father, Paul Manafort Senior. After a public petition to name the street after someone else, the mayor decided instead to tweak the sign, adding Sr. to the end to make sure there’s no confusion between father and son.
“I appreciate that. Things that get changed like that even though it’s small it’s important to do that,” said CCSU student Gina Pelligrinelli of Glastonbury.
“I feel like if they’re making the change it’s kind of blowing it out of proportion,” said Joel Garcia of Bristol.
“Unfortunately, those who are not aware of the City of New Britain’s story do not know or understand the big difference between Paul Manafort Senior and Junior. Senior was a former mayor, a veteran, and someone who served our City well,” said Mayor Erin Stewart.
“I don’t know how much it’s going to cost the city but I think it’s a really good step to keep Paul Manafort Senior’s work intact,” Vega added.
Manafort Senior actually faced corruption charges of his own in the 80s but was never convicted.
A retired NYPD officer is being hailed as a hero after saving the life of a little girl who suffered an accident while traveling in an off-road vehicle during a family vacation in Aruba.
The family of 7-year-old Jednniely Perez Rivas had requested help to bring the child to Puerto Rico in an air ambulance following the accident she suffered Wednesday after another vehicle crashed into the off-road vehicle she was traveling in.
Jednniely's aunt, Yaritza Perez, informed Telemundo PR that an American man, identified as Sean Whelan, not only performed CPR on the girl at the scene, but offered to pay $15,000 for the expenses to transport the child to Puerto Rico.
She arrived at a hospital in Puerto Rico on Friday. Whelan accompanied the girl on the air ambulance.
"We are very grateful, both with the man who offered to pay, and with the people who have helped us," Perez said.
Money raised will go to the medical treatment of the little girl, who lost a foot and is in an induced coma.
Luis Rivas, Jednniely’s grandfather, called Whelan an "angel."
“I’m grateful towards him. He’s been a guardian angel to my girl. There are no words to thank him,” he told Telemundo PR.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico, Rafael Rodiguez Mercado, reported that he mobilized specialists of the Pediatric Hospital, which is prepared to receive the girl.
"Everything is ready to receive the girl in the pediatric hospital. The first thing we have to do is stabilize her and as soon as we know what her condition she’ll receive the appropriate treatment," Rodriguez Mercado explained.
"At this moment a bed is ready in intensive care and she’ll be received by the Director of the Intensive Care Unit, Dr. Ricardo Garcia, we’ll have specialists from the Department of Neurosurgery, pediatric orthopedics and pediatric surgery to meet the needs of the girl,” Rodriguez Mercado added.
Police departments across the country have accepted the police department lip sync challenge and the Wolcott Police Department was not to be left out.
The men and women of the department collaborated with members of their community for a video you won't soon forget, complete with a lip sync rap sequence during the video.
The video even features some special guests including Kay Greene, the department's first female officer who served from 1960 to 1984.
Other Connecticut police department that have participated in the challenge include East Haven, Waterford, and North Branford.
An old tobacco shed that was converted into a storage space burned to the ground early Sunday morning in East Windsor.
According to Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Bancroft, the storage shed on Barber Hill Road was likely struck by lightning Friday night, just before midnight.
“We heard a very large crack of lightning or thunder and when we looked out the window you could see the glare of orange in the sky," said neighbor Jill Langevin
The shed contained roughly 25 farm-type tractors that the homeowner was restoring. All the contents of the shed were lost in the fire.
There were approximately 40 firefighters on scene from East Windsor, South Windsor, Ellington and Broadbrook.
Wild Bills Nostalgia, an institution in Middletown, is closing, the company announced on its Facebook page.
The shop was the dream of Bill Ziegler, who was known as "Wild Bill." It has been described as a place "to celebrate a retro amusement experience for the entire family with an interesting 'twist' to offer affordable fun and memories."
The nostalgia shop features retro collectibles, like show-print posters, antiques, toys, vinyl records, vintage clothing and other knick knacks.
Bill Ziegler died in 2017 at the age of 70 and a post on the company’s Facebook page says Ziegler’s dream is bigger than the family can accomplish.
“It saddens us to the core, but the final curtain call looms on the very near horizon.
The legendary, Wild Bills Nostalgia, will be closing its doors forever in the coming weeks,” the post goes on to say.
