Storm is a 12-year-old Pit mix who lost her home and best friend when her owner entered a nursing home earlier this year. This patient senior pet has been living at the Last Hope Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation in Wantagh, New York, for about four months and is hoping to find a new best friend on Saturday's Clear the Shelters event who will cherish her for the rest of her days. 

Clear the Shelters, the fourth annual pet adoption drive sponsored by the NBC- and Telemundo-owned television stations, culminates today with more than 1,200 shelters participating in dozens of communities across the country.

Since this year’s event was launched on July 28, more than 42,000 pets have already been taken. To encourage families to find a new pet, whether puppies, older cats, rabbits or iguanas, many of the participating animal shelters and rescue organizations are reducing or waiving adoption fees.

The need remains great. The number of animals entering shelters each year is about 6.5 million, 3.3 million dogs and 3.2 million cats, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Though the number has declined from about 7.2 million in 2011, with the biggest drop in the number dogs, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized each year.

On the happier side, about 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted annually and another 710,000 are returned to their owners.

Clear the Shelters began in North Texas in 2014 as a partnership among the NBC and Telemundo stations in Dallas-Fort Worth and dozens of North Texas animal shelters. More than 2,200 homeless animals were adopted that first year, the most in a single day in North Texas.

A year later that number jumped to nearly 20,000 as the adoption drive went national, with more than 400 shelters taking part across the country. Last year, as the event was extended over a month, more than 80,000 pets were adopted from over 900 shelters.

A tree is down on Gungy Road in Lyme and the road will be closed for most of the day, according to the Lyme Fire Company.

The fire department tweeted that the road will remain closed from number 66 to just north of Hartman Park.

Today will feature more humidity and another chance of scattered showers and storms. 

A cold front approaching the area will fire scattered showers and storms after 2 p.m. The storms could produce localized flooding, gusty winds and small hail. 

Most of the storms will begin to weaken and move out early this evening. 

The cold front responsible for the storms today will stall off of the coast overnight into Sunday. 

With the front nearby we will see clouds and cooler temperatures linger into Sunday. High temperatures on Sunday will only be in the 70s with lower humidity. 

A woman has been transported to the hospital with serious injuries after a wall collapsed on her in East Granby. 

Officials from the East Granby Volunteer Fire Department said the wall that collapsed was on South Main Street and it fell on the woman. 

It took emergency crews around 15 minutes to free her. 

LifeStar was called, but could not fly because of weather conditions. 

The woman has been taken to an area hospital. 

No additional information was immediately available.

The 2018 annual Connecticut sales tax-free week will begin Sunday, Aug. 19 and go through Saturday, Aug. 25.

No matter what's on your shopping list, the week offers items that are exempt from sales tax when sold for less than $100. For items costing $100 or more, sales tax is calculated on the full purchase price. 

It's a great week to start your back-to-school shopping, revamp your wardrobe, or maybe even get an early start on some holiday shopping.

Here is a list of just some of the things you can buy tax-free. Click here for the full list. 

• Antique clothing 
• Arm warmers
• Athletic socks 
• Bandannas
• Baseball hats
• Belts, suspenders, belt buckles
• Blouses
• Chef uniforms 
• Children's bibs
• Dresses
• Earmuffs
• Employee uniforms (such as police, fire, mechanics, nurses, postal)
• Formal wear gowns 
• Formal wear rentals
• Foul weather gear
• Garters
• Gloves
• Golf dresses and skirts
• Golf jackets
• Golf shirts
• Graduation caps and gowns
• Hats, caps
• Fashion boots
• Jeans
• Legwarmers
• Leotards, tights
• Overclothes
• Overshoes, rubber, boots
• Ponchos
• Rain jackets, rain suits, rainwear
• Robes
• Sashes
• Scarves
• Shirts
• Shoelaces
• Ski sweaters, ski jackets
  
• Slippers
• Sneakers
• Socks
• Square dancing clothes
• Swimsuits
• Tennis clothing (dresses, hats, shorts, and skirts)
  
• Ties (men’s and women’s)
• Wedding gowns, headpieces, and veils
  
• Work clothes 

This article has been updated from its original version. 

After US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested an undocumented immigrant as he and his pregnant wife were on their way to the hospital for the birth of their child, ICE released a statement alleging that the person abruptly taken into custody was wanted for a serious violent crime in Mexico: homicide.

Surveillance video from the San Bernardino Arco station at Highland and Mountainview avenues provided visual evidence of ICE agents taking the murder suspect into custody.

María del Carmen Venegas said she and her husband, Joel Arrona-Lara, were headed to the hospital for a scheduled C-section when ICE agents took Arrona-Lara into custody as they stopped for fuel.

The agents, Venegas said, approached the couple and asked them for their IDs, but Arrona-Lara was not carrying his documents at the time of the stop. Venegas said she thought the agents were confused and that they initially promised it wouldn't take long and the couple could be on their way.

"I asked them why they separate good people, why they weren't arresting people who do bad things, and I asked them to let us go," Venegas said in Spanish. "They told me they were only doing their job."

The agents arrested Arrona, and Venegas was forced to get in the driver's seat and continue to the hospital to give birth without her husband present.

"I never thought that they would take him like that, handcuff him, and that they would leave me stranded at the gas station," Venegas said.

Below is the complete statement from ICE on the incident, where the agency says Arrona-Lara is a murder suspect:

Mr. Arrona-Lara, a citizen of Mexico illegally residing in the United States, was taken into custody Wednesday by ICE Fugitive Operations Team officers in San Bernardino, Calif. Mr. Arrona-Lara is currently in ICE custody pending removal proceedings with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

Mr. Arrona-Lara was brought to ICE’s attention due to an outstanding warrant issued for his arrest in Mexico on homicide charges.

ICE continues to focus its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. ICE conducts targeted immigration enforcement in compliance with federal law and agency policy. However, ICE will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.

President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that his administration has been "transparent" in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the election and possible obstruction of justice, after the New York Times reported that the White House counsel has been cooperating extensively in the matter.

The Times, citing a dozen current and former White House officials and others briefed on the matter, reported the White House Counsel Don McGahn has given at least three voluntary interviews with investigators totaling 30 hours over the past nine months.

Trump has made several moves which could be seen as trying to control or limit the investigation into Russian interference in the election, such as firing FBI Director James Comey, calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the Mueller investigation, and reportedly seeking to fire Mueller in the past.

A car crashed on to the side of New Britain Avenue in West Hartford on Saturday night after going over the guardrail along an elevated section of Interstate-84.

Emergency crews responded after 6 p.m. across from the Shops at Corbin’s Corner in West Hartford to a blue SUV lying on its passenger side. West Hartford firefighters, police, and ambulances blocked the right lane of New Britain Ave. allowing first responders to get to work, using the jaws of life to pierce through the car’s exterior.

Dozens of onlookers stopped to watch and wait for an update on the driver, who was eventually pulled onto a gurney and loaded into an ambulance. Kenan and Mary Aksoz witnessed the crash as they were traveling to their son’s soccer game, and they spoke exclusively to NBC Connecticut.

Kenan described the moment he realized the driver of the blue SUV had lost control of his car in the left lane. “It wasn’t like somebody just cutting you off. Actually, when I saw it, it was already kind of skidding across,” he said. “I hit the brakes… all of a sudden he went right in front of me, over the guardrail.”

Mary, his wife, said she immediately wanted to call 9-1-1, but was instantly interrupted by the sound of another crash. “I look back and the whole back window of our rental was blown out,” she said. The force of the impact knocked a lamp post down onto the back of the Aksoz’s rental car, shattering the rear window.

Given the circumstances, she said she is grateful more people were not hurt.

Miraculously, the driver suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to an email from state police.

A day after President Donald Trump claimed on Twitter his team is cooperating with the special counsel investigation out of "transparency," his lawyer Rudy Giuliani tamped down the idea of the president himself testifying for fear of being caught in a trap, saying that there is no truth, only "somebody's version" of it.

Giuliani appeared Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" and argued that he doesn't want his client to be "trapped into perjury."

"When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth, not the truth," he said.

When pressed by Chuck Todd, Giuliani doubled down, saying, "truth isn't truth." He referenced the accusations that Trump had discussed the investigation in his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn with then-FBI director James Comey, who was later fired by the president.

Giuliani continued: "Donald Trump says, 'I didn't talk about Flynn with Comey.' Comey says, 'You did talk about it.' So tell me, what the truth is?"

The former New York City mayor also spoke directly about the New York Times report Trump responded to in his tweets and accused special counsel Robert Mueller of leaking the details "illegally" to the Times. He called Mueller "desperate."

He brushed aside the notion that charges could be brought against the president anyway, specifically when it comes to the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Trump campaign officials and a Russian government ally. Giuliani said the now-infamous meeting couldn't be used as evidence for collusion because damaging information on Hillary Clinton "was not pursued at all," despite the intention of the meeting being to receive damaging information.

"Any meeting in regards to getting information about your opponent is something any candidate's staff would take," Giuliani added. "The president of the United States wasn't at that meeting, he didn't know about that meeting, he found out about it after. By the time he found out about it, it was nothing. If this is their case for collusion, good luck Mueller."

Trump continued his attacks on the special counsel investigation on Sunday, again tweeting that there was "no collusion and no obstruction." He said Mueller is "heavily conflicted" in the "Rigged and Disgusting Witch Hunt."

In response to the Times' report that his laywer Don McGahn has been cooperating extensively with the special counsel team, Trump insisted that McGahn isn't "a John Dean type 'RAT,'" making reference to the Watergate-era White House attorney who turned on Richard Nixon.

Trump's original legal team had encouraged McGahn and other White House officials to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller, and McGahn spent hours in interviews. The Times reported that McGahn handed over information both potentially damaging and favorable to the president. However, the Times said, he told investigators that he never saw Trump go beyond his legal authority. The Times reported McGahn and his attorney were worried Trump was setting him up to take the blame for any possible illegal acts.

McGahn's attorney William Burck added in a statement: "President Trump, through counsel, declined to assert any privilege over Mr. McGahn's testimony, so Mr. McGahn answered the Special Counsel team's questions fulsomely and honestly, as any person interviewed by federal investigators must."

Dean was White House counsel for Nixon, a Republican, during the Watergate scandal. He ultimately cooperated with prosecutors and helped bring down the Nixon presidency, though he served a prison term for obstruction of justice.

Dean, a frequent critic of the president, tweeted Saturday night in response to the Times story that, "Trump, a total incompetent, is bungling and botching his handling of Russiagate. Fate is never kind to bunglers and/or botchers! Unlike Nixon, however, Trump won't leave willingly or graciously."

He added Sunday in response to Trump's tweets that he doubts the president has "ANY IDEA what McGahn has told Mueller. Also, Nixon knew I was meeting with prosecutors, b/c I told him. However, he didn't think I would tell them the truth!"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Governor Dannel Malloy is set to make an announcement about the widening of Interstate-84 in Waterbury on Monday.

According to a release, Gov. Malloy will be joined by Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker, Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary and other officials at 11:00 a.m. for the announcement.

The $330 million project that began in 2015 included adding a third travel lane and full-width shoulders in each direction on the highway, as well as other safety improvements. The project was expected to take five years to complete.

"The growth of our economy depends on these kinds of major upgrades, and our residents deserve nothing less than an efficient, upgraded, and renewed infrastructure that advances progress, mitigates congestion, and creates jobs,” Malloy said in 2016 about the project.

Governor Dannel Malloy is planning on meeting with Jim Carroll, the nominee for federal drug czar and current Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on Monday. They plan on discussing addiction and substance use disorders, along with other federal, state and local officials.

The meeting is being held in response to the more than 100 overdoses in New Haven that happened last week. The drug K2 suspected to have caused the overdoses 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.

City officials said they have reports of a person handing out the drug for free, possibly to get people addicted.

Police have arrested 53-year-old John Parker and 37-year-old Felix Melendez in connection with the case.

Campbell said that Parker had 32 bags of K2 on him at the time of his arrest and has been identified as one of the dealers who distributed the K2 that caused the rash of overdoses on the Green. He has been charged with possession with intent to sell and other related charges.

Melendez was arrested on a violation of probation warrant and possession of a controlled substance. Police said Melendez had K2 on him at the time of his arrest, but at this time, he has not been connected to the distribution of the K2.

Both men have been previously arrested for selling drugs on the Green, police said.

A third suspect is in federal custody, but New Haven police would not comment on the status of the federal investigation.

People who take the K2 have been having seizures, going into cardiac arrest, vomiting or passing out.

A plane that had an in-flight emergency in Danbury landed safely on Sunday.

First responders were called to Danbury Airport shortly after 11:30 a.m. after getting a report of an aircraft with two people on board that was having an in-flight emergency. Officials said the four-seat Piper Warrior apparently had a problem with its left side landing gear while performing practice landings on the runway.

Police, firefighters and paramedics stood by the city ramp and waited for the damaged aircraft to attempt to land.

According to officials, the plane made several fly-bys to allow the tower to verify any unseen damage to the aircraft. Shortly after, the pilot was able to make a safe emergency landing that touched down gently before coming to a full stop on the runway.

Fire officials said there was little damage to the aircraft and no injuries to the pilots.

"Between the airport air traffic controller, the skilled pilot, and the joint response of the Danbury Fire, Police, EMS and Airport Administrators, this couldn't have turned out any better," said Airport Assistant Administrator Mike Safranek.

The plane was jacked and the gear was replaced so it could be towed from the runway.

A home in Colchester is destroyed after an overnight fire on Sunday.

Just before midnight, firefighters were called to a reported structure fire on School Road. The fire was described as a "large glow in the sky" according to firefighters.

When crews arrived, they said they found a fully involved structure that was collapsing on itself with an actively venting propane tank.

Firefighters from Colchester, Yantic, Marlborough, Gardner Lake, Hebron, Bozrah and East Hampton helped fight the flames.

Investigators are working to determine what may have started the fire.

One service member died and several others were injured when a U.S. military helicopter crashed in Iraq, the International Coalition for Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement Monday. 

The helicopter had been conducting a "partnered counterterrorism mission," according to the statement, which did not give the nationality of the sevice member who died. The incident is under investigation, but the organization said there are no indications the helicopter was brought down by hostile fire. 

"Our heartfelt condolence to the family of @CJTFOIR service member who died in a helicopter crash in #Iraq last night," Army Colonel Sean Ryan, a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, wrote in a tweet Monday. "While the incident was not a result of enemy fire, it further demonstrates the sacrifices of #Coalition service members & and the danger they face everyday."

No other details were immediately available. 

Operation Inherent Resolve is a combined joint task force aimed at defeating the Islamic State.

A Hartford police cruiser was involved in a crash on Monday morning.

The crash happened on Trinity Street around 7 a.m. and involved the police cruiser and two other vehicles.

Trinity Street was closed between Elm Street and Capitol Avenue while police investigated the crash.

It was not clear if anyone was injured.

A British woman survived nearly half a day in the Mediterranean Sea after falling off a cruise ship this weekend, NBC News reported.

The unidentified woman was sitting at the back of a Norwegian Cruise Line ship's deck when she fell, she told broadcaster HRT in Croatia, where she was taken after being rescued. She fell 60 miles from shore, according to The Associated Press.

"I was in the water for 10 hours, so these wonderful guys rescued me," she said, adding, "I am very lucky to be alive."

A port authority captain in Pula, where she was hospitalized, said the Adriatic Sea's temperature is "very warm," and that gave her good chances for surviving.

A Connecticut woman was shot and killed outside a bar in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday night.

Jamie Sarrantonio, 30, was one of four people shot while standing outside the Cobra, a bar in the eastern part of the city. Two men attempted to rob the group and then opened fire on them, according to police.

Sarrantonio and 33-year-old Bartley Teal both died of their injuries.

The Cobra posted condolences on its Facebook page.

"No words can convey our sadness and shock at this time," the post said.

The bar's post said services for Sarrantonio would likely be held in Connecticut.

Nashville police believe the shootings may be connected to other similar crimes in the city in recent days.

A man was shot and killed in Hartford's North End early Monday morning.

It is the city's 16th homicide of the year.

Police responded to Garden Street around 2 a.m. and found a 28-year-old man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in a parking lot. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

The man's identity has not been released.

There is no word if police have any information on a suspect. Officers said they are reviewing video from surveillance cameras near the shooting scene.

President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer made an even more startling statement on "Meet the Press" Sunday than "truth isn't truth." It had to do with Rudy Giuliani’s claim that the top Trump campaign officials who met with Russians in the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting didn’t know the particpants were representatives of the Russian government, according to NBC's First Read team.

"Well, all they knew is that a woman with a Russian name wanted to meet with them," Giuliani said.

That's a claim that doesn't pass the smell test. In fact, the June 3, 2016 email that publicist Rob Goldstone sent Donald Trump. Jr. about the meeting specifically said it was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

A follow up email four days later again referred to "the Russian government attorney."

Giuliani's comments are part of a pattern of not telling the whole truth about that meeting, First Read writes.

Click through to NBCNews.com for other examples.