Hartford Public Schools employees claimed dozens of dependents who weren’t eligible for the district’s health insurance plan, according to a new audit by Secova, a management consulting company.

The report says that’s costing the Hartford Public Schools’ health insurance program at least $500,000 a year. And with proper enforcement, the district could potentially save millions of dollars over the next decade if these people are removed from the plan.

The audit identified at least 123 dependents (spouses and children) of Hartford Public Schools’ employees who were on the district’s health care plan and shouldn’t be receiving medical coverage from the district.

The school district declined to comment on the audit.

Secova is now examining if employees who work for the City of Hartford have improperly claimed dependents on its health plan.

The city’s chief auditor, Craig Trujillo, told the audit commission he got a briefing on the latest Secova audit from a staffer yesterday.

“He's getting a lot of heat and pushback from retirees and community groups, on, why do we have to give all this information?,” said Trujilo.

Secova said in its report on Hartford Public Schools that the number of dependents who were actually ineligible for health insurance coverage was about the same amount, percentage wise, as other school districts it has audited.

DONATE ONLINE HERE: American Red Cross Hurricane Florence Relief

Thanks to your support, together we raised more than $10,000 for the American Red Cross' Hurricane Florence relief efforts.

NBC CT and Telemundo CT partnered with the Red Cross to collect donations at 3 Big Y locations across Connecticut Thursday.

We know you are thinking about family, friends and strangers who have been impacted by Hurricane Florence.

NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut are proud to connect you with a way to help those devastated by Hurricane Florence.

“The Red Cross is grateful for the support of our partners at NBC Connecticut, Telemundo Connecticut and Big Y World Class Markets,” said Mario Bruno, CEO, American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region. “This campaign will enable the Red Cross to aid in the recovery of those devastated by Hurricane Florence. The outpouring of support we have seen over the years from Big Y employees and their customers has been tremendous, as is the support of NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut.”

If you couldn't get to one of these locations, you can still help by donating through the Red Cross website by clicking here.

For Shore Line East riders, their daily commute has become a daily problem.

"A typical delay can be at least a half hour one way," said Susan Feaster, a member of Shore Line East Riders Advocacy Group.

From several canceled trains to constant delays, people taking the SLE say there's low reliability and rising frustration.

"A few of us, that I've been speaking to, are talking about driving to work again because you don't know if you're going to get home on time," said Nancy Hewitt. Hewitt says she's used the Shore Line East for seven years but that it's become a frustrating ride over the last few months.

"We have clearly heard from them over the course of the summer, and we're fully aware that this summer has been an absolutely unacceptable train ride," said Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Jim Redeker.

On Thursday CTDOT and Amtrak held a forum inside New Haven Union Station. They spoke to riders, answered questions and listened to the issues they're dealing with. DOT says this summer Amtrak began a crucial maintenance program called "undercutting" that requires taking one track out of service. That means there's only one track in service for the SLE. Aging equipment compounded the problem.

"Something we expected, but maybe not as soon, is failure on these locomotives. These are pieces of equipment long overdue for overhaul, but they are in the overhaul program," said Redeker.

DOT says last week they saw the first of the re-manufactured locomotives and that over the next several months more will be replaced. As far as the track construction, that should wrap up by mid-November. To help reliability now, DOT says they've now staged buses at stations permanently as a backup, that Amtrak maintenance shifts have been increased, and that management is riding every train every day. To help communication, but the end of October, customers can sign up to receive customized alerts by text and email for their specific commute.

"I think part of the frustration is that we have not communicated adequately about what's happening so they can plan. Secondly, our backup systems for busing have not been adequate. We think addressing both of those will help a lot," said Redeker. "We think we'll be able to deliver a more reliable service based on this new attention."

The City of Hartford turned out to be the big winner from one of the final meetings of the bond commission run by Gov. Dannel Malloy.

The Capital City emerged with more than $50 million in investment, including funds for a parking garage across the street from the Bushnell Theater, residential and commercial space near Dunkin' Donuts Park and funding to help lure a grocery store to the corner of Main Street and Albany Avenue.

The final item, led to the most questions from Rep. Chris Davis, (R – Ellington), who was also critical of the state coming very close to reaching its annual borrowing limit.

"The private sector has clearly said we don't have the resources or there isn't the ability to do it privately like they would in any other community across the state. I'm not aware of the state funding grocery stores in any other town."

Malloy said to Davis during the meeting, “a full-fledged grocery store…hasn’t been located in Hartford in a generation.”

One market located in the Harford 21 building closed in 2014, and only a couple of years ago, a small neighborhood shop that sells some fresh groceries opened.

The lack of a true grocery store is what led to the distinction from the Department of Agriculture deeming Hartford a “food desert.”

The $8 million loan from the city is in part a loan, and in part would be paid back based on the performance of the store.

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said this kind of investment shows that Hartford is a place that can grow.

"It's loans that become part of a broader financing effort that leverages a whole lot of private capital and for too long a lot of traditional investors haven't seen the possibility or potential here, which is why you've got to prime that pump," Bronin said.

When asked whether Malloy was trying to take care of certain projects, like assistance for Hartford, on his way out of office, the governor said, ”There's only one governor at a time. I'm governor until the end of my term and I'm going to work just as hard every day for the next number of days to the end of the term as I have previously."

Hamden police continue to search for answers in the killing of a young mother in 1986.

Thursday night Hamden police posted online, asking the public for any information on the death of 28-year-old Virginia Duclos Bruce.

“We have not forgotten about Virginia,” the post read in part.

And neither has her family, which is devastated by the violent murder of Virginia more than three decades ago.

“She has a son and a daughter that don’t have a mother,” her sister, Carolyn Bird told NBC Connecticut.

During a video chat from Rhode Island, Carolyn Bird remembered her sister who was brutally killed 32 years ago Thursday.

“She was a disco queen. She loved to dance. She played pool. She was a great mom, a wonderful sister,” Bird said.

On Sept. 20, 1986, Ginny – as she was known – disappeared while on a night out with friends at the Highwood Bar & Grill in Hamden. Authorities would later discover her body in a nearby dumpster off of Morse Street. She died after being stabbed multiple times.

Over the years, Hamden police interviewed scores of people and chased down leads. But as of now no one has been charged with the crime.

Tonight Ginny’s family wants justice and hopes someone who might know something comes forward.

“Maybe they won’t be afraid any more. Maybe they’ll say something,” Bird said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police. The state is offering a $20,000 reward for anyone who can help solve this case.

Waterbury police are investigating a double shooting on Baldwin Street Thursday night.

Deputy Chief Fernando Spagnolo confirmed two people were shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Baldwin Street was closed near Baldwin Avenue for the investigation.

No other details were immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

A year after Hurricane Maria the struggle continues in Puerto Rico.

Dozens marched through the streets of Hartford today to mark the anniversary of the devastating storm that claimed the lives of thousands.

Those who came out for the march said they wanted to send a message to lawmakers and everyday citizens that the island is still not back to normal, and to remember the thousands who lost their lives.

Demonstrators carried black Puerto Rican flags, symbolizing what they say is the lack of support for the American island.

After the official death count from Maria was raised to nearly 3,000, President Donald Trump praised the federal government’s response to the storm.

Leaders of the Latinas in the Resistance, co-organizers of the vigil, take except to Trump’s handling of the storm, and believe the government’s aid for its own citizens continues to be inadequate.

“I found that to be a highly offensive thing to say,” said Evelyn Mantilla of CT Latinas in the Resistance. "It’s really important that we raise our voices….We want change at the policy level and we know that change is necessary at the federal, state as well as the local level."

Hartford resident Luis Rodriguez has family is Puerto Rico and says even though it’s been a year, for many on the island, life is still very hard.

"I feel for my people of Puerto Rico because a year later, many communities still don’t have power, good running water," Rodriguez said. "They’re like… they’re forgotten."

There was another march by the same organizers in Bridgeport. By speaking up, they hope lawmakers will step up to help Puerto Rico recover.

At least five people, including three infants, have been stabbed at a Queens overnight day care, allegedly by a 52-year-old woman who worked there, police say.

The ages of the infants, two girls and a boy, were not clear, but one of the girls is in serious condition, according to police. Two other people, a father of a child at the day care and another woman who worked there, were also stabbed just before 4 a.m. Friday. All are expected to survive.

Police say the 52-year-old woman was found in the basement of the Flushing day care center on 161st Street with her left wrist slashed in what police say was a self-inflicted wound. She is in police custody at an area hospital.

The father who was injured was stabbed in the leg; it wasn't clear whether his child was one of the infants stabbed.

No motive has been determined. It wasn't immediately clear whether the day care was licensed.

Video from the scene showed a heavy police presence, with dozens of law enforcement vehicles and officers swarming the scene.

An ongoing construction project closed the intersection of Day Hill Road and Marshall Phelps Road in Windsor.

Police initially said a construction crew accidentally hit some lines, but the closure appeared to be part of a paving project, according to a Facebook post from the Town of Windsor.

There are significant delays in the area.

A man who had his motorcycle stolen used a popular web secondhand marketplace to find the person who allegedly stole it.

The victim called Hartford police around 9:15 p.m. Thursday to say he had located his motorcycle, which had been stolen in Bridgeport in July.

According to police, the victim lured the suspect to the Noble gas station on Main Street in Hartford using Let Go, a popular app and website used to buy and sell secondhand items.

The suspect believed he was selling the motorcycle to a new buyer, police said. He found police officers, instead.

Raekwon Acosta, 21, of Hartford, was taken into custody. There were three active arrest warrants for Acosta, police said.

He is charged with third-degree larceny and interfering with police.

Former Vice President Joe Biden apologized to Anita Hill Friday for not stopping senators from grilling her during hearings he held on Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court confirmation, though he stopped short for saying sorry over his own actions.

Defending his intentions at the time, Biden also urged current senators to learn from how Hill was treated in 1991 as they consider how they might question Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

"Anita Hill was vilified, when she came forward, by a lot of my colleagues, character assassination," Biden said on the "Today" show. "I wish I could have done more to prevent those questions and the way they asked them."

He continued, "I hope my colleagues learned from that. She deserves to be treated with dignity. It takes enormous courage for a woman to come forward, under the bright lights of millions of people watching, and relive something that happened to her."

Biden was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee when Hill came forward to accuse Thomas of sexual harassment, something Thomas denied on his way to being confirmed as a justice. Hill faced withering scrutiny as senators peppered her with questions, including whether she made up the accusations.

It led to a backlash the following year, dubbed "The Year of the Woman," when more new women were elected to Congress than ever before. Biden has received criticism for allowing the intense cross-examination and for not calling other witnesses who might have supported Hill. 

Biden has offered apologies to Hill before about how he let the hearing unfold, but never directly said sorry for his own conduct.

He said in November that he was "so sorry that she had to go through what she went through." The next month, he said in an interview, "I owe her an apology," when asked about Hill after she told The Washington Post that she didn't think he'd taken ownership of how the hearings went.

Hill joked to Elle magazine this week that she's been waiting for Biden to follow through on that apology he owes her, but said "there are more important things to me now than hearing an apology."

Asked Friday on what he would tell Hill now, Biden insisted he had supported her, apologizing for how he ran the committee.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have stopped the kind of attacks that came to you. But I never attacked her, I supported her. I believed her from the beginning and I voted against Clarence Thomas," he said.

Biden also said he supports Ford's call for an FBI investigation into her allegation against Kavanaugh, which he has denied. Biden noted that Hill's claims were investigated ahead of her hearing and said there shouldn't be a vote without it.

"What the devil have we learned here?" Biden said, noting that the public's perceptions about accusations of sexual misconduct have changed since the Hill hearings

It's not yet clear whether Ford will come before the Senate Judiciary Committee under similar circumstances to Hill — negotiations are underway for a hearing that could come as soon as Monday — but she has the backing of Biden and Hill, who suggested this week ways the committee could better run Ford's hearing.

And many Republicans on the committee today, while resisting Ford's call for an FBI investigation, have said they intend to treat Ford with respect if and when she testifies.

Construction crews planned to conduct controlled blasting on the Tower Trail at Sleeping Giant on Friday.

The blasting was expected to be done about halfway up the trail to remove debris and widen the path, according to a tweet from Hamden police.

The state park has been closed since May 15, when a line of severe storms brought down hundreds of trees in the parking lot and along its hiking trails.

Crews have cleared out significant areas of the park and still need to remove debris from the trail that leads up to the tower at the top of Sleeping Giant.

According to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, much of the debris removal has been done by heavy machinery, but some areas on the trail do require blasting to remove the rock. The crews will be using blasting mats, and DEEP said it doesn't expect any disruptions for nearby residents.

There is no date for when the state park is expected to reopen.

Police responded to a white powder scare at the Islamic Center of New London on Fort Street in Groton on Friday.

The unknown substance was found in an envelope at the center just before 9 a.m., according to police.

The building was evacuated and Fort Street is closed.

Groton police, firefighters, state police and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection are all at the scene investigating.

Baptist bishops preaching from the pulpit are poets. The wino on the corner is a poet. Grandparents who repeat oral stories from the comfort of their favorite chair are poets, too. 

That’s what Danez Smith, the newest and youngest poet to receive a prestigious British Forward Prize, believes. The St. Paul, Minnesota, native is also the first gender-neutral poet to win the £10,000 ($13,083) prize for best collection. Smith, who prefers the pronouns “they” and “them,” defeated the 2018 U.S. Poet Laureate Tracey K. Smith at the Sept. 18 event.

“We all have poets in our lives,” Smith said. “Poetry is for all of us, because poetry helps us see ourselves as human. [Poems] are mirrors that help me see my flesh is actually flesh and not imagined.”

The 29-year-old's prize winning 2017 collection, “Don’t Call Us Dead,” details the poet's struggles as an African-American queer individual facing police brutality, white supremacy and their own HIV-positive diagnosis.

Smith, who was also a 2017 National Endowment of the Arts Fellow, explained they used their collection to speak to “black people, queer people, people who know what it's like to live with illness.” But Smith also hopes their work touches people who don’t fit into those categories.

“I hope that the most Trump supporting of readers stumble upon my collection and think about what it means to be queer,” Smith said. “There is a reading of the book that requires that even if they don’t know these lives, they can sit down it and consider it.”

British filmmaker, poet and journalist Bidisha chaired the judge’s panel for the competition. She said that Smith's wide range included "sexuality and desire, yearning, vulnerability, but also creativity and determination in the face of oppression, stereotyping and the threat of violence.”

While inequality and injustice are "ever-present" in Smith's work, "so are hope, liveliness and the desire to speak truth to power.”

The filmmaker added that although other poets' collections included those themes, Smith “brought them all together with a very fresh voice and a certain energy.”

One poem in the prize-winning collection, “summer, somewhere,” describes a black-men-only afterlife.

“I am trying to offer humility and peace to people that were only offered chaos,” Smith explained. “If we can't have hope and we can’t have peace, we can have it somewhere else.”

“Dinosaurs in the Hood,” which reimagines a “Jurassic Park”-like movie in a black culture context, is another favorite.

“We need to see ourselves as alive and worthy of something as silly as a movie, not just worthy of being on the news,” Smith said in describing the poem.

“Dear White America,” another poem in the collection focusing on white supremacy, reached more than 340,000 views after it was posted on YouTube in 2014.

Smith described their excitement at winning the Forward Prize. 

“It was a magical experience to receive such an award in a country I don’t live in, but we share the same language," Smith, a current Minneapolis resident, said. “We really do something that extends beyond all borders. Poetry is the country that I live in and I'm happy to be in it.”

Poet Niall Campbell — a panel judge along with poets Jen Campbell, Mimi Khalvati and Chris McCabe — shared a similar sentiment about poetry’s ability to surpass borders and cultures.

“Danez writes about race and oppression in an American context — and brings the world’s spotlight there — but also, like all good poetry, it is transferable,” he said. “It is a book about love and anger, oppression and the demand for justice that will find a home in countless countries.”

More than being a recognition of Smith’s skill, the black queer poet’s win will also show other LGBTQ poets and poets of color that their work matters, Jen Campbell said she hoped.

“As a queer person with a disfigurement, I longed to see myself in the literature I read as a child and rarely did,” Jen Campbell said. “It brings me joy that not only can everyone read Danez's poetry and be wowed by their skill, but that they are now perhaps more visible to those who need to see them, and by institutions who should be paying more attention.”

Bidisha said that the diversity of the 15 poets on the prize's shortlist has already demonstrated that the “closely guarded upper echelons of poetic prestige” are becoming more inclusive.

“A poet is not an old white heterosexual male philanderer talking about what he saw on his walk,” she said. “It is a woman, a queer person, a trans person, a poet in translation, a poet in transit, a poet in exile. All that matters is voice and craft. Poetry must no longer judge by appearances or replicate snobberies or reinforce the boys' club."

Having broken into these “upper echelons,” Smith plans to focus on grinding out their next collection.

“Prizes don’t make the poet, poems do,” Smith said.

An SUV involved in an accident on I-95 in Waterford on Friday careened off the highway and crashed into a building at a weigh station.

The crash happened just after 11 a.m. at the weigh station on the southbound side of I-95 between exits 82 and 81, according to state police.

The vehicle caused heavy damage to the building.

There were no serious injuries, police said.

Free health exams, clothing and job services were offered to hundreds of Connecticut veterans on Friday in Rocky Hill.

It was part of the Department of Veterans Affairs Stand Down 2018, an event held for the last three decades that brings state agencies together for 200,000 Connecticut veterans.

More than 1,000 veterans were expected to attend.

“It’s amazing. This is huge. I didn’t expect it to be so big, a lot of services here so I’m thankful to be here,” said Jeff Bizzarro, a veteran from Burlington.

Bizzarro served in the U.S. Army from 1994-1998, then in the Alaska National Guard until 2006. He said he returned from service with multiple traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. He had his service dog Annie with him at Stand Down.

“Like they say, not all wounds are visible and so what she does for me is intervenes, interrupts, and mitigates my symptoms from Post Traumatic Stress. She helps me with being in crowds like this, she keeps me grounded, she interrupts my nightmares when I have them,” Bizzarro said.

This was also the first time Colchester native Jacqueline Clements attended. She served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 2010-2018.

“I think it’s wonderful. I think we need to do more to support the people that have come back who are serving our country and I think that giving back to them is really important,” Clements said.

There were more than 100 agencies offering free food, haircuts, eye exams, dental exams, coats and socks, nutritional advice and job opportunities. The idea is to give veterans a one-stop shop where they can learn more about the programs they may qualify for as well as help transitioning back into civilian life.

Daryl Shealy was working hard to find job leads. “A couple of people already told me they would give me call-backs. So I am crossing my fingers.”

Stand Down 2018 is at the Department of Veterans Affairs at 287 West Street in Rocky Hill from 8am-2pm. The department also offers year-round support to veterans and their families here.

Credit freezes and unfreezes with the three major credit reporting agencies will now be free for consumers as a federal law passed in response to the Equifax data breach goes into effect Friday.

Beginning Sept. 21, consumers can freeze their credit file with TransUnion, Experian and Equifax without paying any fees. Credit freezes helps prevent identity thieves from opening lines of credit or taking out loans in your name because lenders can't access your credit score or report. 

Only a handful of states had laws in place prohibiting credit bureaus from charging consumers a fee for freezing and unfreezing their credit report. 

The nationwide free-freeze provision was included in a larger bill rolling back banking rules that were enacted to prevent a recurrence of the 2008 financial crisis that brought millions of lost jobs and foreclosed homes. Congress voted in May to dismantle parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank legislation, a move that critics argue will increase the likelihood of future taxpayer bailouts. 

The bill also allows parents to freeze credit on behalf of their children under the age of 16 and extends free fraud alerts from 90 days to one year. Fraud alerts are placed on credit files to inform lenders that a consumer may be a victim of identity theft, requiring businesses to take extra steps to verify the consumer's identification before extending credit. 

Credit bureaus will be required to freeze an account within one business day of a request made over the phone or online, and within three business days of an application received through the mail. 

More than 140 million people in the U.S. were affected by a data breach at Equifax in 2017. Hackers stole data that included customers' names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses and some driver's licenses numbers, CNBC reported. The breach remains the largest exposure of personal information in history, according to The Associated Press. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Farm Aid Festival is coming to Hartford’s Xfinity Theatre Saturday, its first-ever stop in Connecticut.

Farm Aid is headlined by Willie Nelson, who organized the first concert more than 30 years ago. He will be joined by other musical powerhouses Neil Young, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, and others.

”It celebrates the good news of what’s going on, but it also pays attention to the plight of that and the help, the actual assistance they give, family farms especially, I’ve always admired that,” said Ron Pitz, the executive director of the urban farming organization, KNOX.

Pitz said the festival will be a bright spot in what has been a difficult year for some of the state’s farms.

”We’re really excited that we get a chance to lift up the stories and voices of Connecticut agriculture,” said Alicia Harvie, the Advocacy and Farmers Service Director for Farm Aid.

Food, farming, and fundraising are at the core of the organization’s mission. Its festival has raised millions of dollars over the years.

”It really is a big family across the country and we hope that comes across for everybody who is there as a festival-goer,” said Harvie.

Farm Aid is hoping to inspire a food-from-farm movement for an industry that is deeply rooted.

”The role they play in our society and our culture here in the United States is essential and we can’t afford to lose any more farmers.”

NOTE: NBC Chicago will offer a live feed as Cubs manager Joe Maddon speaks to the media Friday afternoon. Watch live above and read more on the Cubs' reaction here. 

For the first time since their divorce, the ex-wife of Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell is speaking out about what she described as emotional and physical abuse she says she suffered at the hands of her then-husband. 

In a lengthy blog post published this week, Melisa Reidy-Russell detailed allegations of physical mistreatment and "emotional and verbal abuse."

"The first time I was physically mistreated by my spouse, I was in shock," Reidy-Russell wrote. "I couldn’t wrap my head around what just happened…Why did he get so angry? What did I do for him to want to put his hands on me? Of course I forgave him & assumed it would never happen again."

In wake of the post, Major League Baseball placed Russell on administrative leave Friday, saying it "takes all allegations of Domestic Violence seriously." 

The Cubs said the team supports that decision.

“We take allegations of domestic violence seriously and support the League’s decision to place Addison Russell on administrative leave given new details revealed today," the team wrote in a statement. "We will continue to cooperate with the League’s investigation so the appropriate action can be taken.”

The post, titled "You no longer have a secret, you have a story," marks the second time such allegations have surfaced against the Cubs star. 

Just before the couple filed for divorce, Reidy-Russell published a highly-publicized Instagram post accusing her husband of infidelity. Though the post was eventually deleted, a comment from one of her friends alluded to domestic violence allegations.

At the time, Russell denied the accusations.

“Any allegation I have abused my wife is false and hurtful,” Russell said after the first Instagram post was published.

MLB launched an investigation into the claims in June 2017, but said Reidy-Russell declined to cooperate "at that time." The investigation has remained open since, according to the league.  

"We are hopeful that this new information will allow us to complete the investigation as promptly as possible," the league wrote in a statement Friday.

Russell has not publicly commented on the latest allegations, but Cubs President Theo Epstein said he saw the post late Thursday and "immediately reached out to the league's investigative body."

He called the post "disturbing" and said he and Cubs owner Tom Ricketts met with Russell Friday morning to tell him he would be placed on administrative leave. 

"Timing or inconvenience doesn't play into it," Epstein said. "What matters is getting to a just and fair resolution."

According to Reidy-Russell, the Cubs star cheated on her "with so many different women" and emotional and verbal abuse was "an everyday thing."

"Being blamed for just about anything that went wrong, name calling, intimidating me with personal force, manipulating me to think I was the problem, destroying my personal things, threatening me to 'send' me & our son home to my parents as if I was privileged to be living in our home," she wrote. "Basically, I felt like I was nothing, a nobody & I was nothing without him, & I couldn’t do anything without him."

Reidy-Russell wrote the abuse grew worse over time and "grew to new levels."

"Friends would express their concerns with me but I would assure them that I was okay, he lost his temper & wasn’t himself," she wrote. "Everyday began to be a struggle to fake the convincing smile of a happy wife I grew accustomed to."

Reidy-Russell wrote she decided to leave after Russell "betrayed" her again in April 2017. 

"About a month after leaving, I returned for a visit so my son could see his father, also in hopes that maybe, just maybe I’d see a change in my husband," the post read. "But, as I expected our visit was a nightmare, I swore to myself it would be the last time he’d lay his hands on me & it would be that last time I’d let my son be a witness to it. A week after flying home, I finally made the call and took legal action to start our separation."

Reidy-Russell's attorney announced in June 2017 that she had filed for divorce, noting that it was "her desire to pursue a resolution that is, first and foremost, in the best interest of the parties' son, and which occurs in a swift, amicable, and private fashion." 

The Tribune reports the couple's marriage was officially dissolved in a Florida court Aug. 30. 

"If you are reading this and you can relate, please know & never forget how loved you are," Reidy-Russell wrote. 

If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and more resources can be found at thehotline.org.

Police and fire crews responded to a hazmat situation in Meriden on Friday afternoon.

It happened in The Money Source at 500 South Broad Street, according to police. There are no evacuations at this time and traffic on Broad Street is not affected.

Employees of The Money Source are temporarily quarantined.

The Meriden Police Department, Meriden Fire Department, Department of Energy, Connecticut State Police and an FBI agent on all on scene.

and Environmental Protection also responded to the scene.