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Vehicle Fire Spreads to Second Vehicle, House in Glastonbury

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Officials are investigating after a vehicle fire spread to a second vehicle and a house in Glastonbury on Monday morning.

Firefighters said they were called to a house on Naubuc Avenue around 3:44 a.m. after getting a report of a fire.

When they arrived, firefighters learned a fire started in a vehicle and then spread to a second vehicle and the house. The residents of the house were able to escape without injury.

According to officials, firefighters struggled to get utilities and natural gas lines shut off. Mutual aid from Bolton, Hebron, Marlborough and Wethersfield were called in to help fight the fires.

The Glastonbury Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the vehicle fire.

Naubuc Avenue is closed between Kingsbury Lane and Welles Street. There is no word when the road will reopen.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Senate GOP's No-Win Situation Imperils Kavanaugh: Analysis

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Brett Kavanaugh's prospects of winning confirmation to the Supreme Court are dimming as Republicans grapple with the increasingly complicated politics of supporting him, NBC News reported.

Legal analyst Andrew Napolitano said on Fox Business Monday that the nomination is "a case of lasting impressions" that doesn't rest on whether Kavanaugh can disprove the claims against him, which he denies.

Republican organizer Matt Schlapp told NBC News there will be a "meltdown" in the party if Kavanaugh isn't confirmed, and that could doom its prospects in November's midterm elections.

Many Republican senators are cautious or quiet altogether as the nomination twists in the wind.



Photo Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP, File

Feds’ New Tool to Combat Opioid Crisis: Data

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Federal officials have a new tool to battle the opioid crisis: data. The DEA’s “High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area” program is using a web portal called the “OD Map” to track overdoses caused by opioids in real time. The program will help the agency target high-problem areas with resources and track the sources of the drugs.

High-Value Equipment Stolen From Construction Business in Watertown: Police

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Police in Watertown are investigating after thousands of dollars worth of equipment was stolen from a business near an industrial park over the weekend.

Officers were called to a construction business near the Watertown Industrial Park on Monday after several high value pieces of equipment and materials were reported stolen from a tractor trailer. Police said the theft occurred sometime over the weekend.

According to officials, among the items stolen were three gasoline-powered hydraulic pump set-ups consisting of the pump, intensifiers and hydraulic lines. Each set up is valued at $25,000 each and are industry specific to those in the high-tension electrical wire installation service.

Approximately 1,000 pounds of heavy gauge copper grounding wire in a yellow jacket with clamps, 2 Stihl chain saws and a Stihl K-14 demo saw were also stolen, police said.

If you come across someone in possession of these items or someone trying to sell these items, you're asked to contact Officer McKirryher at (860) 945-5200 or you can call Crimestoppers at (860) 945-9940 for an anonymous cash reward.



Photo Credit: Watertown Police

Solicitor General Who Could Take Over Russia Probe Has Questioned Role of Special Counsels

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With Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s job security in question, the spotlight is on the person next in line to oversee the Russia probe should Rosenstein be ousted: the solicitor general.

Noel Francisco, who represents the Trump administration and the United States before the Supreme Court, could take over supervision of the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election -- a probe that President Donald Trump calls a witch hunt. Francisco has questioned the role of special counsels and has said that executive privilege shields presidents from most investigations, NRP and Mother Jones have reported.

He told a House panel in 2007 that “my own personal belief is that when you hand these issues off to career prosecutors in the public integrity sections in the U.S. attorneys' offices in the Department of Justice, those attorneys are generally better able to assess whether a case should be pursued.”

Politico noted too that he has accused fired FBI Director James Comey of political bias and the FBI of overreach. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he co-authored, Francisco suggested that Comey had used “kid gloves” in his investigation into possible criminal violations by Hillary Clinton, Politico reported. While a lawyer at the law firm Jones Day, he accused the FBI of overreach in its investigation of former Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, arguing successfully that the Supreme Court should throw out the conviction because McDonnell had not acted on behalf of the businessman who gave him expensive gifts. 

His past positions raise the question of whether he would view Robert Mueller's Russia probe as another example of partisan overreach, Politico wrote.

Monday morning was filled with speculation that Rosenstein would be fired or would quit, but in the end, he remained in the job. Now Rosenstein is to meet with Trump on Thursday to discuss his future in the Justice Department.

Rosenstein is overseeing the Russia probe because Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself in light of his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

Under Justice Department rules, the department's third-ranking official, the associate attorney general, should be Rosenstein’s successor, but the last associate attorney general, Rachel Brand, left early in the year and has not been replaced.

Francisco, a member of the Federalist Society, was a clerk for the U.S. Justice Antonin Scalia and a law partner at Jones Day with White House counsel Don McGahn, NPR has reported. The solicitor general position, to which he was confirmed by a divided Senate, 50 to 47, is his “dream job,” NPR wrote.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has cast doubt on Francisco’s ability to oversee the Russia probe.

Christie told ABC News in April: "I can tell you, Noel Francisco, very talented lawyer, but to be Solicitor General, you have a specific skill set and running a Russia collusion investigation is probably not one of them.”

Francisco was part of the team who helped former President George W. Bush in the recount in Florida during the 2000 election and went on to work in the Bush White House.

He argued Trump’s travel bans before the Supreme Court, telling the court that the last iteration was not a so-called Muslim ban because it excluded most of the Muslim world. The court ultimately upheld the ban by a 5-4 vote.



Photo Credit: Cliff Owen/AP

Teen Arrested in Connection With Fatal Waterbury Shooting

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A 15-year-old has been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in Waterbury last week.

Waterbury Police Deputy Chief Fernando Spagnolo confirmed Jesus Bryant was shot Wednesday afternoon on Catherine Avenue. On Saturday, he died of his injuries.

Police said they've arrested a 15-year-old on felony assault charges, and expect the charges to be upgraded in light of Bryant's death.

Investigators believe the shooting is gang-related. The investigation is ongoing.

Another shooting happened on Ridgewood Street the same day. A 22-year-old woman was shot in the stomach. She is expected to survive. 

Enfield Approves Contract for Emergency Bridge Repairs

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The town of Enfield has approved funds to make emergency repairs to the damaged South River Street Bridge, which was closed early this year due to safety concerns.

The state Department of Transportation closed the bridge when a safety inspection found extensive deterioration and corrosion.

The bridge is scheduled to be completely replaced in 2021. In the meantime, the Town Council appropriated $100,000 to put toward emergency repairs. The contract was approved on Friday.

Hammonasset Construction, LLC will begin temporary repairs in October 2018.

Acting Public Works Director Donald Nunes said his department has been working diligently to keep the project moving.

“We are on schedule and have overcome several, major hurdles to secure not only a design, but a contractor based on an aggressive timeline to repair. DPW can only empathize with the residents about the inconveniences posed from the bridge closure but rest assured that staff from many divisions have been working diligently not only in the foreground but in the background making certain the interim repairs happen as discussed.”

The bridge closure meant residents in one Thompsonville neighborhood had to use a 7.5-foot high tunnel to access their homes.

Most trucks can’t fit through the tunnel, which residents said meant constant issues with deliveries. Those who needed oil had to make appointments with the town to reopen the bridge, and with garbage trucks unable to fit through, residents used bags instead of bins that could be picked up by vans.

Emergency vehicles are still able to use the bridge.

For more information on the project schedule, click here.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Indicted Calif. Congressman Duncan Hunter Makes Court Appearance

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A judge granted attorneys for California's Republican Rep. Duncan D. Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, more time to review the more than 12,000 pages worth of data against their clients at a brief status hearing Monday. 

The Hunters pleaded not guilty to charges of misusing $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including a family vacation to Italy, Hawaii, school tuition, dental work and theater tickets, among others. 

The 48-page indictment said they attempted to conceal the eight years of spending in federal records, while their household budget was awash in red ink. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Protesters carrying musical instruments and others dressed in costumes, including a 12-foot inflatable man in a hazmat suit, nicknamed Cleanup Carl, awaited the Hunters as they walked inside the Southern District of California courthouse in San Diego Monday. 

San Diego resident Judy Harrington wore bunny ears and held a sign referencing an accusation that Duncan Hunter spent hundreds to fly the family’s pet bunny across the country.

"I hope we raise awareness that it’s not too much to ask for honesty in our elected officials. I mean, really, is that unreasonable?" Harrington said. 

Duncan Hunter’s lawyers said in 2017 that he and his wife repaid the campaign about $60,000, including the $600 airfare fee for the rabbit.

The Hunters went through a side door at the courthouse, avoiding the group of about three dozen near the front entrance. 

In court, Duncan and Margaret Hunter's defense attorneys said they needed more time to review the alleged evidence against their clients while prosecutors said since it is a "simple" case of embezzlement, more time was not necessary.

A judge sided with the defense stating it was wasn't unreasonable that they would need more time considering the many years over which the alleged crimes occurred. Another status hearing was set for December 3. 

Margaret Hunter, who was at the time of the allegations Duncan Hunter's campaign manager, has arrived at their three court appearances separate from her husband. 

The day after they were indicted, Duncan Hunter appeared to blame his wife, who was the congressman's campaign manager at the time, for any misappropriation of funds. He later told NBC 7 that he wants prosecutors to leave his wife alone, contradicting his previous remarks. 

"My message to the U.S. attorney here is let's get this in court," Hunter said last Tuesday. "Leave my wife out of it, we know they're not after her they're after me. They want to flip the seat, so let's go to court let's have a trial and everybody will see everything."

Duncan Hunter and his attorney have maintained that the charges against him are politically motivated and that he looks forward to fighting the allegations in court.

He was among the earliest Republican members of Congress to endorse President Donald Trump and has in interviews compared himself to the president, saying "this is the new Department of Justice. This is the Democrats’ arm of law enforcement."

"It will be good to expose the leftists that are in the U.S. right now that have brought all this on for political reasons,” Hunter reiterated, telling NBC 7 the charges against him are false.

Rep. Hunter's opponent released a TV ad aimed at conservative voters in the deeply red District 50 as the indicted congressman made his last court appearance before midterm elections.

The narrator of the 30-second spot by Ammar Campa-Najjar's campaign that started airing Monday says the Democrat will put "country over party." It contends Hunter blamed his wife for spending donor money on family vacations and "drunken parties."

Margaret Hunter has yet to speak publicly about the charges. 



Photo Credit: Gregory Bull/AP
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Police Seek Information in 1998 Farmington Cold Case Killing

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Authorities are marking the 20-year anniversary of a Farmington cold case killing with a press conference renewing a call for information Monday.

On Sept. 24, 1998, 26-year-old Agnieszka Ziemlewski was found shot to death on a trail at the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) Reservoir off Old Mountain Road near the West Hartford-Farmington line.

Ziemlewski had emigrated from Poland with her family in the 1980s. She was living in an apartment in West Hartford and working at United Health Care in Hartford at the time of her death.

Police conducted hundreds of interviews over the years and the State of Connecticut offered a reward of up to $50,000 in the case, but no arrest was ever made.

The Farmington Police Department and Cold Case Unit at the Office of the Chief State's Attorney continue to investigate. 

Anyone with information should contact the Farmington Police Department Detective Unit at 860-675-2462 or 860-675-2460, or the Cold Case Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at 860-258-5800. Police are expected to unveil a dedicated tip line at the press conference Monday.



Photo Credit: State of Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice

Candidates Mixed on Report Showing Crime Down in Connecticut

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Gov. Dannel Malloy says his efforts to reduce crime, arrests, and Connecticut’s prison population will be a reward for whoever emerges in November as the next governor.

"Listen,” Malloy told a room of reporters. “Some other governor is going to enjoy all the work we did because crime is going to continue to fall."

According to state and FBI records, violent and property crime in Connecticut have decreased by 25 percent during the period 2009 to 2017.

Connecticut had 71,883 crimes reported in 2017, a level not seen since 1967, and from 2009 to 2017 the number of statewide arrests dropped from 138,719 to 81,408.

Malloy said of the drop, "The reality is we are enjoying the safest period of our existence in 50 years."

At different points in the campaign for governor, the issue of crime and criminal justice has been brought up. On the Republican side, the issue has mainly focused on how Malloy was weak on crime, and that he downplayed poor crime statistics.

Republican Tim Herbst, who failed to win the party’s nomination, and later became party nominee Bob Stefanowski’s debate partner, remarked during debates that he would bring back, “law and order,” to Connecticut.

Malloy said any assertion that crime was in any way rampant, was a falsehood.

"I think anyone who says that quite frankly, clearly is intentionally misleading the public. They're lying and you know, the FBI doesn't lie. Facts are facts."

A spokesman for Stefanowski said of the crime report, "While on its face this seems like good news, the real story on recidivism is not quite as rosy.”

Campaign spokesman Kendall Marr told NBC Connecticut that recidivism rates still show more than half of all of those who qualified for early release were rearrested, but overall the number has been going down.

The state tracks inmates released in three-year cycles, and in 2014, the number of prisoners released who returned to prison was lower than in 2011.

Ned Lamont, the Democrat vying to become the next governor, told NBC Connecticut, "Connecticut has become a leader on criminal justice because it is a moral issue and an economic one. As Governor, I will continue to invest in education, job training, and equal opportunity so that everyone has a chance to build a future.

He added that if Stefanowski’s income tax elimination plan comes to fruition, then that would, “deal a devastating blow to education, crime prevention, and second-chance efforts that are working, which would take Connecticut backwards.”



Photo Credit: NBCSanDiego

Kavanaugh Says He Has 'Never Sexually Assaulted Anyone'

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Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said in an interview set to air Monday evening that he’s “not going anywhere” in the confirmation process to become a justice despite facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

“The truth is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, in high school or otherwise,” Kavanaugh said in an interview with Fox News with his wife sitting by his side, according to an excerpt released Monday afternoon.

“I am not questioning and have not questioned that perhaps Dr. Ford at some point in her life was sexually assaulted by someone at some place," he added, according to an NBC News report. "But what I know is, I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.”



Photo Credit: AP

Cromwell Woman Says Local Painter Didn’t Paint A Rosy Picture

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Cromwell resident Lucille Lancia wanted to spruce up her home with a little color, so the 85-year-old called on a local painter to do the work.

But she said that while Jeffrey Cubeta, owner of Cubeta Painting, LLC in South Glastonbury, painted a rosy picture of what he could do for her home, he didn’t complete the work after spending one day getting the project started.

“It’s unbelievable, you know,” said Lucille Lancia.

In June, Lancia said she paid Cubeta $600 dollar for the deposit and then gave him an additional $250 to buy the paint She says the total cost of the job was $1300. Lancia said she never paid him the rest. She admitted that she didn’t sign a contract but instead used her canceled checks as proof of payment

She said Cubeta began the job by painting the door trim and priming the walls, but then left without finishing the job.

“I said, gee something doesn’t sound right there,” said Lancia.

She said Cubeta never indicated when he would come back to complete the job, despite Lancia’s repeated phone calls.

Lancia said it wasn’t until August when she finally reached him and the two agreed that Cubeta would reimburse her $600 for the unfinished work. Lancia said another week went by and she heard nothing further from Cubeta, nor did she receive her refund.

After Lancia reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds, we reached John Cubeta by phone. He declined to speak with us on camera, but he insisted he would refund Lancia $600. After our phone conversation, Cubeta sent NBC Connecticut Responds the following text message:

“Good evening. I was working when you contacted me about Lucille. I always write proposals. As far as this particular job, I didn't get to it right away. Lucille will definitely get money from me, not however the full $850. Wouldn't be fair to me. Also as far as being on camera, I'm not doing that and it's unnecessary. I worked a day there so I can give her back $600 or deduction of paint would bring it to $400. I have been in business for 15 years and have established myself. I will however work it out and make it fair for both of us.”

Monday, Cubeta texted Responds again saying he has tried calling Lucille Lancia to work out something. But Lancia said she has not heard from him. Still, she is relieved that Responds is helping her get closer to a resolution.

“It’s good that you people are there for us. I mean it.”



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Sources: Manhunt Underway After Woman Shot in Marshfield

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Authorities are searching for a man who allegedly shot a woman Monday in Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts State Police, local police and a SWAT team responded to an active shooter situation. Sources tell NBC10 Boston that a man shot a woman in a car, then fled into the woods.

The incident began on Main Street near ABC Equipment around 6 p.m. Authorities were continuing to search for a suspect more than an hour later.

Route 3A and surrounding roadways were closed, according to Patrick Marvin of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Fire officials said the woman was taken to South Shore Hospital. The extent of her injuries is unclear.

Police are urging residents in the area to stay inside and to lock their doors while they search for a suspect.

Duxbury Athletics announced on Twitter that its volleyball team was in lockdown in Marshfield High School, but it later said the team had been released and was on its way back to Duxbury.



Photo Credit: NBC10 Boston

New London High School Football Coach is Home At Last

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Before we head into week four of high school football, week three delivered the exciting finish to top. New London came from behind to beat Killingly in the final minute and the Whalers were all smiles. Though, for the Whalers' new head coach, every day on the field is a reason to be happy.

Johnny Burns grew up in the neighborhood next to New London High School. When he was 7 years old, he’d sneak through a hole in the fence to watch the Whalers varsity football games. When he was 10, he’d sneak in to play pickup games. When he was 14, he joined the team. Now, 23 years after graduation, Burns is coming home.

"When I walk around the locker room, I walk around and I feel almost ghosts at times,” said Burns. “I can see where my coaches would sit... Places where so many memories are."

The decision to take over as New London’s newest football coach didn’t happen quickly and it didn’t happen without sacrifices. Burns gave up a full time job as a social worker and now works as a security officer in the high school.

"They're kind of in the program as soon as they hit school,” Burns says of starting the school day with his players.

His team wouldn't have it any other way.

“He won two state championships here so playing for a guy who knows what it’s like to be a whaler,” said Whalers quarterback, Owen George. “He can lead the way so we can learn how to be Whalers just like he was."

But this isn't the program burns left when he graduated in 1995.Burns is the third head coach in four seasons. They haven’t won a state title in 10 years. But that desire to win feels just like the old days.

"You'll probably have to pry me off the field one day,” said Burns. “If I can be the head coach here that helps football mean much more that football, then that's what I'm after here."



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Man Dies After Falling from Cliffs at Suffield Quarry

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A man has died after falling from the cliffs at a Suffield quarry.

Suffield police said that crews responded to the quarry at Quarry and Phelps roads near the Granby-Suffield line after a passerby called 911. The witness told police they heard a yell and saw a person falling.

The victim, who has not been identified, was presumed dead on scene. Police estimate the victim is between 18 to 30 years old.

“At this time we don't know if this was a fall, an accidental fall, an intentional act, or anything else so that remains under investigation,” said Capt. Christopher McKee.

McKee said it is not clear exactly how far the victim fell. Emergency responders used off-road vehicles to reach the victim.

“It was a significant drop, it's very treacherous, it's very rocky,” McKee said. He added that is it not unusual to have falls reported in the area.

Police said it appears the victim was alone at the time and that the area where he was found is a clearly posted “no trespassing” area.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Overnight Fire Destroys Inside of Vernon Restaurant

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The inside of a restaurant in Vernon is destroyed after an overnight fire on Tuesday.

According to fire officials, firefighters were called around midnight to a fire at the Oriental Cafe on Hartford Turnpike.

When firefighters arrived, they found heavy fire through the roof of the center of the building. The fire didn't spread too far inside of the building, but the inside of the cafe is burned completely, fire officials said.

"We were able to get a quick knockdown. The firewall design of the building worked to our advantage and prevented the fire from spreading too far on us," Vernon Fire Chief Stephen Eppler said.

The businesses to the left and right of the cafe have smoke and water damage. The rest of the plaza is intact, according to officials.

No injuries were reported.

The fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Ted Cruz Confronted by Kavanaugh Protesters in DC Restaurant

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was forced out of a Washington, D.C., restaurant Monday night by a group protesting embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Cruz and his wife, Heidi, were eating at Fiola, an upscale Italian restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, when a group of protesters approached them. 

In a video posted on Twitter by Smash Racism DC, the group can be heard chanting, "We believe survivors," as Cruz and his wife sit down at a table.

One protester told Cruz that she is a survivor of sexual assault and asked him how he will vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation.

"God bless you, ma'am," Cruz replied. 

The group continued to chant until Cruz and his wife got up and left the restaurant. 

"Ted Cruz and Brett Kavanaugh are best friends," one protester yelled, as the couple exited the restaurant. 

Two women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. 

Christine Blasey Ford has accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers. But Kavanaugh denies he was "at any such party." In an interview with Fox News, he said he's "never sexually assaulted anyone."

The second woman, Deborah Ramirez, accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a Yale dormitory party, putting his penis in her face and causing her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away. Kavanaugh has also denied that allegation. 

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say they are determined to get Kavanaugh on the court, calling the allegations against him false and politically motivated. Kavanaugh has been defiant as well.

Ford and Kavanaugh are set to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

"I'm not going to let false accusations drive us out of this process," Kavanaugh said.



Photo Credit: NBC 5 News
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National Parks Warming Faster Than Rest of US, Study Finds

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Areas in the United States full of national parks — like Alaska or the American Southwest — will be the scene of the greatest heat gains and rainfall declines in the future, NBC News reported

A new study found that recorded temperature increases in the protected zones was twice as high, from 1895 to 2010, as temperature increases in the the rest of the United States. And those greater temperature increases would be exacerbated through the end of the century, if the United States and the world do nothing to reduce the level of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, the researchers found.

The study, completed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin, looked at historic temperature increases from 1895 through the 21st century. Researchers then projected temperature hikes through the year 2100 and did the same for rainfall totals in all 50 states. 

Using previous data that they aggregated and reassessed, the researchers concluded that under the worst-case scenario, no reduction in earth-warming greenhouse gases, temperatures would increase between 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit and 16.2 degrees Fahrenheit. The most severe increases would hit Alaska’s North Slope, where grizzly bears, caribou, polar bears and other sensitive species make their homes.



Photo Credit: Beth J. Harpaz/AP, File

SF Paid Firm $400K for Data Claiming City is Near Spotless

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San Francisco paid a public relations firm hundreds of thousands of dollars for research that claims the city is near spotless, according to government documents obtained by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit. 

The high rating appears to contradict San Francisco’s own 311 complaint records, which reflect a continued spike in service calls concerning trash, used needles, and human feces scattered across the city’s streets and sidewalks.  According to data collected by the same public relations firm, JBR Partners, Inc., last year San Francisco was the cleanest the city has been in four years.  During that same four-year span, however, complaints regarding human feces tainting streets and sidewalks nearly doubled to roughly 21,000 cleaning requests last year.

San Francisco hired JBR Partners, Inc., a self-described public relations agency, in an effort to assess progress within the Public Works Department, which is responsible for maintaining cleanliness along the city’s streets and sidewalks.  The firm’s findings, however, have been deemed questionable and potentially inaccurate by members of the community and the city’s own budget analysts and auditors.

City paid $400K for potentially 'flawed' research

“There is some concern that the performance measures, based on their methodology, might be flawed,” said Dan Goncher, a public policy analyst with the city’s Budget Legislative Analyst’s Office. “Why are these performance measures showing improvement, when at the same time the number of complaints to the city has continued to increase year after year? That's a real head scratcher, I think, for the city right now.”

PR firm, paid by SF, awards city near perfect cleanliness score

Public Works first hired JBR Partners in 2013 to survey San Francisco’s streets and sidewalks. In an effort to assess the level of cleanliness across San Francisco, the company was contracted to walk the city in search of trash and filth, including broken glass, syringes, and human waste.

Based on the survey results, JBR Partners rated San Francisco’s streets and sidewalks each year on a scale from 1 to 3 – 1 equated to “very clean,” while 3 amounted to “very dirty.” Last year, the firm awarded San Francisco’s streets and sidewalks an average rating of 1.18 in commercial areas and 1.06 in residential neighborhoods – near perfect scores.

According the contract, the firm was required to randomly select and survey 94 residential corridors and 94 commercial corridors every six months, for a total of 376 evaluations each year.

So far, those findings have cost San Francisco’s Public Works Department $408,745 as part of its contract with JBR Partners, which began in 2013 and runs through Oct. 8, 2018.

SF gets high marks despite increasing complaints about filth

After surveying streets and sidewalks last year, JBR Partners awarded San Francisco the highest cleanliness marks since the company began surveying the city in 2013.

Those living in San Francisco, however, appeared to notice more filth on the city’s streets and sidewalks, not less. The city’s 311 system received a dramatic increase in the number of complaints concerning a lack of cleanliness across the city during those same four years. Complaints about trash increased 40 percent, human waste complaints swelled 96 percent, and complaints concerning used drug needles spiked 228 percent.

JBR Partners did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

“There are still certainly questions around the degree to which cleanliness has improved on San Francisco streets and sidewalks,” Goncher said.  “What is at stake is whether the city can really have a good barometer on how it's performing and cleaning up the streets - and the use of public funds for that.”

In the absence of clear data and amid lingering questions over job performance within the city’s street cleaning division, Goncher recommended that San Francisco lawmakers refrain from implementing any long-term budget increases for Public Works. Earlier this year, however, the Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed opted to give the department a multimillion-dollar increase – $12.8 million in additional funds over the next two years.  The current Public Works budget, $72 million, has grown more than 80 percent in just six years.

'Why is it like this?'

The department’s ballooning budget doesn’t sit well with Rickey Wilson, a 70-year-old jazz singer who has spent his entire career in San Francisco.

“Why is it like this?  It shouldn't have to be,” he said.  “It's not supposed to be.”

Wilson, who regularly walks the streets of San Francisco to perform at clubs and lounges across the city, doesn’t believe the cleanliness ratings released by JBR Partners.

They’re lying,” said Wilson.  “They can take it any way they want it. They can come see me if they want. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to tell them the same thing I’m telling you now – they’re lying.”

San Francisco’s dirty streets made national headlines following an NBC Bay Area investigation in February, which revealed a dangerous concoction of drug needles, garbage, and feces lining the streets of downtown San Francisco. The Investigative Unit surveyed more than 150 blocks, including some of the city’s top tourist destinations and discovered conditions that infectious disease experts considered comparable to some of the worst slums in the world.

SF pays millions more for street cleaning than other major cities

San Francisco pays millions more to clean its streets and sidewalks than several other larger cities with even bigger populations, including Chicago, San Diego, and San Jose, according to a recent report by the San Francisco Budget Legislative Analyst’s Office. In fact, Los Angeles is 10 times larger than San Francisco and collects nine times the amount of trash, but San Francisco still spends about $20 million more on street cleaning each year.

“Every penny of work that a public worker does is worth it,” said Mohammed Nuru, director of San Francisco Public Works. “We have to be responsible for making sure that our city continues to be one of the best places in the world.”

Nuru takes issue with comparing San Francisco’s expenses because, he says, his department receives a higher volume of street cleaning requests than other cities across the country. 

During the 2017 fiscal year, San Francisco received 77,091 service requests while other cities received far fewer: Los Angeles, 5,800; San Jose, 9,000; Baltimore, 32,553, and Chicago, 1,271, according to data released by the Budget Legislative Analyst’s Office.

We're doing what people expect of us,” Nuru said.  “We still have room to grow, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

In April, during Mayor Mark Farrell's six months in office, San Francisco unveiled a new partnership with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to create a new 10-person crew to pick up and discard used syringes across the city. In August, the Public Works Department announced plans to dedicate a five-person team to regularly clean human feces off streets and sidewalks. San Francisco also recently opened five more staffed, public restrooms as part of the city's Pit Stop Program, which now boasts 23 public toilets across the city.

In light of San Francisco's seemingly unprecedented clean-up efforts, some are confused how a city in need of such extreme measures could manage to score such high marks for cleanliness even before many of the new initiatives were implemented.

'A report is what it is'

As for the assertion made by JBR Partners that the city’s streets and sidewalks are near pristine, Nuru said “a report is what it is.”

He added, “I take information, and I try to translate it to the best way [so] that I can understand what it is saying.”

The survey data is being collected as part of a 2003 voter mandate that began requiring San Francisco to establish performance standards for street and sidewalk maintenance.

San Francisco’s auditing division, within the Controller’s Office, is responsible for reviewing those standards and issuing performance reports. While the Controller’s Office helped design the city’s cleanliness surveys, the office now has concerns the information collected may not be accurate. In fact, the office had such little confidence in the survey results that it decided to forgo issuing its scheduled 2016-2017 cleanliness evaluation report of the city’s streets and sidewalks.

“We are trying to get representative samples to get a sense of how the city is doing over time,” said Ben Rosenfield, City Controller for San Francisco, who acknowledges current survey methods are not yielding useful results.

“This is the year we decided to do something bigger that leads to better results," he said.

Rosenfield, who declined to be interviewed on camera, said his office is now partnering with Public Works to overhaul the way San Francisco measures cleanliness and expects to finalize new guidelines in the coming months.

“The purpose of our review is to get to something that is answering the question:  ‘Is the city dirtier or cleaner than the year before?'” he said.  “We have questions about whether the methodology we’ve used actually answers that.”



Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area
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SF Paid Firm $400K for Data Claiming City is Near Spotless

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San Francisco paid a public relations firm hundreds of thousands of dollars for research that claims the city is near spotless, according to government documents obtained by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit. 

The high rating appears to contradict San Francisco’s own 311 complaint records, which reflect a continued spike in service calls concerning trash, used needles, and human feces scattered across the city’s streets and sidewalks.  According to data collected by the same public relations firm, JBR Partners, Inc., last year San Francisco was the cleanest the city has been in four years.  During that same four-year span, however, complaints regarding human feces tainting streets and sidewalks nearly doubled to roughly 21,000 cleaning requests last year.

San Francisco hired JBR Partners, Inc., a self-described public relations agency, in an effort to assess progress within the Public Works Department, which is responsible for maintaining cleanliness along the city’s streets and sidewalks.  The firm’s findings, however, have been deemed questionable and potentially inaccurate by members of the community and the city’s own budget analysts and auditors.

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City paid $400K for potentially 'flawed' research

“There is some concern that the performance measures, based on their methodology, might be flawed,” said Dan Goncher, a public policy analyst with the city’s Budget Legislative Analyst’s Office. “Why are these performance measures showing improvement, when at the same time the number of complaints to the city has continued to increase year after year? That's a real head scratcher, I think, for the city right now.”

PR firm, paid by SF, awards city near perfect cleanliness score

Public Works first hired JBR Partners in 2013 to survey San Francisco’s streets and sidewalks. In an effort to assess the level of cleanliness across San Francisco, the company was contracted to walk the city in search of trash and filth, including broken glass, syringes, and human waste.

Based on the survey results, JBR Partners rated San Francisco’s streets and sidewalks each year on a scale from 1 to 3 – 1 equated to “very clean,” while 3 amounted to “very dirty.” Last year, the firm awarded San Francisco’s streets and sidewalks an average rating of 1.18 in commercial areas and 1.06 in residential neighborhoods – near perfect scores.

According the contract, the firm was required to randomly select and survey 94 residential corridors and 94 commercial corridors every six months, for a total of 376 evaluations each year.

So far, those findings have cost San Francisco’s Public Works Department $408,745 as part of its contract with JBR Partners, which began in 2013 and runs through Oct. 8, 2018.

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SF gets high marks despite increasing complaints about filth

After surveying streets and sidewalks last year, JBR Partners awarded San Francisco the highest cleanliness marks since the company began surveying the city in 2013.

Those living in San Francisco, however, appeared to notice more filth on the city’s streets and sidewalks, not less. The city’s 311 system received a dramatic increase in the number of complaints concerning a lack of cleanliness across the city during those same four years. Complaints about trash increased 40 percent, human waste complaints swelled 96 percent, and complaints concerning used drug needles spiked 228 percent.

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JBR Partners did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

“There are still certainly questions around the degree to which cleanliness has improved on San Francisco streets and sidewalks,” Goncher said.  “What is at stake is whether the city can really have a good barometer on how it's performing and cleaning up the streets - and the use of public funds for that.”

In the absence of clear data and amid lingering questions over job performance within the city’s street cleaning division, Goncher recommended that San Francisco lawmakers refrain from implementing any long-term budget increases for Public Works. Earlier this year, however, the Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed opted to give the department a multimillion-dollar increase – $12.8 million in additional funds over the next two years.  The current Public Works budget, $72 million, has grown more than 80 percent in just six years.

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'Why is it like this?'

The department’s ballooning budget doesn’t sit well with Rickey Wilson, a 70-year-old jazz singer who has spent his entire career in San Francisco.

“Why is it like this?  It shouldn't have to be,” he said.  “It's not supposed to be.”

Wilson, who regularly walks the streets of San Francisco to perform at clubs and lounges across the city, doesn’t believe the cleanliness ratings released by JBR Partners.

They’re lying,” said Wilson.  “They can take it any way they want it. They can come see me if they want. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to tell them the same thing I’m telling you now – they’re lying.”

San Francisco’s dirty streets made national headlines following an NBC Bay Area investigation in February, which revealed a dangerous concoction of drug needles, garbage, and feces lining the streets of downtown San Francisco. The Investigative Unit surveyed more than 150 blocks, including some of the city’s top tourist destinations and discovered conditions that infectious disease experts considered comparable to some of the worst slums in the world.

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SF pays millions more for street cleaning than other major cities

San Francisco pays millions more to clean its streets and sidewalks than several other larger cities with even bigger populations, including Chicago, San Diego, and San Jose, according to a recent report by the San Francisco Budget Legislative Analyst’s Office. In fact, Los Angeles is 10 times larger than San Francisco and collects nine times the amount of trash, but San Francisco still spends about $20 million more on street cleaning each year.

“Every penny of work that a public worker does is worth it,” said Mohammed Nuru, director of San Francisco Public Works. “We have to be responsible for making sure that our city continues to be one of the best places in the world.”

Nuru takes issue with comparing San Francisco’s expenses because, he says, his department receives a higher volume of street cleaning requests than other cities across the country. 

During the 2017 fiscal year, San Francisco received 77,091 service requests while other cities received far fewer: Los Angeles, 5,800; San Jose, 9,000; Baltimore, 32,553, and Chicago, 1,271, according to data released by the Budget Legislative Analyst’s Office.

We're doing what people expect of us,” Nuru said.  “We still have room to grow, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

In April, during Mayor Mark Farrell's six months in office, San Francisco unveiled a new partnership with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to create a new 10-person crew to pick up and discard used syringes across the city. In August, the Public Works Department announced plans to dedicate a five-person team to regularly clean human feces off streets and sidewalks. San Francisco also recently opened five more staffed, public restrooms as part of the city's Pit Stop Program, which now boasts 23 public toilets across the city.

In light of San Francisco's seemingly unprecedented clean-up efforts, some are confused how a city in need of such extreme measures could manage to score such high marks for cleanliness even before many of the new initiatives were implemented.

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'A report is what it is'

As for the assertion made by JBR Partners that the city’s streets and sidewalks are near pristine, Nuru said “a report is what it is.”

He added, “I take information, and I try to translate it to the best way [so] that I can understand what it is saying.”

The survey data is being collected as part of a 2003 voter mandate that began requiring San Francisco to establish performance standards for street and sidewalk maintenance.

San Francisco’s auditing division, within the Controller’s Office, is responsible for reviewing those standards and issuing performance reports. While the Controller’s Office helped design the city’s cleanliness surveys, the office now has concerns the information collected may not be accurate. In fact, the office had such little confidence in the survey results that it decided to forgo issuing its scheduled 2016-2017 cleanliness evaluation report of the city’s streets and sidewalks.

“We are trying to get representative samples to get a sense of how the city is doing over time,” said Ben Rosenfield, City Controller for San Francisco, who acknowledges current survey methods are not yielding useful results.

“This is the year we decided to do something bigger that leads to better results," he said.

Rosenfield, who declined to be interviewed on camera, said his office is now partnering with Public Works to overhaul the way San Francisco measures cleanliness and expects to finalize new guidelines in the coming months.

“The purpose of our review is to get to something that is answering the question:  ‘Is the city dirtier or cleaner than the year before?'” he said.  “We have questions about whether the methodology we’ve used actually answers that.”

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Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area
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