Police are trying to locate an 85-year-old woman missing from Branford.
Authorities have issued a Silver Alert for 85-year-old Patricia Read, who was reported missing Thursday.
She is described as 5-foot-4, 174 pounds, with grey hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts should contact the Branford Police Department at 203-481-4241.
Police in Marshfield, Massachusetts, are warning residents to inspect their Halloween candy after needles were found inside a 3-year-old trick-or-treater's haul.
Marshfield police said the child received two packages of Twizzlers Twists containing sewing needles on Wednesday night. Thursday evening, police said a third Twizzlers package containing a small piece of metal was also confirmed to have been picked up in the same area.
"Anything is possible at this point," Marshfield Police Chief Phil Tavares said. "We are investigating to figure out where exactly were the needles put into the candy."
Carol Keating, the grandmother of 3-year-old Ronan, said the family went trick-or-treating to about three dozen homes in the Brant Rock neighborhood of Marshfield. Keating said the boy's mother found the needles when she checked the candy upon returning home to Boston.
“I can’t believe this would happen,” Keating said.
Marshfield police are advising parents to throw away all Twizzlers and inspect all of their children's Halloween candy as a precaution. Anyone caught giving out contaminated candy that could cause injury can face up to five years behind bars.
In Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, police said a nail had been found partially inside a mini Hershey's bar. The trick-or-treater's parent believes it may have been picked up on a side street off Vineyard Avenue. Anyone with information is asked to call Oak Bluffs Police.
Similar incidents have been reported in the last 24 hours involving sewing needles in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in Maine, a Twizzler in Texas, a Kit Kat in Florida, a Mounds in New York, a 3 Musketeers in New Mexico and a Gummy Life Savers candy in Tennessee. Officials haven't said if there could be any connection.
A South Windsor family is warning others to be on alert after their dog was attacked by a coyote.
Coyote sightings aren’t unusual along Abbe Road, but neighbors have recently reported seeing two or three coyotes traveling together, and that’s what Monica Rich thinks attacked their dog.
“I think a smaller animal would not have survived that and I'm grateful we got him,” Rich told NBC Connecticut.
Claw marks cover 8-year-old Huxley’s back, bites and deep wounds scar his face – the evidence of a brutal coyote attack last Sunday.
Rich said her kids let the Wheaton terrier outside and forgot he was out there. An hour later when she came home, Huxley came limping over.
“He looked like he was covered in mud like he'd gotten into water or something and it was dark when we brought him inside we realized he was actually covered in blood,” Rich said.
Rich said a trip to the vet revealed the extent of the wounds, and that at first Huxley couldn’t walk. After days of care, he’s getting back to his old self.
Normally coyotes keep to the woods, steering clear of the dog. But with this change in behavior, Rich wants her neighbors to know what happened. She’s now changing how Huxley goes out and how late her kids go outside to take care of their farm animals.
“We used to let them go out as late as 8 at night to do that but I don't think we're going to and when we take Huxley out at night we take him out on a leash because we don’t feel he's safe on his own,” Rich said.
Rich wants neighbors to be aware and take precautions to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said that while some coyotes sometimes exhibit bold behavior, it is unusual for them to attack humans. Small pets, especially those under 25 pounds, are at risk.
For more information on coyotes, visit the DEEP website.
Jewish leaders across the country are not allowing their communities to live in fear. Instead, ahead of the first Sabbath after the massacre in Pittsburgh, they’re encouraging people of all faiths to Show Up for Shabbat in solidarity with Pittsburgh’s Jewish community.
"In my lifetime I don’t recall any act of (Anti)Semitism so terrible and so close to home,” said Rabbi Marc Ekstrand of Temple Emanu-El in Waterford.
The shooting that killed 11 people at Tree of Life synagogue hit especially close to Ekstrand’s heart. He grew up going to services at a synagogue also in the Jewish enclave of Squirrel Hill.
“I told the congregation what was going on and I just started to cry,” Ekstrand said.
He saw the need to heal. Sunday he hosted a vigil along with Congregation Beth El. Monday faith leaders and people of all beliefs came together. Nearly 500 people filled the sanctuary.
He’s ready to see more inter-faith support again this Shabbat. Especially as the hashtag #ShowUpForShabbat is spreading. Started by American Jewish Committee (AJC), they’re asking Jews and non-Jews to attend a Shabbat service Friday or Saturday in solidarity with Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and to show love triumphs over hate.
“To worship together. To sing, to celebrate, to hold each other as a community over the course of the weekend,” said Rabbi Rachel Safman of Congregation Beth El in New London.
Rabbi Rachel Safman has already planned for this weekend to have a special program celebrating being an inclusive congregation, specifically to the LGBTQ community. It was easy to expand that into #ShowUpForShabbat.
Safman said she got the word out about through the Greater New London Clergy Association who disseminated information to the faith communities throughout southeastern Connecticut.
Kyle Murray, of New London, is a member of outCT, which is non-profit that supports LGBTQ individuals. He’s not Jewish and said he’ll be there.
“We all have a place in this world. I think it is imperative that love transcends whatever hatred,” Murray said.
Open enrollment for Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage Plans is underway, and advocates are encouraging recipients to make sure all of their medications are covered.
“We want everyone to be aware that now’s the time. Take the time to look at what your coverage is and make sure it’s still going to work for you in the new year,” said Maureen McIntyre, CEO of the North Central Area Agency on Aging.
McIntyre said formularies are subject to change. Those are the lists of prescription medications covered under specific plans.
For 2019, there are about 26 Medicare Part D plans available, McIntyre said.
"The stakes can be high. If you wind up in a plan that isn't going to cover one of your meds, it's a long 12 month period until the open enrollment comes around again," she said.
The Medicare Plan Finder can help find beneficiaries find a plan that will fit their needs. McIntyre said it’s helpful to have a list of your prescription medications and dosages on hand when using the tool.
During open enrollment, recipients can also switch from an Original Medicare plan to a Medicare Advantage plan, or vice versa.
Open enrollment for Medicare runs through Dec. 7, 2018.
Anyone with questions can call 1-800-994-9422 or attend a CHOICES enrollment event.
A new Sacred Heart University Institute for Public Policy poll suggests that while the Democrat and Republican candidates for governor are neck and neck, Republican Bob Stefanowski currently has a slight edge over Democrat Ned Lamont in the race.
The poll shows that while the candidates are statistically tied, Stefanowski with a 2.4 percentage point lead over Lamont.
Conducted from Oct. 29 through Oct. 31, the poll data shows that 40 percent of likely voters indicated they would support Stefanowski, with 37.6 percent of likely voters preferring Lamont and 9 percent supporting unaffiliated candidate Oz Griebel.
The poll also found that 38.4 percent of Connecticut voters had a “favorable” view of Lamont, compared to 41.6 percent with a “favorable” view of Stefanowski.
Stefanowski has stronger in-party support, with 83.9 percent of Republicans supporting his run, while Lamont only saw support from 68.3 percent of Democrats, based on the poll.
Participants listed their top concerns in the governor’s race as Connecticut’s high tax burden, the state budget crisis, and low economic growth in the state.
For more on the poll, click here.
How secure will your vote be when you head to the polls on Tuesday and could Connecticut be at risk of hackers disrupting our elections? NBC Connecticut Investigates looked into whether there is reason for concern.
Last year, federal intelligence agencies revealed that in 2016, hackers using Russian IP addresses tried to get into the voting registries of 21 states, including Connecticut.
Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, who oversees our elections, said this was a probe where someone was testing our vulnerabilities, rather than a successful intrusion, or hack.
“They didn’t get in, nothing worked,” said Merrill.
Jake Braun, who helps organize the annual DEFCON hacker conference in Las Vegas where participants conducted what they called successful, simulated intrusions of a number of election machines, said hacking of elections systems is a reason for concern.
“The Russians kind of like to poke and prod and then they go back and they look at the soft spots,” he said.
But Braun gives Connecticut high marks for its election security.
“Connecticut is definitely doing a great job,” he said.
Cybersecurity experts, including Braun, say Connecticut benefits by:
But perhaps the biggest obstacle to hackers attacking Connecticut’s elections is that we still use paper ballots.
“We are pretty secure here in Connecticut. Mostly because we have a lot of paper, ironically. We have paper ballots, we have paper lists, we have backups of backups of backups,” Merrill said.
However, cybersecurity experts tell NBC Connecticut Investigates there are reasons to be concerned about Connecticut’s election security.
“These old operating systems have so many vulnerabilities, known vulnerabilities that need to be fixed. That is a huge hole in security,” said Suzanne Mello-Stark, a computer scientist at Rhode Island College.
Merrill said those issues are going to be addressed. She explains Connecticut recently bought 169 used tabulators as a backup, and the state is considering a more robust post-election audit covering all of Connecticut. Plus, federal funds are also on the way so small towns can upgrade their potentially vulnerable computer systems.
But voters also play a key role in election security, according to Merrill.
“The biggest challenge is the American public. Because I am convinced that a lot of this, whatever the Russians were up to, was to create chaos, and confusion, and distrust,” Merrill said.
Voters NBC Connecticut Investigates spoke with don’t seem worried.
“I think there’s a lot of precautions set up to prevent that,” Maya Gibbs, of Pomfret, told NBC Connecticut Investigates.
Route 20 is closed in both directions in Granby, near the Hartland town line.
Police said the road is closed to allow for utility work after a car hit a pole.
The detour is Route 179 to Route 219.
Route 4 and Butter Road in Sharon are closed after a car hit a pole. Minor injuries are reported.
Drivers are urged to use alternate routes.
Traffic delays are building on Interstate 91 North in Wallingford after a tractor-trailer when down an embankment.
The crash happened before exit 15 and traffic is backing up into North Haven.
Drivers are urged to avoid the area.
A man who was trying to sell his cell phone in New London was robbed and shot at the men who robbed him, according to police.
The victim went into the New London police station at 6:53 p.m. Thursday to report what happened. He told officers that he’d driven to the area of Boulder Drive and Jefferson Avenue to meet a woman after he posted an ad online to sell a cell phone.
As he was waiting for the woman, two males he didn’t know approached him at gunpoint and stole the cell phone he was trying to sell, police said.
The victim said he pulled his gun and shot two rounds at the robbers and they ran away, police said.
No one was reported to have been shot and police said they did not find any victims.
Anyone who has information concerning the incident is urged to call the New London Police Department at 860-447-5269, extension 0 or submit anonymous information through the New London Tips 411 system by texting NLPDTip plus the information to Tip411 (847411).
Police urge people buying to selling items online to meet in a “Safe Exchange Zone,” like the police department lobby.
If you do not meet in a lobby, police recommend insisting on a public meeting place, avoid meeting in a secluded place or inviting strangers into your home.
Be especially careful when buying or selling high-value items and tell a friend or family member where you’re going.
Take your cellphone along if you have one and consider having a friend accompany you.
If the other person does not want to meet you in a public place that should be a red flag indicating that you do not want to conduct business with that person.
Hate-filled messages were scrawled inside a Brooklyn synagogue, the latest incident in a string of alarming attacks on New York City's Jewish population in the borough, police say.
The anti-Semitic messages written in black marker at Union Temple in Prospect Heights come less than a week after a gunman stormed into a synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 people.
The NYPD said the messages, which include “Die Jew Rats We Are Here,” “Jews Better Be Ready,” "Rose" and “Hitler,” were discovered by a woman congregant around 8 p.m. Thursday on the second and fourth floors of the house of worship.
A political event hosted by “Broad City” star Ilana Glazer was canceled after the messages were found. A video posted to Instagram shows Glazer addressing a crowd. Glazer was scheduled to moderate a talk with a journalist and state senate candidates, including Andrew Gounardes.
Gounardes told News 4 he had been "incredibly excited" to appear on Glazer's series and to work alongside State Senate candidate Jim Gaughran and Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now!" to talk about the importance of the election.
"Hate speech and anti-Semitic graffiti have no place in New York State. I am outraged that cowards would make threats and deface property to spread their hate," he said in a statement. "I am proud to stand with my brothers and sisters in the Jewish community and all religious affiliations because we are all Americans and all New Yorkers."
Neighborhoods in the borough have been the targets of anti-Semitic acts in recent weeks. Several days ago, swastikas were found in Brooklyn Heights and last month a man was charged with assault as a hate crime in a beating of a Jewish man in the middle of a Borough Park street.
A Hate Crimes Unit is investigating.
Acts of hate against Jews have also been on the rise across the country. In February, the Anti-Defamation League reported that the number of anti-Semitic incidents against Jewish institutions rose nearly 60 percent last year over 2016, the largest single-year increase on record.
NBC has you covered for Sunday night's big New England Patriots-Green Bay Packers game.
Pre-game coverage starts at 7 p.m. on NBC Connecticut, with kickoff at 8:20. You can watch on TV, on desktop and on mobile devices.
Here’s what you need to know:
On TV: Watch the game on NBC Connecticut starting at 7 p.m.
On Desktop or Mobile Devices: Watch the game on desktop and mobile by clicking here. For mobile, you will be prompted to download the NBC Sports App if you haven't already. If you already have the app downloaded, you will immediately be directed to the mobile viewing experience.
A fire extinguisher went off on its own in a school bus carrying elementary school children in Oxford Friday morning and police said no injuries are reported.
The bus was on Newgate Road when it happened and students who were on the bus were evacuated as a precaution, according to police. Another bus responded and brought the children to school.
The fire department has responded. It's not clear what made the fire extinguisher go off.
No additional information was immediately available.
A Stratford dad is accused of driving drunk on Halloween while bringing his daughter trick-or-treating and hitting a car carrying other children who were out trick-or-treating, police said.
Police responded to a crash Wednesday night at Nichols and North avenues and said 47-year-old Michael Barrett, 47, of Stratford, was driving his 12-year-old daughter, who was in a Halloween costume, around the neighborhood so she could go trick or treating when he hit a car driven by a woman who was taking her children trick or treating, police said.
Barrett smelled of alcohol, admitted he had six drinks and also failed a field sobriety test, according to a news release from police.
They said he had a blood alcohol content of .191 which is more than twice the legal limit.
Barrett’s daughter was turned over to a relative.
He was charged with risk of injury to a child, operating under the influence and failure to drive right and held in lieu of $20,000 bond.
He is due in court on Nov. 13.
Editor's Note: Police said Michael Barrett was a school security officer at Booth Hill School in Shelton and in the Trumbull school system, but Stratford police said Barrett never worked in the Shelton school system.
Police have identified the driver of a dump truck who died after hitting a highway sign on Interstate 95 North in Milford Thursday morning as 63-year-old Anthony Edward Drozd, of Middletown.
State police said the body of the dump truck he was driving was raised and hit the DOT sign for exit 41, which caused the truck to rollover.
Drozd was thrown from his vehicle and sustained extensive traumatic injuries, officials said.
A physician and an EMT who came upon the crash provided medical assistance until emergency crews arrived and Drozd was transported to Yale Trauma Center, but died at the hospital, according to fire officials.
The crash happened at 7:52 a.m., police said. It’s not clear why the body of the truck was raised and whether it somehow became raised or whether it was unintentionally left up.
Another vehicle was also involved in the crash, but the driver was not seriously injured.
The highway was closed where the crash happened from around 7:45 a.m. until around 2:45 p.m.
Manchester High School was placed into secure mode around 9:30 a.m. on Friday after administrators learned there was a rumor that a student brought a weapon to school.
The staff contacted the school resource officers, who secured the school and interviewed several students, according to superintendent Matt Geary.
The officers found the student in question and determined there was no weapon.
After a short period of time, the secure mode was lifted.
Any students who were frightened by the incident and need additional support can reach out to school administrators, according to Geary.
Stamford is closing the Westover Magnet Elementary School indefinitely due to mold.
The city announced Friday that the remediation process to clean up the mold in the building will be extensive and will likely take until the end of the school year, according to a news release.
Administrators closed the school on Wednesday after the results of an air quality test showed elevated mold levels.
The city is working on a plan to relocate students and staff to another facility.
Hartford police have arrested a man and charged him with the murder of a 41-year-old woman in May.
Byron Perry, 26, of Hartford, has been charged with the murder of 44-year-old Lydia Tirillo.
Police were alerted to the shooting when ShotSpotter detected five gunshots on Enfield Street in Hartford on May 23 and they said Tirillo had been shot in the torso and legs and police.
Perry and Tirillo knew each other, according to police who said the shooting appeared to have stemmed from a dispute between the two.
Authorities obtained a warrant on Wednesday charging Perry with murder and carrying a pistol without a permit and he was arrested Thursday.
Perry is in custody and being held on $1 million bond.
A lack of health care hits residents especially hard in Maine, with the oldest population in the country, and so the Democratic challenger in the state's Second Congressional District is focused on saddling the incumbent with his vote to kill "Obamacare," following a playbook unfolding across the country.
Rep. Bruce Poliquin, New England's only Republican in the House of Representatives, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year in the Republicans' most recent attempt to end former President Barack Obama's signature program. Democrat Jared Golden is not letting voters forget.
Asked why he thought the race was so close — the Cook Political Report puts it as a toss-up — Golden singled out Poliquin's vote and the deep cuts in Medicaid it would have brought. Maine residents have voted to expand Medicaid under "Obamacare," a step with bipartisan support that would give an additional 80,000 people health coverage.
"There is no clearer contrast in this election than that and it's not between me and Bruce, it's between Bruce and his own constituents," Golden said.
Not only does Maine have the oldest population in the country, according to the Census, an AARP survey in September found that health care was the top issue for those 50 and older.
The Second District sprawls across Maine, the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi River, a mostly rural expanse covering all but the southern part of the state near Portland and Augusta. It has an equal number of registered Democrats and Republicans, and more voters than either without a party affiliation.
Poliquin has represented it for two terms, but before he won the seat in 2014 it was held for 20 years by Democrats. President Donald Trump took the district in 2016, following Obama four years earlier. The race is one of the most closely contested in the country. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which labeled the contest a "hot race," Golden outraised Poliquin $4.6 million to $3.7 million and has outspent the incumbent.
Outside money also poured in, putting the election on track to be the most expensive congressional race in Maine history, according to The Associated Press.
This article, part 8 in a series, examines one of the key battleground races for control of the House of Representatives in the Nov. 6 midterm elections. Carried by grassroots momentum, Democrats must take 23 seats from Republicans to win the balance of power. They are contending with Republicans' experience and organization, and an outspoken but polarizing president.
Poliquin, 65, is a third-generation Mainer who worked in finance before returning to Maine, according to his House biography. He did not respond to a request for an interview.
In an August 2017 recording leaked to the website Maine Beacon, Poliquin can be heard saying he rarely agrees to interviews, saying, "It would be stupid for me to engage the national media, to give them and everybody else the ammunition they need and we lose this seat."
Golden, 36, is a former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, enlisting after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He worked on national security issues for the state's Republican U.S. senator, Susan Collins, and is now in his second term in the Maine Legislature, where he is the assistant House majority leader.
Golden is emphasizing two main Democratic issues, health care and the Republican tax cuts, which he ties together to dispute his opponent's assertion that Maine's economy is benefiting from the GOP tax reform bill.
"The two go hand in hand because we've lost a lot of our good middle-class manufacturing and mill jobs," Golden said.
Hospitals are the largest employer in many rural communities, he said. About half of Maine's hospitals are designated critical access hospitals by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, meant to keep essential services in rural communities, and they would have been hard hit under the "Obamacare" repeal bill, Golden said.
Last year, the Maine Hospital Association estimated that the state's hospitals received $200 million a year from insurance subsidized by "Obamacare."
Golden has argued that Medicaid expansion would bring almost $500 million in federal investment into the state's economy and create 3,000 new jobs. At the same time, one in five people in Maine is on Medicaid. He says the country needs to move toward a universal health-care system like Medicare for all.
Medicaid expansion has been a contentious issue in the state. Voters in both of Maine's congressional districts approved the move by referendum after Republican Gov. Paul LePage repeatedly vetoed the Legislature's attempts to do it. LePage argued that there were insufficient funds.
Poliquin first voted against repealing "Obamacare" in 2015, saying that he believed a replacement plan first needed to be in place. He changed his vote last year, approving a move to repeal and replace it with the Republicans' American Health Care Act.
He said afterward that he knew that the House bill needed work — it would have stripped 24 million Americans of health insurance by 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office — but had hoped it would be improved by the Senate. Instead, it failed there with Collins' help.
At a debate in October, Poliquin pointed to his first vote against ending "Obamacare" and said, "Everybody in this country needs to have health care. And everybody needs to be able to afford health insurance in order to get that care."
Poliquin says he would protect residents with pre-existing conditions, but the plan he voted for would have driven up their premiums.
"Health care is a huge issue in this election, as much as any one issue is, and Poliquin has votes to explain away, which he has not done yet," said L. Sandy Maisel, a political science professor at Colby College.
The district is blue-collar and socially conservative, said Maisel, the co-author of "Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process." Poliquin, though socially conservative, "does not really support the working class nature of the district."
"Enter Jared Golden — of the district, the opposite of Wall Street, a veteran who can field dress a rifle, plain talking, close to his roots," he said. "While progressive on some issues, he can sell himself to the district. In fact, I would argue he is the perfect Democrat for this district — if he cannot beat Poliquin, no one can."
Poliquin touts a career creating jobs. He's a member of the House Financial Services Committee who served as Maine's treasurer and who says the district is benefiting from his efforts to bring about less red tape, lower taxes and fairer trade deals. He's also called Golden a young radical with a socialist agenda.
Golden counters that his record shows anything but a socialist. He described himself as a labor Democrat, who supported tariffs on softwood lumber, for example. He said he would work with Trump when he could, as he has with Maine's governor on allowing returning military members with a medic background to get licensed as a nurse.
Golden said that to improve the economy, he would emphasize investing in infrastructure — revamping utilities, focusing on renewable energy to bring down Maine's high energy costs, rebuilding roads and bridges and improving rail lines. Low employment does not equal a successful economy, he said.
Poliquin has attacked Golden on his gun record, too, comparing his A rating from the National Rifle Association to Golden's D rating. Poliquin says on his website that he supports the state's "long outdoor traditions including firearms ownership," and that he defends the Second Amendment.
Golden supported legislation allowing courts to confiscate weapons from domestic abusers, opposes a ban on semiautomatic rifles but would back a debate about whether to limit high-capacity magazines.
James Melcher, a professor of political science at the University of Maine at Farmington, said Poliquin was helped in past election years by ballot measures connected with firearms — on restrictions on bear hunting in 2014 and on more stringent background checks in 2016. There is no similar ballot initiative this year.
On Tuesday, Maine will use what is called ranked-choice voting for the first time in a federal race, a system in which voters pick candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote — and there are two independent candidates, Tiffany Bond and Will Hoar — the one with the fewest number of first-ranked votes is eliminated and those ballots are assigned to each voter's second choice. The process continues until there is a winner.
"Because the race is close, even a few voters could flip over," Melcher said.
Democrats have tried to portray Poliquin as someone who does not really fit the district, he said, and cited an ad in 2016 in which a suit-clad actor meant to be Poliquin struggles with a kayak.
"Mainers are very, very willing to split their ticket for somebody with whom they feel personally comfortable, especially at the local level, so that sense of fit I think is important," Melcher said.
But, he added, "Democrats have underestimated Poliquin again and again and again and they underestimate him at their peril."
Calista Cross, 76, is voting for Golden. She likes his military background — she said she has helped to erect two memorials to veterans — and his position on health care. The governor and Poliquin have not done much to ensure affordable health care for residents, she said.
Cross, who lives in Cornish, dismisses accusations that Golden would not be a supporter of Second Amendment gun rights, but others among his supporters fear the issue might hurt his chances.
Maryanne Forbes, a 62-year-old retired nurse who lives in Hanover and who has been making telephone calls on Golden's behalf, said he needed to make a clearer statement about his positions. Voters she has spoken to believe he will try to take away their rifles and their ability to hunt, she said.
"They're not going to vote for him," she said. "They like him, they think he's a good candidate — but the guns."
Sharon Sibley, the vice chair of the Lincoln Town Council and the office manager of her family-owned logging company, Hanington Bros. Inc., backs Poliquin, citing his support for legislation that has benefited the logging industry.
Poliquin opposed the creation of a national monument in Maine's North Woods under Obama and agreed with a recommendation from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to allow trees to be cut there. He also has introduced legislation that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in logging operations under parental supervision.
"I think experience plays a huge role, his experience as a business owner," said Sibley, 53.
She said she would support Medicaid expansion provided funding was available. The company's group insurance premium for 32 employees rose 34 percent this year and 29.4 percent last year, she said, and employers cannot absorb those kinds of increases plus a tax increase to support others' insurance.
"It's going to take more than one man and one president to fix health care," she said.
Professors Maisel and Melcher agreed that Trump did not seem to be much of a presence in the race, but Cross was quick to accuse the president of stirring hate by repeatedly attacking people.
"Trump is a bad influence," she said.
Golden, who said he was not running a campaign against Trump, argued that voters were fed up with the country's extreme partisanship. He has been endorsed by nonpartisan PAC With Honor, which backs veterans of both parties with the goal of moving away from the political divide.
"We are trying to push a message that we've got to get beyond this deep partisanship and get back to the kind of environment where we're all thinking about things as Americans and not as some member of a political party," he said.
—Nathalie Sczublewski and Sam Hart contributed to this report.
