The driver of a tractor-trailer has died after a crash on Interstate 95 South in Groton on Tuesday morning.  

According to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, a tractor-trailer went down an embankment on I-95 South between exits 90 and 89.

Fire officials said the tractor-trailer went off of the highway and landed in an embankment on Cow Hill Road in Mystic around 4:45 a.m.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.

Cow Hill Road is closed between Bindloss Road and Oral School Road. It is unclear when it will reopen. 

The Arrigoni Bridge was closed after a crash Tuesday afternoon.

No additional information was immediately available.

The merchandise manager for a band is accused of stealing around $18,000 from a box on a tour bus in Hartford. 

Police said officers responded to 31 Webster St. in Hartford at 1:15 a.m. Monday when band members reported that $18,000 they had in a cardboard box on their tour bus had been stolen. They said they suspected the merchandise dealer took it and told police he was acting suspiciously when questioned. 

The merchandise dealer initially denied having anything to do with the missing money, police said. 

A couple hours later, band members asked for police help and had additional questions. 

The band members had searched their trailer and found the cardboard box with the money wrapped up in the suspect's sweater with other merchandise boxes, according to police. 

The merchandise dealer continued to deny being involved, but eventually admitted to taking the money once he realized the band was firing him and he wouldn’t be allowed back on the tour bus, according to police. 

Police identified the suspect as 32-year-old David Chapman, of Tempe, Arizona. They said he told them he was tired of seeing the band members leaving money all over the bus, wanted to prove a point and was going to return the money later in the day. 

Chapman was charged with larceny in the first degree and interfering with police. 

A 93-year-old woman who was stranded in her Magalia, California, home as a raging wildfire spread through the county was rescued by her longtime sanitation worker on the last stop of his shift.

NBC affiliate KCRA reports Margaret Newsum feared for her life after hearing news on TV Thursday morning about the Camp Fire threatening the town of Paradise, about 180 miles northeast of San Francisco. Magalia is a suburb of Paradise.

Residents in the area were ordered to evacuate on Thursday as the wildfire quickly turned into an inferno, setting off a desperate exodus in which many motorists got stuck in gridlocked traffic and abandoned their vehicles to flee on foot.

With no family in the area and her caregiver gone for the day, Newsum stepped out on her front porch hoping someone would drive by and see her. That’s when her garbageman Dane Ray Cummings arrived.

"I went out and was standing on the front porch when this great, big, green monster drove up, and my dear friend was emptying the garbage," Newsum recalled to the station. "He said, 'You’re not staying here. You've got to get out of here. Why are you still here?'"

The Waste Management driver told KCRA his supervisor had earlier advised him to cut his route short and go home because of the fast-moving fire. But Cummings said he wanted to check on Newsum’s neighborhood in Magalia where “dozens of older residents” live.

"I been on that route eight years, and I just picked the people that I knew were older, and I tried to stop and help them and let them know that they were coming and make sure they were getting out," he said. "She was my last stop. I probably went to 45 or 50 people to see if I could help them."

In the five-hour drive down the hill to safety, Cummings learned his "friend" had lived quite the life. Newsum survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and overcame cancer three times. She was also a one-time backup singer for the Rat Pack.

"Wonderful, wonderful men," Newsum said. "The singers did the picking out. So, the next thing I know, I was in an interviewing room, and here sits Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. All three of them were sitting there, and they said, 'We are so thrilled to have you working for us.'"

According to KCRA, the fire never reached Newsum’s home, but it did help establish a stronger bond between the soon-to-be 94-year-old and Cummings.

"Today" reports Newsum is staying with Cummings' childhood best friend, Brian Harrison, who is a mechanic at North Valley Waste Management — where Cummings also works.

"I have felt so welcome in this house," Newsum told "Today." "Things may not work in the way you want, but you have to have faith, and get good friends. They're such wonderful people."

White House chief of staff John Kelly may soon depart the Trump administration amid an array of conflicts, seven people familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

Among those being considered to replace Kelly is Nick Ayers, chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, three of the people said. Kelly is Trump's second chief of staff, joining the White House after serving as secretary of Homeland Security.

Kelly's tenure has been clouded in controversy and disagreements with Trump and aides. He recently clashed with national security adviser John Bolton over how Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is doing on border security. Nielsen, a close confidante of Kelly's, is expected to leave her job as soon as this week, two sources told The Associated Press.

Kelly has also gotten into disputes with first lady Melania Trump over staffing issues and travel requests. The first lady raised concerns about Kelly denying her staff promotions with her husband during the height of the controversy over his alleged affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels, according to two White House officials.

The White House declined to comment for this story.

The death of a beloved Cheshire High School English teacher last month has been ruled an accident and the cause of her death was a combination of drug intoxication and drowning in a creek, according to the office of the chief medical examiner. 

Police found the body of 48-year-old Megumi Yamamoto, of Cheshire, soon after getting a report at 5:17 p.m. on Oct. 3 that she was missing.

The autopsy was done on Oct. 5 and the office of the chief medical examiner said Tuesday that the cause of her death was acute intoxication with dextrorphan/levorphanol, dextro/levo methorphan, and tramadol with immersion in water.

Yamamoto, the mother of two, was a Cheshire High School English teacher and parents who spoke with NBC Connecticut said she was well-liked by her students.

A seventh person has been arrested in connection with a home invasion in Vernon last year that investigators said started over the sale of a car.

The home invasion happened on Spring Street on the night of Nov. 5, 2017. Police said the person who called 911 said two men were trying to enter a first-floor apartment through a window.

Officers responded and spotted two cars leaving the area. When the officer tried to stop one of the vehicles, the driver took off and crashed into a utility box at the intersection of West Main and West Streets. The occupants ran off, but police were able to capture the driver who told authorities the resident of the Spring Street address sold him and several others a “lemon” of a car on social media, so they’d gone to the home to get their money back.

On Monday, police arrested 23-year-old Abner Orlando Ortiz, reportedly of New Britain.

He has been shot in the shoulder in Hartford Monday night and officers took him into custody when he was released from the hospital. 

Ortiz was the last suspect police were looking for.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit home invasion, conspiracy to commit robbery second degree, conspiracy to commit larceny in the fifth degree, attempt to commit home invasion, attempt to commit robbery second degree and attempt to commit larceny in the fifth degree.

A 23-year-old Trinity College student who was found unresponsive Monday has died, according to police. 

Police said officers, firefighters and an ambulance responded to Crescent Street Monday after receiving reports that a 23-year-old man was unresponsive and first responders found him with a weak pulse. 

Police said they learned the student, Chase Hyde, had become ill Sunday afternoon and was found unresponsive Monday morning. 

Hyde was pronounced dead Monday evening, police said. 

The office of the chief medical examiner performed an autopsy and police said the results of a toxicology screening are pending further studies. 

Police said there was no evidence to indicate an overdose, suicide or anything nefarious. 

Hyde was a member of the Class of 2019. 

Four family members were arrested Wednesday in the execution-style killings of eight people, members of another family, on an Ohio pot farm in April 2016, NBC News reported.

The Pike County Sheriff's Office, which has been investigating the massacre, announced the arrests of George "Billy" Wagner III, Angela Wagner, George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner.

The Rhodens were found dead from gunshot wounds in four separate homes on the farm. They ranged from 16 years old to 44; two infants and a toddler survived.

Authorities have yet to explain what they suspect was the motive for the killings. It wasn't immediately clear if the suspects had attorneys.

In an extraordinary move for a first lady, Melania Trump’s office on Tuesday publicly called for the firing of a senior National Security Council official.

Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director issued a statement  saying the official, Mira Ricardel, should no longer serve as the NSC’s No. 2, NBC News reported.

"It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House," Grisham said.

Interstate 91 North was closed in Cromwell after a rollover crash and one lane is now getting by.

The crash happened between exits 21 and 22 and police said Lifestar medical transport helicopter has been called to land on the highway. 

State police urge drivers to avoid the area.

A week after voters cast their ballots, mostly for Democrats in Connecticut’s elections, Republicans are looking at what went wrong, and who to blame for the losses.

Republicans were hoping to capture at least some control of state government on November 6. Instead, Republicans lost 18 total seats in the General Assembly, 12 in the House, six in the Senate, and were shut out of all statewide offices.

"We allowed the national narrative in those wealthier communities to dominate," said JR Romano, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party. "This is one of these clouded elections where we really have to drill down into each individual campaign, what their strategy, what their message was."

Romano says voters made a mistake in voting for Democrats, saying that the party has abandoned working-class voters. He says suburban voters in lower Fairfield County abandoned the Republican economic message, and instead bought into the Democrats’ message against Donald Trump.

Former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst, who finished fourth in the GOP gubernatorial primary over the summer, said Republicans were caught flat-footed certain parts of the state.

"These Democrats in Greenwich, in Westport, they were energized and I know the Republicans in these towns and they were not as energized and this is where it was critical to the party to pay, and make the investment in a real, solid field program," Herbst said.

Herbst says the blame lies with the entire Republican Party, not just the chairman. He said the GOP State Central Committee was nonexistent for most of the year when it came to logistics and rallying the base. He believes that led to the sweeping losses in different parts of Connecticut.

Democrats, in contrast, had a field organization that worked incredibly well in the lead up to election day. Funded in part by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy’s campaign, thousands of volunteers made phone calls and knocked on doors, identifying and communicating with voters all over the state.

Herbst says the operations run by House and Senate Republicans to reach out to voters were not coordinated, and the party did not provide additional support.

"[Democrats] do a better job of planning coordinating early, working together than we do," said Herbst.

Republican Bob Stefanowski lost to Ned Lamont by about 40,000 votes. He collected the most votes of any Republican who ran statewide last week.

Herbst says the result of a bruising five-way primary did Stefanowski no favors, and Herbst says the party is to blame for not coalescing immediately following the August primary.

"The fact that we waited two months to have any semblance of a public display of unity, I think that placed Bob at a very competitive disadvantage because we were still trying to pull the base together when we should have been going after the unaffiliated voters and the disenfranchised Democrats," Herbst said.

Democrats, in contrast, started working as a ticket in the days immediately following the primary.

Romano says the criticism of the party’s operation is unfounded and represents a misunderstanding of the party’s role.

"The state party doesn’t run the campaign. It doesn’t run the Senate races, it doesn’t run the House races, they don’t run the governor’s race,” Romano said. “Our focus here is to focus on infrastructure, so I can tell you from our perspective, Max, is we did half a million voter contacts."

Supporters of a father facing deportation rallied outside the federal building that houses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Hartford Tuesday.

They are asking for the agency to allow Nelson Pinos to stay in the U.S. and be with his family for the holidays.

Pinos sought sanctuary at a New Haven church to avoid deportation to his native Ecuador over a year ago.

He told NBC Connecticut he came to the US in 1992 for a better life and has lived in Connecticut for nearly 20 years.

Supporters say he’s been paying taxes with a social security number issued to him by the government more than 20 years ago.

Last month Pinos’ attorney submitted an appeal for a stay of deportation – citing the psychological harm this ordeal is causing his children.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) met with the family this past weekend.

Supporters say the situation has been emotional for Pinos’ family.

“The children have been suffering tremendously by being separated from their family their father so we're here to celebrate the children and to let ICE know that it's really important. We're coming up on the holidays and families belong together and we're here to hopefully let them hear our message,” said Charla Nich, a member of CT Shoreline Indivisible.

ICE says Pinos continues to evade immigration enforcement by staying at the church, which is considered a sensitive location and a place the agency will not enter to enforce deportation. The agency says while Pinos has a legal appeal pending in court, there is no change in his status as of this point.

A state trooper was arrested in Norwich, suspected of driving under the influence, and she has been suspended.

Norwich police said they received a call reporting an erratic driver on West Main Street at 5:20 p.m. on Sunday, found the car and arrested 34-year-old Sarah Starkey.

State police said Starkey is a trooper at Troop E, which is based in Montville, and she has been with the department since 2013. She has been suspended until further notice.

Starkey was in her own vehicle when officers stopped her, according to Norwich police. 

She was charged with operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor or drugs, evading responsibility, failure to drive right and unsafe movement from a stopped/standing position.

Starkey was released on a $250 non-surety bond and is due in court on Nov. 20.

No additional information has been released.

The Amity Regional School District is responding to complaints of anti-Semitism and intolerant behavior after high school students and parents expressed outrage at school officials for not doing enough to address these issues during Monday night’s Board of Education meeting in Woodbridge.

"I’m here because I feel there is a rising undertone of hatred, anti-Semitism, anti-gay, racism and bigotry in our community that has not been properly addressed or stamped out," parent Paul Schatz said.

Students that spoke up told NBC Connecticut they could not remain silent, especially after the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history last month at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.

Each student that addressed Board members ended their statement by saying "I do not feel safe here."

"The students do not feel safe," Amity senior Ally Grubman said Tuesday, "and it’s gotten to a point where it’s affected our education. We can’t concentrate, we can’t walk the halls without feeling unsafe, we are afraid to walk with other Jewish teens because we feel that we are being targeted."

Grubman and several of her classmates are part of the Jewish youth group, BBYO.

"I’m not interested in anybody sending us thoughts and prayers," Amity senior Jonathan Schachter said. "I’m interested in our administration and community around us providing action against this anti-Semitism and intolerance in our community."

The students said they have faced anti-Semitism in the form of social media posts, public intimidation in the hallways from students saying "kill the Jews," and swastikas drawn on bathroom stalls.

"Honestly, it’s kind of horrifying the fact that some of my relatives have survived and not survived the Holocaust," Grubman said, "and just seeing the swastikas around the school, we found one today while we were having a meeting with administration in the lecture hall."

NBC Connecticut obtained a copy of the email Amity High School principal Anna Mahon sent out after the meeting.

"Students are asked to sign up to meet with members of the administration and counseling to address the anti-Semitic sentiments along with other intolerant behaviors students have witnessed at the high school," Mahon writes.

The letter said there will be an increased police presence in the school’s parking lot and more faculty supervision in hallways in between classes. The district also plans to work with local clergy, the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven to address anti-Semitic and intolerant behavior.

The local chapter of the ADL confirms a staff member was at the school campus Tuesday afternoon for meetings with students and faculty.

"Today it felt like everyone in the school, except for few bad apples that are in our community, everyone was supporting us," Schachter said.

Interim Superintendent of Schools James A. Connelly sent a letter to the school community saying the Board of Education and school officials were "shocked and saddened by fears and concerns reported by students and community members about anti-Semitic behaviors they have experienced in both school and the community."

"The Amity School District will not tolerate this type of harassment and will investigate and take disciplinary action against students who demonstrate unacceptable behavior," Connelly writes. "We will also cooperate and coordinate with the local police departments in some of these investigations."

Woodbridge Police said Tuesday they are investigating recent acts of vandalism with local, state and federal partners.

Some Jewish families in the community told NBC Connecticut their homes were targeted.

Grubman said she is hopeful Monday’s emotional meeting will be a turning point.

"It might get worse before it gets better, but I definitely feel we are moving in a positive direction," she said.

Poorly timed traffic lights can cause traffic and cost commuters valuable time. But what would it take to fix them?

How often have you felt like a set of traffic lights has you trapped in a cycle of green, then red, then green? Why is timing traffic lights so difficult?

The start, stop, start, stop can add minutes or more to a commute, leaving drivers frustrated and sometimes late to work.

"It’s terrible, I mean they’re not all synched together. So you can come up to this red light, and go to the next red light, and it’ll be red. You know they should all be synched together," said Arthur Berg of East Hartford. He says Main Street in his town has serious traffic light timing issues.

So how much time do these potentially poorly timed traffic lights cost you? NBC Connecticut Investigates drove down Main Street in Middletown. It took us five minutes and 55 seconds to go just seven-tenths of a mile, covering eight stoplights.

Everyone we spoke with had their "favorite" road, when it comes to what drivers consider poorly timed traffic lights.

NBC Connecticut heard complaints about:

• Huntington Avenue in Waterbury
• Bank Street in New London
• Main Street in downtown Hartford

All of these cities tell NBC Connecticut Investigates they have projects that should improve traffic light maintenance or timing projects that are either underway, scheduled, or proposed for these roads.

Retiming can cost thousands of dollars, or even millions, if replacing traffic signal lights are involved. One traffic engineer said replacing a set of signals at just one intersection costs $400,000 on average.

In Middletown, the traffic division at the police department manages traffic light troubles.

"We monitor our timing. We want traffic to flow. It’s a combination between pedestrian flow and traffic flow which makes good timing. You have to have both," Sgt. Dave Godwin said.

Godwin tells us he and his team are working on projects that will widen parts of sidewalks near crosswalks on Main Street. That will shorten the time it takes people to cross, which in turn gives cars and trucks a longer green light.

We heard complaints about poorly timed lights in New Haven too. The city’s traffic division researches trouble areas and says next year it will spend $90,000 to improve signal timing on a good portion of the State Street traffic corridor.

"Every single one of the 945 computer controlled signals are in poor condition right now," explained Jim Redeker, the commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Transportation, which owns and maintains hundreds of traffic signal systems in our state. "That’s troubling. But that's our inventory."

The issue is not so much a lack of awareness about badly timed lights as much as it is the ability to pay for them, according to Redeker. He says his team can’t even keep up with the basics. He shared with NBC Connecticut Investigates a photo of a traffic signal box with a family of rodents in it.

"These systems should have a preventative maintenance program which we have not been able to staff or afford. And this is what happens," said Redeker.

At the same time, some drivers we spoke with say they understand why improving our bridges and roads have had to come before better-coordinated traffic signal systems.

"People complain about traffic and so forth but that’s just modern life basically. Anyplace in Connecticut is a lot better than places in Texas and California," said New Haven resident Patrick Micarles.

CTDOT says help is on the way, thanks to a five-year program that begins next year. The plan includes spending tens of millions on updating traffic light timing, by replacing and modernizing systems that currently have traffic signals, that in some cases, are over 50 years old.

Tensions are simmering over water rates in Bloomfield. On Tuesday people spoke out against an idea to hike rates for most customers, but give a discount to big users. 

“That sounded very unfair and not right,” said Bloomfield resident Karen Sprout.

Sprout was among those who listened patiently to representatives of The Metropolitan District. There is a proposal to raise fees for homeowners, the average would pay $100 more a year.

There is also a proposal to cut the rate for companies which swallow up large amounts. Many are concerned one of the businesses that could benefit might be Niagara Bottling, which is located in town and is reportedly eying an expansion.

“More the principle that a large company that most of Bloomfield did not want in the first place or many people did not want in the first place is now getting these benefits that didn’t seem fair,” Sprout said.

MDC blames the potential boost in rates on increased costs, including for healthcare and paying debts. It argues cutting the rates for super users might attract business and actually raise revenue.

But many residents remained skeptical.

The Bloomfield town council agreed with them and approved a measure to oppose the high-volume discount.

MDC declined to speak with NBC Connecticut on-camera and Niagara has not yet returned a request for comment.

Customers still have a chance to weigh in on the rate proposals. MDC is holding hearings with the next scheduled for Monday in Hartford.

There's a heavy police presence in Enfield after a barricaded person fired shots during a SWAT standoff on Wednesday morning.

According to police, members of Enfield Police, CREST and the North Central Emergency Services were serving a high risk arrest warrant for domestic abuse that happened days ago. 

Officers said they went to the suspect's house on Shaker Road around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, the suspect fired four to five rounds at police outside of the house. No one was hurt.

Police believe the suspect is barricaded inside of the home alone. Officers have been trying to communicate with him over telephone and PA systems, but the suspect has not responded.

Homes in the immediate area have been told to shelter in place.

Shaker Road is closed between Bacon Road and Candlewood Drive. North Maple Street is closed between Armstrong Road and Moody Road.

Survivors of California's deadliest wildfire say belated warning from public officials and a reluctance of residents who had survived previous fires to leave home were among the factors that contributed to the delayed and chaotic evacuations, NBC News reported. 

Much attention has been focused on the search for dozens of people who are still missing, as well as the possibility that power equipment belonging to the electric utility PG&E may have sparked the deadly fire. But some residents wonder why notice was not given sooner prior to the so-called Camp fire, which has killed at least 48 people and destroyed an estimated 7,600 homes — both records for California. 

"They definitely didn't do enough," said Christina Taft, whose 67-year-old mother has been missing since the fire. "She didn't expect it to be that bad. She expected someone would be calling, or something, if it got bad. But they didn't."

The Butte County Sheriff's Office said it delivered notifications about the fire danger via email, phone and text message. But at a Tuesday news conference, Sheriff Kory L. Honea said the fire's unusually swift progress south and west made timely notification difficult. 

The 2020 presidential election may seem far away, but hopeful candidates are already starting to host small events and engage their supporters in states with early primaries. New Hampshire is one of the earliest and most-watched primaries, which means that candidates from both parties begin to travel to it before they even officially declare that they're running. NBC10 Boston and necn are keeping track of which hopefuls have visited the Granite State, and what they do when they are here, so explore the interactive below to see some of our findings and check back as we continue to update it in the months leading up to the 2020 primary.

Are we missing a visit? Email us at web@necn.com