As raising the minimum wage is being debated in Connecticut, some small business owners are worried this could ultimately hurt both employees and the consumers, and employees are worried about what that means for their job growth.

“Business is being treated the exact same way whether it’s Walmart or the neighborhood café,” said Brian Jessurun.

Boosting the minimum wage from the current $10.10 per hour to $15 per hour in just a few years isn’t doable for small business, he said.

Jessurun is a managing partner of Green Valley Hospitality Group. He and his brother own The Vanilla Bean Café in Pomfret along with three other restaurants in northeastern Connecticut.

At The Vanilla Bean Café alone he has around 30 non-tipped employees, except for jar at the cash register.

“There’s not a lot of margin. I can’t reach into my business treasury and pay my employees that extra money. It’s just not there,” Jessurun said.

So with a potential wage increase, Jessurun said he might not be able to hire high school students – who are currently paid a little above the current minimum wage. Jessurun said he also pays for their training.

He might have to scale down the menu as well, since he won’t have the prep staff, and said customer costs would definitely go up.

“We also don’t know the ancillary costs that are going to be passed on by our suppliers as their costs go up. Particularly with the additional taxes and tolls that are being proposed.” Jessurun said.

General Assembly Democrats are looking to raise the minimum wage in stages: $12 in 2020, $13.50 in 2021, and $15 by 2022. Gov. Ned Lamont proposed reaching $15 per hour by 2023.

I’m concerned it will impact my ability to get a raise. I worked very hard and very long to get to where I am,” said Sarah Matteau, an assistant manager at The Vanilla Bean Café and a single mom of two. She’s been working at the café for four years.

“Work so hard to get here and then, you know, one step forward, two steps back,” said head cook Jennifer Coomey.

She’s a single-mom of five and now with her children a little older, Coomey said she can look for a higher paying, salaried position. She doesn’t want to rely on state programs for assistance. But Coomey said she’s afraid what a minimum wage hike means for inflation.

“So where am I going to be? The same place I was when I was 18. Struggling,” Coomey said.

College student Starrie Alemian of Killingly, who is making a little over minimum wage at her job at an unrelated restaurant, told NBC Connecticut it would be nice to take home some extra cash, but she too thinks the cost of everything will go up so she would not really be pocketing more money.

Former FBI Director James Comey, in his first television interview since special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation, said the principal findings of the probe show President Donald Trump's blistering criticism of the FBI were lies and his attempt to destroy the agency had failed.

Comey, in an exclusive interview with NBC News, told "Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt that the release of Attorney General William Barr's summary of Mueller's investigation "establishes, I hope, to all people no matter where they are on the spectrum, that the FBI is not corrupt, not a nest of vipers, of spies, but an honest group of people trying to find out what is true."

The psychiatrist who treated the victim in a high profile patient abuse case took the stand on day three of the criminal trial of one of his caregivers.

Two years ago NBC Connecticut Investigates broke the story about the abuse at the Whiting Forensic Division in Middletown.

The psychiatrist provided insight the prosecution wanted to give the jury. But the defense spent a much longer stretch grilling him, suggesting patient Bill Shehadi was exceptionally difficult and staffers, including the one on trial, had little direction on handling him.

Dr. James Gusfa spent hours giving testimony in the trial of former forensic nurse Mark Cusson.

Cusson is accused, along with nine others, of abusing patient Bill Shehadi, a man in his 50s at the Whiting two years ago.

Gusfa described Shehadi as a difficult patient. He said, "...might become highly explosive, he might become aggressive, and start to threaten others.”

Gusfa added none of that excuses actions including putting a mop on Shehadi's head, as the prosecution said Cusson can be seen doing on video surveillance.

Cusson's attorney Norm Pattis clashed with Gusfa.

Gusfa explained Shehadi had become less difficult to deal with as he advanced in years, "...as he has aged, his aggression has become less intense.”

Pattis countered, compared to what? Since Shehadi had been such a difficult patient in the first place.

Gusfa admitted in spite of staff writing down what Shehadi did every 15 minutes, to his knowledge there was no summary of all Shehadi's violence involving staff , and Shehadi was not on any powerful prescriptions to curb his tendencies.

Gusfa said, "His symptoms, were so chronic, and treatment resistant, he didn't sufficiently respond to those.”

The defense is expected to begin calling witnesses soon.

There are large power outages in downtown Hartford after a transformer explosion, according to police.

Police said they’ve received reports of a transformer explosion on Sheldon Street. Some traffic lights are out and train and bus schedules may be affected.

Eversource is reporting 704 customers without power in the area.

More information was not immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

A Chicago-area woman was arrested after federal agents found 33 people they believed to be Guatemalan immigrants in a basement in an alleged forced-labor scheme, NBC News reported.

Concepcion Malinek was arrested for labor trafficking after FBI agents found 19 adults and 14 children in her home in Cicero, Illinois, on Tuesday, according to a 12-page federal criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois.

A lawyer for Malinek did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

Taxpayers in Tolland had the chance to learn more about the growing crumbling foundations emergency at Birch Grove Primary School at a meeting Wednesday night.

While officials say there are no immediate safety concerns, the failure of the concrete in the school is imminent. Cracks can be seen inside and out, which is why the district says the school will shut down at the end of the year.

“To lose that is devastating.”

For Katie Murray, news that the school her two children currently attend will need to shut down and be torn down is tough to here, but she knows it needs to be done.

“We want to make sure our kids are safe,” she said.

“We know there's a problem. It's clearly getting worse and these are precious children. We're not going to take any chances with that,” Tolland Public Schools Superintendent Walter Willett said.

The district hired an engineering firm to test the concrete and a report delivered to town leaders in January said the school foundation had substantial cracking from the presence of pyrrhotite in the concrete

At Wednesday’s public meeting Tolland neighbors came out to learn more about the situation.

“It's something we got to deal with it's here it's not going to go away by itself and we just got to get the best info and deal with it accordingly,” Tolland resident Rick Duffy said.

At the meeting experts on the state and local level answered questions about construction costs and timing.

The process to construct a school typically takes at least four years but because it’s been deemed an emergency it’s expected to take half that – completed by 2021.

The state has agreed to pay 52 percent of the $46 million cost, with the rest landing on the town.

Officials say they’ll look to lower costs wherever they can.

“Rest assured we will watch our money. Ours collectively,” said Kosta Diamantis, the director of the Office of School Construction Grants.

Birch Grove students will be moved to portables when the school closes at the end of the school year. While it’s not ideal, parents say they understand why.

“It's not going to be the same but this is what we have to do to keep everyone safe so that's what we'll do,” Murray said.

Congressman Joe Courtney is working to get federal funds to help with construction of schools impacted by crumbling foundations. The town will need to approve a $46 million bond, though they will be reimbursed some of that.

There’s a public hearing on it April 9, and the referendum vote for the down is expected to happen May 7.

On Thursday, students will head back to classes at Windham Middle School. It was closed on Wednesday with students on edge after two threats in the past week. 

“My daughter was pretty scared that day when she was texting me to come and get her,” Diana Rodriguez of Windham, said.

Rodriguez’s daughter is a sixth grader at the school, which dealt with a social media threat this weekend and another threat on Tuesday.

“I want to know what’s going on. And I’m glad this is happening,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez was among a few dozen parents hoping for answers during a meeting with police and school leaders on Wednesday.

“I want to ensure you that your son or your daughter are safe in this school,” Dr. Patricia Garcia, Windham Public Schools superintendent, said.

Garcia told people that those involved in the threats won’t be on campus when school resumes.

Amanda Tashea has a son in seventh grade.

“He said it was a little stressful. He felt that not knowing exactly what was going on and hearing different rumors,” Tashea said.

On Wednesday, the district tried to calm nerves, including addressing concerns it hadn’t acted fast enough to fully explain the situation to families.

Police talked about their investigations which ended in two arrests.

On Thursday, students will have the chance to talk with school administrators, police and social workers.

There will also be an officer at the school for the rest of the week, as well as increased patrols at all of the districts’ schools.

Next Monday there are more community meetings scheduled. Parents can learn about long-term safety plans at the schools and the responsible use of social media.

Several people are displaced after a three-alarm fire on Watson Street in Willimantic.

No one is hurt, but 11 people, including four Eastern Connecticut State University students, are displaced.

School officials said the fire was on the upper floor and the four students were in a lower apartment. They did not lose any belongings but cannot return to their apartment because of smoke and water damage. 

The university will arrange for on-campus housing and meal plans. They said the ECSU foundation has offered to fund other necessities.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice will review the case involving "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, President Donald Trump tweeted early Thursday. 

"FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!" Trump tweeted at 6:34 a.m. CST.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on the case, according to NBC News, and a representatives for the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday morning. 

All criminal charges against Smollett were dropped Tuesday, nearly two months after the actor was accused of orchestrating a hate crime attack on himself.

The surprise decision to dismiss all charges, which was celebrated by Smollett and his legal team and blasted by the city's mayor and police department, came during an "emergency court appearance" where prosecutors not only dropped the charges against Smollett but agreed to expunge the actor's record.

Smollett pleaded not guilty to multiple disorderly conduct charges earlier this month. He was initially charged with one felony count of disorderly conduct in filing a false police report in February, with Chicago police alleging that he staged the attack the month before because he was "dissatisfied with his salary." A Cook County grand jury then indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts.

"Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgment," Smollett's attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes said in a statement. 

Smollett maintained his innocence, saying after court that he has been "truthful and consistent on every single level since day one." 

Smollett reported the alleged attack to police on Jan. 29, claiming to have been beaten by two men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs, beat him, put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him, according to the indictment.

Initially investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, Chicago police said new information "shifted" their approach to the case, leading them to allege that Smollett orchestrated the assault by hiring two brothers who worked on "Empire" to execute it. 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Supt. Eddie Johnson hammered the decision to dismiss charges against him, saying they were unaware it was happening.

"At the end of the day it's Mr. Smollett who committed this hoax. Period. If he wanted to clear his name the way to do that was in a court of law so that everyone could see the evidence," Johnson said. "I stand by the facts of what we produced. If they want to dispute those facts the place to do that is in court." 

Emanuel called the decision a "whitewash of justice."

"Where is the accountability in the system? You cannot have because of a person’s position, one set of rules apply to them and another set of rules apply to everybody else," he said. 

In a statement, the Cook County State's Attorney’s office said the decision came “after reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollet’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago."

"We believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case," the statement read.

In an interview Wednesday, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx defended her office's decision to drop charges and denied that she had any involvement after recusing herself from the case in February. 

"I did not want, as this investigation changed, for there to be any question about my impartiality so I removed myself," she said, echoing earlier statements from her office that the decision to drop charges was not uncommon in disorderly conduct cases.

"Over the course of the last two years, we've had 5,700 people go through our pretrial diversion process, people who have non-violent offenses and who have no violence in their background," Foxx said. "And so I think when people see this one particular case it feels like an outlier where in fact, it's consistent with how we treat people charged with similar offenses with the same background."

Documents obtained earlier this month via Freedom of Information Act request showed that Foxx had asked Johnson to turn the investigation over to the FBI. The documents also showed correspondence between Foxx, an unknown person and Tina Tchen, a one-time assistant to former President Barack Obama and Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama.

"It was not unusual for me to talk to a victim in a case," Foxx said. "At the time that I engaged with this family member, Mr. Smollett was a victim."

Tchen said in a statement she knew members of the Smollett family from "prior work together" and that "as a family friend," she contacted Foxx "to put the chief prosecutor in the case in touch with an alleged victim’s family who had concerns about how the investigation was being characterized in public."

Drivers should expect delays on Interstate 95 North in Westport after a tractor-trailer rolled over just before 5 a.m. Thursday.

Officials from the Westport Fire Department said crews responded to a tractor-trailer rollover on I-95 North, between exits 18 and 19, and found the truck on its side, one person trapped in the cab and some fuel additive leaking.

The Westport and Fairfield fire departments extricated the trapped person, who was transported to a hospital.

Drivers should expect delays in the area through the morning commute.

Crews are responding to a water main break in Hartford.

Police said the water main break is in the area of Granby, Sharon and Hebron streets in the Blue Hills neighborhood.

There are some detours in the area and police officers are at the scene.

One person has died in a fire in a building in Danielson on Thursday morning.

Firefighters responded to 58 Main St, (Route 12) around 1:30 a.m., according to fire officials.

The fire went up through the roof and spread to the home behind it as well. The two people who live in the second home were able to get out safely.

State police said one person was found dead inside a building, state police said. It's not clear which home the person was in. 

“There were two people in the second house in the rear and they did come out. The ambulance crew was able to get them out of bed,” Jason Burgess, the deputy chief of the Danielson Fire Department, said.

Officials said most of the damage is to the first building and the roof collapsed. It’s not clear if anyone lives there.

Mutual aid was called in. Route 12 could be closed for several hours, police said.

A single ticket sold in Wisconsin matched all six numbers in the Wednesday night Powerball drawing to win the third-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history, but some tickets in Connecticut are worth quite a bit as well.

Due to strong ticket sales, the jackpot climbed to an estimated $768.4 million at the time of the drawing with a cash option of $477 million.

Five tickets sold in Connecticut have four winning numbers and the Powerball. Four of them are worth $50,000 and one has a Powerplay, so that ticket is worth $150,000.

There are also several tickets worth between $4 and $300.

The winning numbers are: 16-20-37-44-62. The Powerball was 12.

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has drawn mixed reaction from the LGBTQ community after saying on a syndicated radio show that he does not approve of Chick-fil-A’s politics, but “kind of” approves of its chicken, NBC News reported.

“Maybe if nothing else, I can build that bridge,” the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said Tuesday on “The Breakfast Club.”

“It’s so much more empowering to the community at large if candidates would say it’s OK to be angry and not support these organizations,” LGBTQ historian and author Matthew Riemer said. He said Buttigieg missed an opportunity to condemn a company with a legacy of financially backing anti-LGBT organizations.

ThinkProgress recently reported that in 2017, Chick-fil-A gave $1.65 million to an organization called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which requires its employees to refrain from “homosexual acts.” Chick-fil-A first came under fire in 2012 after a charity run by the company's late founder donated to groups opposed to same-sex marriage. 

Some in the LGBTQ community believe that Buttigieg has paved the way for an open and honest dialogue with the fast food company and the LGBTQ community.

Chick-fil-A told NBC News in a statement that it does not have a comment on Buttigieg’s remarks, but said its “restaurants welcome and embrace all people, regardless of … sexual orientation or gender identity.”

A member of a group that urges immigrants to know their rights used some of that training to keep immigration officers from arresting two people who were in the car with him.

Bryan MacCormack, 30, executive director of the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement in upstate New York, was captured on video refusing to open his car door March 5 to what an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer insisted was a "warrant of arrest of alien."

MacCormack had just accompanied two immigrants without legal status to the courthouse to deal with minor traffic citations. They were in their car about 20 seconds when they were pulled over by ICE agents, he told NBC News.

Before the agent got to the car, MacCormack told one of his passengers to start recording video and reminded them of the rights. The passengers had been told they might get pulled over and were prepared for the possibility, he said.

The video begins as MacCormack is telling an ICE officer at his car window that the papers he has handed him are not warrants for arrest.

"Yes they are, sir, warrant of arrest of alien," the unidentified officer says to MacCormack as he points to a line on the papers he is holding. The officer's face can't be seen in the video.

"Yeah, warrant of arrest of ... alien, not signed by a judge. It’s not a judicial warrant. I have no obligation to oblige by that warrant," MacCormack responds.

Police have arrested a suspect in a stabbing at a Halloween party in Farmington.

Three people were stabbed when a fight broke out outside a house on Talcott Notch Road during a Halloween party early on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 1, police said.

One victim was in critical condition, another victim was in serious condition and the third victim was found in a Hartford area hospital with superficial stab wounds.

Information about the party was posted on Snapchat, which led to as many as 300 people showing up at the house, police previously said.

Authorities had obtained an arrest warrant charging 24-year-old Tyshawn Acluche, of New Britain, with assault in the first degree and two counts of assault in the second degree.

He was arrested on Wednesday and held on $150,000.

He is due in Hartford Superior Court today.

A nearly 15-hourslong standoff at a New Hampshire hotel that left at least one man dead has ended, according to police, and NBC10 Boston witnessed emergency crews load at least one person into an ambulance.

The barricade, which started Wednesday evening at the Quality Inn Manchester Airport hotel on John E. Devine Drive, lasted overnight until just after 10 a.m. Thursday. SWAT teams worked to get two suspects to come out of a hotel room, including using chemical agents, as the suspects repeatedly shot at law enforcement agents when another man was fatally shot after allegedly opened fire at a local and federal law enforcement officer.

The man who was killed has been identified as 51-year-old Manchester residents Stephen Marshall, officials said in a press conference early Thursday. Marshall was fatally shot after a Manchester police officer and a Drug Enforcement Administration agent opened fire, according to police.

Marshall, who was holding a firearm, engaged with officials at the rear of the hotel at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. After he was shot, Marshall was taken to nearby Elliot Hospital and was later pronounced dead. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, according to officials.

Authorities did not release the names of the officer and DEA agent involved in the shooting pending the investigation, but did say the officer was placed on administrative leave until further notice.

The names of the other barricaded suspects have not been released.

Crisis negotiators were initially successful in communicating with the barricade suspects several times, but the communication stopped around midnight.

Police first received a call of shots fired in the hotel at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"We heard six to eight gunshots," said Chris Jones. "Within, I don't know, a minute, minute and a half, we saw about 15 Manchester PD (cruisers) come flying in."

All hotel guests and employees vacated the hotel by 10:15 p.m., according to police. By 10:45 p.m., police said suspects had fired multiple rounds toward officers who were positioned outside of a room.

"I came down, there was a SWAT team. I've been up in my room two or three times, and the last time, they said I couldn't go back in my room," James LaCroix, a guest, said.

At approximately 3 a.m., the suspects opened fire for about 20 minutes as SWAT team members deployed a chemical agent into a hotel room, according to police.

The Manchester Police SWAT Team, state police and the Manchester Fire Department have been assisting police with the standoff. 

"We cannot and will not tolerate when we have officers being shot at in an investigation like this," Manchester Police Chief Carlo Capano said.

No injuries to officers have been reported. 

The area is closed to traffic, with closures on John E. Devine Drive, South Willow Street and March Avenue.

Two police officers were wounded and a sword-wielding man was killed Wednesday in a shooting inside the Church of Scientology in Inglewood. 

Police responded to the building in the 300 block of S. Market Street after a report of a man entering the Church of Scientology carrying a sword. The man, who arrived at the building in a white Bentley and wore a hooded sweatshirt, was hospitalized in grave condition after being shot in the head and died a short time later, police said.

His identity was not immediately available. It was not immediately clear why the man was at the location.

One police officer suffered a hand injury, the other suffered an injury to an arm, police initially said. 

Inglewood Chief of Police Mark Fronterotta told NBC4 that it was not clear if the officer wounded in the arm had been shot or sliced by the sword. The police chief said the other officer had been shot in the thumb. 

It was not clear how the officers were struck by gunfire. Police did not say whether the man with a sword also had a gun. 

Both officers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and in good condition. One officer has been with the department for 10 years and the other for four years. 

The Church of Scientology released a statement thanking the Inglewood Police Department for its "rapid response in protecting our parishioners and staff members."

Market Street remained closed Tuesday night for the investigation.

No other injuries were reported.

Police have filed more charges against an 18-year-old Sharon man in connection with a crash in Salisbury on July 20 that killed an 18-year-old North Canaan man.

Police said Christopher Hoyt, 18, of Sharon, was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he lost control around a corner on Housatonic River Road in Salisbury on July 20, went up an embankment and flipped the vehicle over. He refused medical assistance.

Lukas Kosko, 18, of North Canaan, was a passenger in the Jeep, and he was transported to Sharon Hospital, then he was flown to Hartford Hospital because of the severity of his injuries.

Hoyt was arrested at the scene and charged with traveling unreasonably fast and illegal operation under the influence.

On March 19, an arrest warrant was issued, charging Hoyt with manslaughter with a motor vehicle in the second degree and misconduct with a motor vehicle, according to police.

State police learned Hoyt would be in court Wednesday morning and served the warrant.

Bond was set at $5,000.

Route 8 is closed in Winsted, on the Colebrook line, after a head-on crash, according to state police. 

No additional information was immediately available. 

State police said local police are handling the scene.