As the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential election approaches, here's a primer with what you should know about what's been announced so far before it's time to settle in for the anticipated fireworks.

When and How to Watch the 2020 Democratic Presidential Debates

The Democratic National Committee has approved up to 12 debates with the first taking placing over two consecutive nights in June. Six debates are scheduled this year and six more set for 2020.

The first debate, sponsored by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo, will take place on June 26 and 27 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, Florida. The field will be split into two with 10 candidates debating each night. The DNC has said the lineups for each debate will be chosen at random. 

Details on the moderators will be announced at a later date. No information has been revealed by the DNC on the question format. 

The debate will also stream online free on this website, NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, the NBC News mobile app and OTT apps, in addition to Telemundo’s digital platforms.

CNN will host the second debate in Detroit on July 30 and 31. 

Details on the venue, moderators and timing will be announced at a later date. 

How Candidates Qualify for the First Two Democratic Presidential Debates

In February, the DNC published specific debate guidelines spelling out which candidates have qualified to participate. 

Democratic candidates may qualify for the first and second debate by meeting one of the two following sets of criteria:

Criteria 1- Polling Method: Participants must register 1% or more support in three polls (which may be national polls, or polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada) publicly released between Jan. 1, 2019, and 14 days prior to the date of the debate. Qualifying polls will be limited to those sponsored by one or more of the following organizations/institutions: Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Des Moines Register, Fox News, Las Vegas Review Journal, Monmouth University, NBC News, New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), Quinnipiac University, Reuters, University of New Hampshire, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Winthrop University. Any candidate’s three qualifying polls must be conducted by different organizations, or if by the same organization, must be in different geographical areas.

Criteria 2 - Grassroots Fundraising Method: Candidates may qualify for the debate by demonstrating that the campaign has received donations from at least (1) 65,000 unique donors; and (2) a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 U.S. states.  

If more than 20 candidates qualify, here is how a tiebreaker would work, according to NBC News. Candidates who meet both the polling and fundraising criteria would get preference. If that still doesn't winnow the field, then preference goes to candidates with the highest polling average.    

Which Candidates are Participating in the First Two 2020 Presidential Debates

Candidates have until June 13 to qualify for the first debate. Although an official listing of the participants hasn't been revealed by the DNC, the expected 20 candidates according to Fivethirtyeight.com include: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Steve Bullock, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Tim Ryan, Bernie Sanders, Eric Swalwell, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang.

But Politico reported on June 4 that Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet had also met the polling criteria and said it did not consider de Blasio as having qualified yet. 

Here is more information about all the candidates. 

How Candidates Will be Selected for Future 2020 Presidential Debates

For the third debate, the DNC is essentially doubling the polling and fundraising thresholds set for the first two debates — and requiring candidates to meet both standards, instead of just one or the other, NBC News reported. 

Candidates will need to register at least 2 percent in four major polls conducted this summer and receive donations from at least 130,000 individual donors, including at least 400 in 20 states.

Who Will Moderate the 2020 Presidential Debates

While specific hosts and moderators have not yet been revealed, the DNC recently announced it would have at least one female and non-white moderator at each Democratic presidential debate.

"The DNC is committed to an inclusive and fair debate process," DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill told Refinery29, which first reported the debates will have at least one female moderator. "That means that all 12 DNC sanctioned debates will feature a diverse group of moderators and panelists including women and people of color, ensuring that the conversations reflect the concerns of all Americans."

HuffPost later reported that the debates will also include at least one person of color as a moderator, who could also be the same person as the female moderator. 

Connecticut State Police have identified the school bus driver and tractor-trailer truck driver who were killed in a fiery 4-vehicle crash on Interstate 84 west in East Hartford on Monday morning.

A tractor-trailer carrying paper products, a Penske tractor-trailer and a school bus were stopped on I-84 west in the center lane next to the connecting ramp from Route 2 west around 5 a.m.

A third tractor-trailer was driving in the center lane, approaching the back of the school bus. Police said the tractor-trailer attempted to brake and avoid the school bus, but was unable to stop in time and crashed into the back of the bus.

Officials said there were no students on the bus at the time of the crash.

Due to the impact, the front of the school bus collided with the back of the Penske tractor-trailer that was in front of it, which then collided with the back of the tractor-trailer that was carrying paper products, authorities added.

The tractor-trailer that hit the bus continued into the left lane, jack-knifed and caught on fire, officials said. The fire then spread to the school bus, and two other tractor-trailers.

According to police, the driver of the school bus, later identified as 67-year-old Verlean A. Douglas, of South Windsor, and the driver of the tractor-trailer that crashed into the bus, later identified as 52-year-old Norman Blair Bliss, of Pennsylvania, were both killed in the crash.

Four other people who were involved in the crash were not injured, officials said.

Connecticut State Police, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad, the State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Department of Motor Vehicles and East Hartford Fire Department all responded to the scene.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation.

New Canaan police continue to search for a New Canaan mother of five who was reported missing on May 24 and they are asking residents and business owners who have surveillance video systems to save video from around the time she disappeared. 

REPORTED MISSING:

Jennifer Dulos, 50, was reported missing around 7 p.m. on May 24. The last time anyone reported seeing her was when she dropped her children off at school that morning. 

Court documents say her friends were concerned when she did not show up for several appointments with doctors in New York City and they were unable to reach her. 

Officers went to Dulos’ home on Welles Lane in New Canaan and could not reach her. 

When the nanny allowed them access to the home, police found human blood stains on the garage floor and what appeared to be blood on a vehicle parked in the garage, according to court documents. 

Court documents also say police found “multiple areas of suspected blood spatter” and “evidence of attempts to clean the crime scene.” 

Based on what they found at the scene, police feared that Jennifer Dulos was the suspected victim of a “serious physical assault.” 

POLICE ASK RESIDENTS TO SAVE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO:

New Canaan police have sent an email to all New Canaan residents requesting that anyone with surveillance video to save the video captured between Wednesday, May 22 and Saturday, May 25. 

The message says, in part: 

“New Canaan Police and the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad are investigating the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos. 

“This investigation has established a timeline of when Jennifer went missing, and as part of this timeline, we seek video surveillance from homes or businesses that have cameras, which capture vehicular activity on roadways. 

“If you have a surveillance video system at your residence or business, and it captures vehicular activity, we request that you save the video from Wednesday, May 22, 2019, to Saturday, May 25, 2019, and to please e-mail Kelly.coughlin@newcanaanct.gov with your contact information and address. Please do not send any video content.” 

DIVORCE FILINGS:

Jennifer and her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, have been going through a divorce. 

In the initial 2017 affidavit, Jennifer Dulos wrote that she was “terrified for (her) family’s safety” and said her “husband has a history of controlling, volatile and delusional behavior.” 

But in a court filing from his attorney, Fotis denied those allegations. And the day before being served with divorce papers in June of 2017, he called 911 with his own concerns.  

“I’m worried about my wife and kids because they left to go to New York and I haven’t been able to get in touch with them,” Fotis said in a 911 call. Jennifer moved from their shared home in Farmington to New Canaan around the same time she filed for divorce.

POLICE CHARGE ESTRANGED HUSBAND AND HIS GIRLFRIEND:

Over the weekend, police arrested Jennifer Dulos’ estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, and his 44-year-old girlfriend, Michelle C. Troconis, and both have been charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree in connection to the missing person case. Both appeared in court on Monday, where bond was set at $500,000. Troconis was released after posting bond.

See more about what police laid out in court documents here,

APPLICATIONS FOR ARREST WARRANTS:

The court documents released Monday also include details on where Fotis Dulos' cell phone and vehicle were believed to be after his estranged wife disappeared.

They say his cellphone left his Farmington home on May 24 and travelled to the area of 80 Mountain Spring Road, where it remained from 1:37 p.m. until 3:38 p.m., then back to his Farmington home at 4:17 p.m.Fotis Dulos' cell phone returned to Mountain Spring Road at 5:21 p.m., then to his home at 5:34 p.m., court documents say. 

This past Sunday, Connecticut State Police were seen searching at a home on Mountain Spring Road in Farmington linked to the Fore Group, which Fotis Dulos owns, but they did not release details about if the search was connected to the missing person case. 

The arrest warrant application for Troconis says that around 7:10 p.m. on Friday, May 24, Fotis Dulos’ phone travelled to the area of Albany Avenue in the North End of Hartford and surveillance video showed him return home around 8:10 p.m. 

Investigators obtained surveillance camera footage from Hartford Police and video of a black Ford Raptor that matched characteristics of Fotis Dulos’ vehicle, court documents state.

That truck stopped at more than 30 locations along a four-mile stretch of Albany Avenue, between Baltimore and Edward streets. 

The videos also show a man matching Fotis Dulos’ description place several garbage bags in various trash receptacles and some of the discarded items appeared to be stained with blood, according to details from the arrest warrant application. 

Tne video clip also showed a woman whose appearance was consistent with Troconis lean out of the passenger seat of the pickup and either put something on the ground or pick it up, according to police. 

Another video showed a man put something into a storm drain grate, the documents state. 

An item police removed from a grate was a FedEx box containing two Connecticut license plates that had been altered and the actual plates were canceled on a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban owned by Dulos, according to police. While searching trash receptacles, police found garbage bags with clothing that appeared to be stained with blood, a kitchen sponge that had blood-like stains and other items, according to court documents. 

The items were sent to the state police lab for testing, which revealed that they found Jennifer Dulos’ blood, court documents state.

Police are looking for information about a shooting in New Haven that killed a 28-year-old man on Thursday.

Officers were called to Osborn Avenue and Blake Street in the Beaver Hills neighborhood around 9:13 a.m. after getting a ShotSpotter notification.

Shortly after, authorities said 911 calls came in reporting a gunshot victim by Osborn Avenue and Glenn Road.

When officers arrived to the scene, they said they found 28-year-old Jordan Agnew, of New Haven, lying on the street near his car. Investigators believe he drove two blocks after the shooting.

The vehicle was hit by gunfire and there was a child in a car seat, who was not hurt, police added.

If you saw Agnew's vehicle and/or have any information about the incident, you're asked to contact police at (203) 946-6304 or 1-866-888-TIPS (8477).

You can also send your information in a text by writing "NHPD plus your message" to 74637 or in an email to ecic@newhavenct.gov. You can remain anonymous.

A 23-year-old man identified as a U.S. citizen died Monday following a shootout with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, San Diego police officials confirmed.

Shots were fired after the northbound driver failed to stop for an inspection at the border crossing located south of San Diego, CPB confirmed.

A CBP spokesperson said a driver in a white pickup truck approached the port at around 7:30 p.m. and refused to stop.

"The suspect began firing a gun out of his vehicle towards the officers, then exited his vehicle and continued firing at the officers," the statement from SDPD Homicide explained. "The officers returned fire, striking the suspect." 

CBP officers and San Diego Fire-Rescue personnel tried to treat the suspect at the scene but he died from his injuries, SDPD homicide investigators said. 

No motive was released for the shooting. 

The man's identification was withheld pending notification of his family. 

NBC 7 obtained video shot by a driver who had just crossed into the U.S.

Dozens of shots can be heard, as well as someone closer to the incident yelling “Get down, everybody get down!”

American Zooch Williams, who was on the Mexican side of the border waiting in line to cross, said he heard and saw a commotion.

"We hear 'pop pop.' Super gnarly. We are like those were fireworks, and my other buddy was like 'Those were gunshots,'" the witness said. "And then we saw all these Border Patrol dudes running and then they were chasing someone."

CBP said northbound vehicle and pedestrian traffic was halted for about 30 minutes after the incident. Southbound traffic was not affected.

CBP did not specify whether border authorities fired the shots, were fired at, or both. SDPD, the agency leading the investigation, told NBC 7 the shooting involved Border Patrol agents.

SDPD and the ATF responded to assist in the investigation.

Anyone with information regarding this incident can call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.

Five people have died within the last day after overdosing on drugs in Hartford.

Police said there have been five fatal overdoses in the city within the last 15 hours.

According to officers, they are seeing fentanyl present in pill form mixed with heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.

Authorities are urging people to get help and said there are many addiction services available.

Red Robin has closed several restaurants, including two in Connecticut. 

On May 30, Red Robin announced that the company was closing 10 “underperforming restaurants” and the last day of business for those 10 locations was May 31, according to a statement from the company. 

Two of the 10 locations are in Connecticut. One was in Danbury and the other was in Milford. 

A statement on the Red Robin website said seven of the 10 restaurants being closed were at malls. 

The Red Robin in Danbury was at Danbury Fair and the Milford location was at Connecticut Post Mall.

The company said Red Robin now has more than 560 locations in North America and just over 540 in the United States.  

There are three Red Robin restaurants in Connecticut. They are in West Hartford, Manchester and Enfield. 

The White House directed two former Trump aides, Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson, to not hand any documents connected to their time in the administration over to the House Judiciary Committee, two sources told NBC News Tuesday.

They are the latest former White House officials instructed not to cooperate with requests from Capitol Hill for interviews and documents.

An attorney for Hicks, the former communications director, said she does plan to turn over requested documents from her time on Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the White House "has no lawful basis for preventing these witnesses from complying with our request."

Connecticut State Police are at a waste facility in Hartford on Tuesday, looking for evidence related to the missing New Canaan mother.

New Canaan Police tell NBC Connecticut that Connecticut State Police are inside the MIRA trash facility in Hartford, searching in connection with the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said that state police contacted MIRA, Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, located on Maxim Road in Hartford on Friday about a garbage truck that made a collection in Hartford the day Jennifer Dulos was reported missing.

The garbage was processed on the Tuesday after Memorial Day, according to the source.

State police arrived at MIRA on Monday with 20 troopers and a number of K9s.

The source said MIRA directed state police to an area in the facility where the shredded garbage would be so they could search it.

State police began searching through the material on Monday and are continuing their search on Tuesday.

Danbury police have arrested a man who is accused of identifying himself as a barber at a local mall and inappropriately touching someone. 

Stamford police arrested 60-year-old Kevin Hassan at his Stamford home on May 29 on a warrant the Danbury Police obtained, according to police. 

Police launched the investigation on Feb. 16 while responding to the Danbury Fair Mall to investigate reports of a sexual assault. 

The person who filed the complaint reported that a man said he was a barber, complimented the complainant on their hair and inappropriately touched them without their consent, according to police. 

Police asked for help from the media and investigators identified Hassan as a suspect, police said. 

During the investigation, another person also came forward to report being the victim of similar behavior, according to police. 

Authorities said Hassan was previously told to not go back to the locations where the alleged incidents had occurred. 

Hassan was turned over to members of the Danbury Police Department and released after posting a $25,000 bond and agreeing to appear in court on June 17, according to police. 

He has been charged with criminal trespassing the first degree, three counts of sexual assault in fourth degree and three counts of breach of peace. 

Eleven days have passed since Jennifer Dulos was reported missing and her mother has filed for custody of her grandchildren as police continue to search for the mother of five. 

Gloria Farber filed a motion in court on Tuesday, the day after Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, appeared in court in connection with the missing person case. He remains in police custody and is being held on $500,000 bond. 

The children have been staying with Farber in New York since their mother disappeared. 

The court documents state that Jennifer Dulos and the children planned to be with Farber on May 24, the last day Jennifer Dulos was in touch with her children and family. The children have been staying with their grandmother in her New York home ever since. 

On Tuesday, Farber filed a motion in court in Stamford Tuesday asking for custody, at least on a temporary basis. 

The documents say she has a “close and substantial” as well as “parent-like relationship” with the children and argue that primary residence with their father would be “detrimental to the minor children.” 

Jennifer and Fotis Dulos have been going through a divorce since Jennifer filed in June 2017. 

In the initial 2017 affidavit, Jennifer Dulos wrote that she was “terrified for (her) family’s safety” and said her “husband has a history of controlling, volatile and delusional behavior.” 

But in a court filing from his attorney, Fotis denied those allegations. And the day before being served with divorce papers in June of 2017, he called 911 with his own concerns. 

“I’m worried about my wife and kids because they left to go to New York and I haven’t been able to get in touch with them,” Fotis said in a 911 call. Jennifer moved from their shared home in Farmington to New Canaan around the same time she filed for divorce. 

The court documents Farber filed state that the children have resided primarily with their mother and the court issued a decision in March that the children’s father was allowed only supervised access to them. 

Farber is asking that the children should remain with her while their father is incarcerated, but said it would be detrimental to the children to leave her custody upon release from police custody.

“(E)ven if the defendant is released, on bond or otherwise, it would be detrimental to the children, particularly in the midst of the investigation into the disappearance of their mother, to be forced to leave

Mrs. Farber’s custody and return to the defendant’s custody, with whom they have not resided for more than two years. …” 

Fotis Dulos, and his 44-year-old girlfriend, Michelle C. Troconis, and both have been charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree in connection to the missing person case. Both appeared in court on Monday, where bond was set at $500,000. Troconis was released after posting bond. 

The charges were filed after police searched Jennifer Dulos' home and found blood in the garage as well as on a vehicle, according to arrest warrant applications. 

Arrest warrants released Monday also say that blood was found on clothing and other items dumped in several locations in Hartford where two people matching the description of her estranged husband and his girlfriend were recorded on video disposing of trash bags. 

The state lab determined that blood found was Jennifer Dulos’ according to court documents.  

One person was killed in a daytime shooting in Boston's Back Bay on Tuesday.

Police responded to Huntington Avenue at West Newton Street around 11 a.m., where one person was reportedly shot. The crime scene is just outside the Colonnade Hotel, not far from the Prudential Center.

Police said a suspect has been arrested.

Boston police could be seen walking the crime scene area, marking it and looking for more evidence. A gun was also seen in the middle of the street, surrounded by police tape.

Parts of Ring Road and Huntington Avenue remain closed due to the ongoing investigation.

Pedestrians and motorists are being urged to avoid the area.

Massachusetts State Police also said both ramps from the Massachusetts Turnpike eastbound exit 22 to Copley and Prudential Center are now closed to assist Boston police while they investigate.

Paul Manafort, the former President Trump campaign manager currently serving a federal prison sentence in Pennsylvania, could be moved to New York City this month to face state fraud charges, officials familiar with the case said Tuesday. Manafort could be held in a jail like Rikers for the duration of the state mortgage fraud case, but no final decision has been reached, the officials said.

The 70-year-old Manafort could be housed in any of several New York City facilities, including a special housing area in Rikers to protect the high-profile, aging former presidential campaign chairman. He could also be housed at Bellevue if he has any medical issues. "The Tombs," a jail next to the Manhattan criminal court building, is yet another option, officials familiar with the case said.

Some reports said Manafort could be placed in "solitary confinement." City officials said that is not correct as solitary is punitive in New York with 23-hour-a-day lock down. A special, more secure housing unit with phone and recreational options would be a possibility for a high-profile inmate like Manafort, one official said.

A spokesman for the Department of Correction said Tuesday that Manafort is not yet in custody in New York. New York court spokesman Lucien Chalfen said the judge has not yet set a court date for Manafort's arraignment on the state charges. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals declined to comment on whether a transfer was being planned for Manafort later this month. The Manhattan district attorney's office also declined comment Tuesday. 

The state fraud charges were unsealed in a 16-count indictment minutes after Manafort was sentenced in March to seven and a half years in prison following convictions in two related federal bank fraud, tax and conspiracy cases. The new case appeared designed at least in part to protect against a possible pardon from Trump, since presidential pardons apply to federal but not state crimes. 

Officials said it is up to the federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Marshals and Manhattan district attorney to work out details of any planned transfer of a federal inmate to state custody. Any decision on Manafort’s detention in New York would be made by the city correction officials after his initial court appearance, officials said, which has yet to be scheduled.

A bed bug was found in the nurse’s office at Ansonia Middle School on Monday, according to the superintendent’s office. 

The superintendent said the bug was found at the end of the day and the school immediately contacted the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, which confirmed it was a bed bug. 

The family of the student who was in the nurse’s office at the end of the day was also contacted, according to the superintendent’s office. 

The health department was called and an exterminator was brought in and found no additional bugs, according to the superintendent’s office.

Former Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Deputy Scot Peterson was arrested Tuesday on negligence and child neglect charges related to last year's shooting at the Parkland school.

Peterson, 56, was arrested in Broward County on seven counts of neglect of a child, three counts of culpable negligence, and one count of perjury, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said.

The arrest comes after a 15-month investigation into the actions of law enforcement after the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at the school that killed 17 students and staffers and left 17 others injured. Peterson was the school resource officer at MSD High School during the shooting.

"The FDLE investigation shows former Deputy Peterson did absolutely nothing to mitigate the MSD shooting that killed 17 children, teachers and staff and injured 17 others," FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in a statement. "There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives."

The investigation showed Peterson refused to investigate the source of gunshots, and retreated during the active shooting while victims were being shot and directed other law enforcement who arrived on scene to remain 500 feet away from the building, FDLE officials said.

"I was pleased the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in conjunction with the State Attorney’s Office conducted a thorough investigation that yielded the arrest of Scot Peterson. All the facts related to Mr. Peterson’s failure to act during the MSD massacre clearly warranted both termination of employment and criminal charges. It’s never too late for accountability and justice," Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement.

Peterson was booked into jail and his bond was set at $102,000, officials with the Broward State Attorney's Office said. Attorney information wasn't available.

The charges carry a maximum prison term of 96 and a half years if convicted.

Emergency crews have recovered a mannequin torso from the Connecticut River in Suffield after a report of a body in the area Tuesday.

Suffield police said that the search began after Enfield police received a report from a local fisherman that he may have spotted a body submerged in the water along the Suffield shoreline.

The Suffield Police Department, Fire Department and Ambulance Association along with a Connecticut State Police Dive Team all responded and determined that what the fisherman thought was a body was actually a mannequin.

Police said the find concludes their investigation. 

A glider crashed into a home in Danbury Tuesday, causing damage to the building.

According to Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the glider crashed into a home on Golden Hill Avenue. The operator went through the roof and came out the other side.

No injuries have been reported.

More information was not immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Connecticut Senate is on the verge of sending Connecticut’s two year budget to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk for his signature.

“This budget does everything we want to do,” said Sen. Martin Looney, (D – New Haven), the president pro tem of the Senate. He points to larger investments in education, steady municipal aid, and funding for new programs like debt-free community college and to start a Paid Family and Medical Leave program.

"In recent years the budgets have been so constrained with cuts that were necessary, we've been in the position of having to decide which of the programs and services that we would like to help we would have to hurt the most. This year we're not in that crisis mode and we're able to be a little bit more responsive to community needs,” Looney said.

The two year spending and taxing plan amounts to about $43 billion. It includes a new one percent sales tax on prepared meals and beverages served in those establishments, a higher fee for trade in vehicles paid to the state by car dealers, a 10 cent fee for plastic bags, and other new enforcements of the sales tax.

Lamont had proposed a wide scale broadening of the sales tax, removing exemptions worth tens of millions of dollars, but Democrats in control of the General Assembly did not like that idea, instead targeting wealthier residents in specific ways.

There will be a higher tax on homes sold worth over $1 million, and there is a new tax on pass-through entities, the same entities that saw tax breaks under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Congress.

The budget also includes about $9 million worth of individual appropriations for local programs ranging from youth sports leagues to churches.

"What they put together as a budget, we see no transparency,” said Rep. Vincent Candelora, (R – North Branford), who voted against the budget when it passed the State House late Monday evening. “We have little leagues receiving state dollars with no oversight and we have money being appropriated to a corporation, again with no oversight. So, in both situations, the Democrats are just pushing money off to third parties."

Rep. Matt Ritter, (D – Hartford), defended the spending, saying lower income and urban areas depend on the state stepping in to provide help.

"It's really different in urban areas, so where one might say, oh that's pork, or that bought a vote. No it didn't. It's an investment in folks,” he said.

Another issue that’s been raised in the past 24 hours is a new board designed to oversee philanthropic efforts that supplement state functions like public education. The board is in response to a $100 million gift provided by hedge fund billionaire and Connecticut resident Ray Dalio. The board would have appointments from the legislature and the governor, but it would not be subject to open records laws.

In order to receive the $100 million the state would also have to match it, which Lamont promised, and the state budget allocates.

"I think that's wonderful that they're so into philanthropy that when they offered the money to the governor,” quipped Rep. Themis Klarides, (R – Derby). “If he was leading, should have said, thank you so much I would love to be able to do our part. We can't right now. Can you please give us the money and we'll use it in the best way possible. But he didn't. He offered money that we didn't have, with no freedom of information, no ethics laws, and no oversight."

Democrats say the board is necessary to monitor such programs, which they argue will receive scrutiny from the lawmakers who serve on the board. Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz (D- Berlin) also said the state can’t open up the books of every program the state provides money for, whether it’s a baseball league or a hedge fund donation.

"The dollar amounts are different but because of the dollar amounts you want to change the rules entirely?” Aresimowicz asked. “They're supporting the youth of the state of Connecticut.”

A Hartford Fire Department lieutenant is recovering after he was stabbed over the weekend.

Hartford’s fire chief says Lt. Roman Carter barely survived the attack after 10 p.m. Sunday night.

Police found Carter on Park Street and had to perform CPR to keep him alive. He was off-duty at the time.

Officers have arrested Carter’s brother, 27-year-old Joshua Carter, in connection with the stabbing.

He told investigators he stabbed his brother once with a folding knife.

Police the attack stemmed from a dispute over a car Joshua Carter borrowed from Lt. Carter’s girlfriend.

Officers did not interview Lt. Carter due to his medical condition. He was initially in Hartford Hospital’s intensive care unit, and is expected to be released from the hospital soon.

Joshua Carter made his first appearance in court the day after the stabbing. His bond was set at $200,000.

Court records indicate he remains in custody.

A West Haven man is dead and a New Haven robbery suspect in custody after a police-invovled shooting at a New York motel Monday.

According to New Haven police, multiple agencies responded to a otel in Ardsley, Westchester County, New York Monday to serve several out of state arrest warrants.

During the response one suspect, identified as 42-year-old Samuel Galberth fo West Haven, was fatally injured. Two New York police officers were also hurt but are expected to be OK.

Another suspect, 55-year-old Darryl Donell Henry of New Haven, was taken into custody. He was wanted on a New Haven robbery warrant and is a suspect in several New Haven bank robberies.

Police also found 26-year-old Jeffon Suggs of New Haven, who was arrested on Connecticut warrants. Suggs was reporting missing on May 17.

The shooting is under investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.