A New Britain High School custodian has stepped up to help a graduating senior who has quietly impacted so many during his high school career.

“Wait ‘til you see his smile and that says it all,” custodian Mark Castagna said of Jonathan Vazquez.

“People love him because of his smiles right?,” said Vazquez's sister, Stephanie Torres. “Even with his condition, you know, he’s always positive.”

Jonathan has been relying on a wheelchair since he was injured in a car crash when he was a little kid.

His current powered chair just isn’t cutting it.

“He’s had several repairs, but of course, you know how that goes, it’s like repairing a car,” Castagna said.

“It’s like falling apart and sometimes it doesn’t drive, you’ve got to push it manually, and it’s pretty heavy, right?,” said Torres.

When Castagna heard the almost-decade old wheelchair was slowing down, he knew he had to step up to help replace what brought them together.

“When I first met Jonathan, I had him start doing doughnuts in his wheelchair, so now every time he sees me he breaks from his nurse and does a doughnut for me. Wherever he is in the building.”

Castagna has organized a couple of ways to collect cash because the chair isn’t cheap.

“I don’t have $20k in my pocket right now. If I did I would, drop it on you, right?,” said Torres to her brother. “It means everything,” she said getting emotional, referring what this gesture means to her family.

The hope is to have Jonathan in a new chair soon for his future after high school.

Castagna and the school is hosting a pasta supper fundraiser at New Britain High School Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids and students and can be bought at the door.

For other ways to donate, you can check out the high school’s Facebook page.

It’s a yearly event, but it takes a weight off a lot of local families’ backs.

A West Hartford elementary school continues to help community members with their “Backpack Brigade.”

It’s one of the Morley School’s most memorable events.

A mile trek to town hall to make a special delivery.

“So we like raised money to buy backpacks and send many kids to school with them so they have the supplies and stuff,” said fourth-grader Shadiya Blackwood.

Elementary school students, staff, and their families collected about 370 backpacks this year for West Hartford Social Services’ Back to School Program.

“Some of them just went into their piggy banks and brought me cash straight form their piggy banks, some of them had lemonade stands, some of them went to their parents and asked for money,” said fifth-grade teacher Leeann Kluskiewicz.

“Every year it warms my heart to see the genuine joy and excitement these students have to bring backpacks in to help other students in West Hartford,” said Nancy Stockman, the West Hartford Food Pantry coordinator.

The bags will be distributed to students who need them come August.

“They start the school year off with a backpack and school supplies and it really gets them off on the right foot,” said Stockman.

While the program still needs more donations before the school year begins, Wednesday’s delivery makes a big difference.

“I really hope that they learn that everyone might need a hand sometimes. Everyone goes through hard times in their lives,” said Kluskiewicz.

And in return, the “Backpack Brigade” becomes a lesson in life for the students.

“I feel good about myself because I’m helping strangers I don’t know go to school,” said Blackwood.

Officially, Wednesday evening, two of the top priorities Democrats had been working on for months died in the final hours of the legislative session.

Legislative leaders had hoped to make Connecticut the latest state to have legal cannabis sales and regulations, and to allow for sports wagering, at the very least when it comes to sports betting.

On marijuana, advocates are resigned to having to wait at least another year before the issue will be raised again.

“It’s frustrating,” said Rep. Josh Elliott, (D – Hamden), one of the supporters of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. He said a lot of the political momentum from the campaign season appeared to dissipate early in the legislative session.

Now, he says, the focus will be on determining whether lawmakers could stomach a vote to place the issue before voters as a proposed constitutional amendment.

“It turns out we may never have the numbers it takes to get it through the legislature and as we’ve seen in multiple states,” Elliott added. “We’re going to talk about it when we’re out of the session, but most likely, we’ll try to go for this push.”

Just last week, the state of Illinois approved legislation allowing for the regulation and sale of cannabis. The measure also allows for the clearing, expungement, of some criminal records relating to minor possession of cannabis.

On the issue of sports betting, when negotiations with Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration proved to be failing, negotiators from the state’s two tribes and the city of Bridgeport saw a vacuum they could exploit.

The Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes appeared to be close to an agreement with Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim to bring a casino to Connecticut’s largest city.

Ganim lobbied top lawmakers late Tuesday night.

Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz said a deal was imminent, but likely too late in the legislative session to move on it.

“As it’s written I think it’s difficult to cobble the votes together,” said Aresimowicz, (D – Berlin). “Having the tribes and Bridgeport on the same page is very important. They hadn’t gotten there until now. So, if this is the starting point. I think it’s a good starting point.”

But later Wednesday, Governor Ned Lamont essentially ended all speculation surrounding sports betting and casino expansion. His communications director described the deal as not being vetted or reviewed. She also warned that such an agreement would open the state to a risk of litigation.

That statement effectively killed the issue for the 2019 session.

A spokesman for the state’s two tribes said of possible legal issues, “Litigation is part of the cost of doing business, whether you're building a mall, a church or a casino.”

NBC Connecticut Investigates has learned a Hartford police officer who is supposed to assist with sensitivity training in her department, is on the hot seat herself for allegations of workplace hostility.

Officer Jessica Stroud is HPD’s interim lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning officer, or LGBTQ liaison. A memo says last month she called another officer the “R-word”, referring to his mental status, after roll call was dismissed, and now HPD brass is investigating.

Hartford police say on May 7, right after the 2:45 p.m. roll call, LGBTQ liaison Stroud was heard by several officers calling another officer the “R-word”.

The officer did not recall the context of the conversation, and he did not report it because he did not want to bring attention to it because he is a probationary police officer.

Stroud was his field training officer but has been suspended from the program.

She and the probationary officer have now been put on separate shifts.

Stroud has not returned our call for comment.

Interim Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody said the incident is under investigation after consulting with the city's human resources department.

The prior HPD LGBTQ officer had made allegations that someone in the department was harassing her, and HPD brass determined two officers did violate the code of conduct.

Amanda Wirag-Oliveira was making dinner for her two young daughters Tuesday night, when the unthinkable happened.

“A plane just crashed into my roof,” she says in the 911 call obtained by NBC Connecticut.

“I heard like whoosh and then the house shook,” said Amanda. “We have plaster on the walls, it came down it hit me and then I fell and I got up and the door of the attic swung open and I heard a guy say, ‘oh (expletive)!’”

It wasn’t until she ran outside with her girls, that she realized what had happened.

“I got to the other side of the road and looked up and saw an airplane handing out of my house.”

Firefighters couldn’t believe their eyes either when they arrived at the scene minutes later.

“I’ve been on the job for 13 years now, and I haven’t seen anything like this—and the guys that were here yesterday were here a lot longer than me and they had not seen anything like this either,” said James Gagliardo of the Danbury Fire Department.

Securing the scene and recovering the glider was a team effort into Wednesday, as they braced themselves for rain going into the evening.

“PD owns the scene right now, FAA is on scene, NTSB is working with them over the phone,” said Gagliardo. “They’re working with the owner of the aircraft, the property owner, and everybody else to try to do the recovery. The main priority is to make sure that we keep everybody safe.”

Amanda’s priority for now, is her daughters.

“They’re gonna go see their therapist tomorrow because they’re really traumatized,” she said. “The older one is more upset about it happening again, she’s afraid of going back into the house because she’s afraid it’s gonna happen so we’ve been trying to explain to her that it’s once in a lifetime, planes don’t hit houses every day.”

The house has been in Amanda’ family for 55 years. It’s the home her grandparents lived in and where she planned on raising her family for many years to come.

“I can’t even I can’t even explain what I feel, it’s so upsetting.”

She believes the fact she and her kids walked away unscathed after what happened yesterday is no coincidence.

“Thank God we were where we were when the plane hit. I really think that my grandparents and God were definitely watching after us because it could’ve been a lot worse for us and the pilot.”

NBC New York went to the pilot’s home and a woman who answered the door said he would not speak to us. She did say he has stitches in his head and some blurriness of vision.

Connecticut is home to one of the world’s most renowned forensic investigators and he’s weighing in on the case of a missing mother from New Canaan.

Dr. Henry Lee is not connected to the Jennifer Dulos investigation, but from his work on the OJ Simpson case, the Newtown woodchipper case, and others around the world, he understands what investigators face as they try to piece together clues from small bits of evidence.

Dulos has been missing since May 24, when she dropped her children off at school. Her estranged husband Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, have both been arrested in connection with the missing person case and were charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree in connection to the missing person case. Fotis remains in police custody and has been ordered to have no contact with Jennifer’s family or his children.

Troconis was released on bond.

NBC Connecticut’s Mike Hydeck sat down with Lee at his forensic research training center at the University of New Haven to get a sense of how a search like this works.

Lee said there are six major things police need to build their case.

First, he says you need a crime scene.

"This particular case we don't know the exactly where the crime scene yet, the body is still unfound," Lee said.

Next, you need a piece of physical evidence.

“In this case they have some physical evidence, apparently found some bloody clothing and sponge, apparently DNA matched the victim."

Third is witnesses.

“So far in this case, no major witnesses have come forward.”

Fourth is public information.

. State police, FBI, everybody will ask the public to provide information to us,” Lee explained.

The fifth is a big database.

"CCTV camera, license recognition program, facial recognition program,” Lee explained.

Sixth, is intelligence.

"Police and detectives state local federal work diligently trying to develop some intelligence to put this case together.

Even if all six pieces are not in place, police can still get a major break.

"If that piece of sponge or clothing, if they can identify whose clothing? Where does the sponge come from? The garbage bag. we have case before where we linked the garbage bag, because that the garbage bag was made by a certain company and it depends on the manufacturers sometimes they use recycled material."

Lee said even with all that scientific evidence, it can be hard to convince a jury, or a judge.

“So to convince jury, it’s not just one piece of evidence. It’s like a puzzle together, you have to convince the judge to let the evidence in," he said.

Lee said not only has the forensic science gotten dramatically more advanced in recent years, so have the legal techniques to discredit it.

With that in mind, investigators have to be especially diligent as they try to prove their case.

More than 144,000 undocumented immigrants crossed the United States' southern border with Mexico in May, the largest monthly total in 13 years, Border Patrol officials said Wednesday.  

Of those encountered by Border Patrol officers, 132,000 failed to present themselves at legal ports of entry, according to Customs and Border Protection officials. 

Border Patrol officials have struggled to handle an influx of Central American migrants crossing the border, as thousands flee from political and economic instability. 

"We are in a full-blown emergency, and I cannot say this stronger: The system is broken," said acting CBP Commissioner John Sanders.

President Donald Trump has threatened to levy a 5%, and later 25%, tariff on Mexican imports unless the Mexican government increases efforts to stop migrants crossing into the U.S. 

A Shelton mother is accused of leaving her 3-year-old alone in a hot car.

Police arrested 30-year-old Laura Boyle Wednesday.

According to police, officers were called to the Mohegan School around 4 p.m. for a report of a toddler alone in a car. When they arrived they found a 3-year-old girl alone in the backseat of a car with the windows closed. It was 77 degrees outside and hotter in the vehicle, police said.

While officers were on scene, Boyle came out of the school. She told police that she left her daughter in the car for a short time while she brought her 5-year-old son into the school.

Investigators said school surveillance footage showed Boyle arrive and leave her daughter in the car for around 10 minutes before returning to check on her. Boyle then left again for around 20 minutes, until police arrived.

The child was not hurt and was released to her father.

Police said Boyle’s car was not registered or insured and her driver’s license was suspended. Boyle was charged with risk of injury to a child, operation under suspension, operation of an unregistered motor vehicle and no insurance. She was released on a $1,000 bond and is due in court on June 19.

Police executed a search warrant at the Farmington home of Fotis Dulos Wednesday night, the estranged husband of missing New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos, a source with knowledge of the investigation told NBC Connecticut.

The 50-year-old mother of five from New Canaan has been missing since May 24 and her estranged husband and another woman have been arrested in connection to her disappearance.

READ THE COURT DOCUMENTS IN THE CASE.

Police were at the property of Fotis Dulos on Jefferson Crossing in Farmington Wednesday night executing a search warrant, a source told NBC Connecticut. An NBC Connecticut crew on scene reported at least six police vehicles at the residence. Several state police detectives were on scene with K9s.

Fotis Dulos and his 44-year-old girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, have both been arrested in connection with the case and were charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree in connection to the missing person case. Fotis remains in police custody and has been ordered to have no contact with Jennifer’s family or his children.

According to court documents, surveillance cameras picked up video of a pickup similar to one owned by Jennifer’s estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, and shows the truck stopping more than 30 times over a four-mile stretch of Albany Avenue in Hartford and a man pitting garbage bags to trash cans. The documents also say that state police found several bags they say contained clothing and a kitchen sponge that were covered in Jennifer Dulos’ blood. 

State Police have been searching at Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority in Hartford for evidence.

Jennifer’s mother, Gloria Farber, has filed for custody of Jennifer and Fotis’ five children but no change was made in custody during a status conference Wednesday.  

Connecticut lawmakers wrapped up the regular session overnight.

In the final hours of the session, the General Assembly passed a bill requiring people to renew their driver licenses every eight years instead of six.

They also approved a bill that updates police pursuit laws, including prohibiting police from shooting into or at fleeing vehicles.

Legislation on where and how to expand gambling in the state did not pass. 

The hotly debated issue of legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana also failed.

Lawmakers are planning to hold a special session later this summer to take up electronic tolls.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren told the audience at an MSNBC town hall Wednesday that Joe Biden is wrong for supporting a ban on federal funding for abortion services and that, if President Donald Trump were anyone else, he "would be carried out in handcuffs," NBC News reported.

Biden's campaign has told NBC News that the former vice president supports the decades-old Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer-funded programs like Medicaid from paying for abortions, with some exceptions. That makes him an outlier in the crowded Democratic field that Biden leads.

"I've lived in an America where abortions were illegal and understand this: Women still got abortions," Warren said, adding that bans on abortion affect women who don't have means.

She also repeated her support for impeaching Trump, saying she understands "this is politically tough" but that the Mueller report documents crimes that "any other person in the United States" would be jailed for.

Jewel-Osco and at least two other retails are removing all Fairlife products from their shelves after an undercover video was made public this week showing "the inhumane treatment of animals" at Indiana's Fair Oaks Farms. 

"At Jewel-Osco we strive to maintain high animal welfare standards across all areas of our business, and work in partnership with our vendors to ensure those standards are upheld," the grocery chain said in a statement Wednesday. "We apologize for any inconvenience.” 

Family Express also said it would "discontinue all products sold by fairlife, LLC" from its stores. 

"The exposé of animal abuse in the Fair Oaks Farm network is chilling. A factor in our decision was the public response by Fair Oaks, asserting the notion that this was an isolated incident," Family Express said in a statement. "This is hardly the response you would expect from an organization that gets it. The minimizing of the graphic animal cruelty offers little assurance of change in a culture that is likely in need of fundamental retooling." 

Family Express said it plans to cancel all pending orders of fairlife and replace the line with Organic Valley milk products. 

Chicago-based Fairlife, which is owned by Fair Oaks Farms Founder Mike McCloskey, lists Fair Oaks Farms as its flagship. The Indiana farm is currently under fire following the graphic video released by the Animal Recovery Mission showing animals being abused. 

"We do not condone any type of abuse and are taking this information seriously," Fairlife said Wednesday, adding that it immediately suspended milk deliveries from the dairy identified in the video. 

"The dairy identified in the video represents less than 5 percent of fairlife’s total milk supply," the company said in a statement on its website. "Approximately 30 dairies support fairlife; therefore, we are visiting all supplying dairies in person and conducting independent 3rd party audits within the next 30 days to verify all animal husbandry practices at the farms, including all training, management and auditing practices. We will also continue to work with Fair Oaks Farms to ensure specific actions are taken to address this situation and uphold our high standards for animal care."

The Coca-Cola Corporation, which distributes Fairlife products, also said in a statement it has been in contact with Fairlife about the situation and has "full confidence in their management team to urgently address this issue with Fair Oaks Farms, which is a third-party supplier to fairlife." 

"They recognize the seriousness of this situation as their founding principles are grounded in a strong commitment to sustainability, transparency and the highest standards of animal welfare," Coca-Cola said in a statement. "Fair Oaks Farms notified fairlife that they immediately isolated dairy supply from the dairy identified in the video to suspend all sourcing from that location...We fully support and respect the proactive approach that fairlife and Fair Oaks Farms have taken and we continue to stay in contact with them to lend any support they need."  

Calling it the "largest undercover dairy investigation in history," ARM said the Fair Oaks Farms video documents "systemic and illegal abuse."

(Read the full report on the investigation here - WARNING: graphic content)

“In our 10 years of being undercover, we have never seen such consistent, constant abuse to a newborn baby animal,” ARM Founder Richard Couto says in the video. ARM describes itself online as a "non profit investigative organization dedicated to eliminating severe animal cruelty operations."

ARM said an investigator spent three months undercover at the Prairies Edge North Barn after being hired as a calf care employee.

“Employees were observed slapping, kicking, punching, pushing, throwing and slamming calves,” ARM said in a statement. “Calves were stabbed and beaten with steel rebars, hit in the mouth and face with hard plastic milking bottles, kneed in the spine, burned in the face with hot branding irons, subjected to extreme temperatures, provided with improper nutrition, and denied medical attention.”

The footage was released on social media (warning: footage is graphic) Tuesday, where it has since garnered more than 100,000 views on Facebook and over one million views on Vimeo. 

Fair Oaks Farms said it was made aware of the video's release Tuesday morning, though it knew about the investigation months ago. 

"As a veterinarian whose life and work is dedicated to the care, comfort and safety of all animals, this has affected me deeply,” McCloskey said in a statement. “I am disappointed for not being aware of this kind of awful treatment occurring and I take full responsibility for what has happened. I also take full responsibility to correct and ensure that every employee understands, embraces and practices the core values on which our organization stands.”

The employees seen in the video have been fired, the farm said, but the footage has prompted an outcry from many on social media. 

The Newton County Sheriff's office said it has requested the names of the employees terminated for animal cruelty as well as the identity of the witness who "failed to report this activity for some time." 

"We acknowledge the need for humane treatment of animals and the need to hold individuals that have gone beyond an acceptable farm management practice accountable for their actions," the sheriff's office said in a statement. 

It added that it plans to work with the prosecutor's office to file charges for "any criminal activity the indpendent investigation revealed."

Four people are displaced after fire broke out at an apartment on Elm Street in Windsor Locks. 

Firefighters responded just before 4 a.m. Thursday. 

Officials said a mother and son were in one unit when the fire started and two other people were in an adjacent apartment. They all got out safely and are now staying with family. 

“This one here is considerable. It’s at least two rooms, if not more. We had fire that went up into the attic area. As you can see, there’s a hole in the roof,” Fire Chief Gary Ruggiero said. 

The fire marshal responded and the building inspector was called to the scene. 

A hotel in the Dominican Republic where a Delaware woman alleged she was brutally beaten and left for dead in January claims she demanded $2.2 million before going public with her story, NBC News reported.

The Majestic Elegance Punta Cana Hotel said in a statement that "after receiving no positive response," Tammy Lawrence-Daley disclosed her version of the incident "four months after it happened."

When Lawrence-Daley was found in a restricted area of ​​the hotel in January, she had bruises on her face and "had broken the nail on her little finger," according to the hotel.

"She had no scratches or other signs of violence on her body and still had her purse and cell phone with her, after which the local police were informed and soon arrived at the scene," the hotel said, adding an ambulance was called to take her to the hospital.

Last week, Lawrence-Daley shared graphic photos of her bloodied in a hospital bed and detailed an hours-long assault by a man she says was wearing the resort's uniform.

A tree worker is in critical condition after being shocked while trimming trees in Wilton on Wednesday night. 

Police said the victim, a 25-year-old Stamford man, was working with a tree company, trimming trees in a driveway on Ruscoe Road, when the boom on the truck came in contact with the power lines that run down the driveway just after 5:30 p.m. and energized the truck. 

The victim, who was working on the ground, went to open the door of the truck and was shocked, according to police. 

He was unresponsive and transported to Norwalk Hospital, where police said he remains in critical condition after sustaining life threatening injuries. 

Wilton police and OSHA are investigating.

Three people were taken to the hospital after a driver fleeing from police caused a three-vehicle crash on the Arrigoni Bridge on Wednesday night, according to Middletown police.

Police said a Middletown police officer was trying to stop a white Mercedes Benz for a traffic violation at Main Street at Hartford Avenue just after 8 p.m. and the driver fled as the officer approached the window of the car. 

The fleeing driver ran a red light, just missing cross traffic heading toward the Arrigoni Bridge, police said.

The officer got back in his car and followed.

When he was approaching the Arrigoni Bridge, he saw a three-vehicle crash involving the white Mercedes Benz, according to police.

Police said the preliminary investigation revealed that the 2009 Mercedes Benz entered the approach to the Arrigoni Bridge, went into the center median, hit the guardrail, then struck a 2017 Nissan Murano that was traveling west on the bridge, then a 2006 Ford Taurus that was also traveling west on the bridge. All three vehicles had severe damage.

The driver of the Mercedes Benz was treated at the scene and transported to Hartford Hospital. Police have not released the driver’s name.

The drivers of the Nissan Murano and the Ford Taurus were also treated at scene and transported to area hospitals for further treatment.

Police are investigating the crash and they are asking witnesses to call Officer Passacantdo at 860-638-4063.

Three stars on their uniform, one for each conquest, distinguish the U.S. women's national soccer team as three-time FIFA World Cup champions. 

Of the 24 participants in the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France, which begins Friday, the U.S. is the only team that boasts so many feats. But this year they'll have to face two strong lineups in group play: Sweden and Chile.

But first some background on Team USA. The U.S. triumphed in the inaugural edition of the Women's World Cup in 1991 and won the last tournament in 2015. From their three championships, their second one, in 1999, stands as the most memorable. That could be because of the impressive picture that 90,185 fans drew in the stands of the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.

Neither Michelle Akers' two goals in the 1991 final (2-1 victory against Norway), nor Carli Lloyd's three goals in the 2015 final (5-2 victory against Japan) marked the history of American soccer like that vibrant atmosphere in Pasadena did between June 19 and July 10, 1999.

Twenty years later, the legacy of Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Joy Fawcett and the women's U.S. soccer team lives on. Nike has decided to reuse the design of the uniform the 1999 team used back then.

The 23 players of the U.S. women's soccer team, summoned by coach Jill Ellis, are once again the favorites to win the cup.

As part of Group F, the U.S. will face Thailand as well as Chile, which makes its World Cup debut. These couple of matches are supposed to be easy tasks for the U.S. However, the South American team has the potential of giving this group a surprise.

During the first round, though, Sweden represents the U.S.' biggest threat. 

A Sweden-U.S. rivalry, which will be rekindled in Le Havre on June 20, is the most repeated clash in the history of the World Cup. The teams will have faced off in five of eight World Cups with this year's match. 

Both teams also faced-off in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, in 2016. That time, the triumph of the Nordic team, 3 to 4 in penalties, left the U.S. without an Olympic medal for the first time after four golds (1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012) and one silver medal (2000). 

The U.S. record in the World Cup is equally admirable. The U.S. has been in the semifinals of all seven previous tournaments, in which it won three golds, one silver and three bronze medals.

As for the other teams in Group F, Thailand did not go through the group stage in 2015. It was their their first time in this elite tournament, which now welcomes Chile.

Sweden could be formidible in this tournament. They reached the semifinals in 1991 and in 2011 and lost to Germany in the 2003 final. But Sweden's soccer program is now going through a delicate moment. Its league is no longer among the top ones in Europe. The good old days of the Malmö, the Linkopings, the Rosengard and the Tyresö groups are long gone.

Follow all the action of the 2019 Women's FIFA World Cup starting June 7 on Telemundo.

FIFA Group F and Rankings

Chile (39), United States (1), Sweden (9) and Thailand (34)

Group F Calendar:

June 11:

Chile vs Sweden (Rennes)

United States vs Thailand (Reims)

June 16:

Sweden vs Thailand (Nice)

United States vs Chile (Paris)

June 20:

Sweden vs United States (Le Havre)

Thailand vs Chile (Rennes)

A version of this story translated by Cristian Arroyo-Santiago first appeared on Telemundo local station sites.

One cadet died and nearly two dozen others were hurt when a tactical vehicle carrying them and several active duty soldiers overturned in a training area near the U.S. Military Academy in West Point early Thursday, authorities say.

A total of 20 cadets and two soldiers who had been driving them were hurt in the 6:45 a.m. accident in a training area off Route 293, spokesmen from West Point and Fort Stewart Georgia said. The active soldiers were based at Fort Benning.

The injured were taken to local hospitals, but no additional details on their conditions were immediately available. It's not clear what caused the tactical vehicle flip, and military officials say their investigation is ongoing. 

The identities of the victims have not been released.

West Point public affairs described a "chaotic" situation in the immediate aftermath of the accident at Camp Natural Bridge, a cadet summer training site. 

"There has been an accident in the vicinity of the Camp Natural Bridge training site. Emergency vehicles are responding. Please avoid Route 293. More information will follow," the U.S. Military Academy tweeted. 

Chopper 4 appeared to center on the accident site in thick brush. The military vehicle was barely visible through the heavy tree cover, but it was clearly turned upside down, its undercarriage and wheels facing the sky. 

News crews were being kept at a distance as ambulances, sirens flashing, sped past. More than a half-dozen law enforcement and emergency vehicles were lined on either side of the highway. 

State Police said troopers were assisting West Point personnel and that it was sending a collision reconstruction crew to the scene. 

The accident falls on the 75th anniversary of D-Day. New York state is honoring about a hundred World War II veterans during a ceremony on Long Island.

Gov. Cuomo called the timing of the deadly accident especially heart-wrenching. 

"My heart breaks for all those involved in the tragic training accident at West Point this morning. These courageous cadets and soldiers represent the best of New York State and our country, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for their bravery in choosing to serve our country and protect our freedoms. "On behalf of all New Yorkers, we pray for a speedy recovery for those involved and we share in the sorrow experienced by their loved ones during this extremely difficult time."

State police remained at the Farmington home of Fotis Dulos, the estranged husband of a missing New Canaan mother of five, on Thursday morning the day after a source close to the investigation said they executed a search warrant for the property.

New Canaan police said Thursday they have received more than 225 tips regarding the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos and nearly 70 people have responded to their request for surveillance video.

Investigators will also be back out at Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, a trash facility in Hartford, as they search for evidence in the disappearance of Dulos, according to state police.

The New Canaan woman was reported missing on Friday, May 24 and her estranged husband Fotis Dulos and his 44-year-old girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, have both been arrested in connection with the case.

They were charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree in connection to the missing person case. Fotis remains in police custody and has been ordered to have no contact with Jennifer’s family or his children.

New Canaan police said search warrants have been served on properties owned by Fotis Dulos.

READ THE COURT DOCUMENTS IN THE CASE

Police were at the property of Fotis Dulos on Jefferson Crossing in Farmington Wednesday night executing a search warrant, a source told NBC Connecticut. An NBC Connecticut crew at the scene reported at least six police vehicles at the Farmington residence and several state police detectives were at the scene with K9s.

According to court documents, surveillance cameras picked up video of a pickup similar to one owned by Fotis Dulos, that shows the truck stopping more than 30 times over a four-mile stretch of Albany Avenue in Hartford and a man putting garbage in trash cans. The documents also say that state police found several bags they say contained clothing and a kitchen sponge that were covered in Jennifer Dulos’ blood.

State Police have been searching at Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority in Hartford for evidence. In a news release issued Wednesday night, they said that they will “continue to diligently comb through mountains of trash at the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority in Hartford for evidence in search of evidence pertaining to the investigation.”

As the search for Jennifer continues, her mother, Gloria Farber, has filed for custody of Jennifer and Fotis’ five children but no change was made in custody during a status conference Wednesday.

A hearing will be scheduled on custody.

A Texas teenager’s high school graduation speech has gone viral after she says the school cut off her mic.

Rooha Haghar, the valedictorian at Emmett J. Conrad High School in Dallas, says the school silenced her because of her message.

The teen is heavily involved in fighting against social injustice, and as she began writing her speech, she said the names of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown continued to resurface on paper.

All of these young men's deaths sparked protests across the country.

"It made me feel sick, honestly, because I was close to their age and knowing this is a reality that black families have to deal with," she said.

Before the graduation, Haghar said her school principal deleted the names from her speech because he didn't want it to become political. 

"We forget names and move on within a few weeks," said Haghar.

But she felt the names should remain and that's when *it* happened.

Haghar said her microphone was muted during her speech and she was instantly silenced. 

"I never expected to be silenced. The consequences I was expecting to face was them holding my diploma or having a conversation with my principal," said Haghar. "I never expected them to not allow me to finish, because at the end of the day, schools want to raise socially conscious students, students who are able to think for themselves. That's what I was doing."

Despite a brief moment of embarrassment during one of the most important speeches of her life, she said she isn’t mad at her principal or the school.

"I don't have any regrets," Haghar said. "And if it took me not being able to finish my speech, then so be it."

Rooha Haghar never dreamed that she would speak before her graduating class as valedictorian.

She and her family immigrated from Iran when she was just 12-years-old, after facing religious persecution.

"I couldn't play my violin for celebrations," Haghar said. "My brother was told to not touch students in Iran because Baha'i's are gross or nasty.

Her rough past motivated her to work hard, and strive for excellence at Conrad High School.

"So it felt really surreal just because to think that around 3 years ago and now, I’m here, like, making A's, writing essays and now being the valedictorian of my class," Haghar said.

She wanted her graduation speech to be meaningful and powerful.

Haghar plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin and continue her work as an advocate for social justice.

NBC 5 reached out to Dallas ISD about the speech.

In a statement, they said, "In Dallas ISD, we educate leaders of tomorrow and encourage student voices, and we are looking into this matter."