The Mooreland Hill School in Berlin school is closing before the start of the next school year after being open for nearly 90 years.  

A local group of parents founded the independent school, which has educated students from kindergarten through ninth grade, in 1930, according to a statement on the school’s website. 

The educational institution will close as of Aug. 31 and school leaders cited enrollment and financial challenges as reasons for the closure. 

“It makes me sad but it’s just a very special place for us and our sons,” said Pam Zinn, of Berlin, whose sons, Kyle and Nathan, graduated from the middle school. “I know that it’s had a great impact on who they are, who they are today.”

Seth Brewer, president of the board of trustees, posted a statement on the school’s website.

“Our mission at Mooreland has always been to provide a small school setting designed to empower each student with the knowledge, skills, and character to be lifelong learners and leaders. Under Head of School Reed Rathgeber’s inspirational leadership, we have sustained the high quality, values-led educational experience for which Mooreland has long been recognized despite our ongoing financial challenges,” he wrote. “Proof of our success has been the continued acceptance of our graduates to the finest independent secondary schools in our region. However, the demographics of our area and the costly economics of private secondary education have made it increasingly difficult to achieve the level of enrollment necessary to deliver on our mission in a financially responsible manner.”

All deposits on tuition and enrollment payments made to the school for the 2019-2020 school year will be fully refunded to families, according to the school’s website, and the Head of School will work with families to find other options for their children and assist faculty and staff as they seek new positions.

A bicyclist has died after colliding with a car in New Hartford on Wednesday night.

State police said Steven Quinn, 51, of Colebrook, was on a bike on West Hill Road, going down a steep curve at a high rate of speed when he lost control and struck a vehicle.

LifeStar responded and transported Quinn to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police are investigating.

Hartford police have arrested a suspect in the murder of a 23-year-old man on Farmington Avenue on Saturday, Aug. 3.  

Joseph Thorpe, 26, has been charged with the murder of 23-year-old Roberto Vargas early on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 3. 

Police found Vargas after Shot Spotter detected gunfire in the area of 279 Farmington Ave. just before 3 a.m. 

Vargas had been shot several times and was transported to Saint Francis Hospital, where he later died, police said. He was the victim of the 18th homicide of the year in Hartford.

Thorpe is the only suspect in the murder and has been charged with one count of murder, and one count of criminal possession of a firearm, according to Hartford police. 

They said he was previously convicted in Connecticut. 

Members of the Hartford Police Department Fugitive Task Force, U.S. Marshal’s Violent Fugitive Task Force and Manchester Police took Thorpe into custody Wednesday at an apartment complex in Manchester. 

Bond was set at $1.5 million and Thorpe is due to be arraigned on Thursday.

An autopsy has found the hyoid bone in Jeffrey Epstein's neck was broken, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News Thursday. Two other sources familiar with the investigation say there's still no indication of foul play. 

The hyoid bone is a U-shaped bone in the neck that supports the tongue. An NBC medical expert says a broken hyoid can happen in both strangulation and hanging cases, but occurs more often in strangulations. Studies show it occurs in about a third of strangulations and a quarter of hangings, NBC News Medical Correspondent John Torres said. 

The medical examiner's office has not released its final determination on the wealthy financier's death. The autopsy had been completed nearly a week ago, but the medical examiner hadn't ruled on the jailed financier's cause of death, citing the need for further study.

Law enforcement officials have said the convicted sex offender and accused pedophile was found in cardiac arrest in his cell at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan Saturday morning. He had a bed sheet tied around his neck and died by apparent suicide, an official close to the case said.

The grim discovery came just weeks after an apparent suicide attempt by Epstein at the same facility; that time, he was found in a fetal position, semi-conscious, on the floor of his cell with neck injuries. 

His death has shined a global spotlight on alleged deficiencies within the federal prison, which houses some of the nation's most notorious inmates, including Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort.

In the days since Epstein's death, a picture has emerged of the MCC as a chronically understaffed jail, with guards working overtime and other employees pressed into service as correctional officers.

Multiple federal investigations have been launched; the center's warden has been temporarily reassigned, and the two guards assigned to watch Epstein the night of his death have been placed on administrative leave.

Investigators are looking into whether those two guards may have been sleeping when the accused sex trafficker apparently hanged himself in his cell, two officials told News 4.

The investigators are questioning if the times recorded for checks on the accused pedophile are accurate or if they were falsified, the sources said. Correction officers at the Manhattan prison were supposed to check on Epstein about every 30 minutes. Investigators have learned those checks weren't done for a "number of hours" before Epstein was found with a bed sheet tied around his neck, according to an official. 

Now investigators are reviewing security camera footage to see if it matches up with what was recorded in the guards’ logs, according to sources. If it is not, then federal charges could be filed against the officers. 

"If someone did not check in on someone and the log books indicated they had, they could be charged with making a false statement to the federal government — which is a felony,” said former FBI Supervisor Tim Gallagher.

At the time of Epstein's death, he was being held without bail and faced up to 45 years in prison on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. He had pleaded not guilty.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who ordered the reassignment of MCC's warden and the leave of the two guards, has pledged a thorough investigation.

"We will get to the bottom of what happened and there will be accountability," Barr said earlier this week. 

Federal prosecutors have shifted their focus to possible charges against anyone who assisted or enabled Epstein in his alleged sex crimes. Agents searched his private island home off the coast of St. Thomas in the Caribbean in their quest for evidence, and Barr had a message for any potential accomplices.

"Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit," Barr said at a law enforcement conference in New Orleans. "The victims deserve justice, and they will get it."

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is closing two of the campgrounds at Pachaug State Forest in Voluntown over concerns after Eastern Equine Encephalitis was detected in mosquitoes that the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station trapped. 

DEEP is closing the Mt. Misery campground and the nearby Horse Camp, also known as the Frog Hollow Horse Camp, and said the decision was made in consultation with the CAES and the Department of Public Health. The campgrounds are closed until further notice. 

EEE was detected in seven mosquitoes trapped on Mount Misery, according to the latest mosquito trapping and testing results.  

What You Need to Know About Eastern Equine Encephalitis

Eastern equine encephalitis virus is also spread through bites from infected mosquitoes and the state Department of Health reports EEEV is rare in the United States with an average of seven cases reported each year. No vaccine is vailable.

Approximately one third of people who become sick from EEE will die from the illness, according to the state Department of Health. They urge that early treatment can lower the risk of complications and death.

Prevention

The best prevention is to avoid getting bitten. Find tips here.

The man suspected of shooting six Philadelphia police officers during an hourslong standoff should not have been on the streets and "obviously was a tremendous danger to the public and to law enforcement," the city's district attorney said Thursday.

Maurice Hill, 36, surrendered to police shortly after midnight Thursday after the gunfight inside a rowhome in the Nicetown-Tioga section of North Philadelphia. The residential neighborhood was locked down for more than seven hours.

Hill has not been charged, but he will face "a lot of charges" that could ensure he will "never exit jail," District Attorney Larry Krasner said. "Obvious" charges that will be filed include attempted murder and aggravated assault, Krasner said.

"It is pretty obvious that there should be charges of attempted murder. It is pretty obvious there should be charges of aggravated assault in the first degree. It's pretty obvious that there are some serious firearm charges including the fact that he was a felon before he was handling this weapon," he said.

The standoff began around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and ended shortly after midnight Thursday. Two officers and three civilians were safely evacuated before the arrest, having been trapped for hours in the same home as the shooter. Another officer was also injured in a car crash while responding to the standoff.

Hill is suspected of firing more than 100 rounds during the ordeal, Krasner said. He appeared to be armed with an AR-15-style weapon and a handgun, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said.

Despite the heavy gunfire, everyone involved made it out alive.

"People were saying really ugly things on social media and I was afraid that this was going to turn even more deadly, quite frankly, and end with a real stain on our city," Hill's lawyer, Shaka Johnson, said.

Johnson joined police as they negotiated with Hill long into the night.

"I wanted to see this end peacefully, but quite frankly, enough had been done where I think folks would understand if it didn't end peacefully. So, I wanted to impress that upon him and engage him into coming out of his own volition," Johnson said.

Hill's criminal record dates back almost two decades and includes convictions on illegal gun possession. He was first arrested as an 18-year-old in 2001 for illegally possessing a gun with an altered serial number, court records show. He was found guilty on five counts related to that arrest.

In 2002 he was arrested yet again and eventually pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and criminal conspiracy.

Hill would continue to be arrested over the years, with his crimes escalating in severity. In 2008, he was convicted of resisting arrest, criminal trespass and fleeing from police. Three years later, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and most recently was found guilty of perjury, in 2013.

Krasner confirmed that Hill was convicted of federal weapons crimes in 2010 and was under the supervision of federal authorities up to around 2016. Federal court records indicate he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to four years and seven months in prison, plus three years of supervised release.

However, Hill also avoided convictions on dozens of other charges, including kidnapping, terroristic threats, illegally possessing guns, possession of controlled substances and simple assault. Other charges, like receiving stolen property and more gun and drug charges, were dismissed through the years.

Court records also indicate that Hill repeatedly violated his probation. In fact, he had a probation violation hearing scheduled for next Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney William McSwain directly blamed Krasner and his reform-focused policies for the shooting. In a statement, he said the gunfire erupted because, "There is a new culture of disrespect for law enforcement in this City that is promoted and championed by District Attorney Larry Krasner - and I am fed up with it."

Krasner, who has tussled with Donald Trump-appointed McSwain in the past, defended his administration's approach to crime in the city. The approach consists of "disinterest in prosecuting minor offenses" like marijuana possession in favor of "going after more serious offenses," Krasner said.

He added that he and his office had not had any connection with, or prosecution of, Hill during his time as district attorney. Indeed, Hill's crimes prior to Wednesday's shooting preceded Krasner's time in office.

"As best I can tell, there has been no new criminal matter in the city and county of Philadelphia in 2018-2019 and I believe not even something originating in 2017, which would be the year before we were in office," Krasner said.

He refused to directly blame his predecessors for Hill being out on the street before the shooting. However, he did acknowledge that, "The criminal justice system, imperfect as it is, did not stop this terrible incident."

Johnson described his client as "different" than the man with the long rap sheet and accusation that he shot police officers. In the last three years, Hill had enrolled in school and was taking computer classes, Johnson said.

Hill is also the father of a teenage boy and a 2-day-old infant girl, he added. During negotiations with police, Hill phoned Johnson and asked for him to arrange for his partner to go to the scene.

"He called at 8:30 [p.m.] and [said], 'Unc, it's me,' and I instantly knew what that meant. The tone of his voice - I just knew. I didn't have to say, 'What do you mean?'" Johnson said.

Commissioner Ross was even at the scene during negotiations, a first-time move he called "unorthodox."

"I have to admit, I did not think that this guy was going to come out alive after several conversations with him and hearing a bunch of information throughout the afternoon," Ross said. Hill made "a bunch of unreasonable requests" during negotiations, prolonging the standoff, the commissioner added.

The requests included being able to see his daughter and partner, Johnson said. He added that the patience shown by Ross, his officers, hostage negotiators and district attorney Krasner prevented a further tragedy, though Krasner said all credit should go to police and federal authorities who assisted during the standoff.

"It is in fact a miracle. It is in fact, as far as I'm concerned, proof that there is a God," Johnson said as he described the fact that everyone made it out of the standoff alive.

The start of school for all Tolland public schools will be almost a week later than originally planned to ensure that Birch Grove Primary School is ready for students who will be in modular classrooms after the school foundation was found to be crumbling. 

Plans are to tear down Birch Grove and rebuild it after tests found a mineral linked to crumbling concrete in the foundation. Construction is expected to continue until 2021 and students will be in modular classrooms until work is done.  

A Facebook post from the Tolland Public Schools superintendent says a meeting was held earlier this week about the readiness of the Birch Grove modular classrooms.

[[544987141,C]]

“Herculean efforts have been made on behalf of the staff of the district, the town, and the contractors to keep the project progressing on timeline. Due to our high expectations of our contractors, and our contractors hard work and dedication, this timeline has been largely adhered to and accomplished. Despite these efforts, however, after reviewing the situation thoroughly I made a request of the Board of Education in last night’s meeting to revise the school calendar and start date for students. I believe it is important for the district to have a consistent calendar therefore this request was for the calendar of all schools and not only Birch Grove Primary,” the message from Superintendent Walter Willett says. 

Teachers will start as planned on Aug. 21, but the start date for students will now be Sept. 3. 

“The later start date for students will allow for a short time of staff recovery and personal preparation and will allow for a proper and thorough cleaning of the school after the unpacking/move in process,” Willett wrote. 

The school district is planning a staggered start schedule on Sept. 3 for Birch Grove so parents and guardians can bring their children in for a quick meet-and-greet open house of the school, then the students will remain there for the rest of the school day. 

“I realize that such a change poses real challenges for families and I deeply regret it. I will do everything I can to help assist families in adjusting to this calendar and start date change,” Willett wrote. 

Route 85 in Colchester is closed at Homonick Road after a motor vehicle crash and injuries are reported, according to state police.

Colchester police said the road is expected to be closed for several hours and they are asking drivers to avoid the area. 

The man who killed 9 people and injured 27 others in Dayton, Ohio, was on drugs at the time of his attack, according to authorities.

Dayton police said the gunman had cocaine, Xanax and alcohol, among other substances, in his system at the time of the mass shooting.

Montgomery County Coroner Kent Harshbarger said that authorities also found a bag of cocaine on Connor Betts, 24.

A Norwalk man was arrested after he showed interest in committing a mass shooting in a Facebook post, according to police.

Brandon Wagshol, 22, was arrested after police executed a search warrant and found multiple weapons in his residence, police said.

Police said the weapons found in Wagshol's home were registered to his father and were accesible to him.

Officers seized weapons including multiple handguns, large magazines, rounds of ammunition and tactical gear.

“We are thankful for our partnership with the FBI and fantastic teamwork that quickly brought this investigation from a tip to an arrest” Chief Thomas Kulhawik said. “I applaud the excellent work of our officers and the FBI agents that assisted and remind people, if they see something, say something.”

Wagshol faces charges including four counts of illegal possession of large capacity magazines.

Wagshol is being held on $250,000 bond and will appear in court Aug. 16.

Kate Dow spent here middle school years at Mooreland Hill School. After moving to Texas and graduating from college in the Boston area, she came back to Berlin to raise her own family and moved into the nearby Kensington neighborhood because she planned to send her three children to her alma mater. Her oldest son Henry was supposed to start kindergarten there in just a few weeks.

“I am a huge supporter of private schools and I loved that there were only going to be five kids in my son’s class,” Dow said.

Dow, who volunteers as Mooreland’s admissions officer, says only 30 students were enrolled for the new school year.

“There was a lack of interest in the school. That came as somewhat of a surprise,” Dow said.

In a statement, Mooreland’s Board of Trustees said in part, “the demographics of our area and the costly economics of private secondary education have made it increasingly difficult to achieve the level of enrollment necessary to deliver on our mission in a financially responsible manner.”

“They were also having a hard time receiving monies owed to them by current students and it just proved to be too much at the last moment,” Dow added.

“Just the fact, really, it makes me sad but it’s just a very special place for us and our sons,” said an emotional Pam Zinn.

Zinn’s sons graduated from Mooreland in the mid-2000’s. She was devasted to hear the nearly 90-year-old school has shut its doors for good.

“I know that it’s had a great impact on who they are, who they are today,” she said.

Like dozens of other Mooreland parents, Dow is now scrambling to find a new school for Henry.

“We very much looked forward to him attending Moreland and he’s sad and we are very sad as well,” Dow said.

“I went there every single Friday when I was in school four days a week, and after those four days a week, I went there every single week,” Henry said. “When it shut down I couldn’t go there and we were planning to go there for the whole entire summer.”

The school says it is working with other area institutions to help find the students placement in time for the new school year and has begun reimbursing families their tuition for the next school year.

"We've had some parents reach out via email. Some parents reach out by calling. We've had some people come to campus to see school,” said Laura Jalinskas, Director of Advancement and Enrollment Management at the Independent Day School in Middlefield.

The Independent Day School has 160 students, four times Mooreland's enrollment. The 3-year-old to 8th grade program has a handful of openings, according to Jalinskas, and has offered to expedite admission to impacted students who fit its program.

The school will hold an open house for Mooreland Hill families at 10:00 a.m. Friday.

IS PRIVATE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT SHRINKING?

"It seems that in the current climate small private schools are a dying breed,” Dow said.

A study by the National Association of Independent Schools found that nearly half of the 939 schools in its analysis lost students over the last decade, while just over half grew in enrollment.

"I think that smaller schools could struggle with changing demographics and economics. But by no means do I think this is a trend of any kind,” Jalinskas said. “Number of school age children, number of students who would be applying, number of families who are interested in independent schools, that demographic is changing. I think there are different options for parents these days.”

As Dow looks for a new school for Henry, one of her top concerns is finding one that won't run out of money.

"It is a sad thing and I hope that the next school that we choose doesn't have a financial issue and can thrive and that my children can be happy there,” Dow said.

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife were transported to a hospital following a private plane crash at a Tennessee airport Thursday, NBC News reports. 

The Carter County Sheriff's Office confirmed to NBC affiliate WCYB that the couple were on a plane that crashed at the Elizabethton Municipal Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said that a Cessna Citation rolled off the end of a runway and caught fire after landing at around 3:40 p.m. local time.

Kelley Earnhardt confirmed on Twitter Thursday that her brother, his wife and their daughter were on board the crashed plane.

"Everyone is safe and has been taken to the hospital for further evaluation," Kelley Earnhardt said. "We have no further information at this time. Thank you for your understanding."

No injuries from the two pilots were reported to the FAA and Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier told WCYB that everyone survived the accident.

Hartford Schools Superintendent Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez is knocking on doors in Hartford to remind people the first day of school is on Aug. 27.

She's trying to reach as many families as possible.

"The goal today is to do very specific targeted outreach to some of our families,” Torres-Rodriguez said. “We’re making sure that we're getting the word out about the first day of school, and the fact that we want to see each and everyone of our students in school on the first day and every day after."

Getting kids to class is a big challenge in Hartford. For example, Torres- Rodriguez says at the kindergarten level, the chronic absenteeism rate is as high as 30%.

"We know that at the adult, the familial level, there are needs that have to be met,” Torres-Rodriguez said. “5-year-olds cannot get to school on their own. We know that we need to provide additional wraparound supports for the family."

"Not everyone knows when the first day of school is, so it's good to come together, to work together and send the word out there," said Tashana Mullings, Youth Development Specialist, Our Piece of the Pie.

“I'm finding that a lot of parents don't really know I think that they need to get involved their kids going back to school especially in Hartford you would think that they would be involved,” Tahira Harvey, a parent, said. “I think it's absolutely spectacular what they're doing."

The University of Connecticut is ranked on Princeton Review's list of top party schools in the United States.

UConn is ranked at number 20 of 385.

The rankings are based on student ratings concerning alcohol and drug use at their school, the number of hours each day outside of class time and the popularity of fraternities and sororities at their school, according to the Princeton Review.

The Princeton Review surveys 140,000 students at the 385 schools listed in their book "The Best 385 Colleges."

UConn is the only Connecticut school to make the list.

 Below are the top 10 schools on the list:

1. Syracuse University

2. The University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa

3. University of Delaware

4. West Virginia University

5. Tulane University

6. University of California - Santa Barbara

7. Colgate University

8. Wake Forest University

9. Bucknell University

10. University of Rhode Island

For a full list of the top 20 party schools, click here.

Aug. 15, 2018 is a day New Haven’s emergency response crews will never forget.

“One year ago we had about 116 people overdose in a matter of 36 hours,” New Haven Fire Chief John Alston said.

The synthetic drug K2 resulted in a massive number of overdoses. The New Haven Green was a scary scene, not soon forgotten.

“I remember just constantly seeing ambulances. People surrounding people trying to get them off of the ground, trying to do emergency CPR and make sure people were OK,” Zai Stevenson of New Haven said.

In the 12 months since last year’s overdoses, New Haven has added a task force and introduced “hot spot” technology, allowing first responders to track high levels of overdose activity.

“We’re actually sharing data with other agencies and our dispatch, both police and fire, to track the number of overdoses by location,” Alston said.

Information is sent directly to first responders’ portable devices, allowing them to be proactive and prepared.

“We have all of our devices set for anywhere between five to 10 overdoses in the same location so we’re getting earlier intel that’s making a big difference,” Alston added.

Officials said this technology allows them to track the path with which drugs enter the state.

“We can actually see how those overdoses come up I-95 and as they move up from the south we know it’s going to hit us at some point,” New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said. “We are then able to be prepared to a greater degree than we were for this K2 problem that we had last year.”

Community leaders said the advancements have produced positive results. Still some, including democratic mayoral candidate Justin Elicker, say more can be done.

“Those things are all nice but if you walk across this green every day, you realize that this problem is still severe and significant and still exists,” Elicker said.

Elicker said he like to see a different approach, one which views New Haven drug use as a health issue not a criminal one.

“Historically, we’ve criminalized drug use and that’s the wrong way to approach people that are facing serious challenges with substance use disorder,” Elicker said.

Meanwhile, Mayor Harp said the community is striving for more and is trying to educate anyone who may need help.

Despite the enormous number of victims, not one life was lost due to an overdose on the green that day.

The Republican mayor of El Paso, Texas, said that President Donald Trump mocked him as a fake Republican last week during his visit to the border city following a deadly mass shooting there. 

Dee Margo told PBS' "Frontline" in an interview - excerpts of which were published Wednesday - that Trump called him a RINO, a derisive moniker meaning "Republican in Name Only," when the two met after the president visited hospital staff and shooting survivors.

The shooting, which targeted Latino immigrants, left 22 people dead and dozens injured earlier this month.

One person is dead and multiple others are injured after a 3-vehicle car crash in Guilford Thursday.

The accident occurred at the intersection of Route 80 and Hoop Pole Road, according to police.

The identities of those injured have not been released at this time.

Police are investigating the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (203) 453-8061.

A California woman whose son needs intensive medical care says she felt "like something blew up in my face" when she learned of a Trump administration rule that would make it tougher for legal residents like her to become citizens if they access the very services her son is eligible for — such as Medicaid, NBC News reports. 

“I have a son that has a serious medical condition,” Aicha, a lawful permanent resident living in California who asked to be identified only by her first name to avoid government attention, told NBC News. “Medicaid and food stamps … my son needs that, but it scares me that it might affect my chances of applying for my citizenship next year.”

Immigrants seeking to change their legal immigration status and who are enrolled in publicly funded programs such as food stamps and public health insurance could be deemed a “public charge” under the new rule starting on Oct. 15. Officials use the term to define someone who they consider may be likely to need public assistance in the future.

Aicha, who works three jobs to make ends meet, is one of roughly 45 million immigrants who pay billions of dollars in taxes to federal, state and local governments every year. But if immigration authorities label someone like her a “public charge,” they could deny their request for legal immigration status, putting them at risk of becoming undocumented in certain cases.

Despite the lure of higher paying jobs in a strong economy and some harsh criticism from President Donald Trump, the number of people applying to be FBI special agents is up sharply, surpassing the bureau's annual recruiting goal.

And the latest survey of FBI employees shows job satisfaction up over last year, a sign that morale is rebounding after the firing of James Comey as director.

With more than a month remaining in the current fiscal year, the FBI told NBC News it had received 32,000 applications, nearly three times more than the 11,500 it received all of the previous year. This year's figure was also well beyond the bureau's recruiting goal of 16,000 applicants — to be winnowed down to 900 special agents.

The numbers show that interest in joining the FBI has come roaring back after a decline in applications in the past three years. And among current employees, results from the FBI's annual "climate survey" show upticks in support for the FBI's leadership and mission this year compared to 2018.

Two people have been taken to the hospital after a car went into a creek in East Haven Friday morning. 

Police said the car went into a creek between Cosey Beach Avenue and Cosey Beach Extension at 5:10 a.m. 

The injuries the people who were taken to the hospital sustained are not-life-threatening, according to police.