M.D. Fox Elementary School in Hartford held a back to school barbeque to connect with parents before the first day of school next week. It’s the district’s latest effort to promote the importance of attendance.

Chronic absenteeism is one of Hartford’s greatest challenges.

“If the child is not in school then the child is not going to be educated,” said Iris Ramos, the assistant principal. “You lose instructional time. I cannot stress how important it is the children are in school.”

A student is chronically absent when they miss more than 18 school days a year.

School leaders say district-wide, at the kindergarten level the chronic absenteeism rate is as high as 30 percent.

Ramos says the most important day for attendance is the first day of school. Hartford students go back to class August 27.

“It is important because it sets the tone for the whole school year,” she said. “If you were in school that first day of school then chances are you are going to continue to come," Ramos said.

Eversource has re-evaluated its policy of charging hundreds of dollars in natural gas reactivation fees to Connecticut homeowners replacing their crumbling basements, and will no longer do so.

Eversource had been charging fees between $800 and $2100 for the reactivations.

The utility explains reactivations can be complex, require multiple employees, and excavations, yet recognizes people with crumbling basements have unique circumstances.

Eversource will also reimburse homeowners who already paid the fee.

The Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, or CFSIC, which runs a state program helping people replace their crumbling basements, says Eversource has been charging the fees the past six to seven weeks, to roughly 20 of the homeowners it has been assisting.

CFSIC Superintendent Mike Maglaras says his program had been paying the fee for the homeowners it has been assisting, but the decision by Eversource to discontinue the fee “…is great news because now we can spend more of our limited resources on other costs associated with replacing a crumbling basement.

Congressman Joe Courtney, whose district includes many of the towns with homeowners struggling with concrete basements, released the following statement:

“Kudos to Vice Chairman John Betkoski at the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority [PURA] for working with Eversource to take prompt action to end charging disconnection fees to homeowners who are repairing crumbling foundations…PURA met with Eversource today, and secured an agreement to cease this practice. I spoke with PURA earlier this week after news reports first broke on this situation, and encouraged them to carry out the mission of the agency: to protect consumers from unforeseen disasters and charges. I’m glad to see they turned around and got the job done.”

East Haven police have arrested a man accused of stabbing another man in the neck overnight.

Officers responded to a home on Old Foxon Road around 2:52 a.m. Friday for a reported stabbing. When they got there they found a victim with a 3-inch stab wound to his neck. The victim said he was stabbed by an acquaintance, who was later identified as Jason Taylor.

Investigators said the victim and Taylor were smoking crack cocaine in Taylor’s home before the attack. The victim claimed Taylor came up from behind and slashed his neck with a steak knife for no apparent reason.

While officers were looking for Taylor, he called 911 and said he fled his home on Russo Avenue and was on Eastern Street. When officers found him he told them he ran off because the victim had pulled a knife on him and tried to rob him. Taylor said during the struggle he got the knife and cut the victim “somewhere on the face.”

Police said when they searched Taylor’s apartment they found that it was “evident that a violent assault occurred.”

Taylor was arrested and charged with second-degree assault. He was held on a $100,000 bond.

Former Vice President Joe Biden posed a stark hypothetical to voters in New Hampshire Friday as he discussed today's volatile political climate: What if Barack Obama had been assassinated?

The comment came toward the end of a town hall meeting on the campus of Dartmouth College ostensibly about healthcare issues, NBC News reports. It was not part of Biden's standard stump speech and was rarely, if ever, heard before.

Biden, as part of a meandering discussion that included mental health issues and school shootings, talked about formative moments in his college years: the assassinations of his "political heroes," Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.

"My senior semester, they were both shot and killed," he recalled. "Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, if Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee. What would've happened in America?"

“I didn’t know him, but it’s very sad,” said Paul Stilphen of Suffield.

Stilphen walked toward the flags and flowers that mark the spot along the Connecticut-Massachusetts border where two men lost their lives Thursday. The outpouring of sympathy comes a day after one of Enfield’s longtime letter carriers, 59-year-old Dan Nacin, was killed in a two-vehicle crash on Route 5.

“He was a very fine person. I worked with him for 15 years he was very pleasant,” remembered Stanley Gladysz, who worked with Nacin for 15 years.

He said Nacin was also a steward for the letter carrier’s union.

“He looked out for his fellow employees,” said Gladysz. “His name came up and flashback memories and times at work with him.”

Gladysz visited his old post office Friday, but says some of his former co-workers stayed home to grieve.

“You know, there’s a lot of sadness,” Gladysz pointed out. “I think it hits home, you know. It affects a lot of people.”

“For the family, I can only imagine how devastating how that’s going to be for them as well,” said Enfield resident Margie Burnes.

“I’m gonna miss a real good friend,” said McDonald.

McDonald feared the worst when he heard an Enfield mailman was killed in the crash, Thursday.

“When I see today that a different mailman came, that’s when I got kind of choked up,” he said.

McDonald said Nacin became much more than just a mail carrier when he got him out of a jam a few years back.

“He came along as I was locked out of my house and he helped me get into the house. He went up the ladder and went in for me he always said it was the first house he ever broke into. We had a little joke about that all the time,” said Nacin.

A light-hearted memory of a man he came to count on for more than just his mail.

“He’s a wonderful man and I understand he had a wonderful family. He’s going to rest well in Heaven I believe,” added McDonald.

Nacin, who worked for the United States Postal Service for 40 years, was a jumper and filled in on different routes. The route he was on Thursday was not his normal route, according to a fellow letter carrier. He told us Nacin had just made his last delivery when the tragedy struck.

“Horrible. Absolutely horrible. Terrible, tragic thing,” said Paul Fay, another Enfield resident.

Investigators spent seven hours at the Connecticut-Massachusetts state line Thursday trying to reconstruct the accident. They suspected the driver who hit Nacin, 47-year-old David Cersosimo, of Rocky Hill, was intoxicated.

“Very senseless,” Fay added.

Enfield’s police chief said two of his officers tried twice to pull Cersosimo over, after he hit a vehicle a mile up the road, but they said he refused to stop. That’s when a pursuit gave way. Witnesses describe seeing Cersosimo and police going at a high rate of speed. They said when Cersosimo’s pickup collided with Nacin’s mail truck it dragged it several hundred feet and burst into flames.

“I think it probably could have been prevented if they just had enough people contact on the other end, they would have caught him. Chasing someone like that is not good for anybody,” said Lester McDonald, who lives on Nacin’s route.

The Massachusetts District Attorney’s Office is investigating because the two vehicles came to rest across the state line. The State’s Attorney’s Office in Hartford is also involved in the investigation.

Enfield Police Chief Alaric Fox said officers weigh the risks before launching a police pursuit adding the “preliminary indication is that the behavior of the officers was in compliance with the state law.”

A Meriden mom who was reported missing Sunday was found dead in Waterbury, according to police.

Perrie Mason, 31, was reported missing Sunday.

Her boyfriend, 38-year-old Jason Watson, was arrested in connection with a domestic assault that took place before she went missing and charged with strangulation, assault, unlawful restraint and disorderly conduct. A judge called him a “prime suspect” in her disappearance.

According to the arrest affidavit, Watson called Meriden police on Sunday to report that Mason might be missing, but that she also might be at her friend's house and that she was mad at him. He told officers that he would call them again if she didn't show up at work, police said.

Police said Wednesday that Meriden detectives, along with Connecticut State Police and Waterbury Police, found human remains in Waterbury while investigating the case. On Friday, police said the body found was Mason and the medical examiner made the identification in the morning.

The cause of her death was not immediately available. 

Mason's family said she had a son and a daughter. Police said Friday that the family is working with the Department of Children and families to determine who the children will be living with. 

Police held the news conference a day after they were seen searching in the parking lot of a business on Brookside Road in Waterbury.

Throughout the day, detectives were sifting through trash and pulling out shoes and old electronics. Investigators located a hammer in the dumpster and began swabbing the tool after separating several pieces of evidence.

According to Watson’s lawyer, the 38-year-old is an employee of Bay State Textiles, a clothing recycling company where investigators were searching.

Officials from the judicial branch said Watson's bond has been set at $1million.

Old Saybrook police have arrested a man accused of threatening to stab a hotel cloak in the throat.

Police said it happened at the Super 8 Hotel on Spencer Plains Road. The clerk told police a man showed a knife and threatened to stab him in the throat.

The suspect fled in his car and Old Saybrook police gave chase through Westbrook and into Essex. The suspect then tried to escape on foot and was captured by police. The suspect has not been publicly identified at this time.

No one was hurt and no other suspects were involved, police said.

Police say remains found in Waterbury are that of 31-year-old Perrie Mason, a Meriden woman reported missing Sunday.

The cause of death has not been released. For her family, their focus is on getting custody of her two children.

“They do shed their tears. They know that mom's not coming home but they know nothing further,” said Vao Horlback, Mason’s sister.

As family members grieve over Mason’s death, they’re also fighting to hold on to the two boys she left behind.

“Until the kids come home with me we're not leaving,” Horlback said.

Mason’s 11- and 12-year-old sons are in DCF custody. Their mother’s ex-boyfriend, Jason Watson, has been arrested, accused of domestic violence.

Meriden police say he strangled Mason until she blacked out during a fight last week. Days later, she was reported missing.

He has not been charged in connection with the 31-year-old’s death, but prosecutors previously said he was a suspect in her disappearance.

The investigation into the missing mom led to Bay State Textiles in Waterbury, where Watson worked.

That’s where authorities say they found Mason’s body.

“It's sad. Very sad,” a member of Watson’s family said.

That member of Watson’s extended family, who did not want to reveal her identity, said she was surprised to hear about the domestic violence allegations against him.

“I thought he was a good kid.”

Police said their investigation is far from over, but remain tight-lipped about the case.

Mason’s family said her two children have been through a terrible trauma, ripped away from their mother and their home. Their focus is all about keeping the boys close.

“Our main goal right now is to bring these kids home so they can be with family,” Horlback said. “They need to be surrounded with love and support at this time.”

DCF says while they can’t disclose any information about kids in foster care, they do prefer to place children with relatives.

For 35 years, Plainville firefighters have been going above and beyond to help the community, and it's not just about fighting fires.

Friday evening was day one of the Plainville Fire Company’s Hot Air Balloon Festival.

The event has become an end of summer tradition for so many families, an experience that takes tales of summer vacation to new heights.

“It was kind of scary at first because we were going really high and I wasn’t expecting it,” said Aubrey of Massachusetts after getting off her first tethered lift on a balloon.

Minal Dave of Cromwell also took a ride.

“Oh it was amazing. I’ve never had an experience like this before.”

And even when the sun set, thee sky continued to shine as the flames and then firefighters lit the sky.

“Oh it was awesome. It was fantastic time over here with my son and my wife,” said Dhruv Dave of Cromwell.

The sale of food fried up and flipped by these firefighters and their families feeds right back into the community,

“We give about $8- or $9,000 a year away in scholarships. We also give a lot of donations to town athletic programs, high school programs and the food pantry,” said chairman of the event Jim Lenois.

Which makes attending this event an out of this world experience.

“I feel out of place if I don’t come to do this because it’s just amazing to see the community all come together and see all the firefighters working together here and not just fighting fires all the time,” said Tessa Schneider, a volunteer and daughter of a firefighter.

The first of three hot air balloon launches is Saturday at 6 a.m.

There’s only handicapped parking at Norton Park. For everyone else, there are shuttle from area parking lots.

Head to the Plainville Fire Company website for particulars.

Entrance to the event is free, but if you plan on buying something from a vendor be prepared with cash. The line at the events only ATM was very long Friday night.

To help keep you informed on the most shared and talked about stories, each Saturday and Sunday we'll revisit five stories from the previous week, including the most recent updates.

Grandmother Killed

Police in Enfield are investigating after a 79-year-old woman was found dead inside her home on Tuesday night. Officers went to the home to do a well-being check prompted by a letter that was brought to their attention. The victim, Frances Battagler, was found with blunt trauma, police said. Her grandson, who police considered a person of interest in the case, was involved in a car crash while driving Battagler's car in Wethersfield on Wednesday. He was taken to the hospital for his injuries and police planned to interview him. See more on the incident here.

Hero On the Mend

New Haven Police Captain Anthony Duff was released from the hospital Thursday, just 10 days after being shot three time. Duff was off-duty when he came upon a shooting scene and tried to intervene. The suspect shot Duff and fled the scene. For more on Capt. Duff's release, click here.

Senior Sex Romp

Six senior citizens, including an 85-year-old woman, are facing charges after police say they were involved in lewd and sexual activity at a public conservation area in Fairfield. Police set up surveillance of the area because they say it was being publicized online as a place to meet up and have sex. See more on the senior sex bust here.

Skeeter Trouble

More mosquitoes have tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile virus in Connecticut. The discovery of more EEE in mosquitoes trapped in the Pachaug State Forest has prompted the state to continue its plan to keep two campgrounds there closed. For more on the mosquito results, click here.

On Her Own

After a very successful Clear the Shelter event, all of the cats at the Connecticut Humane Society in Newington were adopted, except for one. Blue is a 1-year-old Tabby cat who has been at the shelter about a month. She is undergoing some medical treatments and will be up for adoption again soon. See more about Blue here.

High pressure building through the northeast is resulting in beautiful weather for the weekend.

Temperatures on Saturday morning fell into the upper 40s and low 50s.

Expect sunny skies as we head into the afternoon with temperatures rising into the middle to upper 70s.

Humidity levels will be very low through the weekend and right into the work week with dew point values in the upper 40s and low 50s.

We are keeping a close eye on the tropics with a disturbance over the Bahamas. The disturbance is expected to become Tropical Storm Dorian. All of our model guidance keeps the system away from the northeast and hundreds of miles off of the east coast.

You can get the latest forecast in your area anytime here.

Newtown police are investigating after anti-Semitic graffiti was found on a synagogue in town on Saturday morning.

An officer performing building checks found anti-Semitic graffiti painted on the front and side walls of the Adath Israel Synagogue on Huntington Road around 7:30 a.m, authorities said.

Officers are working with officials from the synagogue to ensure their safety and address their concerns. There will be enhanced patrols in the area and a police presence during scheduled services, officers added.

Crews from the Public Works Department are removing the graffiti and will repaint the damaged areas of the synagogue before the start of scheduled services, according to police.

"As an agency we are extremely disturbed at this act of defacing a house of worship, in particular the meaning and symbolism painted on the walls of the synagogue espouse hatred which is not indicative of this community," Newtown Police Lieutenant Aaron Bahamonde said in a release. "This serious hate crime will be given the full attention of this agency, while utilizing other law enforcement resources to determine the identity of those responsible."

Authorities said they have been in contact with the Anti-Defamation League and have offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the graffiti.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Newtown Police Department at (203) 270-4255.

Two people have died after a car plowed into a business in New Haven's Fair Haven section late Friday night.

Officers were called to Justin's Deli Market on Grand Avenue at Blatchley Avenue around 11 p.m. after getting a report of a vehicle into a building. 

Police said the vehicle was occupied by the driver as well as a passenger who left the scene.

According to officers, two pedestrians were pinned between the vehicle and the building and have died. Their identities have not been released.

The driver of the vehicle is listed in stable condition and the passenger was later treated for minor injuries, authorities added.

”Just seeing that first thing in the morning. I worry about the person driving. I can’t even imagine what happened,” said Jean Kobylanski, of New Haven.

”It’s shocking, you know what I mean because we were just out here not too long ago and all of the sudden. It looks fake and to think like any of us could have been walking by,” Madyson Gregg, of New Haven added.

The Accident Reconstruction Team has responded to the scene and their investigation is ongoing. 

The city's building department is assessing the damage.

Anyone in the area is asked to avoid the scene at this time.

A NASA astronaut is accused of hacking her estranged spouse's bank account from space.

Astronaut Anne McClain allegedly accessed the bank account of Summer Worden, while aboard the International Space Station this year, according to NBC affiliate KPRC in Houston.

The two women are in a custody battle over a 6-year-old son who was conceived through in vitro fertilization and who was carried by a surrogate, Worden told KPRC. 

The court battle has included allegations that Worden assaulted McClain. The allegations were eventually dropped, and Worden says the two have never had a physical altercation, KPRC reported.

Then, earlier this year McClain allegedly accessed Worden's bank account while the astronaut was in space.

Worden said her bank “did give evidence to my attorneys that she did access my bank accounts,” according to KPRC.

An attorney representing McClain, Rusty Hardin, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Two firefighters were injured after a fire at a multi-family home in Putnam on Friday morning.

Fire officials said firefighters responded to the multi-family home on High Street around 10:15 a.m after getting a report of a working structure fire.

When crews arrived, they said they found heavy fire in the front of the multi-family home on the second floor and through the roof.

The origin of the fire is believed to be a second floor bedroom, however, an exact ignition source is undetermined, according to the fire marshal. The fire is considered accidental.

All seven of the occupants of the home and their pets were able to safely escape, firefighters added.

Authorities said two firefighters were transported to Day Kimball Hospital for a precautionary evaluation and have since been released. Officials did not release details about the extent of the firefighters' injuries.

Firefighters from Attawaugan, East Putnam, Muddy Brook, Putnam and Woodstock were responded to the scene.

The fire is under investigation by the local fire marshal, the police and the state fire marshal.

Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier who died by suicide while in federal jail on sex-trafficking charges, had been taken off suicide watch by a doctoral-level psychologist, the Justice Department said in a letter to Congress.

Epstein, 66, died on Aug. 10 in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, NBC News reports. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.

He had been placed on suicide watch in July after he was found in his cell semiconscious with marks on his neck.

But he "was later removed from suicide watch after being evaluated by a doctoral-level psychologist who determined that a suicide watch was no longer warranted," the Justice Department said in a letter Friday to the House Judiciary Committee's chairman, Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and its ranking member, Doug Collins, R-Ga.

Some researchers are working on a new generation of supersonic airliners, capable of speeds between Mach 1 and Mach 5. Others are dreaming bigger, NBC News reports.

Last year, Boeing unveiled a design for a plane capable of reaching Mach 5, the low end of a realm known as hypersonic speed. And the Stratofly MR3, a 300-passenger airliner under development by a European consortium that includes the German Aerospace Center, the French Aerospace Lab and eight other universities and research organizations, would fly faster still.

Stratofly would likely be reserved for longer journeys. It could zip from New York City to Sydney, Australia, in about three hours, according to the consortium, or make the trip from Los Angeles to Tokyo in about an hour and 45 minutes.

Later this year, the Stratofly consortium plans to begin wind tunnel tests of the engine components. But it will take many years to bring Stratofly to life. The key technologies might not be ready until 2035, Viola says, with another decade needed before flight tests are completed and the plane is ready to carry passengers.

Bristol Police are investigating after a person was hit by a car in Bristol Saturday night. 

According to police, the accident happened on Jerome Avenue in the area of Swanson Drive. 

The condition of the person struck is unknown at this time. 

Police are advising drivers to avoid the area. Delays are expected and the investigation is ongoing. 

This story is developing, check back for updates. 

A driver of a self-driving car was caught sleeping behind the wheel on the 5 freeway near Santa Clarita, California. 

The incident was filmed by Clint Olivier's wife while he was driving. Both were shocked.

"It's really incredible to see a person sleeping behind the wheel of a car going 75 miles per hour on the 5 freeway in LA," said Olivier. "Even when it's happening you can't believe it's happening."

The video has been viewed more than 200,000 times, launching a techno debate. One Twitter user called the dozing driver just as dangerous as a drunk driver. However, another user praised the car's autopilot feature. 

This is not the first documented instance of sleeping while driving, with nappers caught mid-snooze on the 405 and on the way to Anaheim, California.

The driver did eventually wake up and resume driving the Tesla.

Tesla has not commented on the video but said the autopilot feature is intended for use for fully attentive drivers who have their hands on the wheel.

According to California Highway Patrol, drivers can be cited for sleeping while driving.