Monroe Police and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating after mail was stolen from a mailbox at the town's post office.
Police said someone stole mail from the drive-through mailbox at the post office at 27 Monroe Turnpike. Anyone who dropped mail with sensitive information in the box between Monday at 4 p.m. and Tuesday at 9 a.m. is warned to watch for any kind of fraudulent activity.
Any suspicious activity should be reported to police.
Investigations are underway after a video posted online captured hate speech at the University of Connecticut.
Now students are demanding more be done to make sure everyone feels safe.
A video posted online capturing a racial slur repeated several times as three young men walk by an apartment building on the UConn Storrs campus.
“I wasn’t surprised because I know stuff like that happens everywhere and not just here. But it was more that they were comfortable to say it out loud,” said Shavoni Douglas, a UConn freshman.
The student who shot the video told NBC Connecticut it happened just after midnight on Friday.
He had heard shouting and started recording the people walking in the parking lot of the Charter Oak Apartments.
“They need to know better to not say it at all. They also need to be cognizant of what the word’s history was, the way that is was used against black people in the past,” said Hannah Ravenell, a UConn freshman.
On Wednesday, the university organized a community meeting at the apartment complex to talk about the issue.
In a statement, a school spokesperson wrote in part:
“UConn is taking this matter very seriously, and believes strongly that everyone on our campuses deserves to feel safe, valued, and respected at all times.”
UConn says this is being reviewed as part of the school’s Bias Incident Protocol, which brings together various departments to address an issue.
Some students say similar hateful acts have taken place on campus in the past.
They hope whoever is responsible for saying that offensive word is held accountable, and they’re also calling on the school to take action to prevent this from happening again.
“Just more awareness and hopefully it opens people’s eyes and the need for action to take place at this university,” said Mekhi Amos, a UConn junior.
UConn police are looking into this and an administrative investigation is also underway.
Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in New London has been under the microscope of local police for many months. Now, the Office of the Child Advocate is doing its own investigation into the policies and procedures that may have failed students they should have been protecting.
Last spring, three Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School employees were arrested. Two were charged with sexual assault, including 35-year-old Corriche Gaskin, accused of raping a seventh grader. The allegations were so alarming that New London’s mayor requested a review from the state’s Child Advocate.
“It was a real sense of urgency both for students and his community to restore transparency and trust,” said State of Connecticut Child Advocate Sarah Eagan.
Eagan said her investigation is still ongoing.
“We’ve looked at educational records, child welfare records, personnel records, and law enforcement information, “ she said.
This week, she sent the mayor, the school district, and the state Department of Education a seven-page status update, including a list of policy recommendations. Among them, limitations on closed-door after hour activities and electronic communication between students and staff. She’s suggested that the district closely monitor after school district-sponsored activities as well.
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“It’s a starting point. We’ve got to get together, roll up our sleeves, and do the work of implementing them,” said Eagan.
Gaskin, an aide tasked with improving relations between students and teachers, was arrested twice last spring and faces five counts of risk of injury to a child and one count of sexual abuse. He pleaded not guilty. So has former paraprofessional, 25-year-old Jevon Elmore, who’s also charged with sexual assault. Thirty-five-year-old middle school teacher Melissa Rodriguez has also entered a not guilty plea for her alleged failures as a mandated reporter.
“We have to do more than what we’re doing,” said Eagan.
The district’s superintendent, Cynthia Richie, declined to speak on camera, but said in a statement, “For the past several months, we have worked to review each and every employee file, our procedures and our policies, and we will continue to do so. There is no area that is not being deeply reviewed.”
Eagan said child sexual abuse is most likely to occur in schools that fail to acknowledge that it can occur, and said that’s all too common.
“Child sexual abuse is not a New London problem. It’s an everywhere problem,” she stated, noting that nationwide child sexual abuse in schools is more prevalent than most people realize and is often underreported.
The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to reject the final contract offer from Chicago Public Schools and will go on strike Thursday, the organization announced Wednesday.
The CTU's House of Delegates voted to reject the CPS proposal during a meeting on Wednesday, paving the way for the organization's second strike in seven years as more than 25,000 teachers and staff members prepare to walk off the job.
"We went through, point by point, what's on the table so far and our delegates overwhelmingly, unanimously, reaffirmed that tomorrow will be the first day of a strike, because we have not achieved what we need to bring justice and high-quality schools to the children and teachers of Chicago," CTU President Jesse Sharkey said.
Prior to the final vote, CPS had canceled all classes and activities for Thursday in anticipation of CTU moving forward with a strike.
"I was disappointed by the CTU's decision to begin a work stoppage and force a cancellation of classes," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. "That's because I feel like we rolled up our sleeves and negotiated in good faith for a long period of time."
Sharkey said that his negotiators were not satisfied with CPS' final contract offer, and they voted to reject the offer on Wednesday.
"The mayor wants a five-year contract. Many marriages don't last five years and I don't like this contract enough to marry it," Sharkey said.
Lightfoot defended the contract offer made by CPS on Wednesday, calling it an "historic" pact that would have addressed the teachers' primary concerns.
"We offered an historic package on CTU's core issues like compensation, staffing, and class size," she said. "We reiterated our proposals were rooted in our admiration of the job that staffers and teachers do every day."
Negotiations between the two sides ended early Wednesday as both CPS officials and CTU representatives prepared for a strike vote, but Lightfoot hopes that both sides will return to the negotiating table soon.
"We will remain at the table, and we hope that CTU will as well," she said. "I hope this work stoppage will end soon. This has to be about our children."
Sharkey echoed similar sentiments in his speech, saying that he hopes the work stoppage will not be a prolonged one.
"We want to make this a short strike," he said. "We want to make this a strike that wins improvements for our schools, wins the dignity and respect for our teachers... so the ball's in her court on that now."
Teachers are planning to picket schools in the district at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, according to banners displayed after the CTU's meeting.
Thousands were without power overnight as an intense storm move through Connecticut with heavy rain and high winds.
The storm, known as a bomb cyclone, brought heavy rain and winds gusting to more than 50 MPH in some areas throughout the night and into Thursday morning.
Eversource was reporting more than 41,000 power outages and United Illuinating said more than 4,200 were without power as of 4 a.m. Thursday.
Trees were down in towns across Connecticut, but eastern parts of the state appeared to be hit the hardest.
In Vernon, police responded to dozens of calls of trees blocking roads throughout the town.
Other areas hit hard by the storm included Stonington, where thousands were without power. A downed tree blocked Mason's Island Road, cutting off access to about 150 homes, according to police.
In East Haven, residents living along the shoreline were dealing with minor flooding as waves crashed over a seawall at high tide.
It was not clear from Eversource or United Illuminating when power would be restored.
A bomb cyclone is a rapidly strengthening area of low pressure. In order to be considered a bomb cyclone, pressure has to drop 24mb in 24 hours.
The rain began to move out of Connecticut after 3 a.m. Thursday but the high winds are expected to continue through the early afternoon as the storm pulls away from southern New England.
Track the storm with our interactive radar.
Old Saybrook police say there is an issue with Frontier Communications phone service after the storm affected the central switching office in Old Saybrook.
Police are warning Frontier customers about a phone service outage since 3 a.m. and they said the company is trying to restore service as soon as possible.
If you need police, 911 is working. Police said they have added staff to the day shift and expanded patrol services.
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The death of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings early Thursday has made a widow of Maya Rockeymoore Cummings and left Capitol Hill and beyond mourning the loss of the veteran lawmaker and civil rights advocate.
His wife, who chairs Maryland's Democratic Party, released a statement calling her husband "an honorable man who proudly served his district and the nation with dignity, integrity, compassion and humility."
She said Cummings "worked until his last breath because he believed our democracy was the highest and best expression of our collective humanity and that our nation's diversity was our promise, not our problem."
She added, "It has been an honor to walk by his side on this incredible journey. I loved him deeply and will miss him dearly."
Current and former colleagues from both sides of the political aisle offered their condolences and paid tribute to Cummings, who passed away at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from complications from longstanding health issues.
President Donald Trump, who had a rocky relationship with the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, expressed in a tweet condolences to Cummings' family and friends.
"My warmest condolences to the family and many friends of Congressman Elijah Cummings. I got to see first hand the strength, passion and wisdom of this highly respected political leader. His work and voice on so many fronts will be very hard, if not impossible, to replace!" Trump tweeted.
An emotional Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said on CNN that her "heart is broken for his family, for his community, for our country."
"I know that we'll walk in his shadow, in his shoes that will never be filled," the Democratic congresswoman from Florida said.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter that Cummings "was a fearless leader, a protector of democracy, and a fighter for the people of Maryland."
"We lost a giant today," she tweeted, adding that "Our world is dimmer without him in it."
Republican Rep. Will Hurd of Texas called Cummings a friend who led "a shining example of how to be a fighter for his constituents." Hurd said "it was an honor to know him."
"May God grant his family strength & peace in these difficult moments & his soul eternal rest," Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said via tweet.
His constituents began mourning shortly after his death at 2:45 a.m. on Thursday. The Baltimore archdiocese tweeted that Cummings "generously shared his God-given gifts and talents w/the people of his beloved city, state and nation for so many years. We give thanks for his dedicated service and pray for the repose of his soul."
Celebrities and civil rights activists alike also took to social media to pay tribute to the Maryland congressman who fought for the people of Baltimore and to protect democracy in the nation.
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union hit the picket lines early Thursday as more than 25,000 educators and support staff officially went on strike in the nation's third-largest district.
CTU's House of Delegates voted to reject the final contract offer from Chicago Public Schools during a meeting on Wednesday, paving the way for the organization's second strike in seven years.
"We went through, point by point, what's on the table so far and our delegates overwhelmingly, unanimously, reaffirmed that tomorrow will be the first day of a strike, because we have not achieved what we need to bring justice and high-quality schools to the children and teachers of Chicago," CTU President Jesse Sharkey said.
Prior to the final vote, CPS had already canceled all classes and activities for Thursday in anticipation of CTU moving forward with a strike.
"I was disappointed by the CTU's decision to begin a work stoppage and force a cancellation of classes," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. "That's because I feel like we rolled up our sleeves and negotiated in good faith for a long period of time."
Sharkey said that CTU's bargaining team was not satisfied with CPS' final contract offer.
"The mayor wants a five-year contract. Many marriages don't last five years and I don't like this contract enough to marry it," Sharkey said.
But Lightfoot defended the contract offer, calling it an "historic" proposal that would have addressed the teachers' primary concerns.
"We offered an historic package on CTU's core issues like compensation, staffing, and class size," she said. "We reiterated our proposals were rooted in our admiration of the job that staffers and teachers do every day."
Negotiations between the two sides ended early Wednesday as both CPS officials and CTU representatives prepared for a strike vote, but Lightfoot hopes that both sides will return to the negotiating table soon.
"We will remain at the table, and we hope that CTU will as well," she said. "I hope this work stoppage will end soon. This has to be about our children."
Sharkey echoed similar sentiments in his speech, saying that he hoped the work stoppage will not be a prolonged one.
"We want to make this a short strike," he said. "We want to make this a strike that wins improvements for our schools, wins the dignity and respect for our teachers... so the ball's in her court on that now."
Teachers picketed schools in the district beginning at 6:30 a.m., with negotiations expected to continue Thursday morning as well.
A 5-year-old Hartford boy has been reported missing and a Silver Alert has been issued for him.
Tyrone Campbell has been missing since Friday, according to the alert.
He has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a blue shirt, a blue and green sweatshirt and sweatpants.
Anyone with information is asked to call Hartford Police at 860-757-4000.
One person has been taken to the hospital after firefighters responded to a report of a person trapped under a tree with wires down in New London.
They said it happened at Ocean Avenue and Shirley Lane and the person who firefighters extricated was transported to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.
New London police said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
No additional information was immediately available.
A person who was hit by a car in Berlin Wednesday night has died, according to police.
Police said the pedestrian was taken to the Hospital of Central Connecticut after being struck in the area of the Prentice Place Condominiums on New Britain Road around 10:40 p.m. and pronounced dead.
The person’s name has not been released because police have not notified family.
Police do not know what kind of vehicle hit the person. They said it wasn’t at the scene when police arrived.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 860-828-7088 or email Officer Tom Bobok at tbokok@berlinpd.com.
Many people with student loan debt feel buried. But one New York City woman decided to bury her loans instead.
Mandy Velez, a journalist from the Daily Beast took to Instagram to celebrate the death of her student loans with a funeral for the $102,000 balance she was able to pay off after just six years.
“I finally killed them. It was a slow death but was worth every bit of the fight,” as she wrote on Instagram.
Velez graduated in 2013 in about $75,000 in student loans and paid more than minimums per month, in total of $1,000 per month. She wanted to be debt-free by the time she turned 30, so she slashed her budget and lived off of less than a third of her monthly salary.
She even skimped on the little things - such as packing her own lunches, not calling Ubers and trading brunches and dates for walks in the park - that really helped her save.
She also took odd jobs, including dog-walking, babysitting, and even being an extra of TV shows for extra cash, to help her survive to pay her loans off and live in New York City, never missing a payment. She accomplished her goal 2 years earlier than expected, killing $32,000 in eight months.
“I celebrate my freedom but I don’t feel we student borrowers deserve the hardship that comes with these loans: high interest rates, sketchy providers, yearly tuition hikes, the list goes on,” she wrote.
Velez hopes her story inspires people to say “no more” the best way they can. She was shocked that and excited to know that her story has gotten so much attention to others like in her position.
“It felt good to know that people were proud of what I did in addition to me being excited about. Now’s just become bigger than I imagined. I think it resonated with many people,” she said.
“I feel overwhelmed, but grateful. I understand how hard it is to accomplish something like this and I'm glad I had the support in place to make it happen.”
After six long years, Velez is looking to celebrate her newfound financial freedom. She feels like she has changed her life by not "paying" to have a better future anymore. She feels hopeful that people will be inspired and if that they’re in this situation, if they can to pay more than the minimums. If not, “just do the best you can. You're not alone.”
Currently Velez is saving for a down payment on a house and a much-deserved vacation.
RIP Mandy’s student loans, they will not be missed.
Bunny Rodriguez wants to find her father, a Middletown man who has been missing since October 3.
“I’m just in a state of shock right now,” she said. “I’ve been going through so many emotions, crying and being strong and now I’m at the point of exhaustion,” she said.
Her father, Peter Recchia, was reported missing the afternoon of Thursday, October 3. Hours prior, he matched the description of a man who entered a house in Hamden, police said.
Hamden Police say they responded at 4:15 a.m. on Oct. 3 to a call after a 76-year old woman heard footsteps in her house then found a man sitting at her kitchen table.
Upon arrival, Hamden police say they found the man walking southbound on State Street. Officers determined he wasn’t a danger to himself or others. After a warrant search came up negative, they let him go. An internal investigation is being done to understand the details of the situation more clearly.
Middletown Police say that while Recchia was “reported” missing, a silver alert was not issued until further investigation was done and it wasn’t posted until Oct. 7, which could explain why the warrant search came up empty.
“(Recchia) wouldn't have come up missing or endangered or anything of that nature because it was hours before he had been reported missing,” said Lt. Heather Desmond, Middletown Police.
Family members want to know why more wasn't done to recognize Recchia’s confused mental state.
“The sad thing is that he opened the fridge and was looking for food, with a blank stare. He clearly was confused and clearly was hungry, said Rodriguez.
Recchia, a 59-year-old father of two, has had a history of mental troubles and was showing signs of confusion before his disappearance.
“I noticed that over that last week or two, he started to be confused a little bit more and I was really worried about his well-being and health,” said Rodriguez.
Recchia has been seen in Durham, Hamden and New Haven.
Police said he was last seen the morning of Oct. 3. Surveillance video shows him walking near an Exxon station on New Haven's State Street. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.
Rodriguez says she thinks her father has walked the entire distance.
“I just felt he’s in a state, that he’s working on muscle memory. Just walking to places that he’s been, before,” she said.
Police are asking for help finding Recchia and ask anyone with information to call Detective Jimmy Lacasse at (860) 638-4134.
The Greenwich Holly Hill Waste Deposal and Recycling Center was closed because of a suspicious package, but it has reopened.
The Greenwich Police Department Tweeted out that the bomb squad was requested and the item turned out to be an inert military training ordinance.
A tree limb that broke during the “bomb cyclone” caused a propane leak at a nursing home in Torrington early Thursday morning.
Members of the Torrington Fire Department were called at 1:38 a.m. to respond to Litchfield Woods Health Care Center at 255 Roberts St. and determined that a fallen tree limb had broken propane service piping from 6 2000-pound liquid propane tanks.
They worked to protect the patients and staff, who were relocated within the facility and protected while firefighters located and shut down control values to stop the leak.
The facility and surrounding areas were metered and crews from the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the fire marshal’s office responded.
The scene was clear as of 2:48 a.m.
Officials said this call came amid increased call volume due to winds from the storm. The Torrington Fire Department responded to a total of seven incidents between 1 a.m. to 3:30 am, including one for a carbon monoxide detector, four down power lines and a fire alarm.
A warning not to eat fish caught in the Farmington River remains in effect after firefighting foam spilled into the river from Bradley International Airport in June.
The warning concerns fish caught downstream from the Rainbow Dam to the confluence with the Connecticut River. Signs are posted.
According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the state Department of Public Health, fish captured in July tested positive for elevated levels of PFAS. Public health officials said the concentration was too high to be considered safe for consumption.
“These data validate the precautionary measures we took over the summer to advise the public not to consume fish taken from this area of the Farmington River,” said Brian Toal, interim chief of Environmental Health at the Connecticut Department of Public Health. “These samples were taken at a point in time following the spill event and it is likely that the PFAS levels detected in fish may decline as additional fish tissue samples are collected and analyzed. Until then, the advisory for the lower Farmington River remains in effect.”
The public can still catch and release fish in this area. Officials say it is safe to kayak and boat in the area.
On June 8, firefighting foam containing PFAS spilled from a hangar at Bradley Airport.
PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” for the way they permeate the environment, have been linked to health risks ranging from developmental effects in fetuses and infants to certain forms of cancer.
More fish samples were collected in late September from the river for testing, but the results have not yet come in. After they were captured, more foam wound up in the river after a plane crash at the airport on October 2.
The type of firefighting foam that seeped from Bradley is required by the FAA, which believes it’s the most effective. But local and state leaders, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, are calling for safer alternatives.
Gov. Ned Lamont has appointed a PFAS task force to look into ways to address the PFAS in our communities. To see the Draft PFAS Action Plan, click here.
Vaping was once believed to be a safer alternative to smoking, but after hundreds of illnesses and dozens of deaths, including one in Connecticut, some are concerned that it may not be safe at all. That concern is changing the way both big corporations and local smoke shops do business.
The writing is on the window at All Things Vape in Newington, which shut its doors five weeks ago.
“Unfortunately, people are scared,” said Andrew O’Bright, president of Connecticut’s Smoke Free Alternative Trade Association or SFATA.
He blamed black market THC e-joints which are now being investigated as the potential cause of the lung injury outbreak that has spread to every state but Alaska. So far, three dozen people have died and about 1,500 vape users have suffered lung injuries.
The outbreak has also put approved vaping products under the microscope.
O’Bright said upwards of 50 percent of vape users in SFATA’s retail stores have gone back to regular cigarettes or kicked the habit altogether.
“Stopping is good. Returning to smoke is going to kill them,” said O’Bright.
With fewer toxic ingredients and the ability to control the amount of nicotine you’re inhaling, vaping was once seen as a safer alternative to smoking. According to the World Health Organization, eight million tobacco users die every year.
The recent rash of deaths and lung injuries has changed public perception.
“It’s been about a semi-weekly basis that a shop is closing,” said O’Bright.
He estimated that 25 percent of the 200 vape shops in Connecticut at the beginning of 2019 have shut their door.
“There’s going to be three more shops in the area closing in November, and that’s really concerning,” O’Bright added.
The CDC now says the common denominator in most cases was THC, an ingredient in marijuana, bought off the black market. However, traditional vaping products aren’t off the hook. As research into what is causing the injuries continues, the CDC is recommending people refrain from using all vaping products.
Our neighbors to the north in Massachusetts have put a moratorium on the sale of all vaping products. But, marijuana is still legal there.
“This patchwork quilt of regulations makes no sense at all,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) at a meeting of northeastern governors on Thursday.
The group met to work on regulating both industries.
“My state of Connecticut, people cross the border they drive up to Massachusetts where they can buy some cannabis and bring it back and that makes a real problem for our state police. They’ve got folks from Massachusetts over the age of 21 coming down and buying vaping products,” said Lamont.
He said if black market sales of dangerous vaping products aren’t curtailed, the vaping industry in Connecticut may go up in smoke.
“Drug dealers are ruining a life-saving industry,” said O’Bright. “It doesn’t look good.”
Also on Thursday, nicotine pod maker JUUL Labs announced that it’s suspending the sale of all of its fruit-flavored cartridges, which have been blamed on getting kids hooked on vaping.
“Given the lack of trust in our industry, we believe the FDA’s PMTA process and its “appropriate for the protection of the public health” standard are the best ways to assess the role these products can play in helping adult smokers move away from combustible cigarettes while also being kept out of the hands of youth,” said CEO , K.C. Crosthwaite. “We must reset the vapor category by earning the trust of society and working cooperatively with regulators, policymakers, and stakeholders to combat underage use while providing an alternative to adult smokers.”
The federal government is considering banning all flavored vaping products.
Authorities in New Orleans are now investigating a new video following the collapse of the future hotel. The social media post is raising questions about potential concerns before the deadly accident, NBC News reports.
The grainy video claims to show the hotel two days before it buckled. An apparent worker at the construction site is heard in Spanish saying a concrete slab is aging and the posts supporting it are bent.
A spokesman for the company said it had not been able to verify the video.
“We cannot overstress that while we await the implementation of the plan to secure the site, one thing that can be just as dangerous as the tower cranes is false information," the company said in a written statement.
Flash flooding and severe winds overnight kept first responders in several towns busy.
Throughout parts of the Southeast portion of Connecticut, utility crews worked around the clock to cut down trees for and clear the streets for drivers after powerful winds and flooding swept through the area.
One of the many factors that New London dealt with was flash flooding, according to Public Works Director Brian Sear.
“The water came off the river and was even higher than the road at one point, so there really was no place for the water to drain,” said Sear. “We’re keeping the catch basins clean because there’s a lot of leaves coming down and they clog really easily.”
The high winds caused several trees to fall over on dozens of homes, power lines and even a landscaper. Firefighters said the tree came crashing down on the man on Ocean Avenue and Shirley Lane just after 9 a.m. Crews were able to extricate the man and he was transported to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.
Chief Battalion Chief Jonathan Paige said the weather caused at least four trees to fall over Thursday morning, and flash flooding had fire crews stepping into action Wednesday night.
“Over the beginning of the day, it’s increasingly gotten worse as the day has gone by and we’ve had multiple incidents with trees coming down throughout the city,” Paige said. “There were a number of water rescues throughout the city and at least three to four cars overcrowded by water.”
Maureen Smith just moved into her New London home and was shocked to see a tree on both her home and her neighbors home.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is so exciting' but then I realized, it was my house,” said Smith. “My husband called me and said that the branch split in half and fell on the house.”
In Smith’s backyard, it was a devastating sight and perfect example of how punishing the winds were to the trees.
“We never that the damage would be this severe,” said Smith. “I woke up last night and we heard the storm and then I looked out the window and saw that there were no damages.”
In Old Lyme, crews began working to restore power on shore acres road after receiving reports of a tree knocking out a power line.
For hours, utility workers worked to fix the lines and bring power back for thousands.
Eversource issued this statement to NBC Connecticut concerning restoration times:
“We’re in the process of working on restoration estimates and hope to have them tomorrow morning. Please keep in mind, today’s high winds caused additional damage and outages across the state. The storm has affected customers in almost all of the 149 communities we serve in Connecticut. Since the beginning of the event, we have restored power to more than 55,000 customers.”
