Hamden police have arrested one of two people accused of robbing Krauszer's Food Store in 2011 while holding a knife to the clerk's throat.

Daniel Hogan, 24, of New Haven, has been charged with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny. Police said new technology helped link Hogan to the crime.

Hogan has been identified as one of two people who robbed Krauszer's at 1959 State Street on Aug. 29, 2011. They threatened the store clerk with a knife and got away with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.

Hogan was held on $200,000 bond.

Florists in Connecticut are preparing for a cold and possibly snowy Valentine's Day and are taking steps to make sure their bouquets are delivered on time.

Farricielli's Flower Shop in West Haven arranged to receive its flower shipment Tuesday in light of Monday's snowstorm.

“We're going to prepare everything, let them drink, then they should be all set to go for tomorrow, ready for Saturday,” said Sarah Wojciechowski with Farricielli's Flower Shop.

Saturday is Valentine's Day. Farricielli's is watching the orders – and the forecast – to make sure everything will go according to schedule.

“We prepare ahead. We will go through the orders and see what we have. We'll check the weather. If we see a storm coming, we'll try to get the orders out a day in advance," Wojciechowski said. "We'll wrap them in cellophane, tissue paper, try to get the flowers nice and warm because they will freeze.”

Fleur de lys Floral Company in New Haven has a similar plan to make deliveries in the cold weather.

“We just make sure that our vans are running at all times, so that the heat inside the vans is maintained. And everything will be wrapped," said Jennifer Ford-Chatfield, owner of Fleur de lys Floral Company. "Really the only the hiccup with the cold weather is if we don't find someone home we're not in a position to leave the arrangement, because certainly it will die in seven to 10 degree temperatures.”

Other than that, the New Haven flower shop says the snow and cold weather we're seeing this week isn't anything compared to years past.

“Our product was able to be brought in on time, and my staff and I were able to come in and make it in, and surprisingly it's been the first year, that I can recollect, where the city streets of New Haven have been just plowed so well,” said Ford-Chatfield.

The shooting of a San Diego CBS sports director in Scripps Ranch led police on a countywide manhunt that ended with a SWAT standoff Tuesday night at an El Cajon home.

Just after 3 p.m., gunshots riddled a silver Mercedes driven by CBS Sports Director Kyle Kraska as he was leaving for work. The shots shattered the car's back window in a cul-de-sac south of Scripps Ranch Parkway.

"I heard a bunch of gunfire, and then there was a pause, and then there was another bunch of gunfire," said neighbor Stephen Rowe, who reported hearing at least 12 rounds. Rowe said he walked up the street to find a man lying on the ground with his knees bent.

A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said she heard Kraska saying, "Oh my God, oh my God."

"And then I see the white van turn around and it stopped shooting for a second ... turning around the cul-de-sac and continued shooting for a few more pops," she said.

Emergency crews took Kraska Scripps La Jolla hospital, where he was immediately taken into surgery, a source close to him said. Hours later, the station reported Kraska was out of surgery and his prognosis is good.

Meanwhile, SDPD Lt. Scott Wahl announced they had identified a suspect in the case: 54-year-old Mike Montana, who was last seen driving a white minivan with "Superior Painting" on the outside. Wahl said the shooting was a "targeted" attack and Montana was considered armed and dangerous.

That van was later spotted in a El Cajon home's driveway. There, El Cajon and San Diego police gathered, waiting for a SWAT team to arrive for backup.

When heavily armored officers riding on a BearCat armored vehicle rolled in, they evacuated neighboring homes before climbing on the roof and surrounding the house.

Using a bullhorn, officers asked Montana to surrender peacefully. A few minutes later, the suspect came out with his hands high in the air.

No motive has been released in the shooting.

When news came in that Kraska was shot, a CBS news photographer said there was a collective gasp of shock in their newsroom.

Kraska started at CBS 8 in 1999 as morning and noon co-anchor, and four years later, he was promoted to evening sports anchor.

Before coming to CBS, he had a stint hosting “Hard Copy,” a nationally syndicated news magazine show and was an evening news anchor at KCBS in Los Angeles.

Back-to-back snowstorms have meant back-to-back work for the New Haven Department of Public Works and outside contractors.

“It takes a lot of manpower to clean these streets and so our overtime, as well as our consulting businesses that we use to help clear the streets, we're running a little over in those line items,” explained New Haven Mayor Toni Harp.

That means New Haven's snow budget is close to running out.

“We're really getting close to spending most of the snow budget, and we're looking into other accounts within the Department of Public Works to fill that account,” said Harp.

Harp said the city has an obligation to clean up the snow, whether it's during a snow storm or in the days after it.

West Haven Mayor Ed O'Brien said the city has enough money left for one more big snow storm, before it will have to tap into other accounts.

“At this point, we're being very watchful of our snow budget, but we're at about two-thirds of our budget. The numbers are still coming in, but I think, right now, we're holding our own,” said O’Brien.

He says the timing of the past storms is really what costs the most, because a lot of money has gone to overtime.

“It's more these storms hit on Sundays and on the weekend, and so it's more expensive to send the guys out,” said O’Brien.

The city of Hartford has reached a final deal on the Downtown North development, which will include a supermarket, housing, retail, restaurants, a brewery and a minor league baseball stadium designed with the Rock Cats in mind.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17.

The mayor's office said Tuesday that the agreement includes 30 percent revenue sharing for all non-baseball stadium events, a project labor agreement and a minor league baseball team guaranteed for the lease term.

“We appreciate everyone’s hard work in getting this done," said Rock Cats owner Josh Solomon, in a statement. “The redevelopment of Downtown North and a new minor league baseball stadium in Hartford will soon be a reality. We look forward to providing affordable, family entertainment during baseball season and year round activities for the entire Hartford community and the region.”

Hiring preference will be given to Hartford residents and businesses owned by minorities and women, according to the mayor's office. The development is expected to create 1,800 jobs during construction and more than 1,000 permanent positions.

“A new Downtown North mixed-use neighborhood is even closer now to becoming a reality,” Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra said in a statement. “The pedestrian-friendly development will grow the downtown area with new entertainment venues, restaurants, residential spaces and businesses. This means more jobs and opportunities for our Capital City. I look forward to seeing vibrancy in an area that has been blighted for too long and to seeing the vitality and economic growth it will bring to the City of Hartford.”

The newly created Hartford Stadium Authority will help finance the development and is projected to save the city at least $10 million in construction costs.

One of the biggest issues facing drivers in the aftermath of major snowstorms is the number of snowbanks that line many of the state's highways.

In many places, especially on older, restricted access roadways, they encroach on to lanes of travel.

Over the past 24 hours, Connecticut Department of Transportation crews have been out on the roads working to dispose of the snow.

“You can keep plowing for subsequent storms and that snow is going to keep encroaching into the roadway," said Kevin Nursick with the Department of Transportation. "That’s a problem. So that’s why we start working really diligently after the storm to get those shoulder sections and elevated areas and those bridges cleared up.”

The state has deployed all 12 of its industrial-sized snow blowers, which drastically cut down on the time it takes to clear a highway.

“Each can move about 1,500 tons of snow each per hour, so instead of using those front loaders to go there and scoop it up into the trucks, we can now use the snow blowers and send the snow right off the highway into the woods," Nursick said.

He added that when the snow piles up along highways or on overpasses, it will be trucked and dumped to sites along exit and entrance ramps where there are no line of sight issues.

Being able to see on both sides around snow banks is an issue that won't go away any time soon, according to Nursick, and drivers have to take precautions.

“We are not going to have ideal sightlines at these intersections for some amount of time until Mother Nature starts melting some of this stuff,” he said.

Police have arrested a man accused of impersonating an officer in East Haven and asking to see a resident's license and registration over the weekend.

According to police, Brandon Locke, 22, was driving a silver Honda Civic with three other people inside in the area of French Avenue around 2:20 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 8.

He pulled up to a man walking on French Avenue and said, "I'm a cop; let me see your license and registration or else you won't be able to drive," according to police.

The victim took out his phone to call 911 and Locke drove off. The Honda doubled back and passed him slowly, causing the victim to fear for his safety, so he called police, authorities said.

Police found the Honda at the intersection of Prospect Road and Hotchkiss Street. They arrested Locke and charged him with impersonation of a police officer.

Locke was released on $500 bond and is due in court Feb. 18.

After three storms, there's a backlog of damaged cars on the back lot of Heritage Auto Body in Glastonbury.

In the unenviable position of having to triage repairs is Tim Davis.

"The ones that are hit and are not driveable we're trying to address first. The other vehicles, if it's cosmetic, we're looking at it, writing them up and then scheduling them at a later date."

The weather has created the demand for repairs as well as the big obstacle, delivery of parts.

"We have to order the parts and then they have to ship them to us," Davis said.

He's confident Heritage can deal with the delays.

"We'll try," he said. "We've been doing it for a lot of years and we'll keep doing it. We'll get it done."
 

Mounds of snow are getting higher and higher in many Glastonbury parking lots, covering spaces and interfering with some merchants' ability to do business.

"We have no parking spots left out here," said Jen Cooper, of Emily Rose Style Group on Welles Street in Glastonbury.

She said some clients have to trek from the lot at Whole Foods across the street.

One pedestrian said she wouldn't be going into any shops after walking in the slush.

"It's crazy, walking," said Daiva Pettit. "My boots right now and my pants are muddy."

Other people out on foot don't like it much.

"We do not go out when it's bad," said Deb Morgan. "We were just saying we feel bad for the store owners. We know it must be bad for business."

Bicycles don't sell often out of season, but Cycling Concepts has hopes for its bikes with wide tires, fat bikes.

"Currently we're selling fat bikes so that's a big draw. You can ride those in the snow, on snow, sand, whatever," said Ed Rhoden.

Some products sell better during the winter than you might suspect – frozen yogurt, for example. At Sweet Frog, it matters which day of the week a snowstorm hits.

"If we have to close on a Saturday, that's not good for the store," explained employee Amy Campbell. " If it's on a Monday, it's not so bad, because we're already a little slower."

A sign shop is struggling with supplying stickers that will stay on because they don't work in cold weather. Bizwiz owner Kelly Dotson has a solution for that in the works: a heated garage in Rocky Hill. But first she has to get through storm-tossed sales.

"It's definitely been slow," she said. "Phones aren't ringing and people are hibernating at home and trying to stay safe so, yeah, it hurts."

The question of whether Hartford police should wear body cameras took center stage at a public meeting Tuesday night.

Supporters of the idea said during public comment that cameras will increase accountability, decrease the use of force, and reduce the number of complaints filed against officers.

"We believe that body cameras are important to protect the public and to protect the police officers," said Councilwoman Cynthia Jennings.

Since violent protests in Ferguson garnered worldwide publicity, interactions between citizens and police have left many cities looking to body cameras to show the truth – including several in Connecticut, such as Hamden, Branford and East Haven.

Others, however, believe body cameras are a Band-Aid solution to a more serious wound.

"I think it's a waste of our money. I think we should put more officers on the street and train them to work with our community," said community activist Hyacinth Yennie.

If the measure is passed, the mayor and police chief would seek funding from the federal government. Jennings said that, although the department continues to improve its community policing efforts, there's more work to be done.

"Hartford has not become a Ferguson," said Jennings. "We still have things in place that, where it could become a Ferguson."

Along with implementing cameras and community policing, Jennings said it's important to hire officers who live in the city.

"You automatically have a safer city. You have 200 new officers in Hartford, and they live in Hartford, that's 200 streets that have police officers on them that live there," said Jennings.

For now, the issue has been deferred to the Quality of Life and Public Safety Committee.

Waterbury city crews were slated to clear snow from the downtown area Tuesday, but weather weary workers are exhausted from the snow and the plan has been delayed to give them some much-needed rest.

In the meantime, city residents are trying to stay safe while avoiding snow-covered sidewalks. Many say walking across the Baldwin Street Bridge has become dangerous.

“It was tricky because the cars when they come they drive fast and they don’t give us any space,” said Waterbury resident Zandile Nsumao.

The bridge was not the only place left to be cleared in the city.

“There’s snow everywhere. Right now we have it on the sidewalks, we've got people walking in the street. There’s no parking because there’s snow everywhere,” explained Mayor Neil O’Leary.

He said the city is working to finish the job.

“We would be doing it now, quite frankly, but our people are just too tired. We want them to get some rest and get them back here fresh,” said O’Leary.

The mayor said crews were sent home after spending all Monday night clearing school lots to make sure students could return to class Tuesday.

That, in turn, delayed the plan to cart snow from the central business area and dump it at the Municipal Stadium lot. Crews will now tackle the project Wednesday.

“We’ll be watching the weather forecast closely. If it looks like we’re going to get hit hard on Thursday, we’ll push our people to work all night, all day the next day until the snow starts coming again,” said O’Leary.

As for the bridges, crews will come in at 4 a.m. Wednesday to clear them off.

Nine students were taken to Connecticut Children's Medical Center by ambulance Tuesday after their school bus collided with another car at the intersection of Asylum Avenue and Scarborough Street in Hartford, according to police.

Police said the Dattco bus was traveling southbound on Scarborough Street when it collided with a car driving westbound on Asylum Street around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Eighteen elementary school students were on their way home from the CREC University of Hartford Magnet School on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford at the time of the crash, according to a school spokesperson.

Nine students and the driver of the car were hospitalized for treatment of minor injuries. Authorities said all injured students have since been released.

Hartford police said city and school officials reacted quickly to the crash.

"The school system and the city have a protocol in place for when this kind of thing happens," explained Hartford police spokesman Deputy Chief Brian Foley. "The bus company was here immediately, the school principal actually came to the scene very quickly."

A second-grader on board the bus described the crash as "pretty scary."

"I was the first bus stop so we were going to my bus stop. I saw a bunch of police and fire trucks and ambulances," said second-grade student Cameron Brown. "There was screaming and a couple kids were crying."

Cameron's mother, Selestian Patterson, brought him to Connecticut Children's Medical Center after learning he had hit his head.

"After speaking with him, I found out he hit his head and busted his lip a little bit, so I just brought him here to get him checked out," said Cameron's mother, Selestian Patterson. "The bus kind of went off to the right of the street a little and some of the children fell."

CREC said the students were treated as a precaution and met their parents at Connecticut Children's Medical Center. The parents of uninjured students picked them up at the crash scene.

Traffic detours caused heavy delays during rush hour. Part of Scarborough Street was shut down Tuesday evening, and Farmington and Albany avenues overflowed with extra traffic as a result.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Police said the drivers gave conflicting stories about what happened and it's unclear who was at fault.

Dattco has not returned a request for comment.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

A woman was arrested at a Target store in Orange last month while trying to leave with almost $800 worth of stolen electric toothbrushes, according to police.

Police responded to the Target store at 25 Boston Post Road at 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 29 to investigate shoplifting and store staff said a woman had taken $779.74 worth of electronic toothbrushes out of the store without paying.

The woman, identified as Marietta Hickey, 45, of Waterbury, tried to run when officers tried to stop her, but she was stopped while trying to get into a car in the parking lot, police said.

Hickey was subsequently taken into custody and charged with firth-degree larceny, conspiracy and interfering with an officer.

She was released after posting $5,000 bond and is due in court on Feb. 13.

It’s not clear from the online court records whether she has an attorney.
 

Jon Stewart never pulled in the ratings of Johnny Carson, Jay Leno or David Letterman. Nor did Stewart, who will have logged 16-plus years behind his "Daily Show" desk by the time he exits later this year, match the longevity of the Big Three.

But in his own way, Stewart forever altered the late night landscape, as he remade the fake news game and spawned a mini-empire of innovative satirists.

The departure of Stewart, who announced plans on Tuesday’s show to quit Comedy Central's marquee program, will leave a big gap. But he also leaves behind a franchise that he built strong enough to withstand his absence.

Stewart proved as much in 2013 when he took off the summer to direct a film and turned over the show to John Oliver, who did well enough to earn his own breakout news satire program on HBO. "The Daily Show" also served as the springboard for "The Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert's nine-year spoof of cable news partisan gabfests, and, more recently, "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” which is off to a strong start.

Stewart took over "The Daily Show" in 1999 from Craig Kilborn, who ably delivered jokes as if he were hosting a half-hour, pop culture-driven version of "Weekend Update." But Stewart – whose interviewing style owes much to Carson and whose correspondents' segments displayed a Letterman influence – reinvented the form.

Stewart targeted political absurdity with his "Indecision" election year shows. He became a trusted news source for some – an absurdity of another kind that he pointed to at times. He sometimes blurred the lines between activism, news and humor, most notably with his and Colbert’s massive 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington.

The success of Stewart’s "Daily Show" forced “Saturday Night Live” to up its game, most notably during the 2008 election season. More significantly, he proved confident enough to let talent like Steve Carell, Colbert, Oliver and Wilmore shine.

The show will go on without him – whether helmed by show "correspondents" like Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, Al Madrigal, Aasiv Mandvi and Jessica Williams – or by an outside performer (memo to Comedy Central: Give W. Kamau Bell a call).

"It's time for someone else to have (this) opportunity," Stewart said near the end of Tuesday night's show.

Stewart’s unexpected announcement marked the latest entry in a late night shake-up litany that began last year: Jimmy Fallon replaced Jay Leno on NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” Seth Meyers replaced Fallon on “Late Night.” CBS announced that Colbert would replace Letterman this year and that James Corden would replace Craig Ferguson.

Perhaps all the changes combined aren’t as a big a deal as when Carson stepped down in 1992, in the pre-Internet, pre-on-demand era when timeslots were everything. But Stewart fans, no doubt, will miss his comic voice arriving Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., particular during next year’s “Indecision 2016” run.

Stewart, though, has clearly made up his mind, even if it’s less clear what’s next for him. He joked Tuesday about having time to have dinner with his family "who, I have heard from multiple sources, are lovely people." But, speaking more seriously, he hinted at creative wanderlust: "This show doesn't deserve an even slightly restless host and neither do you," he told viewers.

Whatever his reasons for leaving, after almost 17 years of making us laugh and think, Jon Stewart has earned his moment of Zen.

Jere Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multimedia NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.

Connecticut lawmakers are announcing consumer privacy legislation Wednesday afternoon after Anthem was hacked a few days ago raising concerns that personal information was compromised.

But legislators have another concern beyond the hack – many of them say it's taken the major health insurance company too long to contact customers as more than a million people in the state wait to find out if their information was stolen.

Any compromised personal information could make customers vulnerable to scammers filing false tax returns in their names to access refunds fraudulently. So, state officials are urging Anthem customers to file taxes right away.

A rollover crash briefly closed the Route 2A on-ramp to Interstate 395 north in Montville on Wednesday morning, but the ramp has since reopened.

Exit 79A off of Rt. 2A was temporarily blocked, but the crash has been cleared.

There is no word on injuries.

Follow NBC Connecticut traffic reporter Heidi Voight on Twitter for updates: @HeidiVoight.

Fire destroyed a Preston home on Wednesday morning and state police said ammunition was exploding during the blaze.

State police said the home, located at 55 Miller Road, also houses an antique firearms dealership.

While the home is destroyed, everyone got out safely, police said.

Trumbull police have arrested a 37-year-old teacher who is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy.

Police made the arrest after an officer noticed a black Jeep Cherokee parked in a secluded area of the cinema parking lot on Quarry Road around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and approached the vehicle.

Timothy Leonard, 37, of Southbury, who police identified as a teacher at Sacred Heart University and a 7th grade teacher in Wilton, appeared nervous, as did the male passenger, according to police.

As police spoke with the passenger, he said he was 18, but police noted he appeared much younger. Later, they learned the boy was actually 14-year-old Trumbull resident.

During the course of the investigation, officers determined the two had engaged in intimate contact while parked in the vehicle. Leonard went on to tell police he likes college-aged boys, saying “it’s my thing,” and indicated he’d met the teen through an online dating app, police said.

He denied knowing that the victim was 14 years old and claimed he wouldn’t have gotten involved with him if he knew that, police said.

Leonard was charged with risk of injury to a minor and sexual assault in the fourth degree.

He posted a $10,000 bond and police are continuing to investigate.

No mug shot has been released.
 

Police arrested a West Hartford man Saturday after a sexual assault incident involving an underage victim, police said.

Steven Contreras, 21, of Crosby Street in West Hartford, faces charges of first-degree sexual assault, injury or risk of injury or impairing morals, first-degree unlawful restraint, second-degree strangulation, second-degree threatening and second-degree harassment. Police arrested him at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday at his home.

West Hartford police declined to release further information because the victim is a juvenile.

Police set his bond at $1.75 million and he is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 19.

After RadioShack filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the weekend, Connecticut's attorney general and consumer protection department commissioner are advising residents with gift cards, certificates or store credits to use them and make any returns as soon as possible. 

The electronics company, which has been in business for 94 years, plans on selling to up to 2,400 of its stores after filing for bankruptcy on Saturday, Feb. 7. There are about 59 RadioShack locations in Connecticut.

Stores will likely close between Feb. 17 and March 31, state Attorney General George  Gepsen and Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan A. Harris said in a press release.

"The rule of thumb with gift cards is to always use them as soon you can after purchase or receipt as a gift because, if a store closes or goes bankrupt, there may be little to no recourse to recover an unspent gift card balance," Gepsen said. "If you currently have a RadioShack gift card, you should use it immediately to avoid losing what credit it may contain."

RadioShack is accepting returns until March 7. Gift cards will be accepted for 30 days after the bankruptcy filing date and must be used before March 7 to ensure they won't lose their value. Items will be sold "as-is" during store closing sales, but can be returned seven days after purchase if they have "latent defects," according to a news release from Gepsen and Harris.

"As the Attorney General advised, use your gift cards immediately,” Harris said. “While Connecticut gift cards don’t expire, businesses can and do fail unexpectedly. In fact, I lost the value on a gift card after a company closed its doors. Also, if you plan to return a Radio Shack item that you recently bought, bring it back immediately to the store where you made the purchase. Finally, inspect any items you’ve bought from Radio Shack to ensure that they work; otherwise you may miss the opportunity to return them if they don’t function as they should.”

RadioShack has approval to begin "immediate closing liquidation sales," according to Gepsen and Harris.