The Texas 4A softball championship game in Austin between Needville High School and Huffman Hargrave High School on Saturday turned ugly when Needville's catcher used some techniques normally reserved for the football field.

As a Huffman Hargrave runner (in black and red) rounded third and headed for home, Needville catcher Megan Crosby stepped into the baseline — without the ball — and threw her elbow into the base runner, knocking her off her feet, NBC affiliate KBMT reported.

Then, later in the game, she did it again.

In each instance, the stunned runners picked themselves off the dirt, touched home plate, and walked back to their dugout without an attempt at retaliation.

Huffman Hargrave's third-base coach protested to the umpire —  who appeared to have seen at least one of the collisions — but he said nothing. The University Interscholastic League, which organizes the championship games, also chose not to take action, KBMT reported.

Despite Needville's, ahem, aggressive tactics, Huffman Hargrave got the last laugh: The ladies in black and red claimed the state championship crown, 6-4.

A driver under 18 crashed a stolen car into a utility pole in Waterbury Wednesday night, closing North Main Street in Waterbury, police said.

The vehicle was traveling south on the road when it lost control near Grassy Hill Road and struck a utility pole.

There were some injuries, but police said they weren't of a serious nature.

The road will likely be closed most of Wednesday evening, police said.

A 16-year-old male jogger is in the hospital after being struck by a car in Portland Monday evening that fled the scene.

Police received reports of an accident involving a car and pedestrian at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday near 72 Middle Haddam Road.

The teenage boy was running in the eastbound direction on Middle Haddam Road when a car heading the same way hit him on the southern shoulder of the road, police said.

The pedestrian told police the car was a black SUV, possibly a GMC.

The hit-and-run car didn't leave any debris behind at the scene, police said.

The jogger was transported to Victim Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. His condition is unknown at this time.

Portland police ask anyone with information to call Officer Ahlquist at 860-342-6780.

State police are looking for a man suspected of breaking into a car at an Ellington park, stealing a purse and using one of the debit cards to purchase items.

State police and Ellington's resident trooper responded to Brookside Park in Ellington at about 7:20 p.m. on June 5 after receiving a reort about a larceny in a motor vehicle. When they arrived they found the rear passenger-side window of a Mini Cooper smashed and the owner's purse was gone, state police said.

The purse was later found at Mr. Sparkle Car Wash in Vernon, but an unknown amount of cash and two debit cards were still missing.

Someone used one of the debit cards at Kohl's and Bob's stores in Manchester later that day, state police said.

Then on June 8, state police identified a possible suspect in surveillance footage at the two stores. They described him as a 6-foot-tall man in his late 20s or early 30s who appears to be left-handed. The person bought a Nespresso Espresso maker at Kohl's and Nike sneakers and polo shirts at Bob's.

State police ask anyone with information to contact them at 860-896-3200 or Trooper Warenda at 860-875-1522. Calls will remain confidential.

It appears Connecticut could soon be home to another celebrity -- model and "America's Got Talent" host, Heidi Klum.

According to the New York Post, Klum has her eye on Tavern Island.

The nearly $11 million private island is off the coast of Rowayton, Connecticut, a section of Norwalk, according to its listing on privateislandsonline.com.

It includes a 6,000-square-foot mansion, a caretaker's cottage, boat house with guest rooms, tea house and garage/cottage with plenty of parking, according to the listing. It also has a pool, according to the New York Post.

The six-bedroom home is Tudor style, was built in the 1900s and has four bathrooms with three half-baths, according to privateislandsonline.com.

The island was home to A-list parties in the '50s and '60s, the New York Post reported. That included the likes of Marilyn Monroe.

A car crashed into a pole and knocked out power to neraly 2,000 in Manchester Wednesday night.

The accident happened near 56 Garden Drive.

There were no serious injuries.

The road is closed in the area as Eversource crews work to restore power.

Indiana's Economic Development Corporation purchased a full page ad in East Coast editions of the Wall Street Journal that takes direct aim at recent tax hikes approved by the Connecticut General Assembly.

The ad reads, "GE, Aetna, and Travelers: We offer our support in the wake of Connecticut's looming tax increase, because friends don't let friends pay higher taxes."

Beneath the statement is the trademark statement of the IEDC, "A state that works."
Joe Brennan, the President of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the group that represents companies in Connecticut, said of the ad, “In my mind it underscores the gravity of the situation.”

The Connecticut General Assembly narrowly passed a two year, $40 billion budget last week that included a new unitary reporting tax for corporations and increased data processing fees slated to go up in one percent increments over the next two fiscal years.

In advance of the budget's passage, GE, Aetna, and Travelers released statements urging the legislature to rethink its position. Aetna and GE went so far as threat to leave Connecticut, while Travelers didn't go that far.

Top Democrats unveiled the new version of the budget more than a month ago but the concerns of business leaders either weren't articulated or they fell on deaf ears during that time.

Governor Dannel Malloy's administration defended the budget deal struck with top Democrats in the General Assembly and a spokesman also criticized Indiana's ad and recent history. Devon Puglia, the governor's Director of Media Relations wrote,

“Let’s be very clear. Connecticut has one of the lowest – one of the lowest – effective corporate tax rates in America, hovering around North Carolina. While we’ve grown more than 75,000 jobs over the past several years, Indiana’s focus is on passing laws that discriminate against sexual orientation. While we have one of the most attractive corporate tax structures in America, Indiana passes some of the most discriminatory laws in the nation. That’s ultimately the contrast we’re talking about here.”

Malloy, it's worth pointing out, banned all state travel to Indiana in March amidt concerns over a "religious freedom" law that many interpreted to allow for discrimination against gays.
On the issue of courting business to Connecticut, Brennan with CBIA said he's not sure that rolling back the tax proposals would move the needle with companies already looking to move elsewhere.

“It’s not about taxes at this point" Brennan said. "This is really the tipping point. It’s years of frustration doing business here. I think people realize that our business climate is viewed nationally as one of the poorest in the country.”

Republicans in the Connecticut Senate who were shut out during budget negotiations that led to the tax deal said they fear a potential "mass exodus" could happen in Connecticut.
Sen. Kevin Witkos, (R - Canton) said, “We’ve got a bullseye on our back if you will so every state is going to come in and start poaching off Connecticut businesses.”
 

The city council in West Haven held a special meeting Wednesday night on plans for the first phase of the Haven, a proposed multimillion dollar outlet mall.

The site along the West River would generate jobs and tax revenue as the home of The Haven but the project extends all the way to First Avenue, where now sit dozens of homes. Down Richards Place lives a woman whose daughter in law says has been told she has to sell out.

"Nobody wants to leave their house if they've been there for so long," said Jessica Pereira. "She doesn't think it's a good idea but she has no choice."

First Avenue where Joel Kaletsky heads for home is as far west as the mall will go.

Joel Kaletsky, of West Haven, said, "We do need a boost in our economy and I think it would be beautiful with the amphitheater we were told and a hundred and something stores and the boats and the restaurants, I applaud it, I say yes."

For his neighbors in these homes on the mall side of the street he does feel bad. They're not necessarily against the mall.

Marion Snipes, of West Haven, said. "It's a good idea but they have to treat the people right that own the properties, up and down this street."

He's lived here for seven years and he worries authorities will make way for the mall by resorting to eminent domain.

"And then just give us whatever - you know some of these people have been here for fifty years, two generations, they got grandparents, kids, families that live here. We got up and move?" Snipes said.

People in New Haven looking for work can expect some openings at Yale, where the university wants to hire hundreds of city residents.

In a letter to city officials Yale makes a commitment to hire 500 city residents over the next two years, "to build an even stronger New Haven."

One hundred would be construction workers if the unions permit. Yale hopes the unions would train a hundred New Haven residents so they could work at Yale.

New Haven County's latest unemployment rate is 5.8 percent.
 

Ruby Evans witnessed a van hit a police car in Jackson, Mississippi on Monday, sending the cruiser careening into a utility pole and injuring the officer — but it's Evans' on-camera reaction to the crash that's getting all the attention.

"The police car just twist around like a tornado, girl!" Evans, who witnessed the accident, told NBC affiliate WLBT.

"I guess the police was trying to do a stop point, the man said 'No! Not today!' And they began to race behind each other like cats and dogs," Evans said. "Girl, he hit the pole, his head went to one side and his body went to the other side and this is the result. Lord, be with this young man, he need a blessing."

Here's the police version of the incident: A Jackson State University police officer was pursuing a van north of the university campus when the van plowed into a Jacksonville Police Department officer in his squad car, police spokesperson Colendula Green said. The squad car careened into a utility pole, injuring the officer inside.

But that formal recount of events pales in comparison to Evans' description of the crash.

"What I [saw] was that the police officer was merging toward the front. And the car gunned a little right and then the police officer kind of submerged and both of them interacted and it was a full twist about.... And the lord just shook it up and the man just got injured."

The officer, a 10-year veteran of the force, was set to be released from the hospital Wednesday, WLBT reported.

Nine people were shot, including one person who was killed, early Thursday morning at a housing complex in Bridgeport and police are searching for those responsible.

Police responded to a call reporting shots fired around 1 a.m. in the Trumbull Gardens affordable housing complex at 455-472 Trumbull Avenue. When officers arrived, they found six men and three women who had been shot.

One of the victims was an elderly women who was hit in the back by a stray bullet while she was taking a bath in her apartment, police said.

Six of the victims were taken to St. Vincent's Hospital and three others were taken to Bridgeport Hospital.

A male victim who was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital was pronounced dead, according to police officials. He is described only as a man in his 40s.

The condition of the other victims is unknown. 

Interstate 84 East is congested between exit 40 in West Hartford to exit 48 in Hartford because of a crash involving a tractor-trailer and a box truck.

No additonal information was immediately available.

State police have responded to Interstate 95 North in Stonington after a truck rolled over and diesel fuel spilled.

State police said the rollover was in the left lane of the highway, between exits 90 and 91.

A wrecker will be responding and lane closures are possible.

No injuries are reported.

An East Haven, Connecticut, mother has been charged with the murders of her two young children, who were found in the family's home last Tuesday.

Police said they obtained an arrest warrant and charged LeRoya Moore, 36, of Strong Street in East Haven, with two counts of murder and three counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree in connection with the deaths of her children, Aleisha Moore, 6, and Daaron Moore, 8.

Police responded to the Moore home on Tuesday, June 2, after receiving a call for a medical emergency. 

Two 911 calls released the next day were from one of LeRoya's friends who was call from outside the house and told dispatchers she had received a letter from the mother that said she planned on committing suicide. The friend told police she had called the mother to come over, but that she couldn't leave, so the friend drove straight to her house and LeRoya wouldn't let her in. She was able to re-establish phone contact with LeRoya. The friend went on to tell dispatchers that the mother told her over the phone that she'd cut herself and that she couldn't come in because her children were lying down inside, according to the recorded calls. That's when the friend called 911.

When police responded, they used the friend's home to contact LeRoya again and got her to come out of the house. They noticed cut marks on her wrists. Police and firefighters went in the home to look for the children and found an active gas leak before discovering the two children's bodies. 

Both children, who were fully clothed and on top of a blanket on the floor, appeared to have been dead for "an extended period of time."

"Their bodies were bloated to the point the skin appeared to be split and an odor consistent with that of human decomposition filled the residence," police said in the affadavit.

No one else was found in the home.

Police found 46 bottles and boxes of medication, some of those near the children, and believe their death was the result of poisoning.

When police spoke with LeRoya Moore, she was despondent and when police asked where the children was located, she said, "I stabbed them, I released them" and nodded when asked if she hurt her children, according to the affadavit.

During a news conference earlier in the week, they said it appeared the gas had been turned on, but that it was unclear. Moore told police she had opened the gas line.

After the incident, an ambulance took Moore to Yale-New Haven Hospital to be treated for injuries on her arms and wrists. She was arrested after being released from medical treatment.

Police obtained a search and seizure warrant on June 2 and searched the house with the help of state police.

During the initial walk-through, police found a typed document on the ground near the children's feet signed with her signature. The letter said "I don't know the reason why, but we were meant to die today" and that "they should not  be left to burden anyone because I am the only one who could love them like a mother. Not an institution or a social woker," adding that she let them have fun right before the end, according to court documents. The letter also said, "my older kids escaped the same fate because I was too depressed to move to make it happen."

The Department of Children and Families has been investigating Moore since 1997 and the three oldest of her five children were removed from the home by DCF, according to the arrest warrant. But Aleisha and Daaron were left with their mother.

"You kind of heard what might of happened, but you never actually expect what the details were," Lisa Criscuolo, a neighbor, said.

The children's father, Michael Moore, of Bridgeport, spoke with NBC Connecticut last Thursday and said his children were always smiling when they were with him.

"I always promised to do right by them and that 'Daddy wanted to make you smile one more time before you're home,' " Moore said, tearing up about the tragedy.

Autopsies were performed on the children, but the exact cause of death is still pending toxicology results.

Outside of the children's Strong Street home, neighbors are still stopping by and dropping off teddy bears and balloons as the community mourns.

"Just dropping off a teddy bear because they didn't they didn't deserve that," Dennis Marshall, a neighbor, said.

East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo said he continue "to send my sincere sympathy and
condolences to the friends and family of the victims."

"I would also like to extend my deep appreciation to the East Haven Police Department,
particularly the Detective Bureau with the assistance of the States Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Medical Examiner and the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit, for their diligence and hard work," Maturo said.

Moore was placed on a $2 million court set bond and was arraigned in court Wednesday afternoon. She has been placed on mental health watch and her next court date is June 23.

Police have arrested a man in a hit-and-run accident that killed a 67-year-old woman in Hamden last October.

Clinton police apprehended Akinei Burrus, 38, of New Haven, and Hamden police arrested him May 27 in connection to the fatal crash that killed Doris Gonzalez, 67, police said.

Gonzalez and her husband, 67-year-old Emilio Gonzalez, were on the way to their Hillcrest Avenue home when they were hit while crossing Dixwell Avenue near Haig Street at 8:10 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2014

Burruss fled the scene, according to police. 

Doris Gonzalez, a recent retiree from Covidien in New Haven, was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Emilio Gonzalez, who also recently retired from Coviden, was knocked out and taken to the hospital, but has been released, according to family members.

Police charged Burruss with felony evading responsibility and he appeared in court on Tuesday.

A car rear-ended a school bus carrying Platt Technical High School at Campbell Avenue and Abner Street in West Haven around 7:30 a.m., according to police.

Police said the crash was minor and no injuries are reported. The bus was carrying about 40 students.
No additional information was immediately available.

Survey says...!

He's known as a party animal and an extremely kind man when it comes to kids and charity -- not to mention an outstanding football player.

But, Rob Gronkowski may be facing his biggest challenge yet!

The tight end for the New England Patriots and his family will appear on a celebrity edition of "Family Feud."

And, a question about "Deflategate" apparently isn't off limits. 

The show is set to air on June 21 and ESPN received a preview of the star-studded episode.

No. 87 also recently made a cameo (along with Tom Brady) in the film "Entourage," which is in theaters now.

A reporter for a Kansas NBC station faced a new challenge this week: the return of cicadas.

The cicadas, which make appearances every 17 years, have returned with a vengeance. And as reporter Katya Leick stood atop a tank to deliver a report, screams ensued as the bugs flew around her.

“Let’s just get done so I can get out of here,” she said, as she swatted at the bugs with her microphone.

Eventually, she delivered the reporter and escaped from the cicada swarm.

Rupert Murdoch is preparing to hand over the CEO job at Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. to his son, James, the company's news channel Fox News reported Thursday.

Rupert Murdoch, 84, one of the world's most powerful media barons, remains the chairman and controlling shareholder of the company behind Fox News Channel, Fox broadcast network and the 20th Century Fox movie studio, through a family trust that owns shares. He has been CEO since 1979 and chairman since 1991.

Fox News reported the pending move on its website Thursday, attributing the announcement to Rupert Murdoch. CNBC first reported the story based on sources who requested anonymity.

James Murdoch, 42, is the company's co-chief operating officer. His brother Lachlan, 43, currently non-executive co-chairman at Fox, will become executive co-chairman along with his father, according to Fox's story.

Spokespeople for 21st Century Fox did not respond to several requests by The Associated Press for comment.

Rupert Murdoch's company started with a single newspaper in his native Australia. He grew it across many media platforms in Britain, the U.S., Germany, Italy and India.

By creating the Fox network in the U.S., he shook up broadcast television. Then he tackled cable TV with Fox News.

But his newspapers have had a harder time. A phone hacking scandal in the U.K. stung the company. Under pressure from investors, he split the original News Corp. into print and entertainment companies in 2013.

Rupert Murdoch is also the executive chairman at News Corp., the company that now contains The Wall Street Journal and New York Post newspapers and book publisher HarperCollins.

Milford police have arrested a man of holding up a customer at a Milford Panera and stealing $6 and an electronic benefits card.

Police identified the suspect as Robert Dileonardo, 31, of Norwalk, and said he approached a customer at the Panera Bread at 1201 Boston Post Road on Wednesday, handed her a note saying he had a gun, and demanded money.

After getting $6 and an electronic benefits card, he fled and was taken into custody at another business on the Boston Post Road, police said.

Dileonardo was charged with first-degree robbery, sixth-degree larceny and interfering with police.

Police said there were also two outstanding warrants for Dileonardo for two counts of second-degree failure to appear in court.

Dileonardo was held in lieu of $25,990 bond and is expected to be arraigned at Milford