One person is dead after a tractor-trailer hit a bridge abutment on Interstate 95 North in Westport late Friday morning, according to state police.
Emergency crews responded to the Sasco Creek Road overpass, between exits 18 and 19, at 11:43 a.m. and firefighters worked to extricate the driver.
There have been heavy traffic through the day.
Police are notifying the victim's family, so they have not yet released the person's name.
Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, freed last weekend in a prisoner swap with Iran, was aboard a flight back to the U.S. on Friday, NBC News reported.
Rezaian, who spent 18 months in an Iranian prison and was one of five Americans released last Saturday after months of delicate diplomacy with Tehran, gave no indication where exactly he was headed in a statement put out by his family.
"At some point, I will be ready to discuss my ordeal, but for now, I just want to express my profound appreciation for the tremendous support I have received," Rezaian, 39, said in the statement. "I am humbled by all I have learned about the efforts undertaken on my behalf."
With a potentially historic blizzard threatening the East Coast, the best thing to do once the snow begins to fall is to stay home. Winter storms contribute to more than 2,000 road deaths every winter and nearly half a million crashes, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
But if you do have to drive in possibly treacherous conditions, here are some tips for remaining safe on the road from the AAA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
BEFORE THE SNOW
DURING THE SNOW
AFTER THE SNOW
The former property manager of a Hamden apartment complex has been arrested and is accused of stealing a wallet from a resident’s apartment.
Police responded to Sutton View Apartments, at 720 Mix Ave., at 2:24 p.m. on Thursday to investigate the report of a burglary and a 34 year-old woman said someone took her wallet while she was sleeping, but there were no signs of forced entry.
Police identified Joanne Carusone, a former property manager at the apartment complex, as the suspect and said she used her master key to get into the apartment.
Carusone was charged with second-degree burglary and sixth-degree larceny.
She was detained on a $1,000 bond.
Two people found dead in a home off of Route 44 in North Canaan earlier this month died from mixing morphine, valium and alcohol, according to the medical examiner's office.
Detectives from the Western District Major Crimes Division were at the house investigating and state police said there was no danger to the public, but the cause of death was not available until Friday.
The deaths are considered accidental and the cause was determined to be combined acute morphine, diazepam and alcohol toxicities.
As Connecticut braces for a glancing blow from the blizzard bearing down on the mid-Atlantic, Eversource said the company is closing monitoring the storm’s path and will have crews and staff ready to respond to any damage or outages the storm might cause.
“We prepare year-round for storms like this and are ready to address any damage to the electric system,” Peter Clarke, senior vice president of emergency preparedness for Eversource said in a statement. “While we may not be able to control the weather in New England, we know that our ongoing system improvements are helping us to better handle whatever Mother Nature throws at us.”
High winds can bring down power lines, so the company reminds people to always stay away from any downed lines you see and to report them immediately to 911.
To report a power outage, call Eversource at 1-800-286-2000 or use the “Report an Outage” link at www.eversource.com.
The mayor of Bridgeport has declared a snow emergency for the city, beginning Saturday morning.
Mayor Joe Ganim has declared a snow emergency for the city, which will take effect at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
During the snow emergency, residents must move their cars off posted snow emergency streets.
Alternate side of the street parking rules are in effect as of midnight Friday for all other streets throughout the city so snow plow drivers can clear streets.
Odd side of the street parking is in effect for Saturday. On Sunday, it will be an even-side parking day and alternate side parking will be in effect until further notice.
A list of snow emergency streets can be found on the city’s website here
http://www.bridgeportct.gov/content/89019/89753/95485/95497.aspx
No parking is allowed on snow emergency streets and vehicles left on snow emergency streets after the ban goes into effect will be subject to fines and towing.
Commercial and/or residential owners who push snow into the streets or do not clear snow on the sidewalks in front of their buildings are subject to a $100 fine.
“This is our first significant snowstorm of the current winter season, and we want to make sure everyone is safe and warm. The city of Bridgeport is ready to keep the roads clear and handle whatever emergencies arise,” Ganim said in a statement. “I want to encourage everyone who can to stay indoors and off the roadways. If you need to travel, please drive slowly and watch out for pedestrians. I also want to remind any pedestrians walking in the roadways due to non-shoveled sidewalks to please stay alert to on-coming traffic. I am also asking all property owners to please shovel the sidewalks around your homes and help clear snow around the fire hydrants to insure access for the fire department in the case of a fire.”
During the storm, residents can call the Bridgeport Emergency Operations Center hotline at 203-579-3829 with any snow related emergencies.
Any residents who lose power can call the United Illuminating customer hotline at 800-722-5584.
Snow emergency parking areas are available throughout the City. A full list of parking areas can be found here
http://www.bridgeportct.gov/content/89019/89753/95485/95501.aspx.
Parking in the school parking lots listed will be permitted, beginning this evening.
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School officials have alerted parents that a man suspected of driving up to two high school students at a bus stop in West Hartford and masturbating has been arrested and police now say this might not be only incident.
Nicholas Webb, 32, is accused of driving up to two juveniles on Richard Street and South Quaker Lane earlier in January and telling the victims they were "beautiful" as he masturbated, the juveniles told West Hartford police.
Police said Webb eventually drove off, but not before the students got a description of him and his car.
According to West Hartford police, the description of the driver and car were similar to other cases in West Hartford and other communities are also investigating similar incidents.
Webb was charged with risk of injury/impairing morals, public indecency and breach of peace.
He was unable to make the court set bond of $200,000 and he's scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.
In 2010, Webb was convicted for risk of injury stemming from a New Britain arrest.
A Michigan resident has died due to a multistate outbreak of listeria linked to packaged salads produced at a Dole processing facility in Springfield, Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
In all, 12 people have been infected with the outbreak in six states since July 5 2015. In Michigan and in New York, four infected people were reportedly hospitalized, while Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Indiana and New Jersey each saw one case of hospitalization due to listeria.
According to the CDC, the ages of those infected range from 3 years old to 83 years old.
Dole notified the CDC on Thursday that it had shut down its Ohio plant and was withdrawing all packaged salads produced there, the agency said on Friday.
Packaged salads produced at Dole's Springfield facility were sold under various brand names including Fresh Selections, Simple Truth, Marketside, The Little Salad Bar, President's Choice and the company's namesake.
The CDC says consumers can identify these packaged salads by the letter "A" at the beginning of the manufacturing code found on the packet. The agency urged consumers to not eat the salad, and advised retailers and restaurants to not sell them.
The federal monitoring agency noted that there is no evidence suggesting that packaged salads from other Dole facilities are linked to the illness.
The CDC has been collaborating with public health officials in several states and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate the listeria outbreak since September 2015, the agency said.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture tested a Dole brand Field Greens packaged salad from a retailer in the state and found that it was contaminated with listeria. Laboratory tests showed that the strain of listeria from the packaged salad was "highly related genetically" to the strain found in the consumers who were hospitalized. The tested packaged salad was produced at the Springfield, Ohio, Dole processing facility, the ODA said.
State police have arrested a 24-year-old Virginia man who is accused of sexually assaulting a teen in Hebron.
The sexual assault was reported in June and police identified Albert Bustamante, 24, of the Norfolk Naval Shipyards in Portsmouth, Virginia, as the suspect.
What connection he has to the naval shipyard, if any, is not clear.
Police arrested Bustamante around 8:50 a.m. on Thursday and charged him with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.
Bond was set at $500,000.
He was held at Hartford Correctional and transported to Rockville Superior Court.
Two people are seriously injured after being hit by a car in Stamford on Thursday afternoon, police said.
Police said Bruce Goldstein, 55, and Sharon Aks, 57, both of Stamford, were hit by a car at High Ridge Road and Square Acre Drive, near the High Ridge Center shopping center, just after 3:30 p.m.
Goldstein and Aks were trying to cross High Ridge Road in a crosswalk when a 35-year-old Stamford man driving a 2015 Audi hit them after leaving High Ridge Center, according to police.
Police are investigating and no charges have been filed
Anyone who witnessed the crash should call Officer Jeffrey Booth or Officer Richard Dabrowski at (203) 977-4712.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old Manchester boy who is accused of burglarizing six cars in Glastonbury during one night in December.
The teen, who has not been identified because of his age, was charged in connection with the overnight burglaries between Dec. 7 and Dec. 8.
He has been charged with three counts of burglary, two counts of sixth-degree larceny, one count of fifth-degree larceny and several counts of conspiracy to commit larceny.
He has been released on a written promise to appear.
Police said the teen and an accomplice broke into unlocked cars and stole valuables, as well as one vehicle.
Hartford Police Department stopped them just before noon on Dec. 8 and said they were driving the stolen vehicle.
Police recovered items stolen during the Glastonbury burglaries, as well as items stolen from a motor vehicle burglary in East Hartford, police said.
The suspected accomplice was previously arrested in connection with the six burglaries.
DISH Network Corp. could face up to $24 billion in fines for violating national Do-Not-Call registry laws, NBC News reported.
The company is on trial in Illinois, where a U.S. district court judge is hearing the case without a jury.
A number of state attorneys general joined the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission in a 2009 lawsuit, accusing DISH of being responsible for more than 57 million unwanted telemarketing calls.
The lawsuit claims DISH and its vendors violated various state statutes by hiring third-party vendors who called numbers on the Do-Not-Call registry list.
Violations that took place before February 2009 could lead to $11,000 in fines per violation. Anything after that date could cost up to $16,000 per violation.
U.S. stocks closed higher Friday, marking the first positive week in 2016, thanks to a recovery in oil prices, CNBC reported.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed higher, with gains from energy leading all sectors higher. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average closed about 210 points higher. The Dow gained more than 250 points earlier.
Oil closed just above $33 a barrel after hitting multiyear lows this week.
"I think it's all about oil today," said Chris Gaffney, president at EverBank World Markets. "We were able to continue a rally in oil or at least have oil stop falling and come back up a bit. That's got equity investors dipping their toes in the market again.”
A single-car crash closed Route 8 North in Torrington on Friday night.
State police said the northbound lanes were closed by Exit 43 while a LifeStar helicopter landed to transport a patient from the accident.
The highway reopened around 5:20 p.m.
There is no word on additional injuries.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has hired an out-of-state public relations firm that specializes in crisis management, NBC News reported.
Mercury LLC bills itself as a “high stakes public strategy firm,” and said in a statement it is not being paid with state funds. The company has offices from New York to London, but none in Michigan.
Snyder’s office did not provide comment on the scope of the company’s duties or who is footing the bill.
An email from a Mercury vice president sent Friday included links to stories about failures by the Environmental Protection Agency in Flint as well as those with positive coverage of Snyder.
Snyder has been under intense scrutiny for his handling of the Flint water crisis.
The City of New Haven is ready to roll out more than 50 trucks to remove snow from city roadways this weekend.
"Our hope is after this is over we’ll be able to get roads open as quickly as possible where people can traverse through the city without a problem," Deputy Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana said.
Officials from police, fire and other city department met Friday afternoon at the Emergency Operations Center to review preparations for this weekend’s winter weather. There are varying snow model forecasts, but the shoreline is expected to be the hardest hit part of Connecticut with projections from half a foot to 10 inches of snow.
This will be the first storm during which New Haven utilizes new snow clearing equipment and the newly installed blue lights reminding residents of parking bans.
"We take this very seriously," Fontana said, "We’re going to prepare as we’re getting a major snowstorm and if we need to scale it back we’ll scale it back, but we’re not going to get caught with not preparing for what could be here."
A partial parking ban will be imposed in New Haven starting 12:00 a.m. Sunday through noon on Sunday. That applies to the area encircled by Howe Street, MLK Boulevard, State Street and Grove Street and posted Snow Emergency Routes.
New Haven residents are encouraged to call 203-946-8221 or the city’s Snow Line at 203-946-SNOW with any storm-related parking questions.
New Haven Police had this reminder for anyone who hires a private contractor to clear the snow.
"You cannot plow onto the city streets," Officer David Hartman said, "There is nothing that is worse other than the storm itself."
Crews at the New Haven Department of Public works were busy loading salt and sand into the fleet of 32 trucks. A representative from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees said five to 10 smaller trucks will be made available to help clear narrower neighborhood streets.
New Haven Public Schools has already cancelled all weekend activities and SAT testing scheduled for Saturday has been postponed. New Haven Free Public Library is closing all branches on Saturday.
"It’s Connecticut, it’s New England, you know it’s part of you live here and you learn to love it," Frank Casner from Canaan said, "I’d be happy to see a little bit, just enough where it don’t snarl anything, nobody gets hurt, but its winter time, it would be nice to see some white."
The New Haven Fire Department is asking residents to help clear snow from around fire hydrants near their homes.
Cites across Connecticut are bracing themselves for the winter storm.
Only a matter of miles in movement from the storm could determine how much snow the residents of Norwich get.
It’s why Emergency Management officials are gearing up all agencies to be ready.
"The fire services, the police services, at what point parking bans are going to go into effect; staging of apparatus and staffing with supplemental personnel," said Gene Arters, Emergency Management Director of Norwich.
The Public Works Department has all 26 salt trucks filled with salt, approximately 120-tons worth (and that's only for their first round).
"Everybody is on call when we see the need to bring folks in we’ll start making calls and everybody will be in within 45 minutes. We’ve already assigned all the routes and put the roster together," said Director of Public Works, Ryan Thompson.
There’s also an extra 5,000 gallons of extra fuel public works has available just in case.
The city also has 16 shelters on stand-by. EMA has filled up a trailer with everything they believe people may need if they have to go to a shelter: wheelchairs, cots, blankets, food and water.
EMA officials say the public can help get ready for the storm, too.
"If the public can do nothing more than bring in all of their recycling containers and trash cans, that is a substantial mitigation with the amount of trash being propelled out into the highways," said Arters.
Norwich city officials are also asking people to follow the parking ban.
"Stay off the roads if you don’t need to be on the roads and you know just be safe. Let the plows do their job," said Thompson.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expanded its Takata air bag recall to include 5 million more vehicles on Friday, NBC News reported.
The new recall comes after federal regulators confirmed that a 10th death was caused by defective Takata air bags.
The defective air bags can inflate with explosive force in collisions, spraying shrapnel into vehicle cabins.
The latest recall announced includes 1 million vehicles with SDI driver’s side inflators and 4 million with PSDI-5 driver’s side inflators. The vehicles include Mazda, Ford, Audi and Volkswagen.
