SeaWorld announced Thursday that it will be taking a "new direction" amid changing social attitudes and end its orca whale breeding programs, NBC News reported. 

The company, which has 24 whales at three parks in California, Texas and Florida, said the current orcas in its care would be SeaWorld's last generation.

"SeaWorld has been listening and we're changing," the company said in a statement. "Society is changing and we're changing with it. SeaWorld is finding new ways to continue to deliver on our purpose to inspire all our guests to take action to protect wild animals and wild places."

Joel Manby, president and CEO of SeaWorld, wrote in an op-ed article in the Los Angeles Times that its existing whales would remain in captivity because setting them free in the wild was "not a wise option."

SeaWorld announced Thursday it will end orca breeding at all three parks and said killer whales currently in the company's care will be the last generation of orcas at SeaWorld.

The changes will start in the San Diego park in 2017, followed by San Antonio and Orlando in 2019.

In a news release, SeaWorld announced that all orcas currently in captivity — including Tilikum, whose life was chronicled in the controversial documentary "Blackfish" — will live out their lives at the company's park habitats.

The animals will receive care based on the latest advances in marine veterinary medicine, science and zoological best practices, SeaWorld said Thursday.

Visitors will still be able to see the orcas through new educational encounters and in viewing areas within their existing habitats.

SeaWorld officials said they haven't collected an orca from the wild in nearly 40 years, and that the orcas at SeaWorld were all either born there or have spent almost their entire lives there being cared for by humans.

They said the orcas wouldn't survive in the wild.

"SeaWorld has introduced more than 400 million guests to orcas, and we are proud of our part in contributing to the human understanding of these animals," said SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby in a statement. "As society’s understanding of orcas continues to change, SeaWorld is changing with it. By making this the last generation of orcas in our care and reimagining how guests will encounter these beautiful animals, we are fulfilling our mission of providing visitors to our parks with experiences that matter."

The park is also pledging $50 million over the next five years to advocate for the end of commercial killing of whales and seals and to end shark finning.

Tilikum has been at SeaWorld Orlando for 23 years and has been used many times for the park's breeding program.

In 2010, he grabbed trainer Dawn Brancheau after a "Dine with Shamu" show and pulled her into a pool, killing her. He was also involved in the deaths of two others.

Officials announced last Monday that Tilikum is very sick from a bacterial infection that may eventually kill him.

Stay with NBC 6 for updates.

Two residents and three firefighters have been taken to the hospital after a fire destroyed the house at 969 Pequot Trail in Stonington on Thursday morning.

The report of fire came in around 7:25 a.m. and the caller said someone was still in the house, Southington police said.

When firefighters arrived, everyone was out.

Fire officials said the firefighter's injuries are minor.

Germany closed its two main diplomatic buildings in Turkey after receiving "very serious leads" that terror attacks were being prepared against its interests in the country, Germany's foreign minister said Thursday, NBC News reported.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin that Germany's embassy in Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul — along with German schools across the two cities — had been closed.

"Yesterday evening, our security authorities received several concrete and very serious leads that terror attacks against our German representations in Turkey were being prepared," he said.

A 15-year-old Bloomfield girl has been missing since Wednesday night and a Silver Alert has been issued for her.

Police said Tam-Naja Benson was last seen around 8 p.m. on Wednesday and her foster mother reported her missing.

Tam-Naja is around 5-feet-10 and weighs 140 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on where she is should call Bloomfield police at 860-242-5501.

Route 85 in Bolton is closed after a crash.

State police said the crash happened in the area of Camp Meeting Road and Route 85.

No additional information was immediately available.

Check back for updates.

The dollar tumbled on Thursday, lifting world shares to their highest level of the year, after the Federal Reserve scaled down its own expectations of the number of U.S. rate hikes likely over the next nine months, NBC News reported.

The fed cut its forecast from four hikes to two for the year, triggering a slump in the dollar and a surge in risk appetite that rolled from Wall Street to Asia and then into Europe, where London, Frankfurt and Paris opened 0.5 to 0.8 percent higher and bond yields fell.

Commodity markets cheered too. Brent oil jumped over $41 a barrel as a number of large producers also nailed down a date for an output freeze meeting.

An 11-year-old New York City boy sneaked a loaded gun into his Queens elementary school Tuesday police said. 

Police were called to PS 40 in Jamaica, Queens, at about 1 p.m. Tuesday after school safety officers found a loaded 9-millimeter High Point gun in the boy's backpack, police said.

Other students had alerted the safety officers.

The gun belonged to the boy's grandfather, 54-year-old Kenneth Miley, according to police. Miley was arrested on criminal possession of a weapon, child endangerment and other charges.

Attorney information for Miley wasn't immediately available. He was set to be arraigned Wednesday.

At the address listed for Miley, a man whom neighbors said lived at the home with his family, refused to comment and threatened to throw a garbage can at an NBC 4 New York photographer.

No charges have been filed against the boy.

The Department of Education said in a statement it was working with police to investigate the "disturbing" and "alarming" incident, and that the school notified families on Tuesday and were providing additional staff to provide ongoing support.

But one parent at the school Wednesday was upset at school officials, saying he was never notified of the alarming incident. Instead, Anthony Armstead said he found out from his 8-year-old son.

"That could have been one of my kids killed," said Armstead.

The union that represents school safety officers warned that more incidents like this are on the horizon if a proposal to remove metal detectors and scanners from schools is approved.

"You're going to see more firearms, more knives," said Derek Jackson of school safety officers' union Local 237. "People get injured. God forbid people get killed."

The mayor's spokesman responded in a statement that Mayor de Blasio "believes that we must look closely at school safety data and determine a clear protocol before examining the removal of scanners."

Metal detectors are not in use in elementary schools but officers can scan kids if they become suspicious.

"It's crazy for an elementary school," said parent Reynaldo Toro. "I don't even know how to feel about that."

A 16-year-old in Ohio has died after being injured in a freak accident during a basketball game with friends at a local church.

Noah Lear, a junior at Bucyrus High School, was playing basketball with friends on Feb. 27 at Calvary Baptist Church when the post snapped in half, causing the backboard and hoop to come crashing down onto his face, NBC affiliate WCMH reported.

Before going to a local hospital, Lear was conscious and called his mother, the station reported.

"He just said that he had an accident and his mouth was bleeding really bad and he knocked a few teeth out. He said the police were with him and he was being taken to the hospital," his mother, Melissa Griffin, told The Galion Inquirer. "When he went to dunk the ball, the whole thing-post, backboard and rim, came down on him."

When he arrived at Bucyrus Community Hospital, Lear was still talking and apologized to his mother for the accident, the paper reported. He then went into cardiac arrest and oxygen was cut off to his brain.

The boy was airlifted to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus and placed in a medically induced coma, according to WCMH.

Last Thursday, the family received the heartbreaking phone call they hoped wouldn’t come. 

"We were told that due to the lack of oxygen to his brain, the part that controls the body’s vitals such as blood pressure, heart rate and temperature, is no longer working," Griffin the Galion Inquirer.

On a Facebook page created for Lear, his family announced he had passed Wednesday morning surrounded by loved ones and mementoes from friends.

"After fighting valiantly for 18 days, Noah has taken his last breath. He is no longer in pain," the post read.

"He has left his mark on so many people in this world in his short life. Since his accident he has brought his friends, his family, his community, and many others throughout our world together. His accident has touched so many," the family wrote. "It has reminded us all that anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Noah spent his life trying to make others happy and standing up for what he felt to be right. He put 110% into being the best he could be."

According to his family, Lear will help save the lives of others as an organ donor. A GoFundMe has been started for the family.

One person was transported from the scene of a school bus crash in Somers.

The crash happened at 8:45 a.m. at Main Street and 9th District Road, according to police.

The scene has cleared and no information was available on whether students were on the bus.

Secretary of State John Kerry declared Thursday that ISIS has been committing genocide in Iraq and Syria.

Using another name for the Sunni militant group, Kerry said, "Daesh kills Christians because they are Christians, Yazidis because they are Yazidis and Shia because they are Shia."

He said the group is "genocidal by self-proclamation, its ideology and by its actions" and that the international community must preserve what the militants are trying to "erase."

The designation marks just the second time a U.S. administration has declared that a genocide was being committed during an ongoing conflict. The first genocide designation during a time of war was in 2004, when Secretary of State Colin Powell determined that atrocities being committed in Sudan's Darfur region constituted genocide.

Congress had put mounting pressure on the State Department to label ISIS atrocities a genocide and set a March 17 deadline for Kerry to determine his findings.

A report ranked the top 25 best places to live in Connecticut.

The cities and towns were graded on on "livability" score put out by AreaVibes.com. The higher the livability score, the "better" the place is to live, the company says. 

According to the site, places are scored on whether it has "lots of local amenities, low crime rates, inexpensive cost of living, great schools, low unemployment rates, affordable housing and sunny weather."

AreaVibes uses data provided by the U.S. Census, Google Places, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, Council for Community and Economic Research, United States Environmental Protection Agency and the National Weather Service. 

Check out the list of best places to live in Connecticut and their scores:

1) Darien 

Livability Score: 86

Cost of Living: 117% higher than state average
Crime: 58% lower than state average
Education: 14% higher than state average

2) Riverside

Livability Score: 85

Cost of Living: 99% higher than state average
Crime: 65% lower than state average
Education: 15% higher than state average

3) Westport

Livability Score: 85

Cost of Living: 98% higher than state average
Crime: 41% lower than state average
Education: 13% higher than state average 

4) Ridgefield

Livability Score: 84

Cost of Living: 40% higher than state average
Crime: 88% lower than state average
Education: 13% higher than state average 

5) Old Greenwich

Livability Score: 84

Cost of Living: 102% higher than state average
Crime: 68% lower than state average
Education: 15% higher than state average 

6) Cos Cob

Livability Score: 84

Cost of Living: 66% higher than state average
Crime: 68% lower than state average
Education: 11% higher than state average 

7) Southport

Livability Score: 84

Cost of Living: 43% higher than state average
Crime: 86% lower than state average
Education: 13% higher than state average 

8) Greenwich

Livability Score: 83

Cost of Living: 64% higher than state average
Crime: 64% lower than state average
Education: 8% higher than state average 

9) Glenville

Livability Score: 82

Cost of Living: 50% higher than state average
Crime: 84% lower than state average
Education: 11% higher than state average 

10) Mystic

Livability Score: 82

Cost of Living: 11% higher than state average
Crime: 72% lower than state average
Education: 12% higher than state average : 

11) Portland

Livability Score: 82

Cost of Living: 4% higher than state average
Crime: 68% lower than state average
Education: 3% higher than state average 

12) Guilford Center

Livability Score: 82

Cost of Living: 11% higher than state average
Crime: 84% lower than state average
Education: 8% higher than state average 

13) Shelton

Livability Score: 82

Cost of Living: 7% higher than state average
Crime: 54% lower than state average
Education: 4% higher than state average 

14) Pemberwick

Livability Score: 81

Cost of Living: 41% higher than state average
Crime: 81% lower than state average
Education: 4% higher than state average 

15) Essex Village

Livability Score: 81

Cost of Living: 31% higher than state average
Crime: 84% lower than state average
Education: 11% higher than state average 

16) Old Saybrook Center

Livability Score: 81

Cost of Living: 26% higher than state average
Crime: 84% lower than state average
Education: 10% higher than state average 

17) West Hartford

Livability Score: 81

Cost of Living: 2% higher than state average
Crime: 6% lower than state average
Education: 7% higher than state average 

18) Bethel

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 3% higher than state average
Crime: 61% lower than state average
Education: 5% higher than state average 

19) North Haven

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 3% higher than state average
Crime: 12% lower than state average
Education: 6% higher than state average 

20) Madison Center

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 33% higher than state average
Crime: 84% lower than state average
Education: 10% higher than state average 

21) Newtown

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 17% higher than state average
Crime: 70% lower than state average
Education: 7% higher than state average  

22) Glastonbury Center

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 3% higher than state average
Crime: 25% lower than state average
Education: 11% higher than state average 

23) Milford

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 6% higher than state average
Crime: 24% lower than state average
Education: 5% higher than state average 

24) Trumbull

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 20% higher than state average
Crime: 21% lower than state average
Education: 8% higher than state average 

25) Wethersfield

Livability Score: 80

Cost of Living: 3% higher than state average
Crime: 32% lower than state average
Education: 2% higher than state average 

One person is in critical condition after a car and tractor-trailer collided in Torrington.

The crash happened on Winsted Road at Kennedy Road and the person who was driving the car sustained serious injuries and was taken to Waterbury Hospital with head trauma, officials said.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

The accident investigation team was called to investigate.

Two suspects used a sledgehammer to bust an ATM at a Dunkin' Donuts in Columbia, police said.

The pair of suspects broke into the Dunkin' Donuts just before midnight on Wednesday. When the men were inside, they used a sledge hammer and pry bars to open an ATM.

One man was wearing blue jeans, a blue jacket, tan work boots, a ski mask and gloves. The second was wearing blue jeans, a black leather jacket, black gloves and dark colored work boots. 

Anyone with information is asked to call state police. 

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday pushed back on a New York Times report that said President Barack Obama privately told Democratic donors the party should begin to coalesce behind Hillary Clinton, NBC News reported.

Earnest told reporters that Obama "did not indicate or specify a preference in the race."

The newspaper reported Thursday that Obama told donors Bernie Sanders' campaign is nearing its end and Democrats should begin preparing for Clinton's general election run. 

House Speaker Paul Ryan said it was “unacceptable” for Donald Trump to suggest there would be rioting if he is not chosen as the Republican nominee, NBC News reported.

"Nobody should say such things in my opinion because to even address or hint to violence is unacceptable," he told reporters on Capitol Hill.

The Republican presidential front-runner said on CNN Wednesday that “you’d have riots” if he does not win the GOP nomination at the convention in July.

For the first time, Ryan — who will be the chairman of the convention in Cleveland — acknowledged there could be an open convention. He already dismissed the possibility of opposing Trump as the party's nominee. 

Police are looking for the suspect who robbed a Wells Fargo early morning on St. Patrick's Day.

A man threatened to use a bomb when he entered the bank on 224 Chase Avenue in Waterbury. Police say no bomb or other weapons were seen. 

The suspect is described as being in his late teens and standing approximately 6 feet tall. 

He was last seen leaving the bank on foot towards Hill Street. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Waterbury Police. 

Marco Rubio told reporters he planned to leave politics for some time after his current term in the Senate is done, although he offered no other specifics on his future, NBC News reported. 

"I'm going to finish my term here in Senate, work hard and then be private citizen in January," he said. 

Rubio also told reporters he’s ruled out running as vice president for the GOP’s eventual nominee, NBC News reported.

The former presidential candidate and Florida senator told reporters Thursday he wasn’t going to endorse any of the remaining candidates, although he was hopeful Republicans could coalesce around an alternative to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

The University of Missouri professor fired for threatening journalists at a campus protest defended herself in a Washington Post op-ed Thursday, NBC News reported.

Melissa Click, who taught media studies in Mizzou’s school of communications, said she was aware of how someone’s actions could be exposed to public scrutiny, but couldn't understand the “impulse to shame” people, even those with good intentions.

"What would our world be like if no one ever took a chance?" she wrote. "What if everyone played it safe?"

Click came under fire after she was caught on video in November trying to block a student journalist from filming activists gathered on a campus lawn after Mizzou’s president resigned. 

More people live in Groton than in any other town in Southeastern Connecticut, and town government officials are considering raising property taxes more than in most if not any other towns: 8.3 percent.
 
"I try not to think about it because I can't afford an increase. I'm living from my hand to mouth," said Heather Shortman.

Groton has lost some property to demolition at Pfizer. The town government expects less revenue to pay for its programs. The tax increase would keep them going.

"With how bad the state and the town are doing as far as money goes," said Craig Tremblay, "I think it may be appropriate."

Mili Ebbin was also willing to see taxes go up. "I realize we have high taxes because there are a lot of people not paying taxes - renters and so forth," she said. "I'm an owner and I feel obliged to my community."

Even though Rich Boutot lives in Navy housing, he said, "Taxes in Connecticut are ridiculous. This state - if they could find a way to tax you for breathing they would. That's why as soon as I retire from the military, I'm leaving. I retire next month so me and my family will be gone by June."

As the Groton Town Council considers the proposed budget, there's a public hearing scheduled for March 29th.