Quantcast
Channel: NBC Connecticut
Viewing all 57608 articles
Browse latest View live

Mike Pence Says He Will Release Tax Returns Soon

0
0

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence said Saturday he will release his tax returns soon amid calls by critics for Donald Trump to do the same.

Speaking on WABC radio's "Election Central with Rita Cosby," Pence said that the public would not be surprised by the information in his tax records.

"When my tax returns are released it's going to be a quick read … the Pences have not become more wealthy as a result of 16 years in public service," the Indiana governor said.

Trump has repeatedly said he would release his tax returns but has not done so, saying it is because he is under audit. The IRS has said that wouldn't prevent him from releasing his tax returns, NBC News reported.

Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks said Saturday Trump plans to release his returns "when the audit is complete."



Photo Credit: AP

DC Mayor's Son Dies of Overdose

0
0

Marion Christopher Barry, son of the late D.C. mayor, has died after a drug overdose, family members told News4's Tom Sherwood.

Sherwood first reported the story on Twitter just before 6 a.m. Sunday. He said Barry had struggled with drug use and ran unsuccessfully for the Ward 8 Council seat in 2015 after his father, former Mayor Marion Barry, died.

Christopher Barry, 36, was the son of Marion and Effi Barry.

According to a police report, the person who reported Christopher Barry's death said Barry went outside about 12:10 a.m. Sunday to smoke K-2 and PCP. When he returned, Barry was "'acting crazy/different' and then he suddenly 'dropped.'"

Barry was found unconscious and unrepsonsive. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a couple hours later, the report said.

Cora Masters Barry, wife of the former mayor, issued a statement on Sunday.

"Christopher's sudden death has been devastating news to me. My heart is broken. I am in shock. The news of his death is beyond comprehension.

"I would like to thank everyone for their concern and support. I would also like to send my condolences to Mrs. Polly Lee Harris, Christopher's grandmother, for the loss of her only grandchild.

"Please understand that I will not be making any further statements at this time."

Marion Barry was mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. He also served on the Council of the District of Columbia for three terms, one as an at-large member and two serving Ward 8.

His prominance as mayor and a civil rights leader changed after he was videotaped and arrested by the FBI on crack cocaine charges in 1990.

The former mayor always hoped his son would follow in his political footsteps, but Sherwood said Christopher Barry never seemed to warm up to the public spotlight like his father. Christopher Barry's bid for a Ward 8 seat, running as Marion C. Barry, fell short in 2015, coming in sixth place.

Christopher Barry also had his share of problems with the law, starting in 2005 with a misdemeanor assault charge for resisting arrest. He also faced drug-related charges in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Effi Barry died of leukemia in 2007. Cora Masters Barry, widow of Marion Barry, confirmed to Sherwood that Christopher Barry died.

A News4 I-Team investigation found that synthetic drug overdoses, including overdoses on K-2, accounted for 10-times more EMS calls than heart attacks in D.C.

Firefighter Injured, Home Destroyed in New Haven Fire

0
0

New Haven firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at Grafton Street and Downing Street Sunday morning.

Firefighters said they were called to the scene around 5 a.m. Crews knocked the fire down quickly but the home is a total loss, officials said.

The extreme heat from weather conditions and the fire made it a difficult job for firefighters.

One firefighter was transported to the hospital for treatment of minor burns to his knees, fire officials said. None of the home’s occupants were injured.

The Red Cross is assisting a family of five displaced by the fire.

Day 9: Highlights From the Rio Olympics

0
0

On Day 9 of the Rio Olympics, Usain Bolt races Justin Gatlin in the 100m, Simone Biles eyes her third gold medal, Madison Kocian and Gabby Douglas compete on the uneven bars, and Venus Williams plays mixed doubles with Rajeev Ram, among other events. Check out highlight photos from these events and more.

Photo Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Vernon Residents Take Stock of Storm Damage

0
0

Another night of nasty weather caused power outages across the state Saturday. At one point, there were more than 7,000 homes without power.

“I think that was the most incredible lightning storm I think we’ve ever had around here,” said Stephen Toman of Vernon.

High winds uprooted trees, littered the streets with debris, punctured roofs with branches, and knocked down power lines.

“Amazing. It is amazing,” said Robert Glembowski of the damage on Neill Road in Vernon.

“I had no idea last night that this tree was down over at the neighbors,” said Brett Stark who lives across the street from a home that was damaged when a tree landed on its roof.

A handful of homes in his neighborhood had tree damage. West Street was also shut down most of the day after a large tree fell across the roadway and onto wires.

Many residents were unaware of the full scope of the destruction Mother Nature left behind until they woke up Sunday morning.

“I was in shock. I didn’t realize all that happened,” said Tolman.

“Pretty devastated. Pretty devastated. It hasn’t been this bad since the October snow storm a couple years ago,” Stark added.

Polly Bonta bought a pick-up truck just two weeks ago. Parked in her and her husband’s driveway, it’s one of three vehicles damaged by a downed tree.

“She’s devastated by it,” said her husband Chuck.

The family hit the trifecta, not only did a large tree fall on their vehicles, but also on their house. Wires were down in their yard as well, blocking the front door. They couldn’t go anywhere.

“We thought it was just a regular branch. Then we realized it was the whole tree,” said Bonta. “We’re like prisoners in our own home.”

While some of his neighbors’ homes looked unscathed, the homeowners said they experienced minor flooding in their basements.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Branford Firefighters Install AC for Veteran

0
0

The Branford fire department jumped in when they discovered a veteran was at home without air conditioning.

The veteran had a window unit, but he couldn’t install it alone, so members of Div. 4 headed over and made quick work of the job.

With the heat index expected to creep past 100 Sunday, officials remind residents to check on their neighbors. If you or someone you know needs a place to go to escape the heat, contact 211 for information on resources in your area.



Photo Credit: Branford Professional Firefighters Local 2533

Lochte Robbed at Gunpoint, Says Weapon Aimed at Head

0
0

U.S. Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte and three other members of the U.S. Olympic swimming team were robbed at gunpoint in Rio by armed gunmen posing as police officers early Sunday morning, Lochte said. 

Lochte claims that one of the men aimed a gun at his forehead during the robbery, the athlete told NBC's Billy Bush.

"I was with a couple swimmers, we got pulled over in our taxi and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge," Lochte said. "No lights, no nothing, just a police badge. They pulled us over. They pulled out their guns."

He said they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground but he refused. 

"I was like 'we didn't do anything wrong so I'm not getting down on the ground,'" he said. 

That's when Lochte said one of the men pulled out his gun, cocked it, put it to his forehead, and said "get down." 

"I put my hands up," Lochte said. "I was like 'whatever.' He took our money, he took my wallet." 

Lochte and his teammates were returning to the athletes village by taxi after a night out at the French Olympic team's hospitality house in the Rodrigo de Freitas area in the upscale south zone of the city. The outing was several hours after Olympic swimming ended Saturday night at the Rio Games.

"All four athletes are safe and cooperating with authorities," the USOC said in a statement.

Lochte said he was with fellow swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen. Bentz and Conger were fellow members of the gold-winning 4X200m freestyle relay team in Rio. Feigen won gold in the 4X100m freestyle relay. 

Lochte's mother Ileana Lochte, reached by USA TODAY Sports, said her son was robbed when a cab he was in stopped to get gas. 

"I think they're all shaken up. There were a few of them," Ileana Lochte told USA Today Sports. "They just took their wallets and basically that was it."

The International Olympic Committee initially denied the report before spokesman Mark Adams acknowledged he didn't directly know the specifics of the situation.

Fox Sports Australia also said Lochte was robbed and had his wallet stolen.

David Marsh, the swimmer's personal coach, also intially disputed the reports.

Ileana Lochte did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

Lochte, a four-time Olympian, earned his 12th career Olympic medal with the relay gold in Rio. 

Several other athletes, coaches, trainers and attendees have reported being victimized while attending the 2016 Olympic Games.  

Belgian judo competitor Dirk Van Tichelt was hit in the the face during celebrations of his bronze medal performance on Copacabana beach. His phone was stolen late Monday on the popular strip and he was hit as he was chasing the local thief.

Australia's Olympic delegation also called for tighter beach security after two rowing coaches were robbed at knife point near Rio's iconic Ipanema beach.

Two teens, one of them brandishing a long knife, grabbed the coaches by their throats in the Friday incident and pushed them against the wall. The coaches didn't offer any resistance and handed over their wallets and mobile phones. 

An Olympic security officer was also fatally shot after taking a wrong turn into a dangerous slum.



Photo Credit: AP
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Fourth Body Found Days After Md. Apartment Blast; 8 Still Missing

0
0

Montgomery County officials said a fifth body has been found in the rubble of an explosion and fire of an apartment building in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Police said a fifth victim was found on Sunday afternoon.

A fourth victim was found on Saturday, police said Sunday morning. The bodies have been taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, where three other bodies found at the scene Thursday and Friday were transported.

Police said they believe the four victims are among the eight people reported missing who were presumed to be in the apartment building at the time of the blast. But officials have not been able to positively identify the bodies.

The missing have been identified as Saeda Ibrahim, 41; Augusto Jimenez Sr., age 62; Maria Auxiliadorai Castellon-Martinez, age 53; Aseged Mekonen, age 34; Deibi “David” Samir Lainez Morales, age 8; Oscar Armando Ochoa, age 55 – NOTE: No photo available; Fernando Josue Hernandez Orellana, age 3; and Saul Paniagua, age 65.

Officials said the search for more victims has been slowed by the unstable condition of the building, as well as the extreme heat conditions.

The explosion and fire on Aug. 11 injured 31 residents. Three firefighters were also hurt battling the blaze.

The blast at the Flower Branch Apartments in the 8700 block of Arliss Street occurred around 11:50 p.m. Thursday night. Residents reported smelling gas before the explosion, and officials responded to calls for a potential gas leak at the complex on July 25.

The cause of the explosion and fire is still under investigation.


Muslim Women Harassed in Chicago

0
0

Two Muslim-American women who reported being physically assaulted and harassed on a Chicago neighborhood sidewalk Thursday, blame the political climate created by Donald Trump for the attack.

Suzanne Damra says the woman followed her and her mother as they walked to their car just after daybreak Thursday, in the 1600 block of West Howard St. in Rogers Park, spitting at them and hurling anti-Islamic insults. The two women were wearing a hijab, the traditional Muslim head covering.

Cellphone video captured by one of the victims from inside the car shows the alleged assailant trying to open the car's doors.  The woman can be heard saying “You're ISIS [EXPLETIVE]. You're ISIS [EXPLETIVE].”

The woman then appears to try to break the car's side view mirror. Damra said it was at least the fifth time she and her mother had been accosted by the woman.

Her mother, meanwhile, can be heard in the video blaming the woman's bigotry on the Republican presidential candidate, who has called for a ban on Muslims seeking to immigrate to the United States.

"That's what you get from Donald Trump!" she screams as the suspect walks away. "Encouraging crazy people."

In an interview with NBC5, Damra’s mother Siham Zahdam said she believes Trump’s rhetoric had emboldened people with anti-Islamic sentiments.

“People copy what he is saying,” she said. “And they think he is going to make the white people more powerful.”

Damra tells NBC5 that she was more upset by the lack of empthay of two bystanders, who she said witnessed the incident and did not intervene, then the attack itself.

“There were two very young men, I don’t think they were more than 21 or 22,” she said. “They were laughing, they high-fived her, and said, 'yeah, they are ISIS.'”

Chicago Police said they are investigating the incident as a simple assault. But Chicago’s Council on American-Islamic Relations called for both state and federal authorities to make a more aggressive inquiry.

“It’s very clearly a hate crime,” said CAIR spokesman Hoda Katebi. “To file this as a simple assault is not at all close to what it actually is.”

A Chicago Police spokesman acknowledged that police know who the alleged assailant is, but said investigators are waiting for the two women to swear out a formal complaint.



Photo Credit: Suzanne Damra

'It's Not Over': 4 Dead in 'Historic' Louisiana Flooding

0
0

More than 7,000 people have been rescued from their homes after massive floods swept across Louisiana, and officials warned Sunday that even though the rain had subsided, dangers loomed.

"It's not over," Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday. "The water's going to rise in many areas. It's no time to let the guard down."

The flooding killed at least four people. The latest casualty was reported Sunday night, with officials confirming that a 59-year-old man was swept away by the current while walking along a road in Tangipahoa City on Friday. The man, who was not identified, drowned, said Devin George, director of the state registrar.



Photo Credit: AP
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Naddour's Pommel Horse Medal First for U.S. in 32 Years

0
0

Alex Naddour’s bronze medal on the pommel horse Sunday in Rio was significant in many ways.

Not only did it finally put the U.S. men’s gymnastics team on the medal board in 2016, but it also gave Team USA its first medal on pommel horse in 32 years.

In the 1984 Los Angeles games, Peter Vidmar won gold for the U.S. and Tim Dagger claimed bronze.

A pommel horse medal was elusive since the 1984 Games, and was elusive before them, as well. You would have to go all the way back to the 1932 Games to find another U.S. medalist on pommel — Frank Haubold.

Naddour’s strength is pommel horse, and the 25-year-old Arizona native displayed all of his skills in Rio to claim bronze behind Great Britain’s Max Whitlock and Louis Smith.

Naddour is a four-time national champion on the pommel horse.



Photo Credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Garage Destroyed in New Britain Fire

0
0

New Britain firefighters knocked down a garage fire early Sunday morning.

Fire officials said crews responded around 1:29 a.m. to reports of a garage on fire at 131 Landers Avenue. When crews arrived they found heavy fire in the detached garage of a single-family home.

Firefighters got the fire under control in about 20 minutes. No injuries were reported.

The garage was totally destroyed. A pickup truck in the driveway and the back deck of the home were heavily damaged, but the fire did not extend to the house.

The New Britain fire marshal is investigating the cause.

4-Year-Old Drowns in Ledyard Pool

0
0

A 4-year-old boy drowned in a pool in Ledyard Saturday, according to police.

Ledyard police said Saturday night they responded to a Gales Ferry home for reports of a possible drowning. When first responders arrived they found the 4-year old in a pool at the home, according to police.

The child was transported to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The child has not been publicly identified.

Ledyard police are investigating.

More information was not immediately available.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Fire Officials Investigate Cause of Stamford House Fire

0
0

The Stamford fire department is investigating whether a house fire Saturday night was caused by lightning.

Fire officials said firefighters responded to 69 Shadow Ridge Road around 9:11 p.m., the height of the lightning storm in Stamford, for reports of smoke in the home. When crews arrived they discovered smoke coming from a wall between the kitchen and a bathroom.

When firefighters opened the wall, they found a fire involving the natural gas line to the kitchen stove. They extinguished the fire and disconnected gas service to the home.

The fire was reported under control at 10:05 p.m. No injuries were reported

Around 30 firefighters responded to the scene. The Stamford fire marshal is investigating to see if the fire was caused by the storm.



Photo Credit: Getty Images/File

Chinese Diver Proposes After Partner Wins Silver

0
0



Photo Credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images

LifeStar Called to Transport Patient From Farmington River

0
0

Emergency crews are responding to rescue a male patient from the Farmington River, police said.

Canton police confirm they are on scene at 140 Powder Mill Road in Canton. A male patient reportedly suffered some kind of medical event and had to be taken out of the river. The victim, who has not been identified, is being transported to a waiting LifeStar helicopter to be flown to a nearby hospital.

More information was not immediately available. Check back for updates.

Great White Shark Spotted on Cape Cod Beach

0
0

Lighthouse Beach in Chatham, Massachusetts, was closed for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon after a shark sighting.

Dan Tobin, Director of Chatham Parks and Recreation said the shark was spotted just before 1:30 p.m. According to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Sharktivity App, the closure was prompted by a Great White Shark predation of a seal on the beach.

More than a handful of Great White Sharks have been spotted in New England waters so far this season.

Tobin told the Cape Cod Times that there were a couple of swimmers in the water at the time of the seal attack. No injuries were reported to the swimmers.

As a precaution, the beach was closed for a couple of hours but has since been reopened.



Photo Credit: Atlantic White Shark Conservancy

Obama Tweets Support for Team USA Athletes

0
0

President Barack Obama tweeted out his congratulations to the U.S. Olympic Team on Sunday, calling out Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky for their accomplishments in the Rio pool and Simone Biles for her dominance in gymnastics.

“That’s how #TeamUSA gets America to 1,000 golds - way to make history,” Obama tweeted Sunday night while on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.

Obama spent Sunday golfing at one of his favorite courses, Farm Neck Golf Club. One of his golfing partners for the day was Alonzo Mourning, who won gold with the U.S. men’s basketball team in 2000.

On Saturday the official @WhiteHouse Twitter account also sent congratulations to the U.S. Olympians.



Photo Credit: AP
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Clinton and Kaine Are Challenging White Americans on Racial Issues

0
0

In their speeches on racial issues, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine have made an argument that President Obama rarely has: white Americans in particular need to change their views and perspectives to fix the nation's racial problems,NBC News reported.

"We white Americans need to do a better job of listening when African Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers you face every day," Clinton said last month at the NAACP's annual convention.

She added, "We need to recognize our privilege and practice humility rather than assume that our experiences are everyone's experiences. We all need to try as best we can to walk in one another's shoes, to imagine what it would be like to sit our son or daughter down and have the talk about how carefully they need to act around police because the slightest wrong move could get them hurt or even killed."



Photo Credit: AP

Rio Olympics Medal Winners Get Sculpture, Not Flowers

0
0

You’ve probably seen those colorful little items handed out to Olympic medalists in Rio when they receive a gold, silver or bronze, but you may not know what they actually are.

Those little trinkets are actually 3D sculptures of the 2016 Rio Olympics logo, and they are being handed out to medalists instead of the traditional flowers.

The switch was done in an attempt to be more in line with the Rio Games’ message of sustainability. The fresh-cut flowers were often just tossed aside once the athletes got off the medal stand.

So instead, they are given something else that may not be thrown away moments after they’re placed in their hands.

According to the Rio2016.com website, the sculptures are made of wood. 

However, a recent New York Times article described the sculptures as being made of "resin, polyresin and PVC."



Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Viewing all 57608 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images