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Swiss Couple Missing for 75 Years Found in Melting Glacier

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The bodies of a Swiss couple who went missing 75 years ago were discovered frozen inside a glacier in the Alps last week.

Authorities suspect they are Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin, parents of seven children who went to go milk their cows in August of 1942 and never returned, Reuters reported.

“We spent our whole lives looking for them without stopping. We thought we could give them the funeral they deserved one day,” their daughter Marceline Udry-Dumoulin told the Lausanne daily Le Matin.

Although the bodies were well preserved and found carrying identity papers, DNA testing will be carried out to confirm their identities.



Photo Credit: AP/Glacier 3000

Hawk Found Injured in Hamden is Getting Better

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An injured red tail hawk found in the middle of a Hamden street Monday is getting better. 

Police responded to Shepard and Sherman avenues around 9:30 a.m. Monday after the hawk was found in the middle of the street and Hamden Animal Control Officer Christopher Smith realized it had a serious wing injury, police said. 

Crews brought the hawk to “A Place Called Hope” in Killingworth and the bird’s health is improving.




Photo Credit: Hamden Police

Candidates Train to Become U.S. Army National Guard Officers

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More than 120 men and women from 12 states, are training this week in East Lyme to become officers in the U.S. Army National Guard.

Phase one of the program started on July 14. It tests the officer candidates both mentally and physically over a two-week period. One of the most challenging obstacles for them is land navigation.

There are five points hidden deep in the woods that they have five hours to find. They’ll be tested on Friday and if they don’t pass they have one more chance on Saturday. If they fail Saturday they are cut from the program.

“It is certainly a challenge. One of the hardest things I’ve attempted before,” said Zachary Flashmin, an officer candidate from Monroe, CT who previously served four years of active duty in the army. “It takes a lot of independence and physical endurance to find your points in the woods.”

If the candidates pass phase one, they will continue on to phase two, which involves drill weekends each month through next summer. Phase three involves another two-week block of training. If the candidate makes it, they will graduate next summer.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to pass our knowledge on to the future of our army. These are the future leaders that we’re putting out onto the battlefield and they are the ones that are going to make sure this nation remains a free country,” said U.S. Army Major Zachariah Fike.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Police Release Pic of Car After Man Exposes Himself to Girls

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Police are have released security camera images of a suspect vehicle after a man exposed himself to two young girls who were selling rocks in Hamden.

The girls were selling the rocks in front of a home on Maher Avenue Saturday when the man exposed himself to them, according to police.

Officers responded to the street around 5:30 p.m. and learned that a bald man who appeared to be in his 30s stopped and bought a rock, then returned in his vehicle and told the girls he wanted to buy another rock.

When one of the girls approached the man’s vehicle, she saw him “playing” with his exposed genitals, then he made a lewd comment, police said.

The man was in what was described as a two-door silver Honda Accord that fled toward Lincoln Street.

Police said the driver was wearing round-framed glasses and a black shirt.

Officers searched the area but could not find the man, but a car matching the description of the vehicle was spotted near the entrance to Legion Field before the incident and police were able to get security camera footage. 

Anyone with information or who recognizes the vehicle above is asked to call Officer Kelley Cushman at (203) 230-4030.



Photo Credit: Hamden Police Department

Mickey Mouse Helps Parents Tells Foster Kids Adoption News

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A trip to Disney World is a magical experience for any child. But for a pair of foster children from Pennsylvania, the visit was life changing.

Courtney and Tom Gilmour became foster parents to Janielle, 12, and Elijah, 10, three years ago. The couple planned a trip to Orlando in April with the two kids to attend the Star Wars Convention and visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Just before they left for Florida, the Gilmours learned that they had finally received an exact adoption date for the two foster children, Courtney told NBC.

They decided to surprise the siblings with the great news during their trip to Disney and enlisted the help of Mickey Mouse himself to help with the reveal.

Gilmour said she got in touch with Disney employees through their Twitter account, and staffer quickly jumped in to help put the plan in motion.

In a video posted on Courtney Gilmour’s Facebook page, the two kids, clad in Mickey T-shirts, walk in for a meet and greet with Mickey Mouse thinking they are only getting autographs.

After taking some pictures, a Disney staffer tells the kids that Mickey has "something really special to share with you guys," before showing them a message board with the words they had so longed for: “Your Adoption Day, May 24th, 2017.”

The two kids burst into tears of joy as Mickey Mouse comforts them. Courtney and Tom join them, video shows, and the four hug as a family.

"I told you it was going to be magical," Courtney Gilmour tells them.

Gilmour, who lives in Portland, Pennsylvania, only recently posted the video online, which has been viewed over 1.4 million times.

"I shared the video because I want to continue to draw attention to foster care and adoption," she told NBC. "Being a former foster child myself and now a foster/adopt mother, it's very important we don't forget there is lots of kids who need help.”



Photo Credit: Courtney Gilmore

Couple Recreates the Obamas' Best Photos for Engagement Pics

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An Ohio couple recreated some of the most iconic images of Barack and Michelle Obama as part of their engagement photos and their take on the images is going viral.

Photo Credit: Natasha Herbert Photography

Don't Leave Your Dog in the Hot Car: North Haven Police

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North Haven police are reminding pet owners not to leave animals in the car after they responded to several reports of dogs left in hot vehicles Wednesday.

Police urged anyone who sees a dog along in a car to take down the vehicle’s make, model, color and plate and call local police or animal control.

If possible, you can also ask to have the owner of the car paged at the nearest building.

On a 78-degree day, the temperature inside a car can reach 100 degrees in just a few minutes, police said. Wednesday’s temperatures are predicted to reach the low 90s. For the full forecast, click here.

Vince & Linda McMahon's Son on Chopper in Emergency Landing

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A small helicopter carrying two people, including the only son of WWE owner and chairman Vince McMahon and U.S. Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, made a controlled emergency landing in the Atlantic Ocean, off Long Island's Gilgo Beach Wednesday morning, prompting a major emergency response, according to Suffolk County officials. 

Shane McMahon, 47, who left the family business in 2009 and returned to WWE in 2016, was on the Robinson R44 that went down in the water about a half-mile off shore around 10:25 a.m., according to officials at the scene and the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Authorities said the pilot made a mayday call just before the emergency landing.

A commercial flight heading to John F. Kennedy International Airport heard the call for help and notified FAA controllers, the agency said. McMahon and the other passenger ended up in the water but both had life vests. A kayaker rescued one of them; NYPD divers helped the other. They weren't hurt.

The FAA described the incident as a crash, but video from the scene showed the red helicopter resting on pontoons, apparently not submerged. The four-seater Robinson R44 is designed to land in the water, Coast Guard officials say, and the pilot deployed the pontoons to allow the aircraft to land safely.

A Coast Guard official on scene said the helicopter, which had taken off from Westchester County Airport, had some sort of mechanical issue that prompted the ocean landing. The FAA is investigating. 

The type of chopper is often used for training, taking photographs and tours. 

The National Transportation Safety Board has records of 221 crashes involving Robinson R44s dating from 1993 to the present. Two hundred and three people died as a result of those crashes. 

In the last five years, the U.S. has seen 39 crashes involving that type of chopper, according to federal data.



Photo Credit: NBCNewYork.com

3 Accused of Trafficking Marijuana by Plane from California to Connecticut

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Three men accused of trafficking marijuana by airplane from California to Connecticut have been arrested on federal charges.

Deirdre Daly, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said in a statement that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned a three-count indictment today charging Robert Capelli, 31, of Milford; Scott Bodnar, 38, of Ansonia, and Donald Burns, 59, of Milford.

Federal officials said the Federal Aviation Administration began investigating Burns’ Piper single-engine aircraft, which was making regular flights between Stratford and northern California, via the southwest United States, in 2016. 

Over a two-day span in June, Burns flew from northern California to Lubbock, Texas, then to Arkansas, West Virginia and Stratford, Connecticut, where he landed at Sikorsky Airport. When law enforcement searched the plane, they found around 400 kilograms of marijuana in vacuum-sealed packages in a duffle bag, federal officials said.

As the investigation continued, authorities said they determined the marijuana was intended for Cappelli and Bodnar and conducted a controlled delivery in Derby, where the two men were arrested.

The three are accused of trafficking more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana from California to Connecticut between 2015 and June 2017.

They have all been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana. 

They were also charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana on board an aircraft registered in the U.S., and one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Pratt and Whitney Shows off Connecticut Craftsmanship in D.C.

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Workers and leaders from Pratt and Whitney, one of the nation’s largest engine manufacturers, showed off the company’s top-selling engine during a visit to Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

The Geared Turbofan Engine for commercial aircraft has been in service for a year, and after 200,000 flight hours, has proven to be remarkably popular in the competitive commercial aerospace sector.

Eight thousand engines are on order and they’re made all over the United States.

"We’re really excited about this. And this is good for the entire nation because these engines are not only made here for American engines.. we sell them all around the world," said John Larson, who represents Connecticut’s First Congressional District which includes Pratt’s East Hartford corporate headquarters.

Pratt and Whitney has already hired more than 4,500 employees over the past 18 months and reiterated its goal to hire about 25,000 more nationwide.

In Connecticut, Michael O’Connor works as a Final Engine Assembly Inspector at the company’s Middletown plant.

"This engine is going to be the long pole for the future employees at P&W and in our suppliers base," O’Connor said.

Pratt and Whitney will invest more than $400 million in expansion in Connecticut which is all related to the production and assembly of the engine. For that reason, O’Connor predicts a boom that will continue for years.

"There’s 8,000 plus orders. It’s a long term assembly future for Connecticut and the country," O'Connor said.

In Middletown at the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, they couldn’t be happier with the relationship with Pratt and Whitney, with the group’s president Larry McHugh describing it as part of the heartbeat of the region and the state.

"We are really really bullish on Pratt and Whitney," McHugh said. "They mean so much to our community, Middlesex County and the state of Connecticut. I really believe that they are the diamond in the state of Connecticut."



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

17M Fewer Insured Under Republican Obamacare Repeal: CBO

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A Republican Senate bill to repeal Obamacare would cause 17 million fewer people to have insurance within one year, premiums to jump by 25 percent, and insurers to pull out of counties across the country, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The legislation, dubbed the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act, would eliminate Obamacare’s taxes and, starting in 2020, cut off funding for its Medicaid expansion and for federal subsidies to buy private insurance. It would also end the individual mandate that penalizes people for not having insurance. The bill would reduce deficits by $473 billion over the next decade.

After 2020, the CBO estimates, half of the nation’s population would live in a county where there were no insurers at all in the individual market, NBC News reports. By 2026, 32 million fewer people would have insurance compared to Obamacare and premiums would have doubled.



Photo Credit: AP

Firefighter Transported to Hospital in Hartford

3 Top Trump Insiders to Talk to Senate Panels

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Members of the Trump campaign's inner circle are being scheduled to talk to Senate committees next week.

President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will speak with the Senate intelligence committee on Monday. That's according to his lawyer, Abbe Lowell. He says Kushner is voluntarily cooperating with congressional probes. That interview will likely take place behind closed doors.

Donald Trump Jr. and former campaign manager Paul Manafort are scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Wednesday. They are among witnesses the panel has announced for a hearing on foreign influence in elections.

All three men are almost certain to be asked about recent revelations they attended a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer and others in the expectation of receiving incriminating information about Hillary Clinton.

"As Mr. Kushner has been saying since March, he has been and is prepared to voluntarily cooperate and provide whatever information he has on the investigations to Congress," said Kushner's attorney, Abbe Lowell. "Working with and being responsive to the schedules of the committees, we have arranged Mr. Kushner's interview with the Senate for July 24. He will continue to cooperate and appreciates the opportunity to assist in putting this matter to rest."



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Milford, Derby DMV Offices to Close Until Further Notice

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The Milford and Derby service centers of the state Department of Motor Vehicles will close until further notice starting next week, according to the DMV.

Milford is open Tuesday and Thursday and Derby is open Wednesdays and Fridays.

Both offices will close, effective July 24, and customers using the centers can go to other nearby full-service offices in Hamden, Bridgeport and Waterbury. Find information on other locations here.

The DMV said it does not have a date when the offices will reopen.

“Closing any DMV service, even on a temporary basis, is a difficult choice, but we also cannot continue to burden these centers’ customers with long wait times,” DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra said in a statement.

The centers are open only two days each week and each small office is staffed by two DMV personnel.

“The DMV lines in Milford City Hall have become just too long, and any closure would ripple into Derby where lines are also growing. Returning four staff workers to full-service DMV offices, where there’s also high demand Tuesday through Saturday, will help improve service overall where we serve many more people,” DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra said in a statement.

With lines and wait times growing in the small offices, the DMV plans to reassess how to use them, according to the DMV.

They said a recent study showed that more than 90 percent of visitors to the offices will wait in line for registration transactions when they could go online to do the transaction.

Licensing customers will have an online option next year, according to the DMV. They said they are working to enhance licensing to include “skip-a-trip,” which would mean customers could do one six-year license renewal online before needing to visit an office.

DMV officials said taking four staff members away from main branch offices to support each of these small centers severely impacts the services at the main branches and adds to wait times there, but operating with one person in each would cause further problems.

“We also have heard the Mayor of Milford’s concerns about the long lines during the last few months. We appreciate his cooperation in offering options. Unfortunately, we cannot add staff to help reduce lines. However, we are reassessing the overall operations of these small offices,” Bzdyra said.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Man Missing in Housatonic River in Shelton Found Dead

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The man who went missing on the Housatonic River in Shelton has been found dead. 

The 46-year-old man was seen swimming in the water near the Sunnyside Boat Ramp around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Witnesses called 911 when he started calling out for help before going under the water, police said. 

The area where the victim was seen in the water was marked as "No Swimming" and signs could be seen around the ramp. It is not clear if he was swimming or fell off of a boat. 

Emergency personnel and dive teams from Shelton, Trumbull, Monroe, Stratford, and Fairfield all searched the water for the missing man for about 2 and half hours. 

The victim has been identified as Willard McDonald, of Stratford.





Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Jeff Sessions Removes Restrictions on Police Seizures

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions just made it easier for police to seize cash and property from people suspected ─ but not necessarily charged with or convicted ─ of crimes.

He did it by eliminating an Obama administration directive that prevented local law enforcement from circumventing state restrictions on forfeiture of civil assets. The technique was embraced in the early years of the war on drugs, but it has since been linked to civil rights abuses: people losing cash, cars and homes without any proven link to illegal activity; police taking cash in exchange for not locking suspects up; a legal system that makes it hard for victims to get their possessions back.

Two dozen states have made it harder for authorities to take property from suspects without first securing criminal convictions. Three have outlawed it entirely, according to the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for reform.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

16-Year-Old Missing in Bristol For Two Days

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A 16-year-old from Bristol has been missing for two days, police said. 

Jose Figueroa Jr. left his residence on Jermone Avenue on Monday morning. 

Neighbors reported seeing Figueroa  at the Stop and Shop on Farmington Avenue on Wednesday but he was not located by police. 

Figueroa is described as 5 feet 10 inches and 130 pounds.

He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, black jogging pants, red and black sandals with a red backpack.

Anyone with information is asked to call Bristol Police (860) 584-3011. 



Photo Credit: Bristol Police

Tweed New Haven Looks to Expand Runway

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Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport officials are anxiously awaiting a decision from a federal judge in Hartford that could pave the way for a runway expansion and more commercial flights.

The judge heard oral arguments Wednesday afternoon on Tweed’s lawsuit challenging a 2009 state law that limits the length of the airport’s main runway.

"We feel the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulations supersede what the state did and the premise here is that we want to pave the runway that we actually have," Tweed Airport Authority Chairman John Picard said.

Picard is talking about paving runway safety areas on both ends that have been in place now for seven years.

"The standard regulation now for airport commercial service is 6,000 feet of takeoff space," Airport Authority Executive Director Tim Larson said. "Right now, we have 5,600 feet of paved runway surface."

In the lawsuit, Tweed’s attorneys argue the FAA has the "exclusive sovereignty" over changes to an airport’s layout and facilities.

"Regularly scheduled commercial service at the Airport is not only jeopardized at the moment but also may be terminated in the future if the length of Runway 2/20 is not extended," the lawsuit states.

Right now, American Airlines has up to four flights in and out of Tweed to and from Philadelphia.

"We continually evaluate our network to ensure we are maximizing our profitability and our fleet while matching supply with demand, and New Haven is no exception," Nichelle Tait from American Airlines corporate communications wrote in an email. "We will not be discontinuing service to New Haven. Over time we plan to shift from Dash 8 service to small regional jet service."

The airport’s neighbors in New Haven’s East Shore neighborhood have mixed feelings about the possibility of more flights.

"Actually no, only cause of the noise," Jacquelyn Surro said. "They can get pretty loud coming in low for landing and taking off too since we have little ones that like to sleep early, so it is kind of a noise barrier that upsets us."

Surro’s friend Nikole Fucci, who also lives in the neighborhood, likes the idea.

"It’s going to bring in jobs," Fucci said. "It’s going to bring in tourists."

Fucci also said she’s hopeful the judge rules in favor of the airport because it could make travel easier for her family.

"We go to Philly when we go to Florida," she said. "But it would be so nice to just hop on and go to Florida from here.”

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp told NBC Connecticut that Florida and Washington, D.C. are two potential destinations for new direct flights out of Tweed.

Tweed is receiving a nearly $3 million FAA grant to continue noise mitigation work on 49 homes near the airport. Renovations have already been completed on two dozen houses.

"The noise mitigation has been going on for years," Picard said. "But I do think it will help if we get increased service to D.C., Florida and Chicago and places like that, I think it will help with the neighbors."



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Hartford City Council Divided Over Cutting Own Staff

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As the City of Hartford deals with a budget crisis, one member of the City Council is calling for a reduction in the number of people who work for members of the council.

"I would not describe these aides as essential personnel to the City of Hartford," John Gale, a Democrat in his first term on the council, said.

Each member of the council is entitled to an aide who acts as a sort of administrative or executive assistant for all matters relating the member’s work on the council.

Those aides, according to city ordinance, can make as much as $50,000 in salary, and benefits are then matched at 50 percent, meaning each of those employees costs city taxpayers $75,000.

If all nine members of the council had aides, currently only seven are employed, they could cost the cash-strapped city $675,000.

Council President TJ Clarke, also a Democrat, says the staff are needed for basic tasks and shouldn’t be viewed as any kind of extravagant expense.

"The aides, they’re executive assistants and they are among the lowest paid assistants as City of Hartford employees," Clarke said during an interview Wednesday. "They are to work at the will of the councilperson and that includes nights and weekends as well, so they don’t work a standard 40 hour work week."

The city would need to repeal the existing ordinance to eliminate the positions, and Clarke said calls for a vote soon are 'premature.'

The one thing both Gale and Clarke agree on is that the overall structure of the City Council and the staff is long overdue for a restructuring.

Gale said he thinks that can start with eliminating those positions, saying, "Council does need some level of staffing but I don’t think we each need our staff member."

Clarke said members of the council need to have some level of support so they keep in touch with residents, and be responsive to concerns.

"We don’t have the extra resources that a mayor’s office or the General Assembly persons do when they’re trying to make a decision or they’re trying to get a communication out," Clarke said. 



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Is There a Former Whipping Post on the Waterbury Green?

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A wooden and metal post located on the Waterbury Green is stirring up questions in the city as to what it is.

Could it be a whipping post?

The post received attention after someone recently posted a performance art photo on social media of a young lady displayed as a slave with her arms tied around the post.

Raechel Guest is the director of the Silas Bronson Library and has studied Waterbury’s history for years. She said from her research so far, it appears the post was a whipping post, but there’s still much to investigate to determine if that was actually the case.

"Now, whether or not this was the original post used for whippings or if this is a replacement post because things that are wood (and) standing outside eventually fall apart – that, I don’t know,” Guest said.

Guest said every community in Connecticut once had a whipping post used by government officials. From her research, the possible whipping post in the Watertown Green appears to have been used between the 1700s until about 1821.

Whipping posts were used as a form of punishment for certain crimes.

Guest said when the post was not being used for whippings, it was used for displaying notices.

Joe Geary, chief of staff for the City of Waterbury, told NBC Connecticut, "We’re still trying to determine the actual use of the post that is on the Waterbury Green. At the time we determine what the post was used for, we will determine what to do with it."

NBC Connecticut spoke to residents into town about what they believe should be done final results from the city’s research determines the post was used as a whipping post.

"It is a part of history but a history I don’t agree with so I think it should go in a museum," Thomas Hixon, of Waterbury, said. 

"I honestly think that they should put a plaque on it for a reminder that this is history. It’s part of our Waterbury Green," Theresa Lawler, of Waterbury, said.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut
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