Route 272 is closed at Hodges Hill Road in Torrington after live wires fell onto a tree Friday evening, according to police.
Crews from Connecticut Light & Power are at the scene working to extract the wires. Power has been shut down to the area. The CL&P outage map shows 313 customers are without power in Torrington.
It's not clear when power will be restored or when the road will reopen.
South Main Street is also closed in Torrington after a pedestrian was struck.
Friday's rain couldn't stop a good cause.
With umbrellas up and rain boots, on cancer survivors and supporters took a walk in the rain at the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Glastonbury.
"Cancer patients don't get to stop doing their treatments just because it's raining and windy, so we walk to support them in all sorts of weather," said event chair Maria Grove.
The event goes through the night until Saturday at 11 a.m.
Kids played and adults walked. Many didn't seem to notice the weather.
"Rain or shine, we were going to walk," said Glastonbury resident Cionie Slangen, who walked alongside a friend who fought cancer.
"Could be better, but we're walking. It doesn't seem to be bothering anybody," said Glastonbury resident Karen Hardwick.
Hardwick knows quite a bit about cancer. Her dad and husband died of the disease, and she finished her last treatment for breast cancer in March.
"I just went to the oncologist today and am doing follow-ups every three months. I'm very pleased, very happy," said Hardwick.
After that appointment, Hardwick headed to the Riverfront Community Center to take part in the event. Seeing people show up to walk with her, regardless of the conditions, meant a lot.
"It's touching," said Hardwick. "It gives people hope, and you know that people are there to surround you with love. And you know you're not alone."
Because really, facing a little rain is nothing compared to fighting and beating cancer.
"We have loved ones that have survived, thankfully, but also passed away from cancer," said Vernon resident Shelley Leone. "So it's an important cause for us to come and support."
A 2-month-old boy was found dead Thursday morning at a Waterbury home, and police are working to figure out what happened to the child.
Police said the child's mother found him unresponsive and called 911. Soon after, baby Eliczer was pronounced dead.
Detectives are taking a close look at the events that transpired in the 24 hours prior to the baby's death, including possible drug use.
“I just dropped to the floor,” said Eladio Delgado, the child's father, adding that he was “hurt, upset, angry at the same time” when he found out about the baby's death.
Waterbury police said the baby’s mother called them from her home on Bank Street and told the operator Eliczer was unresponsive.
It prompted an immediate investigation.
“I know something’s not right. I know that for a fact," Delgado said. "I’ve been hearing so many things and it’s nothing good."
NBC Connecticut tried contacting the mother at her home, but no one answered the door.
Hours later, dozens of friends and family members gathered outside the house praying and lighting candles in Eliczer's memory.
Eladio Delgado was one of them. He said he and Eliczer's mother shared custody of the child, and that the baby seemed happy and normal when he saw Eliczer the other day.
“He was perfectly fine he was laughing and enjoying himself," Delgado explained. "Then, all of a sudden, this happens."
Investigators said the autopsy report came back inconclusive Friday. Now, police are waiting for toxicology results, which could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
A Maryland dad is facing manslaughter charges after police say he gave his 3-year-old son a fatal cocktail of drugs, including cocaine.
Thomas E. Holland, 38, drove his unresponsive son to the United Medical Center in southeast Washington in January, police said. Officers were called to the hospital when the boy passed away, and a death investigation was launched.
A toxicology report revealed a number of drugs in the child's system, including toxic levels of of cocaine, acetaminophen and codeine.
The amount of drugs in the boy's system would have killed him within four hours, according to court documents. Police say he could not have accidentally swallowed them.
"The investigators and the medical examiner feel very strongly there's no way this child accidentally ingested this collection of drugs all together," said Bill Alexander of Prince George's County Police.
Holland had a court-ordered visit with his 3-year-old just before the boy's hospital visit. News4's Pat Collins spoke to the boy's great-grandparent Maurice Gaither.
"It's the most horrific and the most terrible thing I've ever experienced," Gaither said.
Holland was taken into custody May 15 and remains behind bars, facing manslaughter and child abuse charges.
A lawyer for Holland was not available for comment.
The Charles W. Morgan, a National Historic Landmark vessel and the last wooden whale ship in the world, departed Mystic Seaport to begin her 38th voyage on Saturday.
The ship will travel to New London, the first stop on what will be a three-month-long journey to historic ports in New England.
The Morgan was built in 1841 and has remained docked at Mystic Seaport since 1941.
"There isn’t anybody alive today who has seen a whaling ship with her sails up. Think about that,” said the ship's captain, Kip Files.
Indeed, the Morgan hasn’t even needed a captain since before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, but today, after a five-year restoration that cost $12 million, she set sail for New London to start an itinerary that won’t have her back in Mystic until August.
"It's chilling to see [the Morgan] go through that bridge again," said Mystic Seaport volunteer Jim O'Connor, of Madison, referring to the drawbridge carrying East Main Street over the Mystic River. "It was really neat."
O'Connor called Saturday's launch one of the highlights of his retirement. His wife, Doris, also a volunteer at the seaport, said the Morgan's launch has commanded the attention of her peers.
"Whatever department you happen to be working in, this is the focus," Doris O'Connor explained.
The Morgan will be pushed down the Mystic River by a tugboat, then towed across Fishers Island Sound and up the Thames River to New London, where it will stop at City Pier.
Several other vessels will follow the Morgan down the Mystic River, including a steamboat, fishing vessel and five whaleboats rowed by Mystic Seaport staff and volunteers.
"This is a big moment for Mystic Seaport and for the State of Connecticut, as we take this American icon, the oldest surviving commercial ship in the country, back to sea once again to carry out a new mission of education and celebration of our nation's shared maritime heritage," said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport, in a statement.
In its century of service, the Charles W. Morgan has sailed and whaled the world over, barely eluding doom a number of times as her crews dodged cannons and cannibals, despite never having been a warship.
One would think that a trip up the New England coast, even seven decades since her last voyage, would be a walk in the park. Not so, said Files, as the Morgan drafted some 13 feet below the waterline the very shallow Mystic River.
"You really have to know the river, because the buoys that mark the river aren't necessarily where the deep water is," Files explained. "You have to find the deep water. And it's going to be dredged next year, but that doesn't help me now!"
But for those on hand to watch history set sail, Captain Files made it look easy despite the weight of all that history.
Referring to the Morgan’s original launch from New Bedford, Mass. in 1841, Files points out, “When this vessel was launched, California was still part of Mexico. Texas was its own [country].”
The last time the Morgan left harbor, Joe DiMaggio had just put the finishing touches on a 56-game hitting streak, a different kind of history some say will never be repeated.
But then again, Captain Files emphasizes that, neither will the role of whalers and their sailors.
“Vessels like this were hugely important to the growth of our country,” Files said.
The Morgan will stay in New London until about June 7, depending on the weather, and will then make her way to Newport and her birth city of New Bedford.
She'll move on to round out the summer on static display alongside the USS Constitution in Boston, the only ship in America older than the Morgan that's still afloat.
People interested in following the ship's journey by boat are asked to leave plenty of room for the Morgan and the tug to maneuver through the Mystic River channel.
A 28-year-old Vernon man has died after he lost control of his car on Interstate 84 in West Hartford, got out and was struck by oncoming traffic near exit 41 on the eastbound side, according to state police.
Police said Veto Bonan was driving westbound on I-84 around 5:45 a.m. when he crossed over the median onto the eastbound side “for unknown reasons.”
He drove across all three eastbound lanes and crashed into brush near the exit 41 entrance ramp, according to police. Bonan reportedly got out of the car was struck by oncoming traffic. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
I-84 east was closed for more than four hours in the area of exit 41. The exit 41 entrance and exit ramps were also shut down.
State police, West Hartford police, West Hartford fire officials, an AMR ambulance and paramedics responded to the scene, and crews from the Department of Transportation arrived to help direct traffic.
No one else was injured in the accident, according to police.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
An Illinois resident who had contact with an Indiana MERS patient has tested positive for the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Local health officials said the Illinois resident did not seek or require medical care, showing no signs of the virus, but his health has been monitored and he is said to be feeling well, the CDC reports.
This marks the third confirmed case of the virus in the United States, after a second case was reported in Florida earlier this week.
The first reported case of the deadly respiratory virus known as MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) in the United States was discovered earlier this month after an American working as a health care worker in Saudi Arabia flew into the U.S. through Chicago.
The patient, who was treated at Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., has since been released from the hospital and is said to be doing well, officials said.
Officials are now investigating after evidence shows a MERS infection in an Illinois man who had close contact with the Indiana patient.
The Illinois resident does not have any recent history of travel outside of the United States, but met with the Indiana patient on two occasions shortly before the patient was identified as having MERS.
Officials said the patient shook hands with the Indiana man and later reported having minor cold-like symptoms.
As part of their follow-up investigation, a local health department contacted the Illinois resident, who tested negative for the virus on May 5. On Friday, however, the test result came back positive.
“The risk to the general public still remains low,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck. “It was out of an abundance of caution that we conducted rigorous follow-up with this individual and have identified this person to have been infected with MERS-CoV at one time. Previous MERS-CoV illnesses have not shown to be spread easily from person-to-person in communities. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), working with our local health departments, will remain vigilant for any new MERS-CoV infections and we are prepared with surveillance, guidance and testing to handle any additional infections.”
Public health officials are still working to collect blood samples from people who were identified as close contacts of the Indiana patient, according to the CDC, and efforts are under way to identify, notify, test, and monitor close contacts of the Illinois resident.
CDC officials explained that these laboratory test results are preliminary and suggest that the Illinois resident probably got the virus from the Indiana patient and the person's body developed antibodies to fight the virus.
"This latest development does not change CDC's current recommendations to prevent the spread of MERS," said David Swerdlow, M.D., who is leading the CDC's MERS-CoV response. "It's possible that as the investigation continues others may also test positive for MERS-CoV infection but not get sick. Along with state and local health experts, CDC will investigate those initial cases and if new information is learned that requires us to change our prevention recommendations, we can do so."
Several people helped save a 6-year-old girl after she fell into the Anacostia River Friday afternoon.
The region saw a month's worth of rain fall within a 24 hour period this week, causing choppy conditions along the river in Riverdale Park.
The girl was playing with friends by the northeast branch of the river just after 6 p.m. out of her mom's sight. She got down on the ground by the rocks, then slipped and fell into the water.
Hilda Navarro was with her young son at the time, spotted the girl fall in and immediately screamed for help.
A man riding his bike attempted to help, but cut his hand on the rocks by the river, so he and Navarro continued yelling for help.
Jason Torres was driving by the river at the time when he heard the screams. Torres told News4 he didn't think -- he said he just jumped in and grabbed the girl, who was unconscious.
"He jumped in and grabbed her, I told him to bring her over because I know CPR," Navarro explained. "So I gave her CPR and she started throwing up all that water that she drank, and then she started screaming [for her mom]."
The girl was sitting up and alert by the time Prince George's County emergency crews arrived.
"A citizen out of the goodness in his heart decides to step up and basically tries to save a young girl's life," Capt. Roland Berg with Prince George's County Fire and EMS said. "She could have been swept downstream much further than she [was]."
The girl was taken to a hospital as a precaution and should be okay. Officials are warning residents around the region, long after the rain has passed, river levels continue to rise and cause a safety risk.
A sculpture inherited by two Virginia sisters from their grandfather was sold for more than $300,000 in an auction on Saturday.
The sisters were initially told the statue, called “Despair,” by renowned French sculptor Auguste Rodin, was probably worth around $1,500.
A Falls Church gallery was able to authenticate the signature of Rodin featured on the base and on the underside of the bronze figure.
An auctioneer at the gallery thought it could fetch about $135,000.
The final sale price was $306,800 paid by a phone bidder from Germany. The two sisters from McLean and Alexandria inherited the statue from their grandfather.
A woman was rescued after being trapped when two boats caught fire in the Baltimore Inner Harbor Saturday afternoon.
Baltimore Fire Department Captain Roman Clark said crew responded to a call shortly before 1 p.m. They found two badly burned boats in the Inner Harbor water off Aliceanna Street.
Clark said a woman was trapped on one of the boats below deck. She was rescued and transported to Bayview Hospital with serious, but not life threatening injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Damage is estimated to be $100,000.
Middletown police are investigating after a man was found shot in the area of Main and Washington streets early Saturday morning.
Police responded to the intersection around 2 a.m. Saturday, where the victim was found bleeding from a gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of serious but non-life threatening injuries, police said.
The victim has not been publicly identified. It's not clear if police have identified a suspect.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call Middletown police at 860-638-4000.
Route 1 is closed at Maplewood Lane in Madison after a car struck a utility pole, police said.
It happened around 2:30 p.m. Saturday. It's not clear whether anyone was injured.
Connecticut Light & Power crews are the scene working to repair the pole. Route 1 will remain closed until around 8 p.m., according to police.
Traffic is being detoured onto Stony Lane, Fort Path Road and Mungertown Road.
Check back for updates.
Route 3 southbound is closed at the Putnam Bridge between Wethersfield and Glastonbury following a two-car accident, according to state police and the Department of Transportation.
All northbound lanes were also shut down, but have since reopened, according to the DOT.
It's not clear whether anyone was injured or how long the road will remain closed.
No additional information was immediately available.
Check back for updates.
A family in Carlsbad that lost their dream home in the fires this week found something in the rubble that they never expected: a letter of hope left by a total stranger encouraging the family not to give up and to rise from the ashes.
The piece of paper – 189 words signed only with the letters “GB” – was anonymously left behind, taped to a shovel standing in the charred front yard of a home reduced to rubble.
“We cannot escape the tragedies that arise in our lives,” the letter begins.
The words that follow get more poignant with each sentence.
That simple letter, left in the wake of so much destruction, meant the world to the owner of that home, Bob Payne, and his family.
His daughter, Anya Bannish, was so emotional upon seeing the note she had trouble reading it out loud.
"Somebody left this beautiful letter. I don't know if I can read this. It makes me so – there are so many amazing people out there that help," Bannish told NBC 7.
Bannish’s wedding reception was held at her parents’ home less than a week ago. Now, her parents’ dream house is gone.
Though the loss is unbelievably difficult, Payne said he’s grateful his family evacuated in time.
“This is all stuff, even though it was a lot of stuff, but it's just stuff. We'll get it back," he said.
Payne is also grateful for the words left behind by a stranger.
“It made you just tear up, it was just so well written,” he said. “[It] gives you hope.”
Words left by one person, but that speak for so many more.
The anonymous letter has also deeply resonated with neighbors returning to the scorched area.
“I don’t know who left it, but that sums up everything that has happened,” said one resident.
The words seem appropriate for residents just over the hill in San Marcos as well for an entire county still tallying the damage from nine fires.
Bannish said the note puts everything into perspective.
“There are some parts that are good, you know, to know that there are such good people out there and to know that we have such amazing friends and amazing family," she said, holding back tears.
Here’s full letter, left by “GB”:
We cannot escape the tragedies that arise in our lives. We can search for a reason and ask – why? Maybe we could hold others at fault or imagine what life would be had this not happened, but perhaps what defines our character is not our struggles but how well we meet them and rise up after getting knocked down.
Faith will overcome fears, doubt and insecurities. Sometimes in life we don't recognize how strong we actually are until we are faced with a great tragedy in our life. This calamity we face today will help develop the strength and fortitude we need for tomorrow.
Losing everything we own is sad, but the things we own do not diminish who we are inside. Sometimes the worst situation brings out the best in us and others.
When you put together a jigsaw puzzle made of hundreds of pieces, you put it together one piece at a time. No one can go back and change what has happened, but we can all start today and make a new tomorrow, one shovel at a time, one day at a time.
GB
Wallingford police were investigating a rollover accident involving two vehicles that happened around 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.
A witness at the scene took several pictures of the crash that involved a black BMW and a tan SUV. The BMW suffered severe front end damage and the SUV flipped over from the impact of the collision, according to police.
Police did not provide further details on how many people may have been in the vehicles at the time of the accident.
Traffic was diverted around the scene of the accident while police officers investigated the cause of the crash.
A 16-year-old boy from Norwich is facing numerous charges after he lead police in Groton on a chase on Friday afternoon.
It started around 2:45 p.m. when a Groton police officer attempted to stop a vehicle being driven by the teenager on Poquonnock Road, in the area of Groton Shopper’s Mart. The vehicle was wanted in connection to an earlier reported hit and run accident that occurred in another shopping center.
Police said the teen drove away from the officer and into another shopping center, where he jumped from the moving vehicle and fled on foot.
He didn’t get very far. A number of eyewitnesses saw the teen run into a local business. Officers found him hiding in the restroom. He was taken into custody, without further incident, according to police.
The car the teen was driving eventually rolled to a stop in the parking lot. When officers ran the plates they found out it was actually stolen from a home in Norwich, police said. They also discovered a loaded shotgun inside the stolen vehicle.
The 16-year-old suspect is facing several serious charges, including criminal possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, interfering with an officer, engaging an officer in pursuit, evading responsibility of a motor vehicle accident, reckless driving and operating a motor vehicle without a license.
As a result of the seriousness of the offenses, the suspect was remanded to the Juvenile Detention Center in Hartford.
A 44-year-old was shot to death in New Haven on Saturday night and another man was injured in an unrelated shooting in a different part of the city.
A homeowner woke up to the smell of gasoline and large flames shooting out of her home Sunday morning in North Branford.
Fire crews were called to 585 Foxon Road about 3 a.m. this morning for a report of a house fire.
When crews arrived, they discovered multiple points of ignition, which the fire chief says all but gurarantees that this was an arson fire.
The homeowner said she saw at least three spots where it looks like a fire was lit.
She says her family has been harassed in recent weeks.
Four people were inside the home as well as a dog. Everyone made it out safely.
Fire crews remain on the scene to investigate.
A women was stabbed to death late Saturday night in New Britain, according to police.
Police were called around 11:15 p.m. by a passing motorist who said he saw an injured female in the road a short distance from the intersection of Lafayette Street and Beaver Street
The female victim was initially conscious but lost consciousness before medics arrived, police said. She was pronounced dead at The Hospital of Central Connecticut.
Police said the victim was in her 40s. She has not been publicly identified.
Authorities are investigating the stabbing. They are asking anyone with any information to call New Britain Police Det. Perez at 860-826-3134.
Anonymous tips may be made by calling the community tip line at 860-826-3199.
Police are investigating after a 38-year-old New Jersey man fell to his death in Milford on Saturday night.
Authorities said Emmanuel Felix, of Maplewood, N.J., had pulled over to deal with car trouble at the Moses Wheeler Bridge on Interstate 95 southbound when he was struck by another car.
According to police, Maplewood was thrown over the railing and fell about 100 feet into the river below.
It happened around 10:45 p.m. Saturday night.
Emergency responders worked to save the Maplewood's life, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The other driver has not been publicly identified. No charges have been filed.
State police have taken over the scene and are investigating.
