Plymouth police continue to investigate after a girl was found unresponsive in town of Sunday and pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police received a report of an unresponsive girl under the age of 18 at 211 Main Street, a building with stores and apartments, in the Terryville section of Plymouth at 9:05 a.m. on Sunday.

Officers responded and an ambulance transported the girl to Bristol Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to police.

The medical examiner conducted an autopsy on Monday and the cause of death has not been determined.

Police have not said whether they believe foul play was involved and the girl's name and age have not been released.

"Any death for a child is terrible," said Kris Nass, who lives in town. "But to not know what happened, to not know if it's natural causes, to not know was it violent? Did somebody break into that child's room like you hear on the news all the time? So that we can be prepared, to watch, to see what's going on in town."

The State Police Western District Major Crimes Squad also responded to the scene and continues to investigate.

People in a Farmington neighborhood woke to quite a sight on Wednesday morning.

A large bear took a leisurely stroll through yards on Bailey Court. Dozens gathered to watch the animal lumber through the neighborhood.

Police were called to the street and said officers were able to quickly guide the bear back into the woods and away from homes.

There have been 442 reported bear sightings in Farmington in the past 12 months, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  Only Avon had more bear sightings reported in the same time period, DEEP said.

Shelton police arrested a 21-year-old man Wednesday on five warrants for gun, burglary and larceny charges.

The arrests stem from a search following the initial arrest of Kyle Eckweiler, of Shelton, on Sept. 23. Police found several credit cards, GPS devices, three purses and other items stolen from vehicles, police said.

Police served five warrants for his arrest at Derby Superior Court on Oct. 22 and charged him with theft of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, four counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of sixth-degree larceny, fourth-degree larceny and violation of probation.

The department held him on a $92,500 bond.

A former employee of a Newington bank has been arrested on federal charges, accused of stealing more than $100,000 from bank customers and diverting bank statements.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Alexander Alvarez, 32, of East Lyme, is accused of stealing $100,806.85 from one bank customer and $11,137.01 from a second bank customer between December 2012 and May 2013, while he was a bank employee.

Federal documents don’t state what bank Alvarez worked for, but say he targeted accounts with little bank activity and changed the mailing addresses on them so the owners would not discover the activity, officials said.

He then created fake transfer slips to move money to dormant accounts or to accounts he had control over, then withdrew the money or transferred it to his own account, officials said.

A grand jury handed down an indictment on Tuesday, charging him with two counts of bank fraud.

Alvarez was arrested on Wednesday, appeared in court in Bridgeport and is detained.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Oct. 24.
 

Police arrested two men on drug charges at a Stratford inn Tuesday following a narcotics and prostitution investigation.

Haji Bischoff, 31, of Waterbury, and Nevin Lowe, 25, of Meriden, are accused of possession and intent to deal crack cocaine and heroin, police said.

Stratford and Milford narcotics officers searched the Honeyspot Motor Inn room where Bischoff was staying on warrants stemming from an "investigation into alleged narcotics and prostitution activities at the motor inn," according to police. When they arrived, Lowe was with him, as well as four women, police said.

The women weren't arrested, but police charged Bischoff with three counts of possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell, three counts of possession of heroin with intent to sell and two counts of possession with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school. Lowe was also arrested on one count of each of those charges.

"These arrests are part of ongoing investigations into such activity that impacts the quality of life in town," Stratford police said in a news release.

The state "reprimanded" Lowe return to custody after police found him in violation of his probation terms due to the incident, police said.

A two-alarm fire displaced 21 adults and a child in Hartford this morning and is causing traffic problems on Blue Hills Avenue.

Firefighters were called to 115 Blue Hills Ave., a 12-unit apartment building, at 7 a.m. and the fire was shooting out of the roof.

All the residents made it out of the building safely and the fire was contained to the third floor, but there is water damage, so the residents are not able to return to their homes at this point. 

A school is located across the street and buses were forced to seek an alternate route.

The American Red Cross is assisting people and investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.

The apartment building was built in 1930, according to assessor's records.

Hamden High School was evacuated as a precaution after someone called school administration and said there was a bomb in the building and it was "going to go off," police said.

Police were called at 11:41 a.m. on Wednesday, students were moved from the school to bleachers by the football field, then to the Hamden Ice Rink. 

The bomb squad responded, swept the building and determined that the scene was clear.

Police did not allow parents in to pick up their children, but some said they understood.

Students were allowed back into the building as of 1:45 p.m.
 

A family of six from West Haven has been quarantined after returning from West Africa, according to Mayor Edward O’Brien. They do not have any symptoms, the mayor said.

The quarantine is precautionary and complies with an emergency order Gov. Dannel Malloy issued earlier this month to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in the state of Connecticut.

On. Oct. 7, Malloy signed an order that gives the Commissioner the Department of Public Health the ability to quarantine anyone who might have been exposed to the Ebola virus.

About a week later, after a Yale University student was in isolation with Ebola-like symptoms, Malloy issued stricter guidelines, requiring anyone who traveled to affected areas or was in contact with an infected individual, to stay at home for 21 days and take his or her temperature twice a day. 

Public heath health workers will contact residents by phone twice a day by phone to see how they are doing. 

Anyone who develops a fever or other symptoms that suggest the Ebola virus during the quarantine period will be sent to a hospital for evaluation and placed in room separate from other patients.

In accordance with the order, the family will quarantined in their home for 21 days.

Malloy's order also calls for anyone who became sick with a fever a fever with and/or any of the symptoms of Ebola virus disease such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and  traveled to Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea in the last 21 days or had contact with a person who has Ebola virus disease to be sent to the hospital to be evaluated and placed in isolation.

The Yale student who was quarantined tested negative for Ebola.

Customers at a First Niagara bank branch in New Haven will have to go to Woodbridge for bank business in the New Year due to consolidation plans.

Harvey Feinberg has been with the New Haven bank branch at 36 Fountain Street for decades, even maintaining the account when the bank changed hands and became First Niagara.

“I became a depositor in 1948. I still have that account,” said Feinberg.

So when he heard that First Niagara was consolidating his branch with the one on Amity Road in Woodbridge in January, he was devastated.

“People come and get their money, it's easy. The Amity bank doesn't have safe deposit boxes. It will become a tremendous inconvenience,” said Feinberg.

Other customers said the same thing.

“As far as having to travel-wise, it is going to impact me. It's far, because I live around the corner,” Monae Washington said.

First Niagara put out a news release Friday.

"Across the financial services industry branch traffic, and the number of transactions handled per branch, are declining and self-service transactions are increasing. First Niagara is no different," Mark Rendulic, First Niagara executive vice president of consumer financial service, said.

The statement also said more customers are using online services, but branches will still be available in the area for customers who need them.

Local leaders are now looking for answers. They say First Niagara made this decision without consulting anyone in New Haven.

“We have worked with that bank for decades, and we found out in a press release, that's it. No discussion of how these people's jobs would be protected, how our economy and our tax base will be protected,” said State Rep. Pat Dillon.

Some customers are taking their accounts into their own hands.

“I'm moving it to Webster because I like being able to come down here either walking or on my bicycle to do business,” said George Jafferis.

State police have identified a body found earlier this month near Interstate 95 in New London as a Middletown man who has been missing for a year.

David Godwin Sr., 65, of Middletown, was last seen Oct. 13, 2013 at the Passport Inn on Main Street in Middletown. State police are treating the discovery of his body as a suspicious death at this time, state police said. Lt. J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman, said that is standard protocol until investigators can determine what caused his death.

In a Nov. 5, 2013 news release, police said that "it is believed that Mr. Godwin then traveled by train from Old Saybrook, CT to Penn Station in New York City" and arrived there on  Oct. 14, 2013" and that "the last communication anyone had with Mr. Godwin was on October 16, 2013."

Police said in that release that Godwin Sr. was likely "suffering from memory loss."

A second round of murder charges were filed Wednesday against a registered sex offender suspected in the deaths of at least seven women whose bodies were found over the last weekend.

Darren Deon Vann, 43, was charged in the death of Anith Jones, a 35-year-old Merrillville resident whose body was found late Saturday night. Her family had reported her missing on Oct. 8.

Vann was charged Monday in connection with the strangulation death of 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy.

Earlier Wednesday, Vann was ordered held in contempt of court when he refused to utter a word to the judge during his initial court appearance in the Hardy case.

"He will stay in jail for the rest of his life until this hearing takes place," Magistrate Judge Kathleen Sullivanwas said before putting the case on hold until Oct. 29 and agreeing to a defense motion for a gag order.

"See you in a week," she said.

Vann was then taken back to his jail cell, which is away from the general population and where he is under 24-hour watch from personnel.

Authorities said Vann, of Gary, opened up about previous crimes once he was arrested in connection with the Hardy case and helped police find six other bodies. By Wednesday morning, just three of those six had been positively identified: Jones, 28-year-old Teairra Batey, and 36-year-old Kristine Williams.

Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey on Tuesday asked for the public's help in identifying two of the women who were recovered over the weekend. Anyone with information is asked to call the Lake County Coroner’s Office at 219-755-3265.

For about the past week or so, health insurance broker Stephen Hunt has been getting phone calls from unhappy clients.

“They just keep building up and up and up and up and up," Hunt said.

The calls are coming from clients who have been notified by their insurer that their policy expires at year’s end and most will have to purchase plans with much higher premiums and much higher deductibles, he said.

“We’re not talking about a minor difference in premium. We're talking about a mortgage payment difference in premium for a lot of people," Hunt said.

Anne Melissa Dowling, the deputy commissioner of the Department of Insurance, said “that’s something we’re really concerned about."

Dowling says some 55,000 people across the state will have their policies canceled either because  it no longer meets the requirements of the Affordable Care Act or because grandfathered policies that didn’t need to meet requirements have simply been canceled by the insurer.

It is important, Dowling said, that they consider their options and, in particular, options available through Access Health CT, which may provide significant subsidies for individuals and families.

Anyone with questions can call the Department of Insurance, where well-versed experts can answer all questions, or they can call Access Health CT or consult with a knowledgeable broker, she said.
 

Dallas nurse Amber Vinson no longer has signs of Ebola in her blood, her family said Wednesday, one week after she was hospitalized at an Atlanta hospital with the potentially deadly virus.

Vinson will be transferred into a different unit at Emory University Hospital and is still being treated in the serious communicable diseases unit, the family said.

"Amber and our family are ecstatic to receive this latest report on her condition," her mother Debra Barry said, saying the news had "truly answered prayers and bring our family one step closer to reuniting with her at home."

Vinson, 29, was the second Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse to fall ill with the virus after treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient diagnosed with the disease in the United States. Duncan died Oct. 8.

Her coworker Nina Pham, who also contracted the virus after treating Duncan, remains hospitalized in good condition at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.

It is still unclear how exactly both nurses contracted the virus.

Vinson had worn protective gear including face shields, hazardous materials suits and protective footwear as she inserted catheters, drew blood and dealt with Duncan's body fluids. She worked on the three days in late September when Duncan was producing "extensive" diarrhea and vomit.

Vinson was hospitalized on Tuesday, Oct. 14, one day after she returned to Dallas from a trip to Ohio to plan her wedding and visit family. She was diagnosed with Ebola one day after she was hospitalized.

Vinson's family has defended her decision to fly home to Dallas the day before she fell ill with Ebola, saying that she made the decision in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and with guidance from her own hospital.

She had been cleared by the CDC to fly just before she boarded the flight, the CDC said last week, hours after the CDC chief told reporters she should not have flown.

The southbound side of Route 8 was closed in Beacon Falls for about an hour Wednesday after an oil slick caused a number of crashes, according to state police.

The oil covered about 100 yards of the highway between Exits 23 and 24, police said. The accidents were described as fender-benders, according to police.

Troopers were trying to determine how the highway became oily in that section.

The highway reopened around 6:30 p.m.

Police arrested a New London physician Wednesday who has been accused of sexually assaulting a patient, police said.

A patient of Glenn Giarratana, 58, of Madison, told New London police that a woman filed a complaint on June 9 reporting that a Hartford Dispensary physician sexually assaulted her during her annual physical. The doctor's office is located at 931 Bank Street in New London.

After an attending nurse left the room, the woman said that Giarratana subjected her to "sexual contact without her consent during her physical exam, police said. The woman immediately reported the incident to a nurse on site after she left the exam room, police said.

Detectives interviewed Giarratana, other physicians and several Hartford Dispensary employees.

Giarratana turned himself into police on a warrant and police. He faces a charge of fourth-degree sexual assault.

Police released him after he posted a $25,000 court-set bond.

Police ask anyone with information to contact the New London Police Department at 860-447-5269.

The state of Connecticut has launched a website to keep residents informed about the Ebola virus after a few reported cases and scares nationwide.

“Many residents have questions and concerns. For that reason, we felt it was important to create a localized site where information will be updated on an ongoing basis,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. “While there are no cases of Ebola in Connecticut, we are taking safety measures to prevent the spread of this virus should someone in our state become sick with Ebola. Our health officials and Unified Command Team have been meeting to prepare for a potential case here in Connecticut.”

State Department of Health Commissioner Jewel Mullen said that "a widespread outbreak of Ebola" is unlikely in the United States, but that officials want residents to be informed and know the preparations Connecticut is taking in the event of any cases in state. 

"“This site provides people with access to timely and accurate information about Ebola and the work the state and its partners are doing to protect Connecticut," she said. 

The new website also has resources for health care providers, such as information about protective gear and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.

You can visit the state website at www.ct.gov/ebola. The United Way also has more information on its own website, www.211ct.org.

Police have responded to the area of 595 Broad View Terrace in Hartford due to downed wires and are closing the road there.

More information wasn't immediately available. Check back for updates.

Artist Edward Hopper's famous "Nighthawks" painting has had admirers speculating for years whether the diner depicted was inspired by a real-life eatery, and one Greenwich Village restaurant owner is convinced he knows the answer.

Fiko Uslu, owner of the newly opened Classic's Cafe at Greenwich and Christopher streets, says he's so sure the space was the setting for the classic 1942 painting that he wants to rename the restaurant Nighthawks.

"We did a lot of research, a lot of legal paperwork," he said. "I don't want to get anything wrong."

The painting shows an all-night diner in which three customers are seated, lost in their own thoughts, under an "eerie glow," according to a description on the Art Institute of Chicago website.

Classic's Cafe manager, Alex Vigro, said they never thought about a connection until a mystery man named Mark stopped by last week and pointed out some similarities.

"These windows right there, the view in front of us, they still remain the same," he said. "The corner, I think everything, the design, everything is really similar."

It's not the only location that has been suggested as the inspiration for Hopper's painting, which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. A building housing what is now a flower shop is one of at least three Greenwich Avenue locations frequently discussed, and it's not lost on local residents.

"Certainly the shape of this building with the windows, and the way it comes to a peak, potentially," said Cynthia Kueppers.

Blogger Jeremiah Moss has chronicled his journey to find the real-life Nighthawks diner, writing in a 2010 New York Times op-ed piece that city folklore has suggested that Mulry Square -- a triangular lot at Greenwich Avenue and Seventh Avenue South -- was the site of the diner. His research found that it couldn't be the case because a gas station stood there from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Hopper himself has said the painting was inspired by a "restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet," according to the Art Institute of Chicago, but never got more specific than that.

Carter Foster, the curator of drawing for the Whitney Museum, which has 2,500 drawings donated by the artist's widow, making it one of the largest Hopper collections anywhere, said the painting was probably influenced by multiple locations on the avenue.

"There were three corners on Greenwich Avenue, not Greenwich Street, where Hopper walked by frequently that were roughly the same shape as the diner in 'Nighthawks,' and I think those were the inspiration in a very general way, as was the tip of the Flatiron building," said Foster.

The artist with the answers died in 1967, leaving behind his painting and the speculation that goes along with it.

The newly-formed Texas Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response held its first public hearing in the State Capitol.

At the 9 a.m. hearing, task force members focused on medical and public health preparedness for the initial identification and isolation of patients with Ebola or similar high-consequence infectious diseases, officials said.

Officials said that Thomas Eric Duncan could have walked into any hospital, so all hospitals must be prepared to handle an Ebola patient.

Task Force members heard invited testimony from witnesses representing professions and institutions involved in infectious disease identification and response. The main issues they discussed were internal communication, enhanced diagnostic screening and training for medical staff.

Speakers thanksed nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, who tested positive for Ebola after treating Duncan. Texas Department of Health Services Dr. David Lakey, in particular, said it takes genuine bravery to care for someone with Ebola.

Texas Governor Rick Perry created the 15-member task force comprised of experts in infectious disease and public health, biodefense leaders and other state agency professionals Oct. 6. The group is charged with development of recommendations and a comprehensive state plan to ensure that Texas is prepared for the potential of emerging infectious diseases, such as the Ebola virus, and can provide the rapid response needed to effectively protect the safety and well-being of citizens.