The Manchester Fire Department responded to a report of a serious motor vehicle collision at the intersection of West Center and Cooper Streets on Tuesday afternoon, according to a post on social media.

Fire officials said two people were ejected and located under one of the cars. According to fire officials, they were quickly rescued without having to lift the vehicle.

Four people in total were transported to local hospitals by fire department paramedics, fire officials said. Three of the victims were suffering from potentially life-threatening injuries, according to fire officials. Their statuses were unknown.

No further information was available at this time.

Officers responded to a disturbance at Urban Air, located at 220 Hale Road, just after 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Manchester Police Department.

A parent of a 14-year-old called 911 and reported that her son was assaulted during an altercation and alleged that one of the individuals involved had a firearm, police said.

The parent told officers approximately six individuals were involved in the disturbance and fled the scene on foot, according to police.

Multiple officers were dispatched to locate the suspects. Based on witness descriptions, officers reportedly observed the suspects entering a vehicle.

Police immediately stopped the vehicle, which was being driven by an adult with juvenile passengers. According to police, some of the occupants were uncooperative and refused to get out of the car.

During the investigation, officers reportedly found a bag with a facsimile firearm in the vehicle. Police said the gun appeared to be painted black, including the original orange tip, to make it look real.

Additionally, officers reportedly discovered a discarded bag near the incident that contained a large knife and clothing that matched the description of one of the juveniles, according to police.

Two juveniles, ages 14 and 15 years old, were arrested and charged with carrying a facsimile firearm, second-degree breach of peace, second-degree threatening, reckless endangerment, third-degree assault and tampering with evidence.

Police said the juveniles were taken to juvenile detention on an order to detain.

The incident remains under investigation, according to police.

The Bridgeport Public Schools issued the guidelines a day after the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, but had discussed the issue during the Jan. 13 Board of Education meeting, according to district officials.

During that meeting, Interim Superintendent Dr. Royce Avery “reported that the district’s immigration enforcement guidelines are in full effect and emphasized the importance of safeguarding students, regardless of their immigration status,” the district said in a statement.

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Trump Monday signed an order under which he intends to end the constitutional provision giving “birthright citizenship” to anyone born in the U.S. regardless of the immigration status of their parents. He has previously also promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

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Connecticut’s attorney general, William Tong filed suit, with the attorneys general of 17 other states, the District of Columbia and the City of San Francisco against Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, “challenging the lawless executive order ending birthright citizenship, eviscerating clear constitutional rights to which all children born in the U.S. are entitled.”

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The Bridgeport Public Schools district said it acted out of concerns about “potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement” actions and to reaffirm its “commitment to protecting the safety and privacy of all students and families.”

“Under these guidelines, no ICE agents or government officials are permitted to enter school buildings, buses, or attend school events without prior written authorization from the superintendent,” Bridgeport Public Schools district statement said.

The statement by the schools came as the Trump administration threw out policies limiting where ICE arrests could happen.

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Avery said that the district is “dedicated to protecting all students, regardless of their immigration status.

“We will not tolerate any threats to the safety or dignity of our students,” he said, in a statement. “Every student in Bridgeport, regardless of their immigration status, has the right to feel secure and supported in our schools. I became an educator to advocate for all students, and I will ensure their rights and privacy are upheld. Our schools will remain a safe space where all students can learn, grow, and succeed without fear or discrimination.”

Guidelines, per the district:

Visitor Protocol: All visitors must report to the main office, provide valid identification, and state a legitimate purpose for their visit. Unauthorized individuals will not be granted access.

Immigration Enforcement Restrictions: Federal immigration activities are strictly prohibited on Bridgeport Public Schools property, transportation routes, or during school activities without prior approval from the Superintendent. No ICE agents or government officials can enter school buildings, buses, or attend school events without prior authorization.

Student Privacy Protections: Bridgeport Public Schools does not collect or store information regarding immigration status to ensure student privacy and safety.

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Steps to Follow if an ICE Officer Arrives, per the district:

Secure the Premises: Use the intercom to communicate with the official. If necessary, lock all exterior doors to prevent unauthorized entry and ensure the safety of students and staff.

Meet the Officer at the Entrance: Always meet the ICE officer at the school entrance, where all visitors are screened for entry.

Request Officer Information: Ask for the ICE officer’s name, badge/ID number, and the reason for the visit during school hours.

Contact the Superintendent’s Office: Immediately notify the Superintendent’s office to ensure they are informed and can take the necessary action.

Do Not Physically Interfere: If the ICE officer does not comply with district protocols, do not attempt to physically intervene. Instead, gather as much information as possible and notify district security supervisors and the Superintendent’s office.

The district said it is “actively working with key community partners, including the Connecticut Institute for Refugees & Immigrants, CT Students For A Dream, and others, to host a series of community forums and trainings in the coming weeks. The forums are designed to ensure the Bridgeport community receives the vital resources and information needed to navigate concerns related to student safety and immigration.”

West Hartford Public Safety Dispatch received a report of an exterior gutter on fire outside of a multifamily residence on Newington Road in West Hartford around 2:36 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Chief Greg H. Priest of the West Hartford Fire Department. Members of the West Hartford Fire and Police Departments were immediately dispatched to the scene.

A fire department paramedic unit arrived first at the scene and reported smoke from the top of the roof.

“Based on this report, the shift commander (deputy fire chief) transmitted a working fire, which added additional fire resources to the response and brought area fire departments into town to provide coverage while West Hartford fire units were committed to the scene,” Priest said.

First responders learned that an adult occupant and an animal had evacuated from the house before their arrival, according to Priest.

Multiple West Hartford companies entered the building, finding a fire that extended from the exterior ground floor up into the attic. “Fire suppression was initiated,” Priest said, “and the structure was confirmed to be cleared of occupants.”

The bulk of the fire was reported as “knocked down” at 3:02 p.m., according to Priest.

The West Hartford Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the incident with “a particular focus on the possibility that there were de-icing efforts with an open flame earlier near the gutter which was initially reported on fire,” Priest said.

The West Hartford Building Official’s Office was evaluating the structure to determine if any portion of the residence could be re-occupied on Tuesday night, but Priest said it was expected to be deemed “uninhabitable” due to fire, smoke and water damage.

The Red Cross was dispatched to assist the residents.

“West Hartford Fire would like to thank our dispatchers, the (West Hartford) Police Department and our mutual aid partners who assisted by covering the town while our units were committed to the fire,” Priest said.

Over the past several months, the Community Impact Unit of the Wallingford Police Department has received numerous anonymous complaints regarding an alleged prostitution ring operating on South Elm Street, according to Chief John Ventura of the Wallingford Police Department.

According to Ventura, the location is associated with 41-year-old Erica Waller, who was previously arrested on a prostitution charge in October 2024.

Investigating officers allege that Waller continued to use a website to offer a “menu” of sexual services to potential clients, Ventura said.

Undercover officers reportedly engaged with Waller on the website and arranged a meeting on Jan. 10, according to Ventura. The meeting led to her arrest after she allegedly agreed to perform sexual acts in exchange for money, Ventura said.

Waller was charged with third-degree promoting prostitution. She was released on a $7,500 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday in Meriden.

Officers were patrolling the area of Willow Street and Hillside Avenue around 8:33 p.m. on Sunday when they allegedly observed a 2019 Nissan Altima reported stolen from Manchester parked on Willow Street with an occupant inside, according to Lt. Ryan Bessette of the Waterbury Police Department.

Officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and identified the driver as George Johnson, 61, of Hartford, Bessette said.

According to Bessette, Johnson was arrested and charged with larceny of a motor vehicle (first offense) and illegal operation of a motor vehicle under suspension.

Johnson was released on a promise to appear pending a court arraignment on Jan. 30, Bessette said.

The winning prize was sold at Eagle Mart on 2 Spring St. in Stafford Springs, according to their website. The winner has plenty of time to claim the prize, with a set expiration date of July 17, 2025.

Three other prizes have yet to be claimed as well, according to their website. The oldest unclaimed prize – a $100,000 Cash5 winner drawn back in August of 2024, is set to expire next month on Feb. 9. The winning numbers for that prize are 8 – 10 – 11 – 23 – 34, and was drawn at East Main Convenience in Stamford.

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The two other unclaimed prizes are a $10,000 Keno drawing from Dec. 9, 2024 and a jackpot Lotto! drawing earlier this month on Jan. 10, according to the CT Lottery.

The Keno ticket was drawn in A1 Quick And Easy in Waterford with the following winning numbers: 5 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 34 – 48 – 50 – 55 – 58 – 59 – 62 – 63 – 70 – 73 – 79 2X.

The Lotto! ticket was draw in Pvc Gulf LLC in Wilton with the following winning numbers: 4 – 27 – 32 – 37 – 40 – 44.

The letter to the two companies, specifically to Altice Chairman and CEO Dennis Mathew and MSG Entertainment Executive Chairman and CEO James Dolan, was signed by Democratic state Sens. Bob Duff, James Maroney, Milford; Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox, Trumbull; Herron Keyon Gaston, Bridgeport; Julie Kushner, Danbury; Ceci Maher, Wilton; and Patricia Billie Miller, Stamford.

In a statement, the senators said they are frustrated “with the prolonged negotiations, which have blocked access to critical sports programming. Fans of the New York Rangers, Knicks, Devils, and other teams remain caught in the crossfire as the companies fail to come to terms.”

“Fans of the Rangers, Knicks, Devils and many other teams in Connecticut are unable to watch their teams as the competition heats up in both leagues,” the letter says. “The constant gamesmanship by all sides in the television wars must stop. We need to put customers first. With the escalating costs we are all paying, there is no excuse for viewers to be without access to their sports teams.

“We ask that you immediately begin giving viewers access to the Madison Square Garden channel through Optimum while your negotiations continue,” the letter says. “If this does not happen, we demand that they receive refunds and reduced bills in the future for the content that they are paying for but are not receiving. Your customers are not the only potential losers in your disagreement. This disagreement will result in both of your companies losing paying customers who decide they are better off finding their entertainment and relaxation in other ways.”

Optimum said in a recent statement that it and MSG Networks have “been negotiating.”

The statement, dated Jan. 16, said Optimum had over a period of two weeks, “hosted MSG Networks’ executives in its offices twice and hosted multiple calls trying to find a solution that would bring MSG Networks’ content to fans and prevent non-viewers from having to pay for what they do not watch. MSG Networks has refused all offers. Perhaps MSG Networks is purposely trying to tank the deal to get customers to pay three times more for their own app AND save the Sphere by bankrupting MSG Networks?

“As MSG Networks continues to deflect responsibility for its ongoing blackout of Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, and Devils games, today, Optimum has called on the programmer to refund customers upwards of $125 million — representing the estimated $10 per month per subscriber MSG Networks announced its sports programming is worth,” the statement said.

Asked about the lawmakers’ letter, a spokeswoman for Optimum said the company “remains open to reaching a fair and equitable deal with MSG Networks, despite them refusing to engage in meaningful, consumer-friendly negotiations. Throughout our conversations, MSG has been asking for an old model from before streaming solutions like the Gotham Sports app and others – a model that forces non-fans to pay for content that they don’t want.

“Video is clearly not a one-size-fits-all model, yet since day one, Optimum has been offering solutions so fans never have to miss a game,” the spokeswoman said. “This means pointing viewers to other streaming options, including Gotham Sports – MSG’s own app – which puts money back in their own pockets, and working directly with our customers to help offset and defray these costs.”

The spokeswoman also noted, “we are saving non-fans from paying for the content that they do not watch and have multiple new, affordable video solutions for them, starting at only $30/month.

A spokesperson for MSG Networks said, “We agree with the letter we received from the Connecticut State Senators and would be happy to have our games restored in Connecticut as well as all the other Optimum areas.

“We’ve already offered multiple options, all of which Altice has declined:

1. A short extension (which we are prepared to offer again tied to binding arbitration);

2. A renewal on the exact same terms as our previous agreement;

3. A deal on the same terms we recently agreed with another major operator; or

4. A renewal accepting the same terms and conditions that Altice just recently concluded with the YES Network.

“However, while our goal has been to get our programming back on, Altice has shown no motivation in solving this. We also agree that Altice should be proactively reducing their customers’ monthly bills for programming they are not receiving but are still being charged for. We appreciate their attention to this matter.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James today Jan. 13 said in a statement on the contract negotiations between MSG Networks and Altice, which owns Optimum: “As two major corporations engage in contract talks, the people who are impacted the most are everyday New Yorkers who simply want to watch sports and enjoy television programming. Altice, which owns Optimum, and MSG Networks, which provides sports coverage for some of New York’s favorite sports teams, are struggling to reach a final agreement, and consumers who expect the programming and games they paid for are the ones missing out.

“I will be monitoring this situation closely to ensure New York customers receive the services they are paying for. I urge both companies to work together to reach a fair, final agreement so New Yorkers can get back to rooting for the home teams.”

The Connecticut lawmakers said, “We will not take any side in this dispute except that of our constituents, who pay significant amounts of money for the content you both provide but cannot view the athletic events that give them joy.”

“The constant gamesmanship by all sides in the television wars must stop,” the senators wrote. “Time for both sides to play ball so our residents can get back to the game.”

She was 95.

Barbara, (Bobbie, Barcar, Barbie) and Larry, who predeceased her in 2016, were veteran reporters for the Hartford Courant who lived in Middletown before moving to their seaside home in Branford more than 30 years ago.

Born and raised in Middletown, Barbara was the daughter of Arthur and Hester Carlson and sister to her brother, Jack.  As a child she knew she wanted to be a writer.  She attended the city’s then Woodrow Wilson High School, earned high honors, was named to the National Honor Society, served as editor of the school newspaper and became a high school correspondent for the Hartford Courant.  She went on to study her craft, hone her skills and graduated from Wellesley College in 1950 with a B.A. in English. She continued her connection to Wellesley throughout her life by regularly contributing to the college’s monthly magazine.

Following graduation, she lived in Paris and traveled through Europe and returned to the U.S. to work briefly in radio, advertising, and publishing before turning her sights to newspapers. She joined the Hartford Courant in 1957 to work as a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, investigative stories and features.

While working for the Courant, she expanded her news perspective by taking on overseas assignments in the Middle East and Southeast Asia among other areas. Figures she interviewed ranged from Israel’s First Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to dinosaur expert John Ostrom to lion tamer Gunther Gebel-Williams. In 1966 the New England Women’s Press Association honored her with its annual Newspaper Woman of the Year award.  After leaving the Courant, she worked as a general assignment reporter for several years at the Louisville Times, where she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for a series on prisons.

She left the daily news business and became a regular contributor to The New York Times Connecticut Weekly section and for more than a decade filed stories on topics ranging from soup kitchens in the suburbs to the lives of nuns in a cloistered monastery.  She also worked as a correspondent for Business Week reporting locally on national stories, and was a contributing editor to New England Business magazine writing profiles, stories on issues and trends, and a monthly feature on unusual entrepreneurial companies. In addition, she wrote for The New Republic, the National Observer, the Boston Globe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the Miami Herald,  Modern Maturity, New England Monthly, and the Courant’s Northeast Magazine among many others. Her overseas reporting included writing stories from Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Afghanistan, China and the Soviet Union. She interviewed figures ranging from famous to familiar with ease.  Her last assignments were at the Shoreline Times weekly when she was 90 years old.

Her longer term projects included writing the book Food Festivals: Eating Your Way from Coast to Coast, co-authoring the book Holidays and Festivals Dictionary, and serving as an editor for a synonym dictionary entitled The Synonym Finder, published by Rodale.

Barbara’s was a life well-lived. She enjoyed an enduring and expansive reporting career, travel to some of the world’s farthest reaches (especially Africa as seen by her large collection of giraffes), living in a  century-old cottage on Long Island Sound, a long happy marriage to her beloved Larry, sharing conversations, laughter, and toasts with her close friends, and, of course, the company of the dogs she cared for and loved – the last one being her dear Kipling.

She leaves her niece Joanne (Bill) Kilmartin and faithful friends.

A private gathering to celebrate her rich life and to bid her a fond farewell will take place in the near future.

Memorial donations in the form of checks may be made out to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (memo line – Bambi Bailey Fund), 70 Audubon St., New Haven, CT 06510.

Online gifts may be made using the link below:

https://www.cfgnh.org/funds/bambi-bailey-scholarship-fund

All information provided by her family.

The investigation began when CT were dispatched to Stop and Shop on Fenn Road on Oct. 28, 2024 to check the welfare of an adult female, police said.

The officers spoke to the woman and learned she had allegedly been “held against her will at the Grantmoor Motor Lodge and was being forced to withdraw money,” police said.

The investigation conducted by Newington police officers found that Amanda Ditommaso, 37, and Tylone Graham, 41, both of New Britain, had allegedly “kidnapped the female victim for approximately two days.”

However, while the victim allegedly was “being forced to withdraw money from Stop and Shop an employee called the police for assistance,” police said.

Ditommaso is charged with first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree, first-degree failure to appear, and four counts of second-degree failure to appear, police said. Ditommaso was being detained Monday in lieu of a total of $237,500 bail and is scheduled to appear at Superior Court in New Britain on Tuesday January 21, police said.

Graham is charged with first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree. He posted a $200,000 bond and was turned over to the East Hartford Police Department for an active arrest warrant. Graham is scheduled to appear at Superior Court in New Britain on February 3, police said. Both suspects were arrested on warrants Sunday, police said.