Joseph Wilkinson | New York Daily News Hamas released Wednesday a propaganda/proof of life video of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The 24-year-old was one of the hundreds of people taken hostage in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. He’s one of 133 hostages remaining in Gaza, though dozens of them are believed to be dead. In the heavily edited video, which is also clearly scripted, Goldberg-Polin criticizes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. “Think of us detainees in underground hell, without water, food or sun, without the treatment I (have needed ..read more

Firefighters helped free a young child who became stuck in a claw machine at a Connecticut laundromat Tuesday. Fire crews responded to the laundromat at 36 New Britain Ave., Hartford, just before 4:20 p.m. on the report of a child getting stuck in a vending machine, according to the Hartford Fire Department. Firefighters arrived and found a young boy stuck in a claw machine that dispenses teddy bears, according to fire officials. The child had been trying to reach a stuffed animal when he became stuck. Crews worked to extricate the boy without any injuries. Once he was free, firefighters told ..read more

Katie Kelton | Bankrate.com (TNS) Perhaps your summers hold fond memories of strolling along the beach, hiking mountains or trying new foods at a destination hundreds of miles from home. If so, are you planning to keep the travel streak going this year? Would you go into debt for it? A new Bankrate survey found that only about half (53%) of Americans are planning a summer vacation in 2024. Of those who plan to travel this summer, more than 1 in 3 (36%) are willing to go into debt to pay for it. On the other hand, another half (47%) of Americans plan to skip their summer vacation this year, cit ..read more

Faith E. Pinho | (TNS) Los Angeles Times PHOENIX — When Anna first read about the Arizona Supreme Court reinstating an 1864 law banning all abortions except when a mother’s life is at risk, she sent the article to her partner with an angry text. “I was like, ‘God, this makes me so mad,’” she said. She also decided to take a pregnancy test, just in case. Her period was a few days late, which she figured was because of her new birth control pills. “I just want to make sure before anything goes into effect,” said Anna, 24, who declined to give her last name. “Thank God I did.” Days later, she fou ..read more

Derby builder and one-time mayoral candidate Gene DiGiovanni was sentenced to ten days in jail Wednesday for entering the U.S. Capital on Jan. 6, 2021 when supporters of ex-President Donald Trump stormed the building during a joint session of Congress that was held to certify the 2020 presidential election. DiGiovanni, 42, who faced a six month sentence, admitted he was in the building for a matter of minutes and he was not accused of violence or of causing any damage. He was tracked down by the army of amateur sleuths who studied thousands of hours of video recordings of the event and was con ..read more

By JONEL ALECCIA (AP Health Writer) Dairy cattle moving between states must be tested for the bird flu virus, U.S. agriculture officials said Wednesday as they try to track and control the growing outbreak. The federal order was announced a day after health officials said they had detected inactivated remnants of the virus, known as Type A H5N1, in samples taken from milk during processing and after retail sale. They stressed that such remnants pose no known risk to people or the milk supply. “The risk to humans remains low,” said Dawn O’Connell of the federal Administration for Strategic Prep ..read more

The Connecticut Office of Inspector General has found that a state police trooper was justified when he fired his gun at a man who was armed with a knife and began advancing toward police as he was being evicted from his apartment in Brooklyn last May. Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr. released a report Tuesday concluding that Trooper Romello Lumpkin acted as any reasonable police officer would when he fired one round at Byron Harvey on May 9, 2023, after speaking with Harvey for nearly 30 minutes while trying to de-escalate things. Harvey, who was 59 at the time and armed with a military-st ..read more

A 28-year old man has been accused of hiring a ride share service to pick up teenage girls living at a state-run group home in West Hartford and deliver them to hotels and shopping malls in Connecticut and New York where he filmed himself sexually abusing them. Nicolas “Breezy” Brown, who is believed to live in New York City, faces decades in prison after being indicted this week on two child pornography charges by a federal grand jury in New Haven. The FBI learned in mid-March from the state Department of Children and Families, the group home operator, that someone calling himself Breezy was ..read more

By DEVI SHASTRI (AP Health Writer) Allergy season can bring misery to tens of millions of Americans each year. Tree, grass, and other pollens can cause runny noses, itchy eyes, coughing and sneezing. Where you live and what you’re allergic to can make a big difference in how bad your allergies are, but there are many things you can do to feel better. Here are some tips from experts to keep allergies at bay — maybe even enough to allow you to enjoy the outdoors. WHICH POLLENS CAUSE ALLERGIES? There are three main types of pollen. Earlier in the spring, tree pollen is the main culprit. After tha ..read more

Police are investigating a stabbing in Shelton late Tuesday that led to one arrest after a woman allegedly tried stopping a teenager from calling 911 to report the incident. Police officers and medics responded to a residence on Walnut Tree Hill Road around 7:45 p.m. for the report of a stabbing and found a 35-year-old woman who had been assaulted, according to the Shelton Police Department. The initial investigation showed that a man and two women were at the residence along with two teenagers when an argument broke out, police said. The man allegedly assaulted the 35-year-old woman and stran ..read more