Lawyers for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman have asked a federal judge in Brooklyn to postpone his trial date next year because they have not yet been paid and don't have funds to prepare for an April trial, NBC News reported.

Guzman, notorious for breaking out of two Mexican lockups, was brought to the U.S. a year ago to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges and is being held in near-isolation in a federal jail in Manhattan.

"Due to Mr. Guzmán's conditions of confinement and his inability to speak with specific family members to request that counsel's fees be paid, the defense is insufficiently funded at this time to be properly prepared for a trial less than four months away," lead defense lawyer Eduardo Balarezo wrote in a filing over the weekend.

In November, Balarezo complained that Guzman was hallucinating and losing memory as his mental state deteriorated due to the conditions of his imprisonment.

Life-threatening injuries have been reported after a pickup crashed into a house in Hampton Tuesday.

State police confirmed the crash happened around 12:40 p.m. in the area of 465 Hartford Turnpike (Route 6). Life-threatening injuries have been reported.

Route 6 is currently closed in the area.

A police pursuit that began in West Haven has ended in a serious crash in New Haven.

West Haven police said officers were conducting enforcement on Boston Post Road and Marginal Drive around 12:30 p.m. A vehicle fled officers, who pursued it north on Ella Grasso Boulevard. The suspect vehicle crashed into another vehicle at the intersection of Derby Avenue (Route 34) and Ella Grasso Boulevard in New Haven.

Serious but non-life threatening injuries have been reported.

The suspect fled the scene on foot and police are still searching for him. No suspect description was released.

The State’s attorney has been called to the scene.

More information was not immediately available. Check back for updates.

BLOOMFIELD

The Alvin & Beatrice Wood Human Services Center
330 Park Avenue
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday 7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Prosser Library

1 Tunxis Avenue
Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

McMahon Wintonbury Library
1015 Blue Hills Avenue
Tuesday & Thursday 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Blue Hills Fire Department

779 Blue Hills Avenue
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 7:30 am- 11:30 pm

HARTFORD

Hartford Public Library, Downtown Branch
500 Main St:
Monday – Thursday 9:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Center Church
60 Gold St:
Wednesday through Sunday 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Hands on Hartford
45 Church St:
Mondays and Tuesdays 4 p.m. 7 p.m.

South End Wellness Center
830 Maple Ave
Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

North End Senior Center
80 Coventry St
Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m.- 3 p.m.

Parkville Senior Center
11 New Park Ave.
Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Hispanic Health Council
175 Main St.
Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Hispanic Senior Center
45 Wadsworth St.
Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Overnight Warming Centers

Willie Ware Community Center
697 Windsor St.
Open 7 days a week, 7:30 p.m. – 7:00 a.m.

NEW HAVEN

New Haven Free Public Library Main Building
133 Elm St.
Monday – Thursday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday closed

Fair Haven Branch Library
182 Grand Avenue
Monday & Tuesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Wednesday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday Closed
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday closed

Mitchell Branch Library
37 Harrison Street
Monday 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Tuesday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Wednesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday closed
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday closed

Stetson Branch Library
200 Dixwell Avenue
Monday & Tuesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Wednesday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday closed
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday closed

Courtland Seymour Wilson Branch Library
303 Washington Avenue
Monday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Tuesday 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday closed
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday closed

A silver alert has been issued for a 77-year-old man from Manchester. 

Police said John Gilbert went missing on Tuesday. 

Gilbert was last seen wearing a blue and gray jacket, navy pants and a baseball cap. 

He is described as being 5 feet 10 inches with hazel eyes and gray hair.

Police did not provide media with a photo of the missing man. 

Anyone with information on Gilbert's whereabouts are asked to call Manchester Police at (860) 645-5500. 

The touching story of two parents finding their way back to one another after divorce has captured the hearts of thousands of people on Twitter.

Jeffrey Agan Jr. tweeted a video of his dad proposing to his mom as the family celebrated Christmas. But it wasn't any ordinary proposal.

So he says on Twitter, his parents had been married before -- for more than 20 years -- before divorcing. 

"Years later, they start dating and as of yesterday, this happened," he captioned the video. 

It shows his mom, Lorrie, opening a Christmas gift from his father, Jeff. The gift is a sign, from which she reads:

"Our love was there, it never left. The both of us felt lost. Fate intervened for me and you, our love caught fire and burns anew.

"So now I ask you, Lorrie, once again..." she reads, before gasping, dropping to her knees and accepting her ex-husband's second marriage proposal.

The video has more than 10 million views on Twitter. Replying to the post, Lorrie Agan comments that it was the most amazing moment of her life.

In a separate tweet, Agan Jr. said the divorce had torn his family apart. The couple had raised eight children together. But both parents ended up going on a journey for self renewal, he said.

As a result of the tweet going viral, Agan Jr. started a GoFundMe page for people who wanted to donate funds for the couple's wedding.

"My dad started going to the gym and lost a ton of weight. He started writing poetry and spending more time with his grand kids," he wrote on the GoFundMe page. My mother found peace in nature, through meditation, and self empowerment."

He said his parent's first wedding was held at an electronics store because they were "too poor for a traditional wedding." The fundraiser had exceeded its $2,000 goal within a day.

"Congrats Mom and Dad!," Agan Jr. tweeted. "True love always finds its way back around."

Holiday retail sales jumped four percent from 2016 thanks, in part, to consumer confidence and deep discounts.

“A lot of people are going to be updating their winter wardrobe and their winter outerwear,” Westfarms spokeswoman Amanda Sirica said. “They’re going to be taking advantage of some really good sales.”

Experts say those sales will be strongest the two weeks following Christmas, and retailers need to take full advantage.

“Many retailers will try to drive consumers into the store with the premise that if they go to buy one item that may be deeply discounted, they’ll make other purchases while they’re in there,” Slice Intelligence analyst Ken Cassar said.

Shoppers who plan on shopping in the peak season should also consider using their gift cards as soon as possible.

As 2017 wraps up, it proves itself as one of the most challenging years for many retailers, most of which likely won’t accept gift cards if the store closes or starts liquidating.

Same goes for returns.

Before heading to the store, shoppers should make sure they keep the tags on their return item, leave it in its original packaging, hold on to the receipt and do their homework.

“Shoppers need to pay attention to the return policy at each individual retailer,” Sirica said.

People across the northeast reported seeing a bright flash in the night sky around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Locally, it was seen from Ayer and Milford in Central Massachusetts, to Boston, and into New Hampshire. It was also spotted as far north as Montreal, according to reports on social media.

While it's unclear what the object was, it may have been a meteor or a fireball.

A meteoroid is a piece of debris that enters Earth's atmosphere, burning up as it does so. The meteor is the bright flash that results from that process.

A fireball is essentially a brighter version of the meteor.

NBC Connecticut meteorologists have issued a first alert for Thursday. 

All of the state will see wind chills of -10 to 20F. 

We are not expecting record cold but the peak of it will bring in some awfully low wind chills. This is the kind of cold we get at least several times a year. 

There will be warming centers open across Connecticut for anyone who may need it. A full list can be found here.

The NBC Connecticut meteorologists are also tracking a potential snow Saturday. Stay tuned for the latest information and get the latest forecast anytime by clicking here.

A person was shot in the downtown area of Hartford.

Police said the person who was shot sustained non-life threatening injuries. 

A portion of Jewell Street was blocked between Ann and Trumbull streets for more than an hour on Tuesday night, but it not clear where the crime took place.

No other details were immediately available. 

A man jumped on his car while it was moving because another man was trying to steal it in Newtown, police said. 

On Nov. 2, Osvaldo Lopez allegedly drove a stolen Toyota Venza into the parking lot at 111 Church Hill Road, police said. 

Lopez got out of the car and took keys from a 10-year-old girl standing next to a 2014 Honda Odyssey in the parking lot, according to Connecticut State Police. 

As Lopez was driving out of the parking lot, the owner of the Honda jumped onto the car's hood, attempting to stop the suspect, but Lopez accelerated and the owner sustained injuries after falling off the moving vehicle, police said. 

The car was last seen getting onto Interstate 84 at exit 11. 

Lopez was arrested on Tuesday and charged with risk of injury to a child, assault, reckless endangerment, larceny, robbery, weapons in a vehicle and operating with a suspended license. 

An 8-year-old boy was plucked from the waters of a frozen Utah pond on Christmas Day after he fell in while chasing his dog, NBC News reported.

The boy, whose name hasn't been made public, was saved by Washington County sheriff's Sgt. Aaron Thompson, authorities said. His condition hasn't been disclosed. Thompson suffered only cuts, bruises and symptoms of hypothermia, and was back at work Tuesday.

"You never know exactly what you're going to get into," Thompson, a rescue diver by training and a former member of the sheriff's dive team, told reporters on Tuesday. "I just made the decision that I was going to go get him."

When lauded for his heroic actions, Thompson reminded reporters that it was not just him who saved the boy — medical crews, a helicopter crew and a witness who steered him the boy's general direction all helped.

The severity of this week's cold snap isn't particularly impressive but what is impressive is the expectation that this cold snap has some legs. We're currently forecasting temperatures to remain below 32 degrees for the next 10 days!

The initial peak of the cold will be on Thursday with wind chills between -10F and -20F. Beyond Thursday's cold the question is will we get any snow this weekend. An upper level disturbance swinging through the Great Lakes is going to initiate a storm off the northeastern U.S. Most of our computer models keep this storm well offshore but there are some differences. If we compare the GFS and the European model you can see how different the strength and orientation is of the upper level disturbance.

The Euro and the GFS models are a world apart in terms of how they handle the upper level energy. The Euro is amplified (big dip to the south) and snowy while the GFS is much flatter. There's a huge difference in sensible weather here between the two. Looking at the GFS ensembles I see some support for the more amplified Euro with many ensemble members producing at least some snow in Hartford.

The bottom line is we'll have to watch this system carefully as our models are still having a lot of trouble figuring out what it's going to do. Given the amount of cold around the snow has the potential to be quite dry and fluffy which tends to allow it to pile up quickly.

Thinking outside the box, a San Francisco woman has found an innovative way to deter package thieves: Get her cats — and their litter box — involved.

She's even captured the porch pirates on camera, swiping the stinky surprise.

Cameo Wood was growing tired of package thieves stealing merchandise off her porch.

"I got a thing from Amazon that says your package arrived, so I run downstairs and there nothing there," she recalled.

Wood says package thieves are scoping her neighborhood daily. Signs for delivery workers, security cameras and police reports aren't making much of a difference. Last week, after her sick cat's medicine was stolen, she decided it was time to make a stink.

So Wood decided to send a lasting message. She packed up Amazon delivery boxes filled with her cats' used litter box, sealed them and left them on her porch.

"I was cleaning my cat box; my cat was sick," Wood said. "I thought this would be really nasty to put in a package and leave for people."

She left two packages full of litter out on her porch on Christmas Eve and four more on Christmas Day. All were stolen.

"I totally didn't think people would steal packages on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but they did, all six," Wood said.

She can only hope the kitty litter makes an impact.

"I feel sort of bad these people are in a situation where they are stealing," she said. "But I also hope they look at packages a little more circumspect and don't think we're easy pickings here."

Now that Wood has sent her message, she is looking into getting a locked parcel drop box.

Four teenagers have been charged with murder after a man in a car that was hit by a sandbag thrown from a highway overpass in Ohio died, NBC News reported.

Marquise Byrd, 22, died of his injuries Friday, days after the Dec. 19 incident on Interstate 75 in Toledo. The 13- and 14-year-old boys, being prosecuted in juvenile court, had charges of vehicular vandalism upgraded to murder on Tuesday, police said.

Byrd was sitting in the passenger seat, and the driver wasn't seriously injured. She frantically called 911 when the sandbag hit the car.

"I just pulled underneath the bridge, and something hit my car!" she said, according to a recording of the call released by police. "It hit my friend, and he is not moving!"

After a year in which U.S.-backed forces drove ISIS militants from strongholds in Iraq and Syria, experts warn that the terrorist group will remain a threat in 2018 as what some call a "virtual caliphate," NBC News reported.

In 2017, forces retook the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS. And by December, the U.S. said 97 percent of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria had been liberated, and Iraq declared its war against the group over.

However, analysts say the military campaign only addressed the territorial aspect of ISIS and that the group is retreating into a "virtual caliphate," where it will attempt to remain relevant and inspire more lone wolf attacks. This "proto-state," one expert says, is "what it knows best."

"It's like a cornered cat that will lash out indiscriminately and viciously to save itself," said Peter Vincent, a counterterrorism expert and former Department of Homeland Security official. "The war has yet to be won, and if it's ever going to be won it's going to take many more years, and many more civilians will lose their lives."

The Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater New Haven is reopening its fitness center a year after flames broke out in the building’s lower level.

Fire, smoke and water damage forced the JCC to relocate activities and programs.

Over the last few months, facilities like the early learning center, pool and racquetball courts have reopened in phases.

An artistic quilt showing the history of the JCC of Greater New Haven had to be specially cleaned before being hanged in the main hallway.

On Wednesday, members will be able to return to the renovated fitness center downstairs near where the fire started.

A fresh coat of paint by the entrance, new carpet in the library and work on installing a new basketball gym floor are all part of the major revitalization of the JCC in New Haven.

"Given the scope of the damage and it was a devastating fire, our entire lower level has been reimagined, repurposed and totally made new," JCC CEO Judy Alperin said. "I think we’re doing pretty darn good in terms of our timeframe and yes it’s a miracle."

Through town halls, focus groups and online surveys, Alperin said community members shared their vision for renovating the building on Amity Road in Woodbridge.

"What they wanted was they wanted to come home here to the community building," Alperin said. "But they wanted it to be structured in such a way that it meets future needs, not the needs of the past."

Next week, fitness equipment will fill the redone health and wellness center that sustained serious water damage near where investigators said the accidental fire started in the men’s sauna.

When all the work is done, Alperin said members will find new features like spin bikes, a climbing wall, a co-working business space and new cafe.

"Our brand new café with high-end coffees and foods and things that we’ve never really had before," she said.

Insurance money is funding some of the renovations, Alperin said.

"We’ve embarked on a $2 million campaign," Alperin said of community fundraising efforts. "We’re a little over halfway through our goal and that will help to pay for these new enhancements that we’re doing as well as provide a safety net for future unanticipated needs."

A grand reopening and ribbon cutting is scheduled for March 18.

Ledyard police have arrested a woman accused of trying to snort cocaine while in police custody.

Ledyard police arrested 25-year-old Nicole Hunter on Christmas day.

Police said the incident started when they received a BOLO for a black Kia SUV with New Hampshire plates because of erratic driving. Police located the vehicle with Hunter in the driver’s seat. According to police, Hunter was belligerent and uncooperative, screaming in a residential neighborhood and charging at officers.

She was arrested and taken to the police department. While at the department, Hunter allegedly pulled a powdery substance wrapped in paper out of her pocket and tried to snort it. The substance tested positive for cocaine, police said.

Hunter was charged with possession of narcotics, interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct. She was released on bond and is due in court on Jan. 8.

Experts encourage animal owners to take precautions during this bout of cold weather.

Animals that can be brought inside should be taken in during cold weather. For animals that live outside year-round, the Department of Agriculture advises owners to make sure the animals have access to shelter, warm bedding and water that isn’t frozen solid.

The ASPCA encourages dog owners to bundle their pet up before a walk in the bitter cold.

Pet owners should also pay special attention to any treatment chemicals down on the road. The ASPCA advises cleaning your dog’s paws off after a walk to remove ice, salt and chemicals. At the same time, check for any redness on the feet or cracks in paw pads. You can purchase dog booties for your four-legged friend.

ASPCA experts also say that simply brushing a dog will help their blood flow, but owners should avoid bathing their pets excessively because essential oils prevent dry skin issues in the winter.

Most dog owners who spoke to NBC Connecticut Wednesday said their pups love being outside, no matter the temperature.

"When you have a four-legged friend they have to go out. So you just dress for the climate. It is a beautiful morning, even though it is cold," said Marguerite Rose, who was walking her dog Bella in Hartford.

The ASPCA also warns not to leave pets in the car during cold weather.

Temperatures are expected to hover in the teens Wednesday and Thursday. The NBC Connecticut meteorologists have issued a First Alert for Thursday for wind chills of -10 to 20F.

A man was shot on Route 8 in Bridgeport Wednesday, according to Connecticut State Police.

Police said the man walked into St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport with a non-life threatening gunshot wound around 11:20 a.m. The male victim said he was shot on Route 8 southbound in the Bridgeport area.

State police said this does not appear to be a random act or road-rage related and there is no danger to the public.

No other details were immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.