Something went wrong in Milford during a common home renovation on the shoreline meant to prevent flood damage during bad storms, and it led to the home being demolished.

The clean-up continued on Cooper Avenue Tuesday after city officials decided knocking the house down was the only option following a mishap during renovations to raise it several feet off the ground.

“Whether it was uneven settlement or not I can’t be sure,” City of Milford Building Official Joseph Griffith told NBC Connecticut over the phone. “And then at the same time I believe the new framing that was provided supporting the house was not yet completed.”

Another factor that could have led the house to shift and tilt is that the neighborhood is built on marshlands, Griffith said.

“That building had been up in the air for my guess two weeks, so it probably was subject to stronger winds than we saw yesterday,” Griffith added.

As a precaution, neighbors next door had to be evacuated during the demolition. The only injury was a worker who injured his arm.

“It was amazing how they were able to take it down without incident,” said Elizabeth Gunning, who lives on nearby James Street.

Gunning’s home had several feet of flooding during Irene in 2011 and the next year during Sandy she said the flooding was even worse. But she has opted not to have her home lifted off the ground.

“You can get a grant but I’m not doing it,” Gunning said. “I’m moving to higher ground.”

Gunning said she was not surprised to see the home fall while being raised because “all these foundations are shot, these houses really need to be just leveled and started from scratch because you can’t lift a house that has rotted floorboards.”

Griffith would not identify the contractor working on the now demolished home.

“The elevated contractor,” he said, “we have a lot of experience with and he’s very expert and professional.”

Despite the dramatic video from the shoreline that is gaining attention in Connecticut and beyond, Griffith said homeowners by the water should still elevate their homes before the next major storm.

“If they’re not required to do so,” he said, “they should elect to do so, yes.”

The City of Milford updated its building codes to go along with the Federal government’s flood insurance regulations after Irene and Sandy. Since 2012, Griffith said he could only recall one other home in Milford that fell down out of about 250 that have been or are in the process of being raised.

The Cooper Avenue homeowner declined to speak with NBC Connecticut on-camera.

Singer Demi Lovato was rushed to the hospital Tuesday after an apparent drug overdose. The former Disney star has been open about her struggles with addiction and recently celebrated six years of sobriety. However, in her latest song "Sober" Lovato admitted that she had relapsed.

A 17-year-old girl was stabbed during a fight in Hamden Monday, according to Hamden police.

Police said the victim and another female got into a fight in the parking lot near a home on Cherry Ann Street around 6:30 p.m. The victim was stabbed in the chest and arm. She was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The suspect has not been located, according to police.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information should contact Detective Scott Levenduski at 203-230-4040.

A week after President Donald Trump's widely panned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a new poll shows that a majority of Americans believes the Kremlin has compromising information on the American leader.

By a 51-to-35 percent margin, U.S. voters are convinced the Russian government has dirt on Trump, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll, CNBC.com reported.

At a news conference in Helsinki on July 16, Trump stunned the world by accepting Putin's denial that Russia attacked the 2016 U.S. election, contradicting the findings of 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.

Two state parks are closed to swimmers after water quality tests took place looking for the presence of bacteria, the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection said Tuesday.  

One of those parks is the popular Silver Sands State Park in Milford. Silver Sands will be retested with results scheduled to be available on Thursday.

Chatfield Hollow State Park in Killingworth is also closed pending new test results available Wednesday.

A Haddam selectman is facing criticism after kneeling in protest during the Pledge of Allegiance at a town meeting.

In video obtained by NBC Connecticut, Haddam Selectman Melissa Schlag is seen taking a knee during the pledge of allegiance during a town Board of Selectmen meeting on July 6, hours after President Trump’s controversial comments in Helsinki on the Mueller investigation and Russian election interference.

“I thought, ‘no better time’ to protest what’s going on in our country than that evening at a Board of Selectmen meeting,” Schlag told NBC Connecticut.

Her decision to kneel, she explained, was not in disrespect to veterans or the flag, but was instead her response to the president’s leadership.

“We have fundamental problems in our country. Inequality is only one of them,” she said.

Schlag, a registered Democrat who is chair of the party’s town committee, was elected to her position this past November two years after losing a re-election bid for first selectman.

Her experience as an outspoken local politician prepared her for backlash, she said, and she posted a two-page letter to Facebook explaining her views. In it, she asks those offended by her protest, “who are you to decide what I should or should not do, and under what authority do you decided [sic] what is and is not sacred?”

Haddam’s current first selectman, Republican Lizz Milardo, who won the position from Schlag, believes her former opponents views should be kept out of town business.

“Her personal opinion and her personal protest I don’t feel belongs at one of our town meetings,” Milardo said.

Residents and non-residents of Haddam are complaining to the town hall, according to Milardo.

“I can’t believe the emails we’ve gotten, the phone calls we’ve gotten,” she said.

The response has been so strong, Milardo confirmed the town’s next Board of Selectmen meeting will be moved from the town hall to a nearby firehouse which can accommodate larger crowds.

To Schlag, the negative feedback to her protest is evidence of a deep political divide.

“The vitriol that has been displayed on Facebook over the past two days, and on my Selectman page across Facebook, is proof that this country is so divided, but screaming at people from behind a keyboard does not get us anywhere,” she said.

She said she intends to continue kneeling for the Pledge of Allegiance in future meetings.

A mother and daughter were injured in a scuffle with two robbers at a Meriden grocery store Tuesday night.

Police said a mother and her adult daughter, who both work at the Tachuelas Grocery store on West Main Street, were injured when two suspects tried to rob the store around 6:50 p.m. The daughter was stabbed in the arm, and the police said her injuries were serious but not life-threatening. The mother suffered an injury to her face.

The suspects fled the scene, and police immediately put out a description of the suspect vehicle. A Meriden detective who had been in Hartford on an unrelated case recognized the description of the vehicle, and the suspects were quickly located in Hartford.

"That vehicle was observed in a particular location in Hartford and coincidentally it’s the exact same vehicle that was brought down here and used in this crime. So our detectives immediately recognized it as a car they had seen earlier in the day which is what led them to go back up to Hartford," explained Meriden Police Sgt. Darrin McKay.

Police said they found the knife used in the stabbing, and a BB gun that investigators believe the suspects showed during the robbery.

The suspects have been identified as 48-year-old Angel Rodriguez and 27-year-old Keishla Garcia-Hernandez, both from Meriden. They were taken into custody with assistance from the Hartford Police Department.

Authorities said Rodriguez is facing charges including robbery, larceny, assault, carrying a dangerous weapon, risk of injury, breach of peace, interfering and threatening. Garcia-Hernandez is facing charges including robbery, larceny, assault, weapon in a motor vehicle and risk of injury charges.

Both suspects were held on a $1 million bond Tuesday night and were in court on Wednesday.

The New London Police Department and local teens grabbed their paintbrushes Tuesday in an effort to make New London graffiti-free.

Graffiti, which at times can be an eyesore and profane, could give the impression that “nobody cares” about a neighborhood and lead to more crime, according to police.

So officers, The New London Community and Campus Coalition and the New London Youth Affairs Teens in Action Program worked together on the first Graffiti Paint Out event at Fulton Park in New London to beautify the city and encourage economic growth.

“There’s kids here. You should want a better place for your children to grow up in,” said 16-year-old Anastasia Williams, a rising junior at New London High School.

The teens spent part of the afternoon covering up profane images, words and destruction.

“Not a lot of people take the time. They say things but they don’t take the time to do it and take action. But it’s good that we’re changing something in our community,” said Jaiden Mills, a 14-year-old from New London.

“It represents who New London is – not what it is. Like, not the physical structures around but the people that live in it,” 15-year-old Francisco Colon said. The New London resident is a 10th grader at Grasso Technical High School.

These teens are hoping their work encourages other residents to pay it forward and elicits a sense of pride in the community.

“They’ll see that we’re trying to make our town look better, look cleaner and they’ll probably want to help out, too,” said Bryanna Poulard, 16, a student at Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut.

While these teens said they know there are more steps they can take to help the community, they call this a very solid first one.

“It’s always special to help others and help where you came from so when you get older and you come back home, you see it’s looking like a better place,” Williams said.

Through a grant, Home Depot supplied all of the paint, rollers and other supplies.

Police said it’s against the law to allow graffiti to stay on property. Thus, all property and business owners could be fined $100 or more if it’s not painted over or removed in a timely manner. For more information, contact Officer Ryan Soccio, New London’s Crime Prevention/Community Policing Officer at 860-440-6673.

There could be a potential major step forward for Hartford with a developer planning a $200 million project around Dunkin’ Donuts Park.

It would include hundreds of apartments and spots for shops.

“I think there is a lot of great things happening in Hartford right now. And we’d love to be part of it,” said Randy Salvatore, CEO & president of RMS Companies, which is based in Stamford.

After RMS renovated the nearby Goodwin Hotel, Salvatore jumped at the chance when four parcels became available around Dunkin’ Donuts Park. The company’s portfolio also includes the UConn residence in Stamford and several other properties. 

“It’s very infrequent you find this large swath of a piece of property right on the edge of a city which really allows you to create really a new community,” Salvatore said.

On Tuesday, he presented his $200 million vision to city councilors: some 800 apartments plus retail space, even room potentially for a grocery store.

More exciting to some people: this could connect downtown with nearby neighborhoods.

“I see this as a potential great leap forward for the City of Hartford. I think something a lot of us have been waiting for for a very, very long time,” said Hartford City Councilman John Gale (D).

For decades people wished something better could be done with the 13 acres.

More recently it got tied up in controversy as the city battled another developer with plans for the sites. Centerplan Construction filed a lawsuit against after it was terminated from the stadium project and the city has since filed a counter-claim.

While many hope that’s the past, they are pushing for the community to have a say in the area’s future.

“I think people want to see Hartford do well. People want to see development include them,” said Patricia Williams of Hartford.

RMS was the only company that threw its hat in the ring to possibly develop the area.

While this is just the beginning of the process, the developer is hopeful to receive city approval and to break ground next spring.

A New Jersey police officer saved a man from being struck by a train last week, and video captured the incident.

Officer Kyle L. Savoia was called to check the condition of a man who was on the train tracks last Thursday around 8:19 a.m. near a train station in Perth Amboy.

When he arrived, a bystander pointed out the man, who was lying on the northbound tracks about 200 yards away from the station. Savoia then saw a train heading towards the man and he started to run, waving his arms to alert the train, while shouting to get the attention of the man.

The train noticed Savoia’s signals and began to slow down and the man was able to jump out of the way just prior to being struck, police said.

Savioa’s body camera captured video of his life-saving actions. He believes, however, it was just a part of his duty as a police officer.

“As police officers, our job is to make quick decisions in difficult situations and to act on them," Savoia said. "At the end of the day, all that matters is everyone gets home safe. Also at such an early stage of my career, to be able to make an impactful difference in a person’s life is incredible and makes me love what I do every day."

Savoia was sworn in on Jan. 18, 2018. His father, who passed away in 2016, served as a Perth Amboy police officer for 28 years.

Charlie Rowley, the British man poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent in an incident that killed his girlfriend, says the deadly substance was contained in a sealed box of perfume that he had found and kept at their home, NBC News reported.

Rowley, in an exclusive interview with ITV News, said his girlfriend, Dawn Sturgess, fell ill within 15 minutes of spraying the perfume on her wrists. She died July 8.  

"I believe Dawn said she felt she had a headache and asked me if I had any headache tablets," Rowley said. "I had a look around the flat, and within that time, she said she felt peculiar and needed to lie down in the bath, which at the time I thought was a bit strange."

Police said the perfume was found during a search of Rowley's home and confirmed after testing it was Novichok. The deadly Soviet-designed nerve agent was also used in a recent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

April the Giraffe, the long-necked, spotted beauty from New York's Animal Adventure Park who captivated the globe for months as she prepared for the birth of her fourth calf last year, is pregnant again. 

The upstate zoo she calls home made the announcement live on the "Today" show Wednesday morning. And yes, Oliver is the father.

"The results are in and we are having a baby," Animal Adventure Park owner Jordan Patch said.

And now the waiting begins. Patch says she's expected to give birth to her fifth calf next March or April -- but we all know how that goes. 

Giraffe pregnancies usually last about 15 months, but Patch said, "April likes to go 16, 17, 18, 19 ..." -- you remember. The last time she was pregnant, it seemed to take so long for her to go into labor that some fans started to question whether in fact she was with calf at all. She was, indeed.

Her newest calf, Tajiri, celebrated his first birthday in April, and nearly 50,000 people tuned into a livestream to watch him celebrate.

Tajiri — Swahili for "hope" — and his mom April were catapulted into the upper echelon of the viral animal world when the zoo started livestreaming April's fourth pregnancy in February 2017.

After months of waiting, April gave birth April 15 in Harpursville, New York, while an audience of hundreds of thousands watched live online. The baby was born at just under 130 pounds and more than 5 feet tall.

April teased her millions of global adorers for weeks, showing signs of near-but-not-quite labor and otherwise enchanting her audience with cute right-at-the-camera gazes and tongue flicks, snack noshing and nuzzling with her much younger but handsome beau, Oliver. Tajiri was Oliver's first baby.

April's pregnancy was vaulted into global headlines in late February 2017 after YouTube briefly yanked the zoo's live stream following complaints by animal activists that it violated the site's policies concerning "nudity and sexual content." Thousands upon thousands of commenters voiced their frustration on Facebook and YouTube, and the stream was restored within an hour or so.

Patch said at the time that the natural curiosity surrounding giraffes and their birthing process was a huge factor in drawing crowds.

"I think the fact that she's a giraffe and she's a neat species that people are interested in, that's fostered a lot of the attention," he said. "The fact that you'll get to witness the miracle of birth from an animal that you really don't get to see give birth — that's neat."

He added that April's pregnancy was more than just live entertainment, but a teachable moment and source for education.

Police said they have made an arrest in connection with what they called a drug-related shooting in South Windsor in February. 

Chad Ransom, 24, of Hartford, was arrested on a warrant Tuesday in connection with the shooting and robbery on Gorski Drive in February 2018, police said. 

A resident of the home reported that a man who arrived at his door shot another man who was visiting his home. 

The victim had been shot in the leg, police said, and officers found two pounds of marijuana while investigating the shooting. Now police said they have arrested a suspect. 

Ransom has been charged with assault in the first degree, criminal attempt at robbery in the first degree, threatening in the first degree, carrying a pistol without a permit, reckless endangerment in the first degree and criminal attempt at possession of a controlled substance. 

Investigators determined that all the men all knew each other and the incident was a drug deal that turned violent, police said. 

Ransom was held on $400,000 court-set bond and is due in Manchester Superior Court later today.

President Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed Wednesday morning by a man with a pickax that witnesses say he carried in a guitar case, police said.

Officers were called around 3:30 a.m. to the star's location on Hollywood Boulevard near Highland Avenue, where they found a small pile of rubble in place of the star that Trump received in January 2007 for his role in the NBC show "The Apprentice."

A detailed description of the star-smashing suspect was not immediately available. The pickax was left at the scene.

Witness David Palmer said he is accustomed to seeing the unusual on Hollywood Boulevard, where tourist mingle with street performers dressed as superheroes and other characters, but he was surprised to see the Walk of Fame vandalism.

"I'm like, 'Why are you hitting that star? What did Donald Trump do to you,'" Palmer told NBC4. "Then he went around the corner and I think he left. 

Workers were sweeping up the shattered remains of the star early Wednesday. It was not immediately clear when repairs will begin.

This is at least the second time Trump's star has been vandalized in the last two years. In October 2016, a man dressed as a construction worker smashed the star with a pickax and sledgehammer. James Otis pleaded no contest to felony vandalism in February 2017 and was sentenced to three years probation, 20 days of community service and agreed to pay $4,400 for the damage.

Also in 2016, he star was defaced by spray paint and even surrounded by an artist's 6-inch high wall, a miniature representation of then-candidate Trump's border wall proposal.

Walk of Fame star recipients are selected by a committee that considers hundreds of applications each year. The stars are purchased for $30,000, rather than gifted.

The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which did not immediately issue a statement about the damage or repairs.

As migrant parents and children separated at the border by the Trump administration are reunited, lawyers and advocates say there is a whirlwind of confusion, NBC News reported.

Reunifications are taking place in detention center parking lots, attorney say, and migrants are being whisked to other detention centers or shelters late at night, often without their lawyers' knowledge. Some parents aren't being fully informed of their rights, according to the attorneys.

"These moments of reunification and release are incredibly chaotic, often happening in the middle of the night, and we want to make sure people understand what their obligations are," said Royce Murray, policy director of the nonprofit American Immigration Council.

The Department of Homeland Security, which faces a Thursday deadline to reunify families, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the reunification process and what migrant families are being told.

The State Bond Commission is voting Wednesday on whether or not to spend $10 million to study tolls in Connecticut.

Gov. Dannel Malloy is pushing for the toll study, despite not having enough support from Republicans or Democrats in the legislature. Now it's up to the 10 members of the State Bond Commission, which includes the governor, to vote on spending the $10 million for the study.

State Treasurer, Denise Nappier already said she plans to abstain from Wednesday's vote. She said she feels like there should be a broader study that looks at all of the resources that could be used to fund roads, not just a study focused on tolls.

The State Comptroller, Kevin Lembo, also already spoke out and said he will not support this. He said he feels legislators need to approve this level of spending.

The $10 million study would order the Department of Transportation to assess tolls and their environmental impact on several highways including Interstate 95, Interstate 91 and Interstate 84.

It would also require the state D.O.T. to look at reducing or eliminating the gas tax and possibly giving state residents a discount or tax credit.

If the vote is approved, some Republicans have already said they plan on pushing for a special session to fight it.

The Kraft Heinz Company is recalling about 59,000 jars of its Taco Bell Salsa Con Queso Mild Cheese Dip that could potentially lead to botulism if eaten.

Kraft is voluntarily recalling 15-ounce glass jars with "best when used by" dates of Dec. 27, 2018, and Jan. 23, 2019. The affected items are showing signs of product separation, which can allow for the growth of the bacteria that causes botulism, the company said on its website.

Botulism is rare but can be fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illness can cause difficulty breathing and muscle paralysis. Symptoms include blurred or double vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, a thick-feeling tongue, dry mouth and muscle weakness.

Kraft said there have been no complaints or reports of illness related to the products. The company said it is working with the Food and Drug Administration.

The affected items were produced and distributed by Kraft in the U.S. The company urged customers not to eat the dip and return it to the store for an exchange or refund.

A utility pole and wires are down on Route 10 in Simsbury and the road is closed. 

The pole and wires are down at Massaco Street. Route 10 is closed from Owens Brook Boulevard to Massaco Street and is expected to remain closed until 2:30 p.m. 

You can use Iron Horse Boulevard to bypass the road closure. 

There are also power outages. Eversource is reporting 146 power outages. 

Hartford Police arrested a 20-year-old man from Bloomfield on Monday after police said he accidentally shot himself while reaching for marijuana in his pocket in Hartford earlier this year.

On May 15, police responded to St. Francis Hospital after getting a report of a patient walking in with a non life-threatening gunshot wound around 9:35 p.m. The patient, later identified as 20-year-old Olajawon Thompson, told officers that he was shot in the right knee during a drive by shooting near Tower Avenue.

Officers responded to the area to try and find a scene and potential witnesses, but could not find anything, police said.

As the investigation into the shooting continued, detectives were able to gather evidence that disputed what Thompson said happened, according to officers. The detectives talked with Thompson at the hospital and he later recanted his original statement about the shooting.

Thompson then told detectives that he was walking on Salisbury Street, near Tower Avenue with an acquaintance on May 15. When he reached into his right pant pocket to retrieve his weed that was in the bottom of it, Thompson accidentally pulled the trigger of the revolver that was also in his pocket, officers said.

The gun fired one bullet that hit Thompson's right knee, according to police. After the shooting, Thompson said he handed the gun off to a second acquaintance that was in the area before getting a ride to the hospital.

After Thompson was released from the hospital, he provided detectives with a sworn written statement. An arrest warrant was drafted, submitted and approved by a Superior Court judge charging Thompson with carrying a pistol without a permit and reckless endangerment, police said.

On Monday, Thompson turned himself into officers where he was booked and processed. He is being held on $50,000 bond.

Passengers flying from Newark Liberty International Airport to Mumbai on an Air India flight last week said in a series of tweets that the plane was infested with bed bugs, leaving the travelers with bites across their bodies.

Air India responded to customer complaints in a statement, and the airline plans to temporarily ground flights between Newark and Mumbai, according to The Independent.

“Experienced experts have carried out extensive service on the aircraft from fumigation to overhaul of the upholstery/ seat covers/carpets etc to ensure that passengers keep enjoying their in-flight experience with us as always without any complaint of inconvenience,” the airline said in a statement to NBC News.

New Zealand news outlet Stuff reported that a passenger surveyed the area around the seats after her daughter complained of a rash. The woman reportedly noticed a bed bug on her husband’s seat before takeoff but dismissed it.

The passengers who tweeted about the incident said they were sitting in business class. One-way adult ticket prices on the route exceed $1,000, according to Air India’s website.

Pravin Tonsekar posted pictures of the bugs on Air India flight 144 on Twitter.

Saumya Shetty posted an image of multiple large bites on her arm and wrote in a tweet “AI still has to get in touch with me [sic] inspite if my repeated attempts to get in touch with them.”

Another Twitter user said his wife and three kids were sitting in business class and had bed bug bites “all over their body” after paying more than $10,000 for the flight tickets.

"Air India is deeply concerned with a few reports of "bugs" causing inconvenience to its esteemed passengers,” the airline said. “The issue has been viewed seriously and every possible step is being taken to closely inspect and further strengthen our system at every level to ensure that such isolated incidents of passenger discomfiture do not affect our consistent performance.”

Bed bugs aren’t known to spread diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but their bites can create swelling, itching and skin irritation.