The blast of polar air that enveloped much of the Midwest on Wednesday spread into the Northeast Thursday, putting 120 million people across 27 states are under wind chill warnings or advisories.

When winter temperatures plummet, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning increases, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In Chicago, six people in a residential building were hospitalized Wednesday from carbon monoxide poisoning. The Chicago Fire Department said two people were in serious-to-critical condition and four in fair-to-serious condition

Know as a "quiet killer," CO is found in the fumes created when fuel burning in cars, portable generators, stoves, BBQ grills, lanterns, fireplaces, and even water heaters are used. It can't can't be seen or smelled. The gas is poisonous and can be fatal for anyone who inhales it, although the elderly, infants, and chronically sick are more at risk.

Each year more than 400 people die from unintentional CO poisoning and another 50,000 visit the emergency room, according to the CDC. The most common symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion, according to the CDC. The CO poisoning symptoms are often described as “flu-like.” If you have symptoms that you think could be the result of CO poisoning, leave the area immediately, and call 911 or go to the emergency room.

People who are sleeping can die from CO poisoning before they become aware of any symptoms. There are steps you can take to keep you and your family safer from the risk of poisoning. 

Take a look at safety tips from the CDC and nonprofit child safety organization KidsandCars.org that you can use all year-round: 

CO Tips for the Car

• Annually take your car to a mechanic to have the exhaust system inspected -- small leaks can lead to trouble inside of the car.
• Never run your car inside of the garage, even with the garage door open.
• When opening the tailgate on your vehicles, make sure vents or windows are open to allow CO from the exhaust to circulate and not get trapped inside of the vehicle.
• When inclement weather strikes, make sure the tailpipe of your car is not blocked with snow, ice, or other debris before turning the engine on. Don't allow others to wait inside a running car while clearing snow from around the vehicle.

• Be careful with keyless or push-start vehicles as even if the key fob is indoors, the vehicle outside could be running.
• Make sure children are not playing near the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle and always keep vehicles locked with keys out of reach of children who may want to play inside.

CO Tips for the Home

• Install a battery-operated CO detector in your home and be sure to place it somewhere where it will wake you if it goes off. The CDC advised to check or replace the battery twice a year when clocks are changed for daylight saving. Detectors should be replaced every five years.
• Annually service your heating system and water heater by a professional to ensure fuels are burning properly.
• Check your chimney each year as build-up debris can cause blockage and in turn trap CO in your house.

• Don't use portable gas stoves designed for outdoor camping, or any other gasoline or charcoal-burning device, inside your home.
• If you have a generator anywhere in your home, make sure it is less than 20 feet from a ventilation system like a door, window or a vent.  

A White House security specialist has been suspended without pay for defying her supervisor Carl Kline, less than a week after NBC News reported Kline approved Jared Kushner for top secret clearance over the objections of career staff.

NBC News reported that the specialist, Tricia Newbold, had filed a discrimination complaint against Kline three months ago.

Newbold's two-week suspension from the White House security office was for failure to supervise, failure to follow instructions and defiance of authority, according to the suspension decision notice obtained by NBC News. Security office chief Crede Bailey first proposed the suspension on Dec. 3, 2018.

Newbold's lawyer considers her a whistleblower and said he believes the administrative charges were brought as payback for her decision to file the complaint against Kline.

Asked about Newbold's suspension, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, "We don't comment on personnel issues."

Frozen pipes caused thousands of dollars worth of damage at a home in East Hartford. These tips can help you protect your home.

An issue with a boiler at an East Hartford home has led to a mess and thousands of dollars’ worth of damage after pipes froze.

The owner of the home no longer lives the issued started when the heat went out Monday.

He normally checks on the house but had not gotten there for a couple of days and the pipes froze, burst and caused water damage, including dripping ceilings, soaked carpets and damaged baseboard radiators.

The house is now uninhabitable and crews from Campbell Cooling in Newington have been working at the house for three days so far.

The cost of taking care of the boiler and the plumbing will cost between $10,000 and $15,000 and that does not include restoration of the ceiling in the floors. 

If you do lose heat, Jesse Lonsdale, of Campbell Cooling, recommends opening the cabinets under sinks and faucets, which will allow any remaining warm air to get to the pipes, and turn the water on to a trickle to keep it moving.

Every homeowner should also know how to turn off the water main and turn it off it a pipe does burst.

To protect your home, those with oil heat should avoid letting the tank go below a quarter. 

Aquarion Water has tips online for finding your emergency shut-off. 

Connecticut Water also has tips for winterizing your home. 

North Haven Police are searching for two people suspected of stealing more than $500 worth of merchandise from Ulta Beauty.

Police released surveillance photos Thursday morning.

[[505137261,C]]

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the suspects is asked to call Officer Flanagan at 203-239-1616, extension 289.

Twitter disclosed on Thursday that it had identified and shut down disinformation and government-backed trolling operations from thousands of accounts from five different countries, including Russia, Iran and Venezuela, NBC News reported.

Twitter said the Russian operation mirrored the tactics of the 2016 campaign by the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-backed organization whose employees were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for attempting to interfere in the U.S. election to favor President Donald Trump.

Also Thursday, Facebook announced it removed 783 pages, groups and accounts with ties to Iran as part of the company's continued effort to rid misinformation from its services, CNBC reported.

A New Britain man is again accused of committing a lewd act outside a window of a New Britain home where children live, according to police.

Police arrested 29-year-old an Elliot Nails, of New Britain, on Wednesday and charged him with risk of injury to a child, public indecency and stalking in the first degree.

Police said they made the arrest after receiving complaints that Nails performed a lewd act and he was detained on a $350,000 court-set bond.

In 2014, Nails was arrested after showing up at the homes of three underage girls and touching himself while watching them through their windows, according to police. 

Police said he’s again accused of a similar act.

Avoid leaving these five items in your car when the temperature dips below freezing.

Fourteen cows died in a barn fire at Cedar Ridge Dairy in East Hampton this afternoon.

Assistant Fire Chief Peter Freund said firefighters rescued two of the 16 cows on the farm.

The barn is located on Flanders Road.

The rescue was difficult due to a lack of water supply nearby, Freund said. Rescue crews obtained water from a pond down the road to put out the fire.

A cause for the fire has not yet been determined.

A year after President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address on Jan. 30, 2018, here is a look at where things stand on the issues he discussed: from successful prison reform to tax cuts that did not completely live up to their billing to a border wall that has not been built and is at the heart of difficult budget discussions that could shut down the government a second time.

A Plainfield Little League coach accused of trying to solicit a teen for sexual activity in Rhode Island has been re-arrested on federal charges.

Christopher Merchant, 33, of Canterbury, Connecticut, allegedly traveled to Rhode Island to engage in sexual misconduct with a person he believed to be under the age of 16, according to a press release from the District of Rhode Island Attorney's Office.

Merchant was re-arrested on federal charges related to initial accusations brought by Rhode Island State Police on Jan. 25.

On Wednesday, Merchant was charged with traveling to engage in illicit sexual activity, transfer of obscene material to a person under the age of 16 years, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography, the release states.

Following these charges, he was detained in federal custody.

Last week, Rhode Island authorities charged Merchant with two counts of indecent solicitation of a child, three counts of electronically disseminating indecent materials to a minor and possession of child pornography.

The arrest stemmed from an investigation by members of the Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, police said.

During the month of January, investigators said a man, later identified as Merchant, engaged in a series of communications through an online dating app with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy.

Last week, ICAC Task Force members arrested Merchant at a Warwick, Rhode Island hotel in which he was allegedly expecting a 14-year-old boy when police arrived, police said. During the arrest, Task Force members found child pornography in a Dropbox account on Merchant's phone as well as images of boys the defense stated he knew from his work with the Little League organization.

Officials said Merchant was the vice president and coach of the Plainfield Little League. At this time, there no evidence of any involvement with members of the this little league, according to police.

Effective last week, Merchant has been suspended from all activities in the little league pending the outcome of both state and federal investigations.

You’re probably getting ready for the Super Bowl thinking about the TV, the food, and the party, but in New Britain, some people are making sure they’ve got the right haircut to watch the big game.

At Corte Fino Barber Shop in New Britain, the clippers are buzzing, and the kids aren’t just getting a trim.

“We’re going to do a Super Bowl haircut,” said shop owner and barber Javier Cruz. “We’re going to do the New England Patriots on the right side of his head. We’re trying to get everyone excited for the Super Bowl this Sunday. Hopefully the Patriots will win.”

Cruz cuts with the precision of a tattoo artist.

“We first start off with trimmers,” he said. “We get a clean base and then we start carving.”

He does it with a razor and without drawing it first or using a stencil.

“It’s just a technique that I learned throughout the years doing Disney characters,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to picture it and go for it.”

After the cut comes the color. The whole process takes about 45 minutes.

“I like the Patriots so it’s kind of fun that he puts Patriots on my head,” said Patriots fan Alexis Rivera.

And although it’s pretty clear who Cruz is rooting for on Sunday, he’ll carve in the Rams logo if that what the customer wants.

New England Patriots fan Kim Torelli from Branford has never been to an NFL game.

But that’s about to change on Super Bowl Sunday thanks to one of her teammates at the Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven and a generous gift from the NFL.

“My stomach has been in knots,” Torelli said in an exclusive interview with NBC Connecticut. “I didn’t even sleep last night.”

For 10 years, Torelli has worked on the 14th floor at Smilow.

“She’s really brought so much love and compassion to our patients,” said friend and Smilow social worker Diane Viveiros.

Three years ago, Torelli became the patient. Now, she is fighting an aggressive form of cancer for the second time and going through a third round of chemotherapy.

“It travels,” she said, “travels all around so I just had part of my lung removed like in September.”

Through her battle with cancer, Torelli has followed her favorite football team. Last week, the Patriots advanced to their third straight Super Bowl.

“I just kind of blurted it out there like it’s something that was on my bucket list to do,” Torelli recalled.

“And I looked at her and I go, god Kim that would be like a Hail Mary pass, but I’ll try,” Viveiros said.

Viveiros said she called the Patriots.

“They’re like we don’t do tickets, you have to call the NFL,” she said.

After connecting with the right person, the Smilow staff on Tuesday presented Torelli with a letter from the National Football League letting her know she’s got three tickets for the big game.

“I’m psyched,” Torelli said. “It’s my first game at all. I’ve never been to any professional football games.”

The end of the letter had a special message: “Thank you for inspiring all of us here at the NFL. Have fun at the big game and keep fighting.”

Torelli is leaving Thursday night for a road trip to Atlanta with her partner and adult son.

“We have til Sunday to get there,” she said. When she arrives, she wants to check out the NFL store for some new Patriots gear.

Of course, Torelli can’t wait to cheer on Tom Brady as he tries to win a record sixth Super Bowl ring.

“As long as the Patriots win, we’re good,” she said.

According to Torelli’s teammates at the hospital, she’s already their MVP.

Two bills that would put new restrictions on craft breweries in the state are both dead after backlash from the brewing community. 

Rep. Brandon McGee (D-Hartford), who sponsored one of the bills, told NBC Connecticut's Max Reiss Wednesday he wanted to hold off after hearing the outcry from the craft beer community.

“I’ve asked that we hold off on the bill. In our world, we kill it, and really sit down and talk about ways we create an even playing field for those package stores that may not feel like they’re a part of the evolution of the beer industry,” McGee said.

McGee’s proposal was aimed at barring breweries from selling beer if they also distribute it for purchase elsewhere. The bill even lays out that the purpose is to, "eliminate the ability of breweries to sell beer in competition with restaurants."

State Sen. Doug McCrory, who represents Hartford, Bloomfield and Windsor, also sponsored a bill that would prevent craft brewers from both selling and serving beer on their premises - forcing businesses to choose one or the other.

On Thursday McCrory said he wants to continue a discussion on how to make beer sales more equitable across the industry.

A man was critically injured in a shooting in Hartford Thursday.

Police said it happened in the area of 164 Seymour St. just before 6 p.m. The victim was shot in the abdomen and is currently in surgery at Hartford Hospital, police said.

The Major Crimes Division is investigating.

No other details were immediately available.

Gov. Ned Lamont supported it during his campaign. Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz said the issue would be pursued in the 2019 legislative session. And Rep. Josh Elliott has been pursuing this measure for years.

Now, Connecticut could become the 11th state, along with the District of Columbia, to allow for the regulation of the recreational use of marijuana.

Elliott, (D – Hamden), was one of the earliest supporters of the issue, backing it in recent years, but with closely divided Democrats and Republicans, the issue never took hold. Now that Democrats have gained sizeable majorities in the House and Senate, the issue could gain traction in 2019.

“I think there is a strong possibility that it will pass,” Elliott predicted. “I think there a few hinge issues involving marijuana that it will potentially slow the process down. Are you going to be allowed to grow at home, or not? Have third party distribution or not?”

Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz said Wednesday that if marijuana becomes legal in Connecticut, then it will not become the wild west when it comes to its reach and availability.

“As long as I’m Speaker, you’re not going to see retail marijuana stores on the corners of the cities of Hartford and New Britain and Berlin and have them pop up wherever you want to buy it,” Rep. Aresimowicz, (D – Berlin), said. “And if we legalize it, and it’s still an if, it’s not going to be that structure. It’s going to be highly regulated.”

Elliott agrees with that approach, saying, “I think we need to have as much input as possible. We want to make sure we’re doing this right for a lot of reasons. We want to make sure that people who are concerned about children getting their hands on the drug are ensuring that their fears are alleviated.”

Massachusetts initiated sales of marijuana in November of 2018, and saw long lines at the two locations in Leicester and Northamption. The state has a strict regulatory structure which makes it more difficult than simply applying for a permit and starting sales. There is a state commission that approves licenses for sales, the Department of Public Health then must approve sales, and all products have to be in child proof packaging that is also not marketed to children.

“What I want to ensure the people of the State of Connecticut is if they’re going to buy those products that they can do so in a way so that it’s regulated, there’s knowledgeable people ensuring that we’re not saturating the market," Aresimonwicz said.

Rep. Vincent Candelora, a Republican from North Branford, anticipated that no Republicans in the House would vote for any marijuana measure. He said there are too many unknowns, and concerns, especially when it comes to the possibility of home-grown products.

“There is a struggle between homegrown and a regulatory market and quite frankly the real struggle comes in who makes the money off of the product,” he said.

The warmth felt by families and friends as they reunited with loved on aboard the USS North Dakota overpowered the bitter cold they waited in before the submarine moored at the Naval Submarine Base New London Thursday.

Lastenia Chavez Galvan and Marco Antonio Garcia drove six days from Michoacán, Mexico to surprise their son, Petty Officer Third Class Jorge Alberto Garcia-Chavez.

“They both said that’s their son, their friend and their hero,” another military mom translated for the couple.

“I’m just so glad to see my parents. It’s been a long trip and all I can think is I feel so joyful just to see them again,” Garcia-Chavez said with a big smile.

The Yanez family traveled from Diamond Head, Mississippi. They’re a three-generation military family.

“I can’t say enough about him. I’m so proud of him,” said Peter Yanez, an Army veteran, about his son Zachary.

Kids jumped into their dads’ arms. There were kisses, selfies and endless hugs.

The USS North Dakota spent six months in the European Command Area of Responsibility.

The fast-attack Virginia-class submarine was under the lead of Cmdr. Mark Robinson. The crew executed the Chief of Naval Operation’s Maritime Strategy in supporting national security interests and Maritime Security Operations.

Ensign Shawn Brennan returned home to find out he was having a daughter. Wife Ryan brought a box carrying pink balloons for the big gender reveal.

“It’s exciting. It’s very exciting,” Brennan said.

“We’re so excited to have daddy back,” Ryan Brennan said, wiping away tears of joy.

The USS North Dakota was commissioned on October 25, 2014 and is the eleventh Virginia-class fast attack submarine. The crew is made up of approximately 132 people; 15 officers and 117 enlisted sailors.

There have been three additional deaths associated with the flu in Connecticut, which makes 14 flu-related deaths reported this season.

A report released today from the state Department of Health says there were three flu-associated deaths during the week that ended on Jan. 26.

Twelve flu-associated deaths have been associated with influenza A (unspecified), one with influence A (H3N2) and one with influenza B.

Nine of the deaths this season were people over 65 years old, four have been people between 50 and 64 years old and one was 25 to 49 years of age, according to the Department of Health.

The Department of Health says flu remains widespread in Connecticut and there have been 2,484 influenza positive laboratory tests since Aug. 26 and 954 hospitalizations have been reported.

This is the breakdown of the flu cases they have been:

• Hartford County: 690
• New Haven: 675
• Fairfield: 521
• New London: 166
• Middlesex: 146
• Litchfield: 101
• Windham: 83 
• Tolland: 52
• Fifty are in unknown counties.

For more on the flu and how to protect yourself, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

A man faces animal cruelty charges after a goat wandering the streets of Hartford led police to a collection of farm animals Thursday night.

Police said their investigation started when they got a report of a roaming goat chasing pedestrians. They tracked the goat back to 31 Blue Hills Ave. and found over a dozen other goats, roosters and chickens in a small area in the back of the home.

The animals were in "filthy" conditions, according to police, and many were injured or malnourished.

Kenya Miller, 41, was arrested and charged with 25 counts of animal cruelty. The 16 goats, eight roosters, one hen and two ducks were seized and will be relocated to a better home.

No other details were immediately available.

A car hit a pole on Route 83 in Vernon Friday morning and repairs are expected to go into the evening. 

Police said wires came down on the car and a person was trapped inside the vehicle and was removed and taken to the hospital. The person’s injuries are not life-threatening.

Route 83 was closed between Dobson and Wilshire roads, according to police. One lane in each direction is now open.