A fire broke out in a home in Middletown that was under construction on Tuesday morning.

The fire at 76 West Street started in the basement and spread to the first floor, fire officials said.

Firefighters had to vent the roof because they were unable to get to the second floor of the home, fire officials added.

Portland Fire Department was contacted to provide mutual aid.

Nobody was inside of the home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Firefighters said they do not believe the fire is suspicious.

A pedestrian has died after getting hit by a vehicle on Interstate 95 south in Old Saybrook early Tuesday morning, according to state police.

State police said a pedestrian was hit on I-95 south near exit 70 around 1 a.m.

The crash closed down the southbound side of the highway between exits 70 and 69, according to the Connecticut Department of Transportation. All lanes have since reopened.

Officials have not released the pedestrian's identity.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. 

A carnival worker is accused of killing two women in Tennessee whom he met through his job and the teenage daughter of a co-worker in Georgia, NBC News reported.

James Michael Wright faces three capital murder charges, according to a statement from the Washington County, Virginia, Sheriff's Office. The women were reported missing earlier this year and are said to have been killed between Feb. 28 and March 17.

Wright, a 23-year-old from Mendota, Virginia, allegedly told investigators that the killings were accidental, but Sheriff Fred Newman said he "found that hard to believe."

The James H. Drew carnival, where Wright worked, did not immediately return a message on Monday.

Milford police have arrested two people after launching an investigation into a video posted online in which it sounded like an adult was screaming at and hitting a child, according to a news release from police.

Police said they received several complaints on May 8 and obtained two warrants.

They have charged 33-year-old Daniel Perez, of Milford, with second-degree threatening and four counts of risk of injury.

Alessandra Sillo, 33, of Milford, was charged with two counts of risk of injury.

Bond was set at $75,000.

A firetruck was involved in a crash in Middletown on the way the pick up crews to fight a fire.

The crash was at Washington and High streets and part of Washington Street is closed.

The scene is not far from a fire crews responded to on West Street Tuesday morning.

At least two other vehicles were involved.

A woman in her mid 40s that was in one of the vehicles was taken to Hartford Hospital, police said. They did not release details about her injuries. 

Investigators said they believe the woman failed to obey the flashing lights of the fire truck. The traffic light may have been in the process or possibly had already turned red when she drove through, they added.

No additional information was immediately available.

There are billionaires and a self-help guru, mayors and a former vice president, current and former governors and a bunch of senators — and the list of people running for president may still keep growing. Keep track of the contenders for 2020 in the interactive graphic below.

Read the latest in our political coverage here.

This weekend, Earth's atmosphere had a concentration of carbon dioxide last seen more than 3 million years ago, before humans had evolved, NBC News reported.

The greenhouse gas was detected at 415 parts per million by sensors at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii on Saturday. The level has been steadily rising over the past decade and doesn't appear set to stop.

"We're racing toward a state very different from the kind humans evolved in and that civilization developed in," said geochemist Ralph Keeling, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.

When Earth last saw atmospheric carbon dioxide at these levels, in the Pliocene Epoch, average sea levels were about 50 feet higher than they are today, according to Stanford earth system science professor Rob Jackson.

Tim Conway, the impish second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, starred aboard "McHale's Navy" and later voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for "Spongebob Squarepants," has died. He was 85.

Conway died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles care facility after a long illness, according to Howard Bragman, who heads LaBrea Media. Conway's wife, Charlene Fusco, and a daughter, Jackie, were at his side.

A native of Ohio, Conway credited his Midwestern roots for putting him on the right path to laughs, with his deadpan expression and innocent, simple-minded demeanor.

"I think the Midwest is the heart of comedy in this country, and a little bit of the South, too," he told the Wisconsin State Journal in 2005. "For some reason, we're just more laid-back, more understanding. ... And Midwesterners have a kinder sense of humor."

Those qualities probably contributed to his wide popularity on "The Carol Burnett Show," which he joined in 1975 after years as a frequent guest. The show aired on CBS from 1967 to 1978 and had a short summer stint on ABC in 1979.

"We really didn't attack people or politics or religion or whatever. We just made fun of, basically, ourselves," he said.

The show operated with just five writers, one producer, one director and without network interference. The ensemble cast surrounding the redheaded star included Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner.

"I don't think the network would allow a show like 'The Carol Burnett Show' now because we had such freedom," Conway said in his interview with the State Journal.

While America was laughing at Conway, so were his co-stars: Burnett and Harvey Korman were often caught by the camera trying not to crack up during his performances.

The short, nondescript Conway and the tall, imposing Korman were a physical mismatch made in comedy heaven. They toured the country for years with a sketch show called "Together Again," which drew on characters from Burnett's show.

Besides the four Emmys he won with Burnett (three as a performer, one as a writer), he won Emmys for guest appearances in 1996 for "Coach" and in 2008 for "30 Rock."

Conway also had a modest but steady movie career, appearing in such films as "The Apple Dumpling Gang" (1975), "The Shaggy D.A." (1976), "Cannonball Run II" (1984), "Dear God" (1996) and "Air Bud 2" (1998).

"The Apple Dumpling Gang" and "Cannonball Run II" allowed him to work with his comedic hero, Don Knotts, who died in 2006.

"If there's any reason at all I'm in the business, I think it's Don," Conway once said. "He's an icon in this business. He's an icon that's never going to be duplicated."

He also found success in the 1980s in a series of comedy videos based on an oddly short character named Dorf. (Carefully costumed, Conway performed the bits on his knees.) Among them were "Dorf on Golf" and "Dorf Goes Fishing."

More recently Conway voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for the hugely popular children's series "SpongeBob SquarePants."

He was born Thomas Conway in 1933 in the Cleveland suburb of Willoughby. He attended Bowling Green State University and served in the U.S. Army. He got his career start on local TV in Cleveland in the 1950s, where his duties included comedy spots on a late-night movie show.

He was spotted by Rose Marie of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," who got him an audition for "The Steve Allen Show." He became a regular on the show in the early 1960s. It was Allen who had advised him to change his name from Tom to Tim to avoid being confused with a British actor.

Following the Allen show, Conway gained attention as the incompetent Ensign Charles Parker on the Ernest Borgnine sitcom "McHale's Navy" from 1962-66. That led to series of his own, including "Rango" and "The Tim Conway Show," but they were short-lived.

"McHale's Navy" fans loved watching Ensign Parker infuriate the ever-flammable Captain Binghamton (played by Joe Flynn), but it was Conway's work on Burnett's show that would bring him lasting fame.

Conway and his wife, Mary Anne Dalton, married in 1961 and had six children. The marriage ended in divorce. He later married Charlene Fusco.

A week after state officials announced an agreement to make State Pier in New London a hub for the offshore wind industry, the governor’s office said the state House of Representatives has passed offshore wind legislation and it will next go to the state Senate.

Governor Ned Lamont previously announced that Connecticut and Rhode Island entered an agreement with Eversource and Ørsted, a Danish company, to build 700 megawatts of wind turbines halfway between Martha’s Vineyard and Block Island. It will be called Revolution Wind.

The deal includes redevelopment State Pier through a combined public-private investment of $93 million – an agreement that is contingent upon receiving all the federal and state permits. 

“Our administration is working hard to put Connecticut in a place to become the center hub of the offshore wind industry in New England, and this legislation moves us one step closer to making that a reality,” Governor Ned Lamont said in a statement. “Our valuable shoreline has the potential to provide multiple benefits to Connecticut residents – by delivering zero carbon renewable energy, we can increase the regional grid’s fuel security and make significant progress toward meeting our climate goals, all while driving economic growth and creating good jobs.”

The bill next goes to the state senate. Read it here.

“This is an opportunity that we cannot squander, and the growing, unified momentum behind this bill shows just how important this is to Connecticut. I’ve spoken with numerous members of the Senate about this bill, and I am confident that we can get it approved in that chamber so that I can sign it into law,” Lamont said in a statement.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2020 and finish in 2022 and state pier would be used for wind turbine generator assembly and staging.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that his administration has given Puerto Rico $91 billion in relief funds after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the island in 2017. But a new report maintains that the island has received only $12.6 billion, NBC News reported. 

According to data analyzed by Puerto Rico’s top research think tank, the Center for a New Economy (CNE), the administration has allocated $42.3 billion to the island through 17 different government agencies to fund specific programs. That doesn’t mean Puerto Rico has received this amount, however. 

Allocated funds live in a separate global appropriations account until the government makes a legally liable commitment to use the money. Nearly half of the allocated funds — about $20.4 billion — have been obligated toward disaster assistance programs and hurricane education recovery efforts, among other services. Only $12.6 billion has been disbursed to Puerto Rico out of the total amount that was obligated.  

The $91 billion that Trump continuously tweets about and brings up at his 2020 presidential campaign rallies is an estimate of the amount that could be allotted to Puerto Rico over the next two decades.

Gas is finally back under $3 in Connecticut.

Nationwide, prices have tumbled as well; the largest decline in three weeks.

With the busy summer travel season just around the corner, many think it’s just a matter of time before prices start creeping back up again.

“This is the time that it climbs anyway, every year. So, what are you going to do? You’re going to go where you go and do what you do anyway,” said New Britain resident John Cromwell.

He filled up in Newington Tuesday, ahead of his road trip to Virginia Beach.

“I go to Massachusetts, I go to New York, I go to Washington. It is what it is,” he said.

According to AAA, prices at the pump tend to peak in late May or early June.

“Since it’s like a two hour drive home I don’t go home as much because I waste at least 200 miles of gas,” said Max Leard of Mansfield, Massachusetts.

The Central Connecticut State University student Max Leard said he’ll be sticking around Memorial Day weekend instead of going back home to Massachusetts. He added that he’s found other ways to make sure the price at the pump doesn’t hit pocketbook.

“It makes me drive a little less. Like if I can walk somewhere to class I walk instead, just because it prevents me from spending more on gas,” said Leard.

If you do plan to travel around the Northeast, chances are where you’re going will have cheaper gas than Connecticut where gas is just under $3 a gallon.

Headed up to Maine? Expect to pay $2.81. Down to the Jersey Shore? $2.91 The cheapest gas in our neck of the woods is in New Hampshire at $2.74 a gallon.

Adam DeLeon said he already pays a pretty penny at the pump each week, driving back and forth from Glastonbury to Newington for work. He’s staying put for Memorial Day.

“It’s too expensive to be driving around now wasting gas like this,” said DeLeon. “We try to budget but sometimes you can’t even budget.”

While gas prices have gone down in Connecticut, they’re still 20 cents higher than they were a month ago, according to AAA.

“I think it’s inconvenient for those who travel a lot,” said Meriden resident Jeremy Santiago.

Michelle Halpin said she uses a full tank of gas to drive from her home in Windsor Locks to work in Newington.

“I travel about 20 miles. I’d like to be traveling for a little less than that. It shouldn’t cost me $70,” she explained.

To stretch her dollar further, Halpin keeps a close eye on gas prices along her route.

“I compare them between my hometown and here where I work so there’s a lot of times this is consistently the lowest price,” said Helpin of the Citgo on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington.

Mary Bolduc said she also scopes out the lowest prices and has put the brakes on any major travel plans.

“To go anywhere far I would definitely feel it because I’m retired,” said Bolduc.

DeLeon said his family puts so many miles on their cars during the week that they try to stick close to home on weekends.

“When we do have to drive on the weekends we just try to stay with one vehicle,” said DeLeon.

While gas prices are heading in the right direction, consumers are bracing for more pain at the pump as the busy Memorial Day weekend approaches. AAA said reports that two Saudi oil tankers were attacked in a vital oil and gas shipping route could also keep prices volatile.

“I don’t want to see it go back to where they were a couple years ago where they were almost hitting $4. I mean that was even a little bit ridiculous,” said Helpin.

Gas is $4 a gallon in California, which has the highest prices at the pump according to AAA.

South Carolina and Alabama have the lowest. Gas is just $2.48 there.

Click here to see the average price of gas wherever you plan to travel.

Kurt Kaser was working on his Nebraska farm when he found himself in a terrifying situation. As Kaser was unloading corn, his leg got stuck in a piece of farm equipment. Alone and realizing he had to quickly make a decision, Kaser used a pocketknife to amputate his own leg to free himself, NBC News reports.

“I thought for sure I would pass out, and somehow something told me to keep going,” he told NBC News in a phone interview Tuesday of the accident that occurred near the end of April. “I did what I thought I had to do, and it worked.”

After he cut himself free from the corn hopper, Kaser crawled to his house about 150 feet away and called 911. He was rushed to a hospital and later airlifted to another hospital where his daughter works.

After a week in the hospital and another two weeks recovering at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, he was released Friday.

When asked how he has been able to remain positive about the situation, Kaser joked that it's because of his headstrong ways.“I guess I’m stubborn. I don’t want to give up," he said.

New Haven police have arrested a psychotherapist accused of sexual assault.

Curtis Harmon, 54, was arrested Friday. He is charged with second-degree sexual assault.

Police said the investigation began after allegations of sexual misconduct by a patient.

Harmon has an office in Greenwich.

No other details were immediately available.

Harmon was released on bond.

Wednesday marks one year since powerful storms left a path of destruction in several Connecticut communities.

“It was a traumatic, horrible day,” said 85-year-old Lucy Fazio, remembering what happened in her Cheshire neighborhood on May 15, 2018.

One of the four confirmed tornadoes did not touch down in Cheshire, but strong winds from a thunderstorm damaged several homes.

“I wasn’t hysterical or crying or anything I was just like in shock because I just did not know what was happening,” Fazio said.

Fazio said after getting a tornado alert on her phone, she made it to her basements moments before a large front lawn tree came crashing down on her home of 40 years.

“It was a tremendous noise like a train going by,” she recalled. “It was just a tremendous noise and the house just vibrated, it just shook and it lasted for a number of seconds, it wasn’t just a quick hit, it just rumbled and rumbled and rumbled.”

Down the road, Emory Meyerjack and his family still haven’t returned to their home since it got hit hard by a falling tree.

“My parents and I moved into this house back in 1978,” Meyerjack said.

Meyerjack told NBC Connecticut his insurance company has been helpful as he continues making repairs.

“Despite the setbacks we’ve had with other contractors, they’ve been very understanding in extending our rental property until we’re ready to move back in,” he said.

Meyerjack said he is hoping to finish the work soon.

“It’s been a year we’d like to get back into the house,” he said. “I’d like to be able to ride my bike to school with the kids before the end of the school year, that’s our goal.”

Fazio said she came home after five months of living in a condo.

“I was nervous I was afraid to be back in the neighborhood where all the trees,” she said, “but that finally passed.”

One year later, Fazio said she still feels lucky to be alive and she thanks her two daughters for helping her get through a difficult year.

After the repairs, her home also looks and feels like it did before the severe storm.

“Put in all new floors, had the house painted of course, new roof and now I’m working on landscaping to get the lawn back to the way it was,” Fazio said.

The Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee is investigating whether personal lawyers for President Donald Trump and his family tried to obstruct special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation by helping Michael Cohen deliver false testimony, NBC News reported.

The committee's chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sent letters to four lawyers requesting documents related to Cohen, who told Congress in public testimony in February that the attorneys helped edit inaccurate testimony from 2017 that Cohen gave to lawmakers about a Trump Tower project in Moscow.

It’s been a soggy spring. A cool one too.

On Tuesday many Connecticut residents were bundled up and making the best of it.

Southington resident Bill Backes’ is ready for whatever New England weather.

“I have three different pair of gloves. Five different hats, different jackets in my car. I’m prepared for all the weather.”

NBC Connecticut chatted with him during his walk at Walnut Hill Park in New Britain.

“What season, what day? It doesn’t matter. I’m retired. Every day is Sunday.”

Cristhian Contreras and her two kids are sick of the soggy spring, but they made the best of Tuesday in New Britain.

“At least it’s not raining, so let’s enjoy this weather and bring the kids out and do some exercise.”

Lynn Depaolo is ready for some sun.

“Nicer weather definitely brings in more people,” she said.

She scoops ice cream at Pralines of Plainville.

“About six weeks ago, it was really slow. It has started to pick up with the weather getting nicer.”

“Knot Again,” may be the name of Gary Weber’s boat, but it’s also how he feels about spring: Another cool, rainy day, “knot” again.

“Very wet. Definitely one of the wettest I remember. I’ve been working outside since I got out of high school and that was a very long time ago.”

Not only is his boat not in the water yet but, “I’m an excavating contractor and a paving contractor. It seems like we are literally spinning our wheels in the mud.”

Mother Nature is impacting his business too.

“We’re struggling to get projects finished. Get them done on time. Meeting deadlines. Everything we dig up is wet. It’s muddy.”

A Plainville heating oil supplier said it’s around this time when people run out of oil because they’re not thinking they’ll need much of it this time of year.

“It’s time to start fishing and the weather is garbage. We need some nice weather. We need some sunshine,” said Weber.

Empty tables, lonesome parks, and boats on land, Connecticut is coping with the chilly spring.

“By last year this time, the pool was open, the boat was in the water. We were already out fishing we were already having fun. It was in the 90s this time last year,” said Weber.

“This ain’t spring weather for sure,” echoed Backes.

Another suspected bed bug was reported at Waterbury Career Academy High School Tuesday, the third recent report of a suspected bed bug at the school.

The superintendent’s office released a statement Tuesday that said a suspected incident of a bed bug was reported at Career High School and the school and staff “immediately addressed the issue and collaborated with the City Health Department and the School Facilities Division consistent with established protocol.”

A school spokesperson said there was no evidence this was connected to the previous incidents on May 9 and last month.

"Remediation efforts have been undertaken per protocol and there is no risk to health or safety to students or staff," Chief Operating Officer William Clark wrote in an email.

They inspected and cleaned the areas that could be impacted and there will be follow-up inspections, as well as any remediation necessary, according to the superintendent’s office.

"Virtually all instances of beg bugs in a school environment are the result of the insect being carried in from the outside in isolated circumstances. The Waterbury Board of Education and the City Health Department consider the health and safety of students and our school community as a top priority. We will continue to work collaboratively and proactively to maintain the schools as insect free and to support the remediation of issues outside of the school environment," the statement read.

A man is accused of calling 911 for help from the back of a police cruiser as police were trying to give him a ride from a Southington bar.

Officers responded to the Cadillac Ranch in Southington on May 5 after getting a call for help with an intoxicated person who was refusing to leave the bar, according to police.

Officers were in the process of giving a ride to 39-year-old Jesse Barner-Walton, of Webster, Massachusetts, when he started calling 911 from the back seat of the cruiser, asking for help, police said. 

When officers pulled over to stop him from calling 911, Barner-Walton resisted being handcuffed but police were able to restrain him after a short struggle, police said. Barner-Walton and the officers were not injured during the struggle.

He was charged with misuse of the 911 system and interfering with an officer.

West Hartford has cows, New London has subs, and now, New Britain has a swarm of bees adorning its streets.

On Tuesday morning, Mayor Erin Stewart unveiled the first eight of the 25 bee sculptures that will buzzing across town by June.

“We’ve put a big focus on the arts in our community over the last couple of years, and to be able to put work on display by local artists but also have an attractive feel to it, this is a destination,” Mayor Stewart said.

She had vision of “Bees Across New Britain,” and local artists like sculptor Craig Frederick made it happen.

“I designed the form and created the three-dimensional canvas for all the other artists to do their great work on,” Frederick said.

But more than a pretty sight, the bees are an homage to New Britain’s hardworking residents.

“The idea was to come up with a cartoonish bee but to give some subtle references to New Britain’s history,” said Frederick. “So, if you look at the boots, they’re kind of designed like a worker boot. And then, if you look at the arms, they kind of got the dukes up right? Hard hittin’ New Britain, that old football expression from New Britain High School.”

Some have taken a more welcoming interpretation.

“People see it as a hug and they want to hug the bee, so I love those two interpretations,” he said.

After Craig’s molds were made, artists from across the state took over.

“It was just a lot of fun, a lot of work though. And look, paint on my shirt!” said New Britain-based Pedro Valentin Jr. He says he spent hours working on his bee at the “Hive” at Anvil Place, formerly home to the New Britain National Bank.

Martha Williams from Griswold partnered with the New Britain Police Department to create officer “B. SAFE.”

“They wanted to be able to have a lot of the logos a lot of the placement,” said Williams. “I made some adjustments working with the Police Department, and I think it worked out really well.”

“Sometimes when you make something you really, really like you hate giving it up for sale,” said Elizabeth Ann McNally, who will get to see her “Tourist Bee” in town every time she walks to the grocery store. “This way, I kinda still get to keep it.”

New Britain Arts Commission Chair Stephen Hard says these bees are something everyone can buzz about.

“It’s fun, it’s engaging, it lets people know that the arts are accessible,” Hard said.

A New London schools employee is out of a job Monday after he was arrested twice, according to a spokesperson for the school district.

Corriche Gaskin, 35, is facing multiple charges including multiple counts of risk of injury to a child, illegal possession of child pornography, second degree sexual assault and voyeurism with malice.

An unsealed warrant cited a minor, whom police call Victim #1, who said Gaskin showed her three sexually explicit videos from his cell phone during the 2016 to 2017 school year.

The alleged victim identified three people in the videos, two adult staff members and an eighth grade student. All admitted to having sexual encounters with Gaskin during that school year, according to those documents. One of the staff members said said while she worked as a teacher at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, Gaskin attempted to initiate sexual activity inside the school “specifically inside a lower level supply closet and multiple times in her classroom.”

Gaskin worked at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School as a behavioral specialist at the time, according to the arrest warrant.

Because Gaskin allegedly showed the minor multiple sexually explicit videos, he was charged with risk of injury to a child.

According to other court paperwork, an arrest warrant and a search warrant are sealed that coincide with several other charges.

Gaskin was transferred in the summer 2018 to Harbor Elementary School where he worked as a climate specialist, according to Tyler Olson, a spokesperson for New London Public Schools.

The district confirmed four employees from New London Schools were placed on paid administrative leave related to the Gaskin situation.

New London Schools Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie wrote the school community that there have been district-sponsored conversations, parents who stepped up, and support tools in the schools as the school community begins to heal.

In the letter, Ritchie announced Maureen Bransfield will serve as the interim director of Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School campus and oversee the entire campus.

“I want to stress our commitment to providing safe spaces where children and families can work hand in hand to collectively develop solutions that highlight the greatness of the New London community. There are many, many amazing people who care deeply about you, your child/ren and the success of the district,” Ritchie said in the statement.

Board of Education member Jason Catala said the superintendent is doing the best she can with a mess she inherited.

“I feel like the superintendent of schools has done a really nice job of putting her team together. So at this point in the game I think every child in our school system is safe,” Catala said.

At policy committee meeting for the Board of Education tomorrow, Catala said hiring policies will be on the table and they need to be tighter.

We reached out to Gaskin's attorney who said he doesn't comment on pending litigation.