On our nation’s birthday, a new survey says American pride may be slipping across the nation.

According to a recent Gallup poll only 54 of Americans are extremely proud to be an American.

The poll's findings, from a survey of 1,015 U.S. adults, show that pride in being American has dwindled in recent years, with the most recent number of 45 percent reflecting an all-time low since the firm began collecting data on the subject in 2001.

The celebration of our nation’s independence is a moment of reflection.

Michelle Cabar is a proud American.

“I’m proud of how far our country has come as far as women’s rights,” said Cabar. “I think it’s great that we get to bring my children in a wonderful country.”

Daniel Mieczynski describes the joy of being an American in a special way.

“In the U.S. you can be who you want to be and follow your dreams,” said Mieczynski. “It’s special that we get to come out every year, enjoy this parade with each other.”

The highest readings on record, of 69 percent and 79 percent, occurred between 2002 and 2004, when the American public expressed high levels of patriotism and support for the U.S. government following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Winchester police have arrested a man accused of setting off illegal fireworks Wednesday night.

Police arrested James D. Payne Jr. after officers patrolling near 46 Oak St. saw the fireworks being shot off.

Payne was found with explosives including M-88s, an M-98 and several mortar-type fireworks, according to police. He was charged with possession of explosives.

The fireworks were turned over to the fire marshal.

East Haven police are investigating after a serious motorcycle on Foxon Road Wednesday.

Police said the motorcycle rider, identified as 41-year-old Jose Montero, was thrown from his bike when he collided with a Mazda C9 that was turning left into the Citgo Gas Station at 925 Foxon Road. Montero suffered serious injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police said the motorcycle did not have a license plate and Montero has a suspended license. He also have five bags of suspected heroin on him at the time of the crash, according to police. Drug charges are pending.

A police officer witnessed the crash, which happened at 8:54 p.m. and dash camera video captured a portion of it. According to police, Montero can be seen changing lanes and accelerating just before the crash.

Because a police officer witnessed the crash, the Connecticut State Police C.A.R.S. Unit is investigating. Police are looking for any witnesses to contact them at 203-630-8079.

Two protesters were arrested near the White House for burning the American flag Thursday as attendees of President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July “Salute to America” were waiting for the event to start. 

One protester was arrested for felony assault on a police officer and malicious burning, and the other for obstructing a police investigation and resisting arrest, Secret Service said in a statement.

One individual was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries and the other was transported to the Metropolitan Police Department for processing. Two Secret Service agents also received minor injuries while attempting to make arrests and were transported to a local hospital for treatment.

The Secret Service declined to name either person involved, however, the Revolutionary Communist Party said one of the men arrested was Gregory "Joey" Johnson, according to a press release.

Johnson was also arrested more than 30 years ago for burning a flag during a protest in Texas and convicted for violating a state law prohibiting flag desecration. He successfully appealed the conviction all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that flag burning is considered freedom of speech and legally protected by the First Amendment. 

Johnson’s group reportedly had a permit for today's protest provided they took precautions like a burn pit and proper extinguishing equipment, but the flag was burned on Pennsylvania Avenue, which wasn't the permitted location, NBC Washington reported.

The New York Times reported that a scuffle broke out between at least a dozen people around 5 p.m. as protesters lit two American flags on fire.

At one point, Trump supporters crowded the area where the flag-burning protesters were, and a fight broke out, the Times reported.

Secret Service agents broke up the fighting as squad cars arrived.

The Revolutionary Communist Party said the two flags successfully burned under the slogan “Imagine A World Without America.”

In a press release, the group said the flag-burning was in protest of Trump’s policies on migrant detention facilities and climate change, as well as the July Fourth events in Washington.

Johnson, of the Revolutionary Communist Party, described his plans to burn the flag to the Washington Post.

“When I see that flag burn, I’m not only thinking of the children who are starved and bombed by the U.S. in Yemen, or the children who are torn from their parents along the U.S.-Mexico border,” Johnson told the Washington Post. “This is the workings of a system that the U.S. dominates . . . built on the plunder of literally billions of people around the world.”

The demonstration near the White House is part of the organization’s “National Get Organized For An Actual Revolution Tour,” during which the organizers declared the American flag, “so soaked in the blood of ‘barbarity and hypocrisy’ will burn in symbolic places around this country,” according to a press release.

East Windsor Police helped remove a snake that slithered under a vehicle and settled around the engine block Thursday.

As seen in a video posted on Facebook, officers and bystanders worked together to remove the reptile , which may be a Boa constrictor, from a car on Winton Road and put it in a crate. Police believe it may be someone’s pet.

The snake will be taken to a wildlife center for safekeeping.

For almost 30 minutes, 30,000 people paused in the name of patriotism, watching the firework’s on America’s birthday at the Great American Boom in New Britain.

Like the variety of fireworks seen in the sky, Americans each have their own interesting take of Independence Day.

“I like the 4th of July to help people and make people filled with joy,” said 9-year-old Destiny.

“The opportunity to have the choices that we have. That we get to disagree about things,” pointed out Leah Fosse of Wethersfield.

In New Britain, the city’s longtime celebration sparks something special for so many Connecticut residents.

“It’s my favorite holiday. It always has been,” Fosse explained.

A tradition that brings together multiple generations.

“ The cookout, the family, the fireworks and I love all the activities,” she added.

This Windsor mom and her boys are finally enjoying the festivities firsthand.

“I knew this was one of the best fireworks because I’ve always drive, we’ve always stopped on the highway and seen it,” Kimberly Williams of Windsor said.

“They boom up in the sky,” her 5-year-old son Xavier said.

The family has a unique perspective of America.

“Well we don’t like the cold because we’re from the Tropics, but everything else is just beautiful. What can you not like about it,” Williams said.

It was Grandmother Jackie’s first 4th of July. She’s visiting from Jamaica.

“First time. American Independence. I’m really loving it,” she said.

In New Britain, people of all different backgrounds celebrating the red, white, and blue.

The city used 1,800 shells for the display, one of the largest in Connecticut. People have been planning this since April.

One person was flown to the hospital by LifeStar after a crash in Vernon late Thursday night.

Police were called to a two-car crash on Dart Hill Road and Thrall Road around 11:30 p.m.

One person from one of the cars involved in the crash was taken to Hartford Hospital by LifeStar to be treated for possible serious injuries, according to officers.

The person in the other car was not injured, police added.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Fire officials are investigating after a boat fire on Candlewood Lake in Brookfield early Friday morning.

Crews were called to the Brookfield Bay Marina shortly before 3 a.m. after getting a report of a boat on fire.

When firefighters arrived, they said they found a fully involved boat fire with exposures to surrounding vessels.

Multiple fire crews extinguished the fire from both sides of the cove, firefighters said.

Crews from New Fairfield responded for mutual aid and crews from Danbury were contacted for additional Hazmat resources, officials said.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was also called for the Hazmat incident on the lake.

There were no injuries reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

An investigation is underway after officials said fireworks caused a fire at a condominium complex in Fairfield last night.

Firefighters were called to the five-unit condo complex on Park Avenue around 11 p.m. after getting a report of a fire.

According to fire officials, a sleeping resident was awakened by the fire and quickly alerted her family before calling 911.

When crews arrived, they were quickly able to knock down the fire. Units overhauled the area of hte fire to make sure it had been contained.

Investigators said they determined that the cause of the fire was from illegal fireworks being shot off in the area.

The scene was turned over to the Fairfield Police Department to conduct a police investigation.

Firefighters remind residents about the danger of using illegal fireworks and said they will continue to strictly enforce state laws for anyone found in violation.

A caress and a kiss.

That’s all Angela Mairielys Lazo Torres had time for before guards escorted her from her husband’s hospital room after less than a minute. It had been seven months since she last traveled to Louisiana to see José Antonio Hernández Viera, 40, in detention, and she wasn’t even given the time to tell him, “I love you.”

“They didn’t let me see him," Lazo Torres, 36, said of the brief interaction. "They didn’t let me speak to him. They didn’t let me do anything."

That was on Wednesday, June 19. Then, radio silence for the next two days. When she and an outreach paralegal from the Southern Poverty Law Center returned to Acadia General Hospital in Louisiana on Thursday, they were told Hernández Viera no longer appeared in the system. Attorneys contacted the hospital and an assistant warden at Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center, but no one gave them any information about his condition after hip replacement surgery.

“I didn’t know how he was, or where he was, or what was happening to him,” Lazo Torres said.

On Friday, Hernández Viera was transported back to Pine Prairie in handcuffs and chains, he said, his body pushed and jostled into a vehicle with no wheelchair ramp. As he lay across the seat during the roughly hour-long drive, his head painfully bumped into plastic on one of the doors. He was then whisked back to the hospital for more drugs, only to return to Pine Prairie in the early hours of the morning, he and his lawyer said.

Around 3 a.m. Saturday, June 22, Hernández Viera was finally allowed to call Lazo Torres.

“I told my wife that I felt so bad, in such a bad condition, that I wouldn’t live,” he told NBC.

His suffering was nowhere near over, according to his account. Back at Pine Prairie, he was left in his wheelchair overnight, he said, from 3 a.m. until around 9 a.m. And during the days after his surgery, he tried not to eat much because he feared if he had to use the toilet, no one would help him.

He was treated like an animal, he felt — ”like a person without rights, totally helpless.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Bryan Cox told NBC that ICE could not give specifics about the medical treatment of a particular detainee without his or her written consent, but added that “ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agency’s custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care.”

Hernández Viera is an asylum seeker from Cuba, where he faced economic and political persecution because of his family’s opposition to the Castro government. He says he was detained multiple times there and beaten in front of his family once. He has never been convicted of a crime, according to attorneys from the SPLC, and ICE in a document from December did not designate him as a security risk.

“These are not people who should be looked at as demons,” said Martin High, a Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative volunteer attorney. “They’re just regular people that have been in a really bad situation that has nothing to do with their choices in life.”

In May 2018, Hernández Viera applied for admission into the United States in Hidalgo, Texas, at a port of entry— as asylum seekers are supposed to do. During his credible fear interview the following month, a first hurdle in the asylum process, the interviewer checked boxes indicating that he had established a credible fear of persecution based on his "political opinion."

More than a year later, he is still in a facility run by the Florida-based detention company GEO Group — despite the fact that asylum seekers who establish a credible fear are supposed to be eligible for parole, where they await their immigration hearings outside detention. He has a sponsor. Both his wife and 3-year-old daughter are waiting for him. Instead, he is being held in Louisiana, where a hip problem that was once manageable quickly deteriorated so that he could not even walk.

Now, he is staring down deportation. ICE says he is unlawfully present and "received all appropriate legal process" before being ordered removed in December and denied an appeal in May. 

Two weeks after surgery, he was not granted a stay of removal, which means he could be deported any day and his wife believes this is imminent.

“I think, if he were returned to Cuba right now,” said High, “I think he’d be headed to prison right away and he’d never get out.”

Hernández Viera has two chances to remain stateside: a petition for review in the fifth circuit court of appeals, where he is represented by High, and a habeas petition. Petitions for review are usually tough to win, said High.

Which leaves the petition for a writ of habeas corpus claiming that his detention is unlawful. Ironically, one of Hernández Viera’s last chances to stay with his family hinges on the facts of the hellish treatment he says he has lived through since surgery left him at the discretion of ICE’s care.

STUCK
Lazo Torres has the same asylum claim as her husband. But though they say they were persecuted together in their home country, America’s immigration system has treated them differently.

She came to the U.S. with her two daughters in February 2018, while her husband lagged behind. When she and the girls arrived here, they were held for 20 days at a family detention center in Texas and then released, she said.

She is now applying for a green card based on a provision in the Cuban Adjustment Act that says Cubans who have lived in the U.S. for at least a year can become lawful permanent residents. Meanwhile, he is detained “pending removal” to Cuba, according to ICE. 

During a recent call with Hernández Viera, Lazo Torres said their 3-year-old daughter “started to cry because she wanted to see him.”

“She asks for him every day,” Lazo Torres said.

In November, after six months in custody, the SPLC submitted a parole request for Hernández Viera (he had previously been denied parole). Attorney Laura Rivera wrote how Hernández Viera’s 7-year-old daughter in Cuba had an often terminal strain of cancer, and how Hernández Viera would be more able to actively communicate with her and help to support her from outside of detention. She also mentioned his toddler in the U.S., who had begun to suffer from asthma and bronchitis that her physician said was due to the “emotional distress from not having her father around.”

Hernández Viera would not begin to accrue time in the U.S. until he was released from detention. To be able to apply for a green card like his wife, he had to be granted parole.

In December, Hernández Viera represented himself in his asylum hearing. It can be difficult to access counsel while detained, especially in more remote facilities such as Pine Prairie, and migrants are not guaranteed representation in civil cases. The judge in his case, who had a recent 83.8% asylum denial rate, compared to 65% nationwide in 2018, ruled that he had not met the burden of proof to establish that he would be persecuted or tortured if he returned to Cuba. Then, ICE denied his parole request — not because he was a flight risk or a danger to the community, but because he had been ordered removed. That meant he was confined at Pine Prairie during his appeal, which was denied months later.

“They’re owners of him and they’re not going to let him leave for any reason,” said Lazo Torres.

Hernández Viera’s experience coincides with other detainees under the purview of the New Orleans ICE field office, which in 2018 approved fewer than 2% of parole requests. “It’s awesome power to deprive people of their physical liberty,” Rivera said, adding that who gets out and who stays in is “arbitrary.”

“I think that Jose Antonio’s mistreatment and prolonged detention is just an extreme example of what happens to immigrants in ICE custody day in, day out,” she said. 

‘UNBEARABLE PAIN’
In Cuba, Hernández Viera had hip problems, but he could still walk. 

Then, he came to the U.S. and was detained by ICE.

Hernández Viera wrote on a GEO Group request for health services dated to January: “I would like to know what they are going to do with me as I can no longer tolerate the pain in my hip and they don’t attend to me. Please I need an answer. Thank you.”

A month later, he again requested health services: “I have problems with the medicine that they’re giving me, it gives me nausea and drowsiness...”

And in March, he wrote this: “I have an unbearable pain, every time that I go to the doctor or the attorney visits me when I get there the pain is stronger… Moreover, I can no longer take the medicine that relieves me some.”

Progress notes from March indicate that Hernández Viera was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in his left hip and that he was already waiting for surgery, which would not be performed for three more months. In the meantime, he was doled out a cocktail of drugs — including opioids — that discombobulated him so much he had to clutch the walls to walk.

When asked about Hernández Viera's medical treatment, GEO Group Executive Vice President Pablo E. Paez referred questions to ICE. 

Finally, doctors scheduled Hernández Viera’s surgery for June 19. 

Lazo Torres flew to Louisiana from Tampa, Florida, for the surgery, but she was not allowed to see her husband. The outreach paralegal who went with her, Jaclyn Cole, was also denied access to Hernández Viera at the hospital, even though she needed for him to sign urgent documents.

On June 21, attorneys from the SPLC received a letter from an associate general counsel for the Lafayette General Health System, which includes Acadia General Hospital. The letter claimed that the hospital had been told Hernández Viera was a security risk and could not have any visitors, including counsel. It noted that two guards were posted to his room, and that the hospital had been told not to share any information about him.

“Our hospital is in the middle of an issue between SPLC and ICE. In this situation, we must defer to law enforcement while Mr. Viera is in our hospital for the safety of Mr. Viera, the other patients, our staff and the ICE officers,” the associate general counsel wrote. 

Once Hernández Viera returned to Pine Prairie, the compression socks that were meant to keep him from getting blood clots were taken from him for days, said CJ Sandley, one of the attorneys working on his habeas petition. Both Sandley and Lazo Torres said Hernández Viera has gone for physical therapy only once since his surgery. There are no grab bars for toilets and showers to keep him from further injury, Sandley said, and she heard reports that there were bugs in his infirmary cell.

Dr. Allen Keller, an associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, said Hernández Viera is suffering from post-traumatic stress and depression as a result of trauma in Cuba and prolonged detention in the U.S. After visiting Pine Prairie, he is concerned Hernández Viera is not getting adequate physical therapy and said immigrant detention does not lend itself to recovery from hip surgery.

“This is a real important window right now, these next few weeks following the surgery,” Keller said. “In my professional opinion, it’s essential to his physical and mental well-being that he be released immediately.”

It’s these conditions on which Hernández Viera’s second legal option, the habeas petition, relies. His attorneys are arguing that he should be released from custody or provided adequate medical care at Pine Prairie. Otherwise, they have reason to fear that deportation could be imminent. On Friday in the early morning, Lazo Torres said she heard her husband was removed from detention and being sent back to Cuba; attorneys could not immediately confirm that. 

ICE does not discuss future operations and could not confirm if or when Hernández Viera would be deported. 

“Sending him back to Cuba,” said Keller, “especially as he is recovering from hip replacement, could be the equivalent of a death sentence.”

With all of the great summer fun we've been having, Friday is the perfect day to head out to the pool or beach, but when you get out on the water, there are some important swimming safety concerns to keep in mind.

Drowning is the number one cause of accidental death in kids ages 1 to 4. In Connecticut, seven kids die every year from unintentional drowning.

On Friday, Stew and Kim Leonard came to Eisenhower Pool and Park in West Hartford along with Senator Richard Blumenthal to remind parents about the dangers.

The Leonards lost their 21-month-old son, Stewie, in 1989 when he accidentally drowned. Over the years, they started a foundation aimed at educating parents, training lifeguards and providing thousands of low-cost swim lessons to kids every year.

Their message is to put down your cell phone and designate a water watcher.

It's also important to develop your own rules with your kids.

Remember, it's not just public pools. It's backyard pools, birthday parties and whenever your kids are around water.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends installing four-sided fencing around your pool with latches that kids cannot reach.

Parents are also encouraged to remove any toys from the deck area to remove the temptation for children.

Born in 1905, Alelia Murphy will celebrate her 114th birthday Saturday in Harlem.

Family, friends and state officials are expected to honor Murphy Friday at the Harlem State Office Building, ahead of her birthday on July 6, according to 1199SEIU, a healthcare union where Murphy's daughter Rose Green is a retired member. 

The Harlem resident became the oldest living American after a 114-year-old Ohio woman, Lessie Brown, died in January. Murphy was born in North Carolina and her age has been verified by the Gerontology Research Group in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

And the secret to her longevity? An active lifestyle, her nurse told the Manhattan Times News.

Described as a "gift from God" by her daughter, Murphy raised two children by herself after her husband passed away. The family has been living in Harlem for decades.

Several elected officials are expected to speak at her birthday celebration Friday, organizers said.

The world's oldest person is believed to be 116-year-old Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman who lives on the southern island of Kyushu, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

Alitalia has apologized and taken down a video featuring an actor in blackface depicting former President Barack Obama after the Italian airline faced backlash on social media.

The advertisement was part of a series of promotional videos to highlight Alitalia's new route from Rome to Washington, D.C., which included portrayals of other presidents such as Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump. But it was the ad of an actor covered in dark makeup to appear African-American that was met with immediate criticism from some users on sites like Twitter. 

“Whoa…” Alberto Riva, the managing editor of the travel news site The Points Guy, wrote on Twitter. “… The video also features people saying he was born in Africa. Words fail me.”

April Reign, the creator of the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, expressed her shock as well.

“This flew under the radar (no pun intended). Alitalia dropped an ad featuring a white actor in blackface portraying President Obama. In 2019. Read that again.”

A company representative initially defended the move, saying the actor was not Caucasian and the “makeup was applied to highlight features," the New York Times reported.

The airline later apologized for "the offense caused by the promotional video" and said it had removed the ad "from all of our social media channels."

"For our Company, respect for everyone is mandatory, it was never our intention to hurt anyone and we will learn from what has happened," Alitalia said in a statement posted on Twitter.

This is not the first time a major company has sparked controversy and backtracked a marketing campaign over similarly offensive content. Earlier this year, Katy Perry Collections removed from its website two shoe designs that resembled blackface and Gucci pulled a sweatshirt with a blackface-resembling image. The company Prada also discontinued a line of bag charms and window displays that featured monkey-like characters with outsize red lips, NBC News reported.

About one-third of Americans believe blackface is always or somewhat acceptable to wear on Halloween, according to a Pew Research poll released in February. More than half of those asked disagreed.

Stamford Police are investigating an untimely death after a woman's body was found in a swimming pool on Friday.

Officers said the woman's body was found in a pool on Woodley Drive around 8:30 a.m.

Detectives are at the scene and the investigation is ongoing.

The woman's identity has not been released.

A 41-year-old man from New Haven has died after he was shot inside of his home last month.

Police said Melvin Harris was shot during a home invasion robbery on June 20.

According to authorities, two masked men entered Harris' home, demanded money and then shot him. After the shooting, the men ran out of the home.

Police said officers responded to reports of a shooting at 2:36 a.m. at Harris' home on Irvington Street near Townsend Avenue in the Annex neighborhood of the East Shore.

Harris was taken to the hospital. He suffered life-threatening injuries and was in critical condition until he died, police said.

New Haven police continue to investigate the incident and ask anyone with information to call them at (203) 946-6304. Callers may remain anonymous.

Two people have been charged with manslaughter in connection with an overdose death in Stamford last November.

According to police, officers responded to a call for a possible overdose at 80 Pequot St. on November 26, 2018. When they arrived they found Olga “Iris” Lopez unconscious in her apartment. She later died.

Police said both her husband, 43-year-old Hector Lopez and his mother, 60-year-old Mercedes Martinez, were aware she was unconscious but had not provided any emergency care. At the time, both were charged with cruelty to persons.

Investigators determined that the suspects’ failure to act and provide medical care directly led to the victim’s death, according to police. They were both arrested Friday.

"It is our hope that these arrests give some sense of closure to a grieving family," police wrote in a statement on Facebook.

Hector Lopez was charged with first-degree manslaughter, three counts of risk of injury to a minor, and two counts of criminal attempt at tampering with a witness. Martinez was charged with first-degree manslaughter, three counts of risk of injury to a minor, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. They were each held on a $1 million bond and are due in court on July 8.

Connecticut State Police are trying to identify a group of people caught on surveillance rummaging through vehicles overnight.

Police said between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Friday, a group of young men entered vehicles and stole several items. One suspect also stole a 2015 white Ford Explorer with Connecticut plates AR95256.

Several credit cards stolen from the cars were used later in Hartford and East Hartford.

Anyone who recognizes the suspects above should contact Connecticut State Police Troop C at 860-896-3200.

Sunshine and clear skies are sparking nutmeggers to head to the beach. But, if you’re looking for an alternative to avoid the congestion along the shoreline, you might want to head to the Farmington River.

Hundreds of people are heading to the Collinsville Canoe and Kayak. On July 4th more than 500 customers came to the business to rent and buy canoes, kayaks and paddleboards.

The warm temperatures and gorgeous weather are creating opportunities for fun and adventure.

Stacy D’Anthony decided to trade in the overcrowded beaches for a tranquil canoe ride along the Farmington River.

“I’ve never done it before so I’m excited and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said D’Anthony. “It’s just nice to be out on the water, it’s peaceful.”

D’Anthony says it’s a perfect alternative for dogs too.

“We wanted to bring our pups out here to enjoy the fun,” said D’Anthony. “It’ll be three dogs and three people on one board.”

For 30 years, the family business has created a different way to beat the heat. Jack Warner knows all about the July 4th holiday traffic.

Warner has worked at his family business since 2011.

“We have a lot of families come and go out for group paddies to enjoy the weather,” said Warner.

“You don’t really have to think about the busy world that’s happening around you, you can just go out there and just be by yourself for a little while.”

Warner says it’s the convenience and proximity that’s driving more customers to come and enjoy the activities.

"You can drive 20 minutes from a lot of neighboring towns and enjoy the water," said Warner. “We have a lot of families come and go out for group paddles to enjoy the weather."

If you have a sweet tooth or looking to cool off, you can check out the La Salle Market.

Rachel Pass says it’s the perfect way to relax and enjoy the best ice cream in town.

“We’re a really cute local business and a lot of time cyclists and those coming from the Farmington River stop by to enjoy the different flavors,” said Pass. "It's also a nice business to just kind of relax and distress and get out of the hot weather."

A runner has been found dead days after he was disqualified from the Los Angeles Marathon following allegations of cheating.

Authorities say 70-year-old Dr. Frank Meza's body was found Thursday morning in the Los Angeles River.

Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman for the coroner's office, says an autopsy is pending.

The Los Angeles Marathon disqualified his finish in this year's race after they said he left the course and came back from a different position.

His time had been the fastest ever for a man his age and triggered suspicion within the running community, which began investigating.

Meza had denied the allegations of cheating.

Following news of Meza's death, Los Angeles' Loyola High School, were Meza was a volunteer running coach, issued a statement.

"It is with very deep sadness that we learned the news regarding former Loyola Cross Country Assistant Coach Dr. Frank Meza’s death. The Loyola community mourns his passing and is praying for his family as well as the many people he touched during his life."

When Hamden Animal Control came across a sick 3-month-old puppy in March, things didn’t look good for the animal. But thanks to the generosity of strangers, today King, as the puppy is now known, is on a road to recovery.

Assistant Animal Control Officer Mitch Gibbs found King on March 27 after receiving a report of a sick or injured dog. The pit bull, who was 3 months old at the time, was extremely thin with bones easily visible, and appeared bloated, according to police.

Police said King was taken to a local veterinarian who determined the medical prognosis was “poor.”

But with regular treatments and a comfortable spot at North Haven Animal Hospital, King began to show improvements and become playful. A local veterinarian cardiologist was called in and determined that King had a rare congenital heart problem. There was an operation that could help, but it was pricey.

That’s where local rescue group “Where the Love Is” came in. The rescue raised over $10,000 to cover King’s surgical costs, and did it in just 48 hours.

On June 20, King went in for surgery. Police say it was partially successful he is making progress, but he still needs a second surgery. 

"The Hamden Police Department and Animal Control Division would like to overwhelmingly thank Gabrielle Scirocco, the President of Where the Love Is and the dozens of caring people who love animals and hope to make a difference. Thank you again," Hamden police wrote in a statement.