An Orlando man who was arrested after police officers mistook Krispy Kreme doughnut glaze for crystal meth has been cleared.

Daniel Frederick Rushing, 64, was arrested on a possession of methamphetamine charge after he was pulled over for speeding back in December, according to an Orlando police report.

During the stop, an officer noticed a "rock like substance" on the floor board of Rushing's car.

"I recognized, through my eleven years of training and experience as a law enforcement officer, the substance to be some sort of narcotic," the report said.

According to the report, two separate field tests were performed and both came back positive for the presence of amphetamines.

Rushing was handcuffed, booked into county jail and strip searched, and it wasn't until a state crime lab did another test several weeks later that he was cleared, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

"It was incredible," he told the Sentinel. "It feels scary when you haven't done anything wrong and get arrested...It's just a terrible feeling."

His arrest came after he had dropped off a neighbor at the hospital for a chemotherapy session, and went to give another friend, who worked at a 7-Eleven, a ride home, he said.

"I kept telling them, 'That's … glaze from a doughnut. … They tried to say it was crack cocaine at first, then they said, 'No, it's meth, crystal meth,'" he told the newspaper.

His arrest report confirms that he tried to explain to police that he didn't have any drugs.  

"Rushing stated that the substance is sugar from a Krispie Kreme Donut that he ate," wrote the officer who made the arrest, Cpl. Shelby Riggs-Hopkins, an eight-year department veteran. 

In a statement to the paper, Orlando police said the arrest was lawful but didn't explain why the two field tests were wrong.

Rushing has hired a lawyer and is seeking damages from the city.

Swimming remains off limits as authorities try to determine what washed up on the beach in West Haven Wednesday afternoon.

The substance was dark and dirty and originally thought to be a combination of black algae and sewage, but officials said none of the sewage treatment plants had a release to report.

There was no rainbow sheen to the substance so it wasn't oil. But it's still in the water.

West Haven's Health Director put up signs, signs saying no swimming or wading until further notice. The beach itself is still open.

"It's amazing! This is a beautiful day for the beach," said Gina Valerio. " I didn't come here to swim. I came here to lay out."

She wasn't quite the only one on the sand. After the tide turned there was an odor coming from the water.

"I did notice that," said Patty Gonda. "I just didn't know if it was low tide but I did notice but I was just walking along collecting sea glass."

Deputy Fire Chief Scott Schwartz said tests will determine whether bacterial levels are too high for swimming. He said biologists believe the darkness is seaweed decaying in the heat, nothing dangerous.

"They say it's a natural process. It actually breaks it down and it will turn into a black gooey type in the water that simulates a crude oil leak," Schwartz said.

When the bacterial test comes back then authorities will know whether they can let people back into the water. The incident is not expected to impact the West Haven Savin Rock Festival, which started Thursday afternoon.

Stamford police are searching for four suspects in a robbery and kidnapping incident.

Police said on Tuesday around 2:30 p.m. a female victim was approached by four suspects. One of the suspects showed a handgun. They kidnapped the victim and forced her to withdraw money from the bank and her home, according to police.

Police believe two of the suspects are male and two are female. Police have released video showing two of the four suspects.

One of the male suspects is described as 5-foot-5-inches, with a heavy build, olive complexion. He was wearing a beige fedora.

One of the female suspects is described as 5-foot-4-inches, around 150 pounds, with light skin and her hair pulled back.

The suspects were driving a dark colored Doge minivan, police said.

Police said the suspects are considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Stamford Police Detective Bureau at (203) 977-4417.

The mother of Chandra Levy, a Washington, D.C., intern from Modesto, California, whose 2001 disappearance and death received national attention, said she is "totally in a state of shock" after learning the charges will be dropped against the man convicted of killing her daughter.

Susan Levy said the news brought back feelings she had 15 years ago when her daughter vanished.

"It kind of puts you back to the level of grief you originally had," she told NBC Bay Area. 

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday they are dropping all charges against Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique, citing "recent unforeseen developments that were investigated over the past week."

A spokeswoman for Guandique's lawyers said Thursday that the jailhouse informant who reported that Guandique confessed to the crime was found to have lied.

"I only wish we could get the right person, whoever did what happened to my daughter," said Susan Levy.

Levy added that she thinks of her daughter constantly and won't stop seeking justice.

"I always want justice," she said, "but even if I get justice, it doesn't bring calm back to a family that's been fractured by a horrendous crime like this."

Guandique was convicted in 2010 in Levy's death but later was granted a new trial, which was expected to begin this fall. But the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors have moved to dismiss the case charging Guandique with Levy's 2001 murder. Those charges were formally dropped later in the day.

Chandra Levy's disappearance got national headlines after it was learned she was romantically linked to then-Congressman Gary Condit. Condit insisted he had nothing to do with the 24-year-old's disappearance. He was later ruled out as a suspect.

Levy's remains were found at Rock Creek Park in D.C. a year after her disappearance.

Prosecutors argued Levy's death fit a pattern of attacks Guandique committed on female joggers. At the time, he had been serving 10 years in prison for attacking two other women in Rock Creek Park.

But prosecutors lacked hard evidence against him in the Levy case, presenting neither eyewitnesses nor DNA evidence.

A jury found Guandique guilty in November 2010 on two charges of felony murder in Levy's death. He was sentenced to 60 years.

Condit's attorney, L. Lin Wood, responded to Thursday's news in a statement: "Gary Condit was extremely disappointed to learn today that the prosecution has decided against a retrial of Ingmar Guandique, the individual previously found guilty of the murder of Chandra Levy. The failure of authorities to bring formal closure to this tragedy after 15 years is very disappointing but in no way alters the fact that Mr. Condit was long ago completely exonerated by authorities in connection with Ms. Levy's death. At some point in the near future, I expect Mr. Condit to speak publicly about the case but he does not believe that it is appropriate to do so at this time."

The Hartford Yard Goats baseball team is threatening to find a new home for the 2017 season after a promise for a ballpark still hasn't come to fruition, according to letters sent to city officials. 

The team's owner, Josh Solomon, called the development of Dunkin' Donuts Park, with the completion deadline being missed over and over, "intolerable," letters obtained by NBC Connecticut say. 

"The city cannot tell the team when or if the stadium will be completed," Solomon wrote to city officials. "The city appears not to have sufficient monies available to fund the completion of the stadium." 

Solomon said he wants some kind of assurance from the city by December that the ballpark will be completed for the next season, or the team will search for a new place to play next year. 

"Since June 6, 2016, no work of any significance has been performed at the stadium and it now appears that the stadium will not be completed for many months, at minimum," Solomon wrote. 

The Yard Goats' owner said the insurance company for the stadium has made a decision about completion of the stadium, but the city responded, saying the company is still investigating and no decisions have been made.

"To my knowledge Arch Insurance is actively involved in investigating the condition of the Project and negotiating agreements necessary to the resumption and completion of the Hartford Stadium Project," Howard G. Rifkin, of the city's office of the corporation counsel, wrote back to Solomon.

Centerplan, the developer hired to build Dunkin' Donuts stadium, started construction on the stadium in February 2015 with a set completion date of mid-March. After delays came to light in December 2015, a new date of May 17 was set in January, but Centerplan did not meet that date and the city has since invoked the $46 million insurance policy on the project and fired the developer.

Centerplan has also filed a complaint, looking for an injunction against the city, claiming it didn’t use the proper dispute resolution channels laid out in their joint agreement before the city fired them.

Police have charged a 28-year-old Middletown man in an armed robbery Thursday night at a gas station near Wesleyan University and down the street from the public library. 

Tyrell Lockhart was wearing a mask and waving a BB gun when he robbed the Gas Man gas station on Broad Street at 9:48 p.m. and stole cigarettes, according to police.

Police who were canvassing the area found Lockhart, who looked nervous and was trying to take off his shirt, according to police. When officers approached him, Lockhart fled and ran into his Church Street apartment, according to police.

He later walked out of the house and police detained him.

The SWAT team was then called in, secured the building and ensured there were no other suspects. 

The surveillance video from Gas Man showed a man in a black mask waiving what appeared to be a gun in an aggressive manner, then jump over the counter, knocking over a rack in the process before he took several packs of cigarettes.

Police said they found the gun in the area Lockhart was first seen. It looked like a semi-automatic handgun, but turned out to be a BB gun.

Lockhart was charged with first-degree robbery, carrying a dangerous weapon, criminal possession of an electronic defense weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Bond was set at $500.000 and he is due in court today.

Editor's Note: Police originally said the robber ran through a parking area behind Traverse Square, a federally subsidized housing complex, before entering an apartment there, but later provided a different address.

To President Barack Obama, she is a leader who will “blast through glass ceilings.” To former President Bill Clinton, she is the “best darn change agent” he has ever seen. To former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, she is the “sane, competent” candidate in the race.

On Thursday, the last night of the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton got the chance to talk about herself - and what she would do as president.

Her biggest deficit: With 54 percent of Americans saying they have a negative opinion of her, she is not seen as trustworthy. She took to the stage after an evening featuring accomplished women and issues they care about.

"We Are Not Afraid": Hillary Clinton Accepts the Presidential Nomination

Clinton told the country it was facing a moment of reckoning, as it had 240 years ago when the founders came together in Philadelphia and the revolution hung in the balance.

"Then somehow they began listening to each other, compromising, finding common purpose,” she said. “And by the time they left Philadelphia, they had begun to see themselves as one nation. That's what made it possible to stand up to a king."

The country's founders had the courage that was needed then, and that courage is needed again, now that Donald Trump has taken the country from Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" to "Midnight in America," she said. 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt had the perfect rebuke to Trump more than 80 years ago, during a much more perilous time: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, she said.

"Now we are clear-eyed about what our country is up against," she said. "But we are not afraid. We will rise to the challenge, just as we always have."

Her speech presented her vision of America and lambasted Trump's. She called Trump "a man you can bait with a tweet" and "not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons."

She thanked U.S. Sen.Bernie Sanders and his supporters for putting economic and social justice front and center at the campaign, and talked about what she wanted to accomplish.

"My primary mission as president will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States from my first day in office to my last," she said.

And she contrasted her America with Trump's. She would: build an economy for everyone, offering a path to citizenship for immigrants already contributing to the economy; refuse to ban a religion, as Trump wants to do with Muslim immigrants; work with all Americans to fight terrorism.

The first woman nominated as president by a major political party, she acknowledged the milestone, saying "After all, when there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit."

A Proud Daughter

Chelsea Clinton introduced her mother as her hero and biggest role model, describing the "special window" she has had to watch her mother's hard work.

Clinton, who spoke a day after her father, former President Bill Clinton, sought to show voters her mother's softer side, talked about how Hillary Clinton embraces her roles as a mother and as a grandmother.

"My mom can be about to walk on stage for a debate or a speech and it just doesn't matter," she said. "She'll drop everything for a few minutes of kisses and reading 'Chugga Chugga Choo Choo' with her granddaughter."

She described the many times she watched her mother throw herself into public service, working diligently to improve the lives of families and children around the world.

"People ask me all the time how does she do it, how does she keep going amid the sound and the fury of politics? Here's how: It's because she never ever forgets who she's fighting for," she said.

Clinton, 36, has been in the public eye her entire life, growing up in the White House. Throughout the primary season, Clinton traveled around the country acting as a passionate surrogate for her mother.

Chelsea Clinton's introduction of her mother paralleled remarks delivered by Ivanka Trump, who introduced her father at last week's Republican convention.

Before Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump rivaled each other in the race for the White House, their daughters shared a close friendship.

Though the two have not appeared in public together since the start of the election, Chelsea maintained that she and Ivanka are still friends Thursday on "Today."

Another First 

Before Clinton accepted the nomination for president, there was another historic moment Thursday evening.

"My name is Sarah McBride, and I am a proud transgender American."

With those words, McBride became the first transgender person to address a political convention.

A graduate of American University, she came out four years ago when she was the student body president.

"At the time I was scared," she said. "I worried that my dreams and my identity were mutually exclusive."

McBride, 25, interned at the White House Office of Public Engagement, helped to pass legislation in her home state of Delaware banning discrimination based on gender identity and is now the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign.

“Will we be a nation where there’s only one way to love, only one way to look and only one way to live?” she asked. “Or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally, a nation that’s stronger together. That is the question in this election.”

Her husband, a transgender man who fought for equality, died four days after they married.

From his death, she learned that every day mattered when it came to building a more equal world.

“Will we be a nation where there’s only one way to love, only one way to look and only one way to live?” she asked. “Or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally, a nation that’s stronger together. That is the question in this election.”

Fallen Police Officers

The Dallas County sheriff and the families of three slain police officers described their legacies — a counter to Republican criticism that Democrats cared little about law enforcement, only those who had been killed by police.

The sheriff, Lupe Valdez, the daughter of migrant workers, said her father was angry when she told him she was joining the police. He and her older brothers had been beaten by the police for no reason. 

“We put on our badge every day to serve and protect, not to hate and discriminate,” she said, and asked for a moment of silence.

Wayne Walker, the mother of 19-year-old Moses Walker, a Philadelphia police officer, said, "While we’re here, we must do the good we can."

The mother of Derek Owens, a Cleveland police officer, said her son had left a legacy of service, integrity and love.

“We never want the sacrifice and all of the other fallen officers to ever be forgotten,” Barbara Owens said.

And the wife of Thor Soderberg, a Chicago police officer, said he once got charges against a boy who had stolen a belt dropped. The boy only had a rope to hold up his pants, Jennifer Loudon said. Soderberg also paid for the belt.

“He knew effective policing required treating people with kindness and respect, especially when he was most often called to their worst moments,” she said.

A Muslim Soldier

The father of an Army captain killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq challenged Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration, saying his son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, would never had been in the country if it had been up to Trump. Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims and disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party’s leadership, Khizr Khan said.

“Donald Trump you are asking Americans to trust you with their future,” Khan said. “Let me ask you: Have you even read the United States Constitution. I will gladly lend you my copy.”

Holding up that copy, he told Trump: “In this document, look for the words liberty and equal protection of the law.”

Humayun Khan, 27, died in a suicide car bombing at the gates of his base in Iraq in 2004. Khan told his troops to get back but he took 10 steps toward the car when it exploded. After his death he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Khizr Khan said his son, who was born in the United Arab Emirates and moved with his family to Maryland when he was 2, had wanted to be a military lawyer.

He urged Trump to visit Arlington Cemetery, where he would see graves of all faiths, genders and ethnicities.

“You have sacrificed nothing and no one,” he told Trump.

Police are investigating several car thefts and break-ins in West Hartford.

The West Hartford Police Department has received around 20 reports of car break-ins and three car thefts during the overnight hours this week.

The crimes have happened all over town and all the vehicles were unlocked, police said.

Police are urging residents to lock the doors to their vehicles; never leave keys, fobs or valet keys inside their motor vehicles; remove valuables from vehicles; and avoid leaving vehicles running while unattended.

If you can park inside a garage, do so and call police if you see anything suspicious on your street.

Police also urge residents to check exterior lights on your home to assure proper working condition and pointed in the correct direction.

The United States Navy will be naming one of their ships after gay rights icon and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, according to a report by the U.S. Naval Institute, which cites a Congressional notice obtained by USNI News.

The July 14 notice, which was signed by Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, indicates that he plans to name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler, USNS Harvey Milk, according to USNI.

The ship is reportedly being built by General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, California.

A Department of the Navy spokesman did not have a comment on the report.

Milk, who moved from New York to settle in San Francisco in the seventies, was elected to the SF Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California. In 1972, he and his partner Scott Smith – portrayed by James Franco in the film “Milk” – opened Castro Camera on 575 Castro Street, which he operated until his assassination in 1978. His involvement in San Francisco’s gay rights movement earned him the name “Mayor of Castro Street.”

He joined the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and served on the submarine rescue ship USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) as a diving officer in San Diego. Milk came from a Navy family. He was honorably discharged from service as a lieutenant junior grade, according to USNI.

On Nov. 27, 1978, Milk was shot inside San Francisco City Hall. He was wearing his U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle at the time, according to the report.

Ever since the 2011 repeal of the Department of Defense’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, California lawmakers have pushed to name a ship after Milk.

“This action by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy will further send a green light to all the brave men and women who serve our nation that honesty, acceptance and authenticity are held up among the highest ideals of our military,” Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk told the San Diego LGBT Weekly in 2012.

On Thursday, San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, who signed a resolution urging the Navy to name a ship after Milk, applauded the Navy's apparent decision.

“This is an incredible day for the LGBT community and for our country. As a gay man and a San Franciscan, I'm incredibly proud that the Navy is honoring Harvey Milk — and the entire LGBT community — by naming a ship after him," Weiner said.

"This momentous decision sends a powerful message around the world about who we are as a country and the values we hold," he said. "When Harvey Milk served in the military, he couldn't tell anyone who he truly was. Now our country is telling the men and women who serve, and the entire world, that we honor and support people for who they are. Harvey Milk's strength continues to reverberate throughout our city, our country, and the world.”

Officials are investigating a fire at a vacant house in Oxford. 

Someone noticed the fire on Oxford Road around 1:50 a.m. Friday while passing by. 

Firefighters encountered heavy smoke and some flames and extinguished the fire quickly, but crews were rotated in and out to rehydrate because of heat and humidity before the rain started. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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American athletes will walk into the Maracana stadium for the Olympic opening ceremony next week following the light on their flag bearer's jacket.

The uniforms by Polo Ralph Lauren revealed on "Today" Friday morning show an illuminated "USA" on the back of the flag bearer's jacket. The flag bearer will be announced sometime before the Aug. 5 ceremony.

Athletes will wear navy blazers that feature the USOC logo and the designer's famous polo pony. Underneath, they'll sport a red, white and blue T-shirt with broad horizontal stripes above white jeans.

Fencer Mariel Zagunis was chosen to carry the flag at the 2012 London Olympics, while runner Lopez Lomong led the Americans in to the stadium in Beijing in 2008.

Milford police have arrested a man suspected of trying to get into local homes.

Police previously released home surveillance video of a man poking around a Milford home and arrested a suspect early this morning. 

Police said they arrested Walter Denike, 62, of Milford, as he was trying to break into a home on Cedarhurst Lane. Denike tried to run, bit police apprehended him.  

This is at least the third incident on the same street. Surveillance from two incidents at a home on Cedarhurst Lane showed a man covering his face opening the screen door of the home, checks to see if it's unlocked, then ringthe doorbell, Milford Police said. 

The first incident happened on July 7 at 3 a.m. and the second occurred on July 11 around 2:45 a.m.

Denike has been charged with third-degree criminal trespass and interfereing and resisting arrest. 

He is being held on $5,000 bond and is due in court today. 

A massive drop of red, white and blue balloons capped off four days of Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia late Thursday night.

But once the balloons dropped and the delegates began to leave the arena, the arena operations crews -- used to normally transition the arena from Sixers to Flyers games -- armed with sharp points began cleaning up by popping the patriotic balloons.

"We have the job," said Brian, wearing a Flyers cap and a smile as he bent over to pop balloon after balloon.

"There's a lot of work to do," said co-worker Odeen, wearing a Phillies cap.

"We do a lot. We do the breakdown, setup of the court, setup for concerts, basketball, hockey. We do a little bit of everything, we're operations," said Brian.

But the operations team had the unique task overnight of balloon poppers.

"This is the job to have right now, all you gotta do is 'pop, pop, pop,'" said Brian.

So what's the tool of the trade for these building-converting experts? Brian, bent down, used a 2016 Twitter pin to pop some of the thousands of balloons scattered over the arena floor.

"A fine pin will bust all these balloons," Brian said.

Brian showed off his pin while shouting "Hillary!"

After about an hour, the crew of balloon poppers expanded as people carrying long poles with pins on the end attacked the balloons.

"Pop, pop, pop," rang throughout the arena and then all the balloons were gone after about two hours. Somewhere, Nena must be singing.

Police have arrested two Hartford men suspected in armed robberies in Newington. 

Randall Michaels, 33, of Hartford, is suspected in the robberies at a Newington Subway as well as a Quick Stop Convenience Store in town.

Timothy Warren, 49, of Hartford, was arrested in connection with the Quick Stop robbery.

Michaels was arrested on Tuesday and charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, assault in the second degree, larceny in the fourth degree, sixth-degree larceny, first-degree reckless endangerment and carrying a dangerous weapon. 

Warren was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree.

The robbery at the Subway at 975 Main St. was on Nov. 18 and the Quick Stop Convenience Store at 1125 Willard Ave. was on Dec. 7. The clerk at Quick Stop was assaulted during the robbery there. 

Police said Michaels had a handgun during t both robberies. 

Michaels was held on $450,000 bond.

Warren was hedl on $100,000 bond. 

Calls have increased for Republican nominee Donald Trump to be denied national security briefings offered to presidential nominees of major political parties after his entreaty to Russian hackers to find Hillary Clinton's deleted e-mails, NBC News reported.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said he hopes the untrustworthy Trump is given "fake intelligence briefings." Democratic Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island sent a letter to President Barack Obama saying Trump "is unfit to receive sensitive intelligence" and asks that he "withhold" Trump's expected intelligence briefing.

The national security briefings are "a courtesy," at the discretion of the president and not required by law, according to David Priess, the author of "The President's Book of Secrets." But, Priess noted, if a candidate divulges classified information, there could be legal repercussions but the political repercussions would probably be far worse.

On Thursday, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said the president will respect the 60-year-old tradition.

Authorities say searchers have found the wreckage of a small medical transport plane in remote Northern California and that at least two people are dead.

A pilot was taking a flight nurse, a transport medic and a patient from Crescent City, near the Oregon border, to Oakland. The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office didn't immediately release information about the fates of the other two people aboard.

Rescue teams found the crash site Friday on land owned by a private timber company in Humboldt County, about 280 miles north of San Francisco.

Officials say the pilot reported smoke filling the cockpit and declared an emergency around 1 a.m.

The National Transportation and Safety Board has been notified.

A 56-year-old Berlin man is dead after a driver hit his scooter in New Britain on Thursday night.

Carl Parent, 56, of Berlin, was driving a scooter at the intersection of Stanley and Ellis streets when he was hit at 6:39 p.m. and he died at a local hospital, according to police.

The man who was driving the car was not hurt and has been cooperative with the investigation, police said.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Anyone who witnessed the crash should call Sergeant Steven King at (860) 826-3071.

Route 87 in Columbia is closed between Woodland Terrace and Whitney Road after a crash. 

No injuries are reported. 

A tow truck and wrecker are heading to the scene and police said the road could reopen before 3 p.m.

The Terranea Resort on the Palos Verdes Peninsula had a seagull problem that was solved by turning to some of nature's most intimidating "bouncers."

Joe Roy III and his birds of prey specialize in getting rid of the large seagull populations using non-lethal methods.

He flies his birds, including an 18-year-old hawk, around the resort just as the sun comes up as a part of his typical day. This keeps the gull population away, intimidated by the fearsome bird of prey.

He describes his birds as the bouncers of the resort, making sure the gulls recognize that the area as unfriendly and dangerous.

Roy has been practicing falconry since he was 9 years old.

"Falconry is an art form. I don't know anything about zen, but it's a self-perfecting art," he said.

The falconry program began in May 2009 as part of Terranea's Adventure Concierge service to get guests more comfortable with the surrounding area.

"They love it, most of the people that arrive are familiar with the falconry program. Typically, they're quite excited, and once in a while they get nervous," Roy said. "They want to see the birds and take photos and videos."

He added that the people who were most supportive of the falconry program were people who came from areas with a lot of seagulls. 

He uses a Eurasian eagle owl to educate guests on the general identification of birds, their role in the environment and how they feed and fly. 

"These birds of prey are more akin to cats than dogs. We don't train them like we train dogs," he said about the birds' personalities.

Even so, Roy added that there is also emotions involved with the birds.

"If we imprint on them there's an emotional bond to be had, but if they're older it's more of a work relationship," he said.

His 18-year-old peregrine hawk he raised since she was an infant, and said that the bird saw him as her mother and then later as a mate. 

In short, a friend. 

"If your heart doesn't beat faster when you see a hawk or falcon take off, you're dead," he said. 

Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has banned the possession and consumption of alcohol at two New Hartford parks.

Alcohol will be banned at Nepaug State Forest and Satan's Kingdom Recreational Area from July 29 to Oct. 26, DEEP commissioner Robert Klee said. 

Klee said there's been "numerous incidents of unruly behavior by large groups consuming alcohol."

"That is not a combination conducive to public safety and enjoyment of our state's natural resources," Klee said. 

In addition to the alcohol ban, DEEP will close the interior forest roads to cars following multiple accident in the Nepaug State Forest.